One Grave Too Many

Joe has been out of work for months. In addition, his work record is spotty and his unemployment benefits ran out long ago. So, it's not surprising his wife is nagging him to do something...especially after their power is shut off for non-payment. He then tries to get a loan, but the loan officer (Howard McNair...'Floyd' from "The Andy Griffith Show") has no choice but to reject his application. With no apparent prospects, an opportunity seems to fall into his lap when he sees a well dressed man collapse dead on the sidewalk in front of him one night...and he takes the man's wallet. What's next?

The twist in this one is odd....not bad but quite odd. But I was happy with the overall effort....especially since a long string of mediocre and sub-par episodes preceded this one. An interesting story....well worth seeing.

Outstanding. Another classic written by Henry Slesar, legendary writer for the EDGE OF NIGHT soap opera.

In a way, this episode plays out like a soaper, Hitchcock style. You be the judge.

Handsome Jeremy Slate, who resembled Brian Keith to a degree, plays a down on his luck guy named Joe who lives a rather drab life with his pretty, young wife. Joe's problem is he seems to be unemployable, or perhaps that one ideal job has not come his way yet? In the meanwhile, it's slow going... that is until he stumbles upon a man who drops dead in the street, and his wallet is loaded with cash!

The find is $300, which today would be worth about three thousand smackers, enough to keep Joe and his wife sheltered and well fed for a long time, ya think?

Of course, with Hitch you know there's rarely a happy ending, and the money proves to be more of a nightmare than anything else. There's a little note inside the wallet (surprise!) that instructs paramedics to be called, because the victim suffers from a rare catalyptic medical issue that makes him appear DEAD. Hitch surely loved that angle.

You would NOT want to be in Joe's shoes. Wait and see what happens next. Applause for Jeremy Slate, who had a distinguished career in both films and tv for years. He is missed.

Best of the best from SEASON 5 remastered Universal dvd box set. Classic collectors edition.

The poorly titled Hitchcock show One Grave Too Many has nothing whatsoever to do with graves, but aside from that it's an outstanding entry in the series, and it could be used as an example of how long running anthology series from television's golden age kept running: quality control. This one isn't great but it's awfully good.

Adapted from a Henry Slesar story, it's main character, played by Jeremy Slate, is a lazy man with a lovely wife who's been chronically unemployed for a long while and seems to lack the motivation to find a job for himself. Before the first act reaches the half-way point we learn that the electricity of this young couple's apartment has been turned off. That both husband and wife are young and highly attractive raised in my mind the issue of why they didn't become models, but no matter. The subject never came up.

After complaining of bad luck,--despite his wife's telling him bluntly of how many jobs he has refused--hubby tries to secure a loan, and is turned down. Later that night, on his way home, a well dressed man collapses on the sidewalk with Slate's character the only witness. After determining that the man has simply dropped dead, the young man takes his wallet and proceeds home with a made up tale of how he ran into an old army buddy who owed him money, etc.

Elated, and on the verge of taking his wife out for a steak dinner, the man looks into the wallet from which he removed nearly $300 only to discover a note that says the man he took it from was suffering from catalepsy and in all likelihood only looked dead, and please contact his doctor. What transpires as a result of this discovery constitutes one of the best transformations of a character I've seen in the series thus far.

As things turn out, this heretofore seemingly worthless young fellow turns out to have not only a conscience but a heart as well. This was scarcely in evidence early on, as from what we came to learn about him he came across a rather more a borderline villain than a man capable of true heroism. The race is on: can the body of the man who collapsed on the sidewalk be located, and in time to save his life? There are still a few twists and turns left in the story, which is too good to give away the ending of.

The shows on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" definitely tended to run from spectacularly dull and lifeless, to very suspenseful and shocking. "One Grave Too Many" (very poorly titled, there are no graves let alone too many) is in my humble opinion one of the best of the series.

An unemployed man (Jeremy Slate) and his absolutely gorgeous wife (Neile Adams) have money troubles because he's too picky about what job he takes. After the bank refuses him a loan, he sees a man have a heart attack and seemingly die on the street. He then takes the guy's wallet as he looks for ID, and takes off for home.

While at home, after he and his stunning wife celebrate his good luck that he "collected a debt from an old army buddy" he happened to run into (good lie), he discovers a card in the guy's wallet saying he only has a condition that makes him appear to be dead, and to get help for him immediately. The guy, who out of desperation just robbed what he thought was a corpse, then goes on a crusade to save the guy's life before he's buried alive.

In so many shows of series such as this, you can usually see the ending a mile away, but this one actually had a very decent twist at the end that wasn't so obvious for a change. Good acting, decent plot, and again, the incredible Neile Adams make this one a winner.

It's hard to like Joe in this episode. He needs work but is so picky and full of himself he'd rather have the electricity shut off or go without food than take a "menial" job. His wife tries to put up with it, but he isn't going anywhere. He tries to get a loan to get some things going, but he is turned down because he is a deadbeat. Pride goeth and all that. As he is wandering the streets, a well dressed man collapses snd appears dead. Joe checks him out and takes his wallet which has three hundred dollars in it. Which is about 3000 dollars today. But there is a note in the wallet when he checks it out, saying the guy has catalepsia and that he is not dead. What transpires after that proves quite a learning experience.