Thriller (TV Series) Late Date (1961) User Reviews

Body In The Rug

[AaronCapenBanner · 8/10 · 30 October 2014]

Larry Pennell plays carefree beach-goer Larry Weeks, who one day returns home to find that his older brother James(played by Edward Platt) has murdered his wife in a jealous rage after discovering her infidelities. Larry decides to help his brother cover up the crime by disposing of her body, first by wrapping it up in a rug, then attempts to dispose of it in his car, but after getting a flat tire, accepts a lift from a truck driver that sets off a chain-of-events that threaten to expose the cover up... Stylish episode has fine acting, direction, writing, and score, but is marred by a self-defeating(though still ambiguous) wrap up. Still well worth watching regardless.

"It's your party now pal!"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 4 February 2012]

Well I bet you thought you knew how this one was going to end, didn't you? Trying to be the good younger brother, I thought sure Larry (Larry Pennell) was going to be tagged for the murder of Jim Weeks' (Ed Platt) wife. Everything about the story pointed to the law of unintended consequences for Larry to be implicated - the perky step-daughter, the nosy neighbor, the flat tire on the way to the Paradise Club, the guy who picked Larry up while he was carrying the rug with the body. Seriously, walking around on a country road at night with a rug slung over your shoulders makes you just the slight bit conspicuous, don't you think? If it wasn't for the way this thing ended, Larry would have had my vote as the biggest loser to appear in a Thriller episode, but I think that honor has to go to Doris' boyfriend, who never noticed that her body was in the back seat! No, no, wait a minute - with all bases covered, and Doris safely out of the way, Jim decides to do the honorable thing and give himself up! Not the way Hitchcock would have handled it.

Suspenseful entry let down by a disappointing conclusion

[kevinolzak · 6/10 · 11 May 2009]

"Late Date" is an absorbing Cornell Woolrich crime story featuring Larry Pennell as a carefree beach boy who arrives home one afternoon to find his beloved brother (Edward C. Platt from GET SMART) paying an unexpected visit, and the strangled corpse of his unfaithful sister-in-law lying on her bedroom floor. He refuses to allow his brother to confess to the police as he'd always known about her infidelity and offers to dispose of the body while Platt establishes an alibi back in the city. A phone call from the dead woman's lover gives him the opportunity to provide a frame-up, but first he has to contend with his brother's unsuspecting step-daughter (Jody Fair), her hep cat boyfriend (Steve Mitchell), a nosy neighbor (Ruth Warren), and a suspicious truck driver (Richard Reeves). The unexpected conclusion was undoubtedly imposed by network censors though I presume Alfred Hitchcock's show didn't have to worry about things like this. Platt was always a reliable performer, as was Reeves, making his third and final appearance on THRILLER, and the second playing a truck driver ("Rose's Last Summer," a policeman in "The Merriweather File"). Actress Ruth Warren first worked with Boris Karloff way back in 1931, in the gangster saga "The Guilty Generation," playing the publicist for top-billed Leo Carrillo's rival hoodlum, after earlier appearing with Bela Lugosi in "Women of All Nations." After 130 feature films and only 20 TV appearances, this THRILLER was the final credit in Ruth's career; she passed away in 1986 at age 85.

Larry Pennell's Tom of Finland Moment

[sneedsnood · 6/10 · 24 June 2015]

When handsome, overly muscular actor Larry Pennell first appears in a skin tight T-shirt and cool greaser hair, he looks like a male hustler as imagined by Tom of Finland. The year being 1961, we wonder where this might be leading, but it turns out Mr. Pennell's looks and physique do not figure at all in the plot, an ordinary story of a murder and a cover-up. Larry plays Larry, whose brother James has killed his own wife. Complications ensue, but we are distracted waiting for the scene where Larry takes his shirt off. Spoiler Alert: It never happens. Larry even puts on a few more clothes later in the plot, thus wasting his talent. There is a lot of tossing about of a rolled up rug that may or may not hold a body. Ultimately, however, after all the racing around and cover ups, the ending turns out to be a total turn off, one of those endings that makes you wish you hadn't bothered. Larry Pennell went on to play a character named Rod Riprock on "The Beverly Hillbillies," which makes more sense.

OK, Whatever

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 20 November 2016]

There are some things that really fall flat. Here we have the story of a loving brother who goes the absolute extra mile to try to salvage his life. Obviously, murder is not right, but when on makes a commitment, there has to be some sort of satisfying resolution. When Edward Pratt kills his two-timing wife, he agrees to let his brother do everything he can to assist him in the cover-up. If there is anything that could go wrong it does and yet he has staked his life on trying to protect the brother he loves. Personally, I found the way this ended to be really weak. It also gives us some pretty open ended issues. The man takes his brother down with him.

Doing everything you can to create suspicion!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 22 October 2018]

When the show begins, Larry (Larry Pennell) arrives at his brother's house only to find his sister-in-law dead and his brother admitting he killed her. Larry's reaction surprised me...he seemed happy his brother killer her and apparently the wife was quite a tramp. Then, Larry convinces his brother (Ed Platt) to go back on his business trip...and he will take care of hiding the corpse and setting up an alibi! Nice, huh? There's just one problem...Larry is an idiot and is a horrible liar...and again and again he seems ready to incriminate himself!

Choosing Larry Pennell and Edward Platt to play brothers sure surprised me. They look absolutely nothing alike...though, to be fair, this is sometimes true with siblings. It was an interesting choice, nonetheless.

As for the show...well, it's NOT stellar. First, Larry was just too nervous and stupid. Secondly, the ending...yuck...what a disappointment.

Never agree to get rid of a corpse for your MUCH older brother.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 15 October 2019]

Certainly, if I knew that my sister-in-law was a lying, cheating tramp, I'd go out of my way to aide my brother in not having to pay alimony, but I draw the line at murder. Larry Pennell as the brother looks more like Edward Platt's son, and it's a really strange coincidence that Pennell arrives right after Platt's done his wife in. Pennell decides to get rid of the corpse for his brother and sends Platt away so he can get rid of the corpse.

But Platt returns out of the blue and announces that he has changed his mind. A visit from the police threatens to change all that in an ironic twist that leaves more questions than answers. This episode has great potential but falls flat on its fake film noir face, giving it one of the biggest letdowns I've ever seen on a TV drama. All for nothing, really, and not only for Fennell but the audience too.