Drama anthologies were common television fare in the 1950s,
many of them affiliated with well-known corporations, such as General Electric Theater, Goodyear Television Playhouse, and The United States Steel Hour. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which ran for
seven seasons on CBS, had the cachet of the Master of Suspense, and, as with The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, the
title was key to understanding the gist of the series. Because, while the
stories, or "plays" as Hitchcock often calls them, are interesting
enough in and of themselves, the show's true character came from its host,
though he directed only 17 of the series' 268 episodes in its half-hour format
(it was expanded to The Alfred Hitchcock
Hour for the 1962-63 season). Biographer Patrick McGilligan says that
Hitchcock took a much more active role in story and personnel selection than
his on-screen Executive Producer credit would indicate, but in the minds of his
viewers it was his introductions and conclusions, his "presenting"
before and after each "play" that gave the show its distinctive
flavor. According to McGilligan, in the initial episode from 1955 Hitchcock
makes only a brief and perfunctory introduction. But his role was soon
expanded, aided and abetted by his personal script-writer James B. Allardice,
to include sometimes thematically related props and droll observations about
that night's story, general topics of the day, or savage criticisms of his
sponsor. In the episodes that aired in calendar year 1960, Hitchcock lampooned
such topics as political elections, the Olympics, and golf.
The opening
sequence begins with a caricature of himself that Hitchcock originally drew for
a family Christmas card, followed by his unmistakable silhouette gliding across
the screen and then obscuring the caricature, then cutting to Hitchcock's
filmed monologue usually begun "Good evening." The critics agreed
with the format: John Crosby of the New
York Herald Tribune wrote, "The best thing about Alfred Hitchcock Presents is Alfred Hitchcock presenting." He
filmed these vignettes in bunches--8 or 9 in a single day--and liked to have a
season's worth completed in the fall before Christmas so that he could devote
the new year to his film projects. Viewers agreed with the critics--by its
second season Alfred Hitchcock Presents
had risen to #6 in the ratings, and though its popularity waned slightly
thereafter, it still stayed in the top 30 for the rest of the 1950s.
Recognizing a good thing when they saw it, NBC tried to jump on the Hitchcock
bandwagon by recruiting him to be executive producer for their own
suspense-themed anthology Suspicion
and had him direct the series' first episode. But with Dennis O'Keefe hosting
the first season's episodes and Walter Abel taking over for Season 2, the show
lacked the charm of being presented by Hitchcock himself and was canceled after
its second season.
Perhaps the most significant contribution to popular culture
by Alfred Hitchcock Presents was the
way it reshaped the public's perception of Hitchcock, as others have suggested.
Though Hitchcock was not only the Master of Suspense but also a master of
publicity in drumming up interest in the press about his latest picture, the
general public saw little of him other than the brief cameos he cleverly
inserted into his films. His television series added another dimension to his
personality as a droll deliverer of witty observances who wasn't afraid to poke
fun not only at his sponsors but also at himself with the absurd props he
employed for his opening monologue. The other significant effect of the series,
as reported by McGilligan, was that Hitchcock approached the making of Psycho in 1959-60 as a long-form version
of an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode.
In fact, he told his staff the feature film would be "the ultimate Alfred Hitchcock Presents." It was
shot in black-and-white on a quick, TV-like schedule and used some of the same
crew as the television series. The formula yielded what is perhaps the most
memorable film of his career.
The stories for the TV show, often hand-picked by Hitchcock,
were also first-rate. Authors featured in calendar year 1960 included such
heavyweights as John Cheever (twice), Roald Dahl (twice), Philip Roth, and
British short-story icon Saki (H.H. Munro). Many of the stories had the
Hitchcock signature ending twist, many did not detail grisly crimes such as
murder but dealt with more mundane topics such as adultery and theft, and most
illustrated the oft-quoted line from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream: Lord, what fools these mortals be.
Mama's boys come in for harsh treatment in a couple of the
year's episodes. In "Across the Threshold" (February 28, 1960) widow
Sofie Winter has never gotten over the death of her husband 6 years hence, and
she keeps her son Hubert under her thumb to compensate for her loss. When
Hubert arranges for his theatrical girlfriend to impersonate a medium who tells
Sofie that her husband is lonely on the other side of the threshold, Sofie
decides that she will join him by taking an overdose of the medicine her
husband used to take before his demise. Hubert is only too anxious for his
mother to depart this world so that he can claim his inheritance and be out of
her clutches, but he doesn't realize until it's too late that she has plans for
him on the other side, too. And in "Mother, May I Go Out to Swim?"
(April 10, 1960) John Crane still lives with his widowed mother and treats her
with an affection that borders on the Oedipal. When he goes up to Vermont for a
vacation while she visits other family but plans to join him later, he meets a
pretty German emigre who runs the local giftshop and quickly falls in love with
her but cannot free himself from his devotion to mother. When forced to choose
between the two women, Crane falls back on the familiarity of mother with
disastrous consequences for the new girlfriend.
Hitchcock was a known opponent of the death penalty.
"Cell 227" (June 5, 1960) is set on death row in a federal
penitentiary. The opening scene graphically portrays a convict named De Baca
being given false hope by his cellmates that he will receive a stay of
execution, only to be led off kicking and screaming to the gas chamber by
prison guards led by the always cheerful Pops Lafferty, whom most of the
inmates see as a kindly soul only there to help. But wrongly convicted English
professor Herbert Morrison refuses to give De Baca any slack and clearly
despises Lafferty, whom he sees as ghoulish, smiling while leading men to their
deaths. He is determined not to hope for a stay and forbids his attorney to
apply for one, saying that he will face his death like a man and that he will
fight against the system his own way. In a conversation with the prison
chaplain, Morrison points out the hypocrisy of a society that condemns murder
and then commits it against those convicted of the crime. But even a man with
Morrison's integrity is dealt an unexpected fate after strangling Lafferty to
death just before entering the gas chamber only to learn that moments before he
had been granted a stay because law enforcement had obtained a retraction from
the witness who perjured himself to put Morrison away.
Following this grim, tragic episode, the next week's show
featured a light-hearted romp titled "The Schatz-Metterklume Method"
(June 12, 1960) in which upper crust Lady Charlotte is mistaken for a governess
by a family of self-important provincials who are then taught a lesson
themselves when the free-thinking Lady allows their children to splash in the
mud and learn about animal reproductive systems. Hitchcock was very aware of
American sense of morality, and most episodes, though not all, show the
self-important, the greedy, and the cheaters getting their come-uppance by the
story's close. But the year's final episode, "The Man Who Found the Money"
(December 27, 1960) does not offer such a tidy resolution or comforting closure.
School teacher William Benson is vacationing in Las Vegas when he finds a money
clip with $92,000. He considers keeping the money but after a restless night,
he puts the money in a safety deposit box, places an ad in the local paper, and
on a newspaper man's advice, reports the incident to the police. Only the
amount of money lost was actually $102,000, and it was lost by the owner of a
casino. Despite his truthfulness, neither the police nor the casino owner
believe his story, and doom awaits him by the time the final credits roll.
These edgy, twisty stories of human folly are similar in
tone to a series that would debut in 1959 and become a cult classic, The Twilight Zone, though Hitchcock
never enters the extra-terrestrial or the paranormal. It seems that there's
more than enough fodder for irony and critique right here, right now, Hitchcock
might say.
The easily recognizable opening and closing theme for Alfred Hitchcock was "Funeral March
of a Marionette" composed by Charles Gounod, suggested to Hitchcock by his
long-time soundtrack composer Bernard Herrmann.
The first six seasons have been released on DVD by Universal Studios.
The Actors
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred
Joseph Hitchock was born in London in 1899, the youngest of three children. His
father was a grocer, and was raised a Catholic, attending the Jesuit-run St.
Ignatius College. Though biographer Donald Spoto has described Hitchcock's
childhood as dark, harsh, and somewhat Dickensian, Patrick McGilligan's more
recent work, Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in
Darkness and Light, says that Hitchcock's youth was rather normal for a
working family of that era. Though he was overweight his entire life, even as a
child, and therefore subject to the sort of ostracism that comes with childhood
cruelty, he was not friendless, nor a complete loner. In fact, McGilligan is
not able to put his finger on exactly why Hitchcock developed a taste for
horror, suspense, and the macabre. In 1914 he was hired by the Henley Telegraph
Works, where he was initially assigned to calculate the size and voltage of
cables. Though he was deemed physically unfit to serve in the British army in
World War I, he still joined a cadet regiment of the Royal Engineers, which
involved hearing talks and practicing marching rather than any real training in
the art of fighting. After the war he continued working at Henley's, moving
over to sales where he learned design and draftmanship. He also took art
courses at Goldsmiths' College, training that would serve him well in the film
industry. At Henley's he eventually moved into advertising and was a founding
editor, business manager, and sometime contributor to the company magazine, in
which several short early works of his fiction were published. These brief
vignettes display Hitchcock's penchant for suspenseful plots and endings with a
twist. During this period he also became fascinated with early silent films.
When
Paramount Studios opened a British operation called Famous Players-Lasky,
Hitchcock left Henley's to go work for the fledgling studio. Initially he
designed and drew title cards for the studio's silent films but gradually
worked his way up to art director by 1921, though he was also involved in
reviewing scripts and working out camera angles for films in production. It was
while working here that he met Alma Reville, whom he would marry five years
later. In 1923 Hitchcock got his first crack at directing when he was assigned
to take over and finish Always Tell Your
Wife when the director fell ill. This led to being allowed to direct
another film from the beginning, Number
Thirteen, but the studio shut its doors before the film could be finished.
When Famous Players-Lasky closed, Hitchcock moved over to Gainsborough
Pictures, where he completed his first film, The Pleasure Garden, filmed in Germany. Though this picture did not
fare well at the box office and he later described his next work, The Mountain Eagle, as a "bad
movie," his third work for Gainsborough, The Lodger, released in 1927, was his first master work and
established his reputation as a director of note. Hitchcock quickly became
Britain's most famous and critically acclaimed director and was brought to
America in 1939 by David Selznick to direct Rebecca.
By the mid-1950s he was at the height of his career, the perfect time to become
a household name through the medium of television, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents was born.
Hitchcock
continued his film career, of course, another 11 years after his television
tenure ended, with his last feature, Family
Plot, released in 1976. In 1979 he was made a Knight of the British Empire.
He died of renal failure on April 29, 1980 at the age of 80. He was cremated
and his ashes were spread over the Pacific Ocean.
Notable Guest Stars
Season 5, Episode 15, "Man
From the South": Steve McQueen (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960
post for Wanted: Dead or Alive) plays
an unnamed gambler. Neile Adams (McQueen's first wife) plays a woman he picks
up at a bar. Peter Lorre (shown on th left, starred in M,
Crime and Punishment, eight Mr. Moto
movies, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace, and The
Beast With Five Fingers) plays an older gambler Carlos. Tyler McVey (Gen.
Maj. Norgath on Men Into Space) plays
a middle-aged observer who is asked to referee the bet. Marc Cavell (Gray Hawk
on Pistols 'n' Petticoats) plays a bellhop.
Season 5, Episode 16, "The
Ikon of Elijah": Oskar Homolka (starred in The Dreyfus Case, Anna
Lucasta, The Seven Year Itch, War and Peace, and A Farewell to Arms) plays greedy antiques dealer Carpius. Sam Jaffe
(starred in Lost Horizon, Gunga Din, The Asphalt Jungle, and Ben-Hur
and played Dr. David Zorba on Ben Casey)
plays the monastery's Father Superior.
Season 5, Episode 17, "The
Cure": Nehemiah Persoff (starred in The
Wrong Man, Al Capone, and Some Like It Hot) plays jungle explorer
Jeff Jensen. Cara Williams (shown on the right, starred in The
Girl Next Door, The Helen Morgan
Story, and The Defiant Ones and
played Gladys Porter on Pete and Gladys
and Cara Bridges on The Cara Williams
Show) plays his wife Marie. Mark
Richman (Nicholas Cain on Cain's Hundred,
Duke Paige on Longstreet, C.C.
Capwell on Santa Barbara, and Andrew
Laird on Dynasty) plays Jeff's
partner Mike.
Season 5, Episode 18, "Backward,
Turn Backward": Alan Baxter (appeared in Saboteur, Close-Up, and Paint Your Wagon) plays Sheriff Andy
Willetts. Paul Maxwell (Steve Tanner on Coronation
Street, Sam Webber on The Lotus
Eaters, Hellman on The Aphrodite
Inheritance and the voice of Col. Steve Zodiac on Fireball XL5) plays his assistant Saul. Tom Tully (starred in Destination Tokyo, The Lady
in the Lake, The Turning Point, The Jazz Singer (1952), and The Caine Mutiny and played Inspector
Matt Grebb on The Lineup and Tom
Starett on Shane) plays murder suspect
Phil Canby. Raymond Bailey (Milburn Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies, Dean Magruder on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, D.A. John Carvell on The Untouchables, and Mr. Beaumont on My Sister Eileen) plays law official Mr.
Harris.
Season 5, Episode 19, "Not
the Running Type": Robert Bray (Simon Kane on Stagecoach West and Corey Stuart on Lassie) plays police Capt. Ernest Fisher. Herbert Ellis (Officer
Frank Smith on Dragnet (1952-53),
Frank LaValle on The D.A.'s Man,
Wilbur on Peter Gunn, and Dr. Dan
Wagner on Hennesey) plays police Lt.
Hogan. Paul Hartman (shown on the left, played Albie Morrison on The Pride of the Family, Charlie on Our Man Higgins, Emmett Clark on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D., and Bert Smedley on Petticoat Junction) plays embezzler
Milton Potter. Bert Freed (appeared in The
Atomic City, The Cobweb, and Paths of Glory and played Rufe Ryker on Shane) plays police Lt. Harvey Ellison.
Season 5, Episode 20, "The
Day of the Bullet": Dennis Patrick (Paul Stoddard on Dark Shadows and Vaughn Leland on Dallas) plays mobster Mr. Rose. Harry Landers (Dr. Ted Hoffman on Ben Casey) plays his chauffeur Joe.
Barry Gordon (Dennis Whitehead on The New
Dick Van Dyke Show, Charlie Harrison on Fish,
Gary Rabinowitz on Archie Bunker's Place,
Roger Hightower on A Family for Joe,
and the voice of Donatello on Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles) plays Ignace Kovacs as a boy. Glenn Walken (Steve
Tucker on Leave It to Larry) plays
his best friend Clete Vine. David Fresco (Albert Wysong on Murder One) plays a man Rose beats up. Sam Gilman (Sam Grafton on Shane) plays a police patrolman. Clegg
Hoyt (Mac on Dr. Kildare) plays a
police sergeant.
Season 5, Episode 21, "Hitch
Hike": John McIntire (shown on the right, starred in Call
Northside 777, The Street With No
Name, Winchester '73, Psycho, and Elmer Gantry and played Lt. Dan Muldoon on Naked City, Christopher Hale on Wagon Train, Clay Grainger on The Virginian,
and Dutch McHenry on Shirley) plays
town alderman Charles Underhill. Suzanne Pleshette (shown on the left, starred in The Geisha Boy, The Birds, A Rage to Live,
The Ugly Dachshund, Nevada Smith, and Support Your Local Gunfighter and played Emily Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show, Maggie Briggs on Suzanne Pleshette Is Maggie Briggs¸
Christine Broderick on Nightingales,
Jackie Hansen on The Boys Are Back,
and Claire Arnold on Good Morning Miami)
plays his niece Anne. Robert Morse (shown in the middle, starred in The Matchmaker, The Loved One,
How to Succeed in Business Without Really
Trying, Where Were You When the
Lights Went Out?, and A Guide for the
Married Man and played Robert Dickson on That's Life, Edwin O'Malley on City
of Angels, and Bertram Cooper on Mad
Men) plays young hitchhiker Len. Read Morgan (Sgt. Hapgood Tasker on The Deputy) plays a motorcycle cop.
Season 5, Episode 22, "Across
the Threshold": Patricia Collinge appeared in The Little Foxes, Shadow of a
Doubt, Tender Comrade, Teresa, Washington Story, and The
Nun's Story) plays controlling widow Sofie Winter. George Grizzard (starred
in Advise & Consent, Comes a Horseman, and Bachelor Party and played Arthur Gold on
Law & Order) plays her son Hubert.
Barbara Baxley (starred in Countdown,
Nashville, Norma Rae, and The Exorcist
III) plays George's girlfriend Irma Coulette.
Season 5, Episode 23, "Craig's
Will": Dick Van Dyke (shown on the right, starred in Bye,
Bye, Birdie, Mary Poppins, Lt. Robinson Crusoe, U.S.N., Fitzwilly, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and played Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dick Preston on The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Dick Burgess
on The Van Dyke Show, and Dr. Mark
Sloan on Diagnosis Murder) plays wealthy
inheritor Thomas Craig. Stella Stevens (shown on the left, starred in Girls! Girls! Girls!, The
Nutty Professor, The Courtship of
Eddie's Father, The Silencers, Where Angels Go Trouble Follows, and The Poseidon Adventure and played
Lute-Mae Sanders on Flamingo Road)
plays his girlfriend Judy. Paul Stewart (starred in Citizen Kane, Kiss Me Deadly, Twelve O'Clock High, Champion, and In Cold Blood and was the host of Deadline) plays private investigator
Vincent Noonan. Harry Tyler (Steve Rhodes on Black Saddle) plays the Craig's butler Sam Loomis. Red (Jasper the
Second on Bachelor Father and Fang on
Get Smart) plays the Craig's dog
Casper.
Season 5, Episode 24, "Madame
Mystery": Audrey Totter (shown on the right, starred in The
Postman Always Rings Twice, Lady in
the Lake, The Set-up, and Any Number Can Play and played Beth
Purcell on Cimarron City, Alice
MacRoberts on Our Man Higgins, Nurse
Wilcox on Medical Center) plays over-the-hill
actress Betsy Blake. Joby Baker (David Lewis on Good Morning, World) plays movie promoter Jimmy Dolan.
Season 5, Episode 25, "The
Little Man Who Was There": Norman Lloyd (starred in Saboteur, Spellbound, A Walk in the Sun, and M, played Dr. Daniel Asuchlander on St. Elsewhere, Dr. Marcus on Home Fires, and Dr. Isaac Mentnor on Seven Days, and was assistant producer
on Alfred Hitchcock Presents) plays a
mysterious stranger in town. Arch Johnson (starred in Somebody Up There Likes Me, G.I.
Blues, and The Cheyenne Social Club
and played Cmdr. Wivenhoe on Camp
Runamuck) plays positivity preacher Jamie. Read Morgan (see "Hitch
Hike" above) plays his sidekick Ben. Clancy Cooper (Timmo McQueen on Lawman) plays barfly Swede.
Season 5, Episode 26,
"Mother, May I Go Out to Swim?": William Shatner (shown on the left, starred in The Brothers Karamazov, Judgment at Nuremberg, Kingdom of the Spiders, and The Kidnapping of the President and played
David Koster on For the People, Dr.
Carl Noyes on Dr, Kildare, Capt.
James T. Kirk on Star Trek, Jeff
Cable on Barbary Coast, Sgt. T.J.
Hooker on T.J. Hooker, Walter H.
Bascom on TekWar, Denny Crane on The Practice and Boston Legal, and Dr. Edison Milford Goodson III on $#*! My Dad Says) plays over-mothered
young man John Crane. Jessie Royce Landis (appeared in Mr. Belvedere Goes to College, To
Catch a Thief, My Man Godfrey,
and North by Northwest) plays his
mother Claire. Robert Carson (Mr. Maddis on The
George Burns and Gracie Allen Show) plays the coroner board chairman.
Season 5, Episode 27, "The
Cuckoo Clock": Beatrice Straight (starred in Network, Endless Love,
and Poltergeist and played Louisa
Beauchamp on King's Crossing) plays widow
Ida Blythe. Patricia Hitchcock (daughter of Alfred Hitchcock, appeared in Stage Fright, Strangers on a Train, and Psycho)
plays her daughter Dorothy. Fay Spain (starred in Dragstrip Girl, Al Capone,
and The Gentle Rain) plays woman on
the run Madeleine Hall.
Season 5, Episode 28, "Forty
Detectives Later": James Franciscus (Det. Jimmy Halloran on Naked City, Russ Andrews on The Investigators, John Novak on Mr. Novak, Mike Longstreet on Longstreet, Benjamin Elliot on Doc Elliot, and James Hunter on Hunter) plays private detective William
Tyre. Jack Weston (shown on the right, played Wilbur "Wormsey" Wormser on Red Brown of the Rocket Rangers, Chick Adams on My Sister Eileen, Walter Hathaway on The Hathaways, and Danny Zimmer on The Four Seasons) plays second-hand shop
proprietor Otto. Arlene McQuade (Rosalie Goldberg on The Milton Berle Show and The
Goldbergs) plays Otto's wife Gloria.
Season 5, Episode 29, "The
Hero": Oskar Homolka (see "The Ikon of Elijah" above) plays
one-time prospector Vander Klaue. Irene Tedrow (Mrs. Elkins on Dennis the Menace) plays Mrs. Musgrave, the
wife of a wealthy British businessman. Bartlett Robinson (Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays ship passenger
Henry Caldwell.
Season 5, Episode 30,
"Insomnia": Dennis Weaver (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960
post on Gunsmoke) plays insomniac
Charles Cavender. John S. Ragin (Walter Cramer on Sons and Daughters and Dr. Robert Asten on Quincy, M.E.) plays his dead wife's brother Jack Fletcher. Al Hodge
(Captain Video on The Secret Files of
Captain Video and Captain Video and
His Video Rangers) plays his boss Mr. Turney. Ken Clark (appeared in Love Me Tender, South Pacific, Attack of the
Giant Leeches, and 12 to the Moon)
plays a fire chief. Sam Gilman (see "The Day of the Bullet" above)
plays a fireman.
Season 5, Episode 31, "I Can
Take Care of Myself": Linda Lawson (shown on the right, played Renee on Adventures in Paradise, Pat Perry on Don't Call Me Charlie, and Laura Fremont on Ben Casey) plays nightclub singer Georgia. Myron McCormick (starred
in No Time for Sergeants and The Hustler) plays her pianist Bert
Haber. Will Kuluva (Charlie Kingman on Primus)
plays nightclub owner Joey. Frankie Darro (starred in The Mayor of Hell, Wild Boys
of the Road, Little Men, and
played Robbie the Robot in Forbidden
Planet) plays mobster Little Dandy Dorf. Lennie Weinrib (the voice of H.R.
Pufnstuf on H.R. Pufnstuf, Moonrock
on The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show,
and Scrappy-Doo on Scooby-Doo and
Scrappy-Doo amongst many others) plays replacement pianist Amos. Pat
Harrington, Jr. (Pat Hannigan on Make
Room for Daddy, DA Charlie Gianetta on Owen
Marshall, Counselor at Law, and Dwayne F. Schneider on One Day at a Time) plays Little Dandy's hitman.
Season 5, Episode 32, "One
Grave Too Many": Jeremy Slate (starred in The Sons of Katie Elder, The
Devil's Brigade, and True Grit
and played Larry Lahr on The Aquanauts)
plays unemployed Joe Helmer. Neile Adams (see "Man From the South"
above) plays his wife Irene. Howard McNear (shown on the left, played Floyd Lawson on The Andy Griffith Show and Jansen the
Plumber on The George Burns and Gracie
Allen Show) plays loan officer Mr. Pickett. Tyler McVey (see "Man From
the South" above) plays a police desk sergeant.
Season 5, Episode 33, "Party
Line": Judy Canova (shown on the right, starred in Artists
and Models, Sleepytime Gal, Louisiana Hayride, and The WAC From Walla Walla) plays busybody
Helen Parch. Ellen Corby (Henrietta Porter on Trackdown and Esther Walton on The
Waltons) plays her neighbor Emma. Gertrude Flynn (appeared in War and Peace, Rome Adventure, and Funny
Girl and played Anna Sawyer on Days
of Our Lives) plays her neighbor Betty Nubbins. Royal Dano (appeared in The Far Country, Moby Dick, and The Outlaw
Josey Wales) plays detective Mr. Atkins. Ted Knight (Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Roger Dennis
on The Ted Knight Show, and Henry
Rush on Too Close for Comfort) plays
general store owner Mr. Maynard. Arch Johnson (see "The Little Man Who Was
There" above) plays former neighbor Haywood Miller.
Season 5, Episode 34, "Cell
227": Brian Keith (shown on the left, starred in The
Parent Trap, The Pleasure Seekers,
With Six You Get Eggroll, and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming
and played Matt Anders on The Crusader,
Dave Blassingame on The Westerner,
Uncle Bill Davis on Family Affair,
Steven Halliday on The Zoo Gang, Lew
Archer on Archer, Milton C.
Hardcastle on Hardcastle and McCormick,
Professor Roland G. Duncan on Pursuit of
Happiness, B.L. McCutcheon on Heartland,
and Walter Collins on Walter & Emily)
plays convicted English professor Herbert Morrison. James Best (Sheriff Roscoe
P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard)
plays convict Hennessy. James Westerfield (appeared in The Shaggy Dog, The
Absent-Minded Professor, and The Love
God? and played John Murrel on The
Travels of Jamie McPheeters) plays head prison guard Pops Lafferty. Frank
Maxwell (Duncan MacRoberts on Our Man
Higgins and Col. Garraway on The
Second Hundred Years) plays Morrison's lawyer Maury Berg. Liam Sullivan (Major
Mapoy on The Monroes, Dr. Joseph
Lerner on The Young and the Restless,
and Mr. Willis on Knots Landing)
plays prison chaplain Father McCann. Robert Carson (see "Mother, May I Go
Out to Swim?" above) plays Warden Elvery. William Mims (Editor Dameron on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays
a prison guard.
Season 5, Episode 35, "The
Schatz-Metterklume Method": Hermoine Gingold (starred in The Pickwick Papers, Gigi, and The Music Man) plays aristocrat Lady Charlotte. Noel Drayton (Mr.
Hardcastle on Family Affair) plays horse
owner Huggins. Elspeth March (Mother on Let
There Be Love) plays provincial socialite Mrs. Wellington. Patricia
Hitchcock (see "The Cuckoo Clock" above) plays lady's maid Rose. Veronica
Cartwright (starred in The Birds, The Children's Hour, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Alien, The Right Stuff, and The
Witches of Eastwick and played Jemima Boone on Daniel Boone, Molly Hark on Tanner
'88, A.D.A. Margaret Flanagan on L.A.
Law, Cassandra Spender on The X-Files,
Valerie Shenkman on Invasion, and Bun
Waverly on Eastwick) plays one of the
Wellington children.
Season 5, Episode 36, "Letter
of Credit": Robert Bray (see "Not the Running Type" above) plays
investigator Henry Taylor. Cyril Delevanti (Lucious Coin on Jefferson Drum) plays retired bank
president Josiah Wingate. Bob Sweeney (Oliver Munsey on Our Miss Brooks, Fibber McGee on Fibber McGee and Molly, and Gilly Box on Brothers; also directed 80 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show and lesser numbers of many other series)
plays his son-in-law William Spengler.
Season 5, Episode 37, "Escape
to Sonoita": Burt Reynolds (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on
Riverboat) plays truck driver Bill
Davis. Murray Hamilton (appeared in No
Time for Sergeants, Anatomy of a Murder,
and The Hustler and played Steve
Baker on Love and Marriage and Capt. Rutherford T. Grant on B.J. and the Bear) plays kidnapper
Marsh. Harry Dean Stanton (appeared in Kelly's
Heroes, Dillinger, Cool Hand Luke, Alien, etc.) plays his sidekick Lemon. Robert Karnes (Max Fields on
The Lawless Years and Deputy D.A.
Victor Chamberlin on Perry Mason)
plays a police patrolman.
Season 5, Episode 38,
"Hooked": Robert Horton (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post
on Wagon Train) plays young husband
of an older woman Ray Marchand. Anne Francis (shown on the right, starred in Bad Day at Black Rock, Forbidden
Planet, Don't Go Near the Water,
and The Love God? and played Honey
West on Honey West and Arliss Cooper
on Dallas) plays the object of his
desire Nyla Foster. Vivienne Segal (star of Broadway musical comedies such as I Married an Angel, Pal Joey, and A Connecticut
Yankee) plays his wife Gladys.
Season 6, Episode 1, "Mrs.
Bixby and the Colonel's Coat": Audrey Meadows (shown on the right, played Alice Kramden on The Honeymooners and The Jackie Gleason Show, Iris Martin on Too Close for Comfort, and Maggie
Hogoboom on Uncle Buck) plays
dentist's wife Mrs. Bixby. Les Tremayne (starred in The War of the Worlds (1953), The
Story of Ruth, The Slime People,
and The Fortune Cookie and played
Inspector Richard Queen in The Further
Adventures of Ellery Queen) plays dentist Fred Bixby. Bernie Hamilton
(Capt. Harold Dobey on Starsky and Hutch)
plays the Colonel's butler Dawson. Greg Morris (Barney Collier on Mission: Impossible and Lt. David Nelson
on Vega$) plays the Colonel's
horseman John. Howard Caine (Schaab on The
Californians and Maj. Wolfgang Hochstetter on Hogan's Heroes) plays a pawn clerk. Harry Cheshire (see the
biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman)
plays a dental patient.
Season 6, Episode 2, "The
Doubtful Doctor": Dick York (Tom Colwell on Going My Way and Darrin Stephens on Bewitched) plays troubled ad executive Ralph Jones. Gena Rowlands (starred
in The High Cost of Loving, Lonely Are the Brave, Faces, Gloria, Love Streams, Night on Earth, and The Notebook and played Adrienne Van Leyden on Peyton Place) plays his wife Lucille. John Zaremba (Special Agent
Jerry Dressler on I Led 3 Lives, Dr.
Harold Jensen on Ben Casey, Admiral
Hardesy on McHale's Navy, Dr. Raymond
Swain on The Time Tunnel, and Dr,
Harlem Danvers on Dallas) plays his
psychiatrist. Michael Burns (Howie Macauley on It's a Man's World and Barnaby West on Wagon Train) plays a boy named Sidney.
Season 6, Episode 3, "Very
Moral Theft": Walter Matthau (shown on the left, starred in A Face in the Crowd, Charade,
The Fortune Cookie, The Odd Couple, Hello, Dolly!, The Front Page,
The Sunshine Boys, The Bad News Bears, and Grumpy Old Men and played Lex Rogers on Tallahassee 7000) plays contractor Harry
Wade. Betty Field (starred in Of Mice and
Men, Victory, The Great Gatsby (1949), Picnic, Bus Stop, Birdman of Alcatraz,
and Coogan's Bluff) plays his
girlfriend Helen. Karl Swanson (Lars Hanson on Little House on the Prairie) plays her brother John. David Fresco
(see "The Day of the Bullet" above) plays bank employee Mr. Parker.
Season 6, Episode 4, "The
Contest for Aaron Gold": Barry Gordon (see "The Day of the
Bullet" above) plays artistic camper Aaron Gold. Sidney Pollock (shown on the right, directed They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, The Way We Were, Absence of Malice, Tootsie,
and Out of Africa) plays camp
ceramics instructor Bernie Samuleson. Frank Maxwell (see "Cell 227"
above) plays camp owner Mr. Stern.
Season 6, Episode 5, "The
Five Forty-Eight": Zachary Scott (starred in Mildred Pierce, Flamingo Road,
The Southerner, and The Young One) plays business executive
Mr. Blake. Phyllis Thaxter (starred in Thirty
Seconds Over Tokyo, The Sea of Grass,
The Breaking Point, and Superman) plays his former secretary
Miss Dent. Raymond Bailey (see "Backward, Turn Backward" above) plays
train passenger Mr. Watkins.
Season 6, Episode 6, "Pen
Pal": Clu Gulager (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Tall Man) plays escaped convict Rod
Collins. Stanley Adams (Lt. Morse on Not
for Hire) plays police Lt. Det. Berger. Ray Montgomery (Prof. Howard Ogden
on Ramar of the Jungle) plays a
police doctor.
Season 6, Episode 7, "Outlaw
in Town": Ricardo Montalban (starred in The Kissing Bandit, On an
Island With You, The Singing Nun,
and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
and played David Valerio on Executive
Suite, Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island,
and Zach Powers on The Colbys) plays
con man Pepe Lorca. Patsy Kelly (Brigid Murphy on The Cop and the Kid) plays saloon owner Minnie Redwing. Constance
Ford (starred in A Summer Place, Home From the Hill, All Fall Down, and The
Caretakers and played Ada Lucas Davis Downs McGowan Hobson on Another World) plays saloon girl Shasta
Cooney. Arch Johnson (see "The Little Man Who Was There" above) plays
barfly Bart McCormick. Bernard Kates (Lalley on The Asphalt Jungle) plays another barfly. Addison Richards (starred
in Boys Town, They Made Her a Spy, Flying Tigers,
and The Deerslayer and played Doc
Calhoun on Trackdown and Doc Landy on
The Deputy) plays the local judge.
Roscoe Ates (Soapy Jones in 15 westerns and Ike Jenkins on Lawman) plays barfly Zack Martin.
Season 6, Episode 8, "Oh
Youth, Oh Beauty!": Gary Merrill (appeared in Twelve O'Clock High, All
About Eve, and Mysterious Island
and played Jason Tyler on Justice,
Lou Sheldon on The Reporter, and Dr.
Leonard Gillespie on Young Dr. Kildare)
plays former hurdler Cash Bentley. Patricia Breslin (Amanda Peoples Miller on The People's Choice and Laura Brooks on Peyton Place) plays his wife Louise. David
Lewis (Senator Ames on The Farmer's
Daughter, Warden Crichton on Batman,
and Edward L. Quartermaine on General
Hospital) plays country club member Jim.
Season 6, Episode 9, "The
Money": Robert Loggia (shown on the right, starred in The
Greatest Story Ever Told, Revenge of
the Pink Panther, Scarface, and Big and played T. Hewitt Edward Cat on T.H.E. Cat, Admiral Yuri Burkharin on Emerald Point, N.A.S., Nick Mancuso on Mancuso, FBI, Ben Benedict on Sunday Dinner, and Judge Thomas O'Neill
on Queens Supreme) plays bookie
employee Larry Chetnick. Doris Dowling (starred in The Lost Weekend, The Blue
Dahlia, Bitter Rice, and Othello and played Irene Adams on My Living Doll) plays his girlfriend
Angie. Will Kuluva (see "I Can Take Care of Myself" above) plays importer
Mr. Bregornick.
Season 6, Episode 10,
"Sybilla": Alexander Scourby (starred in The Big Heat, The Silver
Chalice, Giant, and The Shaggy Dog) plays 40-year-old
newlywed Horace Meade. Barbara Bel Geddes (shown on the left, starred in I Remember Mama, Blood on the
Moon, and Vertigo and played Miss
Ellie Ewing Farlow on Dallas) plays
his wife Sybilla. Madge Kennedy (appeared in Bad Company, Lust for Life,
Houseboat, and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and played Aunt Martha Bronson on Leave It to Beaver) plays house maid
Mrs. Carter. Bartlett Robinson (see "The Hero" above) plays Sybilla's
lawyer.
Season 6, Episode 11, "The
Man With Two Faces": Spring Byington (starred in Little Women, Mutiny on the
Bounty (1935), Dragonwyck, Dodsworth, Heaven Can Wait (1943), and Angels
in the Outfield and played Lily Ruskin on December Bride and Daisy Cooper on Laramie) plays purse-snatch victim Alice Wagner. Bethel Leslie
(appeared in 15 episodes of The Richard
Boone Show and played Claudia Conner on All
My Children and Ethel Crawford on One
Life to Live) plays her daughter Mabel. Stephen Dunne (Dr. Thomas Wilson on
Professional Father and Mike
Brannagan on The Brothers Brannagan)
plays police Lt. Meade.
Season 6, Episode 12, "The
Baby-Blue Expression": Richard Gaines (appeared in The Howard of Virginia, Double
Indemnity, Unconquered, and Ace in the Hole and played the judge 14
times on Perry Mason) plays rich
businessman James Barrett. Sarah Marshall (starred in The Long, Hot Summer, Lord
Love a Duck, and Dave and played
Evelyn Winslow on Miss Winslow and Son)
plays his wife Poopsie. Lennie Weinrib (see "I Can Take Care of
Myself" above) plays apartment building bellboy Harry.
Season 6, Episode 13, "The
Man Who Found the Money": Arthur Hill (shown on the right, starred in The Deep Blue Sea, Harper,
The Andromeda Strain, and A Bridge Too Far and played Owen Marshall
on Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law
and Charles Hardwick on Glitter)
plays school teacher William Benson. Rod Cameron (see the biography section for
the 1960 post on Coronado 9) plays
casino owner Mr. Newsome. R.G. Armstrong (Police Capt. McAllister on T.H.E. Cat and Lewis Vendredi on Friday the 13th) plays police Capt.
Bone. Clancy Cooper (see "The Little Man Who Was There" above) plays
newspaper advertising manager A.J. Meecham. Mark Allen (Matt Kissel on The Travels of Jamie McPheeters and Sam
Evans on Dark Shadows) plays
Newsome's henchman.
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