Mon 29 Mar 2010
A TV Review by Mike Tooney: THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR “House Guest.”
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[6] Comments
“House Guest.” An episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (Season 1, Episode 8). First air date: 8 November 1962. MacDonald Carey, Robert Sterling, Karl Swenson, Peggy McCay, Adele Mara, Robert Armstrong, Billy Mumy. Writers: Marc Brandell and Henry Slesar. Based on the novel The Golden Deed (1960) by Andrew Garve. Director: Alan Crosland, Jr.
Sally Mitchell (Peggy McCay) and her son Tony (Billy Mumy) are at the beach; for some reason Tony insists on swimming far offshore (it’s only much later that we find out why), where he nearly drowns. Only the intervention of Ray Roscoe (Robert Sterling) keeps him from going under.
Sally, needless to say, is profusely grateful to Ray and tells her husband John (MacDonald Carey), who offers Ray a temporary place to stay until he can get on his feet, financially speaking. According to Ray, he’s just out of the Air Force and looking for an orange grove to invest in.
Soon, however, Ray shows his true colors, making barely concealed passes at Sally and neglecting to find work. He even tries to coerce John into paying him to leave.
Ray’s behavior deteriorates even further when, while driving John’s car, he gets into a fender bender with George Sherston (Karl Swenson) and his wife Eve (Adele Mara). Sally can’t help but notice Ray now making passes at Eve, just like he did with her.
But George isn’t blind, either. After Ray reportedly gets too physical with Eve and she scratches his face, an enraged George confronts him just outside John’s house. The two are in a slugfest when John intervenes, trying to stop it. Then a terrible accident occurs: When John pushes him a little too hard, Ray falls against a car bumper. George checks the body for life signs.
The thing to do now would be to call the police, but George argues that it would be nearly impossible to prove it wasn’t premeditated murder, considering Ray’s sexual advances and attempts at blackmail. They all agree the best action would be to bury their “accident victim” and pretend he’s moved on.
Funny thing about Ray’s accident, though — it’s exactly according to plan ….
Karl Swenson was all over television for three decades; he usually played in Westerns (e.g., Little House on the Prairie, Bonanza, Cimarron Strip, Gunsmoke), but not always (The Mod Squad, Barnaby Jones, Hawaii Five-O, Mission: Impossible).
Robert Sterling had a few criminous credits: Johnny Eager (1941), The Get-Away (1941), and Bunco Squad (1950) — but he usually played lightweight comedy roles or good guys: the Topper TV series (1953-55), Ichabod and Me (series, 1961-62), and the first captain of the U.S.O.S Seaview in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).
As for MacDonald Carey: Shadow of a Doubt (1943), the TV series Lock Up (1959-61), four appearances on Burke’s Law, and two on Murder, She Wrote — including what some regard as the smartest and trickiest episode of that series, “Trial by Error” (1986).
Hulu: http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi886571033/
Editorial Comment: According to IMDB, Andrew Garve’s The Golden Deed was also the basis for the first episode of a summer replacement series on NBC called Moment of Fear (1 July 1960; Season 1, Episode 1). Starring in the program were Macdonald Carey, in apparently the same role, Nina Foch, and Robert Redford.
March 29th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
For me Karl Swenson will always be the man in the diner in Alfred Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS — “It’s the end of the world.”
My personal favorite MacDonald Carey role was as the charming bad guy in STREETS OF LAREDO (in the role originally played by Lloyd Nolan in THE TEXAS RANGERS). And while the critics aren’t always kind to the film I also liked him in Joseph Losey’s THESE ARE THE DAMNED, an interesting Brit. sf film.
He also starred in the worst western Republic ever made, MAN OR GUN, about a possibly mystic gun that may or may not make the man who owns it the fastest man alive. If you can listen to the incredibly pretentious and portentous theme song that is repeated endlessly throughout the film without breaking out laughing you’re a better man than I.
Ironically Robert Sterling also features in another western with a theme song that beats the viewer half to death, THE SUNDOWNERS (not to be confused with the great Robert Mitchum/Deborah Kerr film)with Robert Preston. Though even with the song it’s much better than MAN OR GUN.
March 29th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
In all fairness to Mike, he also pointed out the key role Karl Swenson had in THE BIRDS, but since he was talking about TV series at the time, I edited it out. I meant to get back to him for a small rewrite, but … I forgot.
Blame this one on me!
— Steve
March 29th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Steve
And none of us commented on the teleplay credits — Marc Brandell and Henry Slesar — or mentioned Carey’s long soap opera career. In fact this one is too loaded to comment on everything — including KING KONG’s Robert Armstrong at the tail end of a long career, or Billy Mumy at the start of a shorter one.
March 29th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
You’re right. A veritable Who’s Who!
March 30th, 2010 at 10:44 am
A memorable tv role for MacDonald Carey was an episode of THRILLER in which he was an artist who sold his soul to the devil. That’s the spisode I remember the most. That series is supposedly going to have an official release this year.
March 30th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Re THRILLER: I remember an announcement of complete box set late last year. As you say, it’s supposed to be out sometime in 2010.
But I haven’t heard anything since. Bootleg copies have been around for quite a while, but if there’s going to be an official release, I’d rather have that, if and when.