bare•bones e-zine: The Hitchcock Project-Henry Slesar Part Thirty-Seven: "First Class Honeymoon" [7.36] with an episode guide and an overview of the half-hour episodes by Slesar

Thursday, September 18, 2014

The Hitchcock Project-Henry Slesar Part Thirty-Seven: "First Class Honeymoon" [7.36] with an episode guide and an overview of the half-hour episodes by Slesar

by Jack Seabrook

"First Class Honeymoon" was one of the last episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents to air on the network as the half-hour series came to the end of its seven-year run. Unfortunately, the show, like the story on which it is based, is a rare miss for Henry Slesar.

"First-Class Honeymoon" was first published as a short story in the June 1961 issue of Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine. As the story opens, Edward Gibson is happy to be divorced from his ex-wife Gloria but unhappy to be paying alimony. His friend Karl Sebron pays a surprise visit to Edward's home. "The perennial collegiate," Sebron is dating Gloria, a situation that baffles Edward. Gloria "weighs too much, she's always sick and she talks your ear off," Karl admits. Karl tells Edward that he has gambling debts and offers to marry Gloria if Edward will pay him $10,000. Karl points out that Gloria's marriage would put a stop to Edward's alimony payments.

Edward agrees to Karl's plan and urges Karl to call Gloria right away and propose marriage. He makes the call and she accepts. Edward gives Karl the money and adds $500 for a first-class honeymoon. Later that day, Gloria's lawyer calls Edward to say that she died of a heart seizure the night before. Furious, Edward telephones Karl, only to learn that he has left the country on his way to St. Thomas. He told his maid that he was "going on a honeymoon."

Robert Webber

The last of the stories collected in A Crime for Mothers and Others to be televised, "First-Class Honeymoon" is a weak effort, only five pages long in the paperback. It occurs in one day, has two main characters plus others who are reached by telephone, and takes place in one location, Edward's home. The twist is effective but the story does not do much to build suspense or develop its characters.

Henry Slesar adapted his own story for television and it was broadcast as "First Class Honeymoon" on NBC on Tuesday, June 12, 1962. The copyright notice on the title card says 1961, so it may be that this mediocre episode was held until late in the season, when viewership was lower. The episodes before and after it are all copyright 1962.

The show is padded to fill out the time slot. It opens with Edward waking up alone in a twin bed in his beautiful Manhattan apartment. The other twin bed is empty and sheetless. Edward reviews his divorce decree and demonstrates joy by letting out an Indian war whoop, shadow-boxing, using the "Hers" towel in the bathroom to shine his slippers, and jumping on his ex-wife's mattress to wipe the bottom of his feet.

Robert Webber and Marjorie Bennett
as Mrs. Phelan

The second scene is new, and features a morning exchange in the kitchen between Edward and his maid, Mrs. Phelan, who is an avid baseball fan. They share a dislike for Gloria and Edward takes a beer and waters the plants with it. Scene three is also padding, as Edward receives a visit from Abner Munro, a representative of the True Art Galleries. Abner delivers a large portrait of Gloria that she had commissioned and charged to Edward's account before their divorce. Munro demands payment of $2500 for the painting, which depicts a severe-looking woman with her arms crossed. Munro declares that the painting is by Raphael O'Connor, "one of America's foremost portrait painters."

The show then picks up where the story left off with the arrival of Edward's friend, now renamed Carl Seabrook. He knows that Edward is paying $2000 per month in alimony. Edward mentions that Carl used to date an attractive brunette named Marian before he took up with Gloria. Edward takes $5000 from his safe and gives it to Carl, promising to get the other $5000 (plus an extra $500) the next day. This makes a bit more sense than the story, where we are never told how Edward happens to have so much ready cash available at a moment's notice.

Jeremy Slate, Elaine Martone as Marian,
and Kim Hamilton as the maid

Carl calls Gloria and suggests a meeting that night, rather than proposing over the phone as he does in the story. He lets Edward hear a woman's laugh on the other end of the line (that of his girlfriend Marian?). In the show's final scene, instead of receiving a phone call from a lawyer, Edward pulls his convertible up in front of Gloria's apartment building and gets out to go inside and deliver the portrait. In the lobby, he meets the doorman, who tells him about Gloria's death. Edward then uses the lobby phone to call Carl but gets a maid. At this point, the show seems to stop making sense as it delivers the final twist. The maid, in a beautiful apartment that presumably belongs to the struggling Carl, tells Edward that Carl has gone to the airport and said he was "going on a honeymoon." Yet Carl and Marion are there with her, suitcases in hand, laughing and instructing her on what to tell Edward. After she hangs up the phone, the maid says goodbye and addresses them as "Mr. Seabrook, Mrs. Seabrook," suggesting that they are married and that they really are going on a honeymoon.

Jeremy Slate

Did Carl get married to Marian in the few hours since he left Edward's apartment? Why does Carl need money if he has such a nice apartment, a maid, and a pretty girlfriend? How far will they go on $5000? Do they intend to return and, if so, won't Carl be caught right away? Things get even more confusing with Alfred Hitchcock's closing comments. He says that "while in St. Thomas, Mr. Seabrook met a beautiful girl, fell madly in love with her, and she swindled him out of all his money." This remark seems to have been written based on the conclusion of the short story rather than the teleplay, since it does not seem to fit what happened at the end of the show.

"First Class Honeymoon" is directed by Don Weis without any particular distinction. The performances and especially the background music make it clear from the start that it is meant to be humorous (like other weak Slesar episodes, such as "The Right Price" and "Burglar Proof") but it falls flat. Robbert Webber, playing the role of Edward Gibson, does his best with the material, but Jeremy Slate, who was so good in Slesar's "One Grave Too Many," walks through his role, and the colorful characters of Edward's baseball-loving maid and the stuffy art dealer just seem added to fill out the time slot.

Robert Webber and James Flavin as the doorman

Don Weis (1922-2000), started in movies in 1951 but from 1954 to 1990 worked mostly in episodic television. He directed The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953) and episodes of The Twilight Zone, Batman, The Night Stalker, and many others. His five episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents also included "Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid." An interesting article about Weis's career was recently published here, on the Film Comment website.

Playing Edward is Robert Webber (1924-1989), who was in movies and on TV from 1950 to 1989. He was a juror in 12 Angry Men (1957) and appeared many times on TV, including episodes of Thriller and The Outer Limits. He was on Alfred Hitchcock Presents three times, including "Burglar Proof" and "A True Account." A nice survey of his career may be found here.

John Abbott

Jeremy Slate (1926-2006) plays Carl. He was born Robert Perham and participated in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. He had a long career on TV, from 1952 to 2006, and was in movies from 1959 to 1992. He appeared on the Hitchcock series five times.

Finally, John Abbott (1905-1996) was born John Kefford in London. His movie career began in 1936 and he started on TV in 1952. His voice and face were unmistakable and he appeared on Thriller and Star Trek, as well as on this single episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. To me, he always seems to portray characters who put on airs but have a core of seediness.

Note: In The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion, there is an error concerning this episode that has been continued online. In the 1980s version of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, an episode titled "Deadly Honeymoon" was broadcast on April 13, 1986. The title card says that it was based on a story by Henry Slesar, but that story was not "First-Class Honeymoon," as the plots are nothing alike. Instead, the teleplay was based on a radio play that Slesar wrote under the same title ("Deadly Honeymoon") for the CBS Radio Mystery Theater and which aired on January 24, 1974.

Sources:
Slesar, Henry. "First-Class Honeymoon." 1961. A Crime for Mothers and Others. NY: Avon, 1962. 108-12. Print.

"Galactic Central." Galactic Central. Web. 7 Sept. 2014.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. Churchville, MD: OTR Pub., 2001. Print.

IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 7 Sept. 2014.

"First Class Honeymoon." Alfred Hitchcock Presents. NBC. 12 June 1962. Television.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 7 Sept. 2014.

Portrait of Gloria

AN OVERVIEW OF THE HENRY SLESAR EPISODES ON ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS

Henry Slesar's contributions to Alfred Hitchcock Presents began in season three with "Heart of Gold" (10/27/57), which was adapted from a short story by Slesar. He had four stories adapted that season and four more in season four, with all of the teleplays being written by other writers.

He began adapting his own stories for the small screen in season five with "Forty Detectives Later" (4/24/60), but in that season he only adapted two of his five stories that were produced. In season six, he adapted ten of the eleven stories of his that were produced. One of the episodes ("The Horseplayer," 3/14/61) was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Of those stories, three had not been published before airing. Season seven saw Slesar involved in thirteen episodes in all. He adapted eleven of his own stories for the screen (two had not been published before airing), he wrote a twelfth original teleplay, and his thirteenth contribution was to collaborate with Bryce Walton on adapting a story by J. W. Aaron.

The first four seasons of Alfred Hitchcock Presents may be viewed free online at Hulu.com. Seasons five through seven may be viewed for free online at YouTube. The first six seasons are also available on DVD from Universal. Season seven is not yet available on DVD.

In all, Henry Slesar was involved, either as writer of the short story or as writer of the teleplay, in thirty-seven episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, with twenty-four of those coming in seasons six and seven. His work was a major influence on the last two seasons of the half-hour series. As the series switched to the hour-long format in the fall of 1962, his contributions would change to suit the changing needs of the show.

Henry Slesar on Alfred Hitchcock Presents Episode Guide

Episode title-“Heart of Gold” [3.4]

Broadcast date-27 Oct. 1957

Teleplay by-James P. Cavanagh

Based on-“M Is For the Many” by Slesar

First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine March 1957

Thursday, September 18, 2014

The Hitchcock Project-Henry Slesar Part Thirty-Seven: "First Class Honeymoon" [7.36] with an episode guide and an overview of the half-hour episodes by Slesar

2 comments: