tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post8539570043166984995..comments2024-03-27T05:54:38.797-07:00Comments on <i>bare</i>•bones e-zine: The Hitchcock Project-Robert C. Dennis Part Four: "The Older Sister" [1.17]John Scolerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14082147756474762000noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-59487361419651767882018-05-25T06:13:58.345-07:002018-05-25T06:13:58.345-07:00Good points, John. The first season definitely has...Good points, John. The first season definitely has a different feeling than later seasons. It seems like they were freed from the constraints of live TV and were able to make little films, though they used many of the same stories that had been kicking around radio & TV anthologies for years.Jack Seabrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216640325305820140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-18341561402915926872018-05-25T00:30:40.889-07:002018-05-25T00:30:40.889-07:00I watched The Older Sister again this A.M., Jack, ...I watched The Older Sister again this A.M., Jack, and it played well, had a depth of feeling that seemed closer to literature, almost like Willa Cather or Edith Wharton might have written at the turn of the last century; and not necessarily true to life, just a short story about a couple of sisters living in a New England mill town at the tail end of the 19th century, and how they are haunted by a crime one of them was accused of and acquitted for. <br /><br />Of course it's all about Lizzie, but the "speculative" version might have worked nicely, too. The basically serious acting in this one,--Polly Rowles excepted, and I think she was just grand as a pushy west coast newspaperwoman--gave the story an air of tragedy that went beyond the actual event it was based on and played out as more drama than melodrama. There's a haunted quality to the episode that makes it play differently from most other Hitchcock entres.john kenrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00710666533854296630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-37813402774623181352015-09-11T06:56:28.841-07:002015-09-11T06:56:28.841-07:00Good point, Grant. By the end of the show, I felt ...Good point, Grant. By the end of the show, I felt sorry for Lizzie.Jack Seabrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216640325305820140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-81362592669535747472015-09-10T18:38:16.128-07:002015-09-10T18:38:16.128-07:00I seldom get caught up in true crime stories, but ...I seldom get caught up in true crime stories, but this one is a big exception, and I've always liked this "take" on it. <br />Yes, Carmen Matthews really holds it together. And of course this version has Lizzie becoming a martyr to Emma, two different times.Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-22018665322487793502015-09-07T06:30:29.331-07:002015-09-07T06:30:29.331-07:00Thanks, John! I agree with you about Mathews. Lorr...Thanks, John! I agree with you about Mathews. Lorring may receive top billing but Mathews holds the show together.Jack Seabrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216640325305820140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-31294416478327120132015-09-07T01:53:08.667-07:002015-09-07T01:53:08.667-07:00Thanks for the detailed review of the Hitchcock ha...Thanks for the detailed review of the Hitchcock half-hour The Older Sister. I've only seen it once, decades ago, but it stayed with me. It's mostly talk but the dialogue sort of is the action in this one. I agree that the period atmosphere was well done. Carmen Mathews gave an excellent performance, I thought.john kenrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00710666533854296630noreply@blogger.com