The Hitchcock Project-Jerry Sohl Part Three: A Secret Life [6.33] and wrapup

by Jack Seabrook

James Howgill thinks that his marriage to Marjorie has grown dull, so he tells her that he wants out. She calmly responds that she does not believe in divorce, but he insists that he is leaving both her and their house in London. After a brief holiday in Italy, James returns to London and settles in a small apartment. A few months pass and he consults Johnstone, his lawyer, about a divorce. Finding no legal basis for one, Johnstone suggests hiring a detective to watch Marjorie to see if she is having an affair.

Howgill hires a detective named Bates, whose men begin to watch Marjorie. Soon, they report that she has an active social life, much to her husband's surprise. As the days pass and the reports of her dates, dinners, and shows pile up, James begins to feel jealous. Finally, when Marjorie is seen with notorious international playboy Lucio Ambrosini, James has had enough and confronts his wife.

"Secret Life" was
first published here

When he asks her where she has been, she claims that she took a holiday and stayed with friends in Scotland. James is certain that she is lying but will not confront her because he does not want to reveal that he hired a detective. Once again, he finds her tantalizing and feels protective of her. For her part, Marjorie decides not to tell James that she rented the house to a film actress while she was away, concerned that he is too strait-laced to understand.

"Secret Life" by Nicholas Monsarrat is a delightful short story with a surprise ending that is impossible to predict. As the reports from the detectives grow wilder and wilder, the reader wonders what is going on; is Marjorie really leading this busy social life? Is she doing it to win back James? Or is it some sort of plot concocted by the lawyer to make James jealous and push him back into his wife's arms? If so, why? The solution, that the detectives were reporting on the activities of an entirely different woman, is perfect, as is the final scene where both James and Marjorie hide the truth from each other and return to their prior state of happiness.

Ronald Howard as James

The challenge in adapting "Secret Life" for the small screen lies in how to show the woman living a busy social life and dating various men without revealing that she is not Marjorie. On the page, this is no problem, but on the screen, it presents difficulties. Do you avoid showing her face and cast two actresses who resemble each other at a distance? Do you delete the initial scene featuring James and Marjorie, so when the viewer sees her with other men, they don't realize that it's not her? Or do you portray the whole thing through the reports of the detective, without showing the woman at all?

Unfortunately, Jerry Sohl's adaptation of the short story for Alfred Hitchcock Presents removes much of its charm, resulting in a rather dull and unsatisfying episode. Musical stings set a comedic tone right away and the first scene follows that of the story, with narrative replaced by dialogue. Ronald Howard's performance as James is awkward, as if he doesn't know what balance to strike between pathos and humor, and this makes his character's behavior seem unreal and inexplicable.

Mary Murphy as Estelle

There is a dissolve to the second scene, which opens with a title card announcing that the location is Acapulco, Mexico; the London setting of the story has been moved to Los Angeles, so when James takes a short vacation, it's to Mexico rather than Italy. In the story, a brief affair with a French girl is mentioned, but in the show, this relationship is expanded. James is shown dancing with Estelle, a younger woman, and they end up lying together on the sand. Her youth and vivacity contrast with staid, older Marjorie and also with James: Ronald Howard was 43, Patricia Donohue (Marjorie) was 36, and Mary Murphy (Estelle) was 30. Sohl's teleplay consolidates James's affairs, both in Italy and in London, into one continuing relationship with Estelle, who mentions his wife. This spurs James to see his lawyer on returning home.

The scene with the lawyer is similar to the one in the story, but in the next scene, Bates meets James at the art gallery James runs; the detective assures his new client that he is a private investigator, not a private eye, remarking that "'you mustn't confuse the genuine article with what passes for him on television.'" Arrangements are made and we next see Bates standing watch outside the Howgill house, wearing a knowing smile as he observes a fancy convertible parked in front after dark. Bates reports to Howgill in person at the gallery, rather than in writing, and at this point, the show veers away from the short story.

Revealing for 1961 TV!

We next see James at Estelle's apartment, where he seems to be a regular visitor. Though his girlfriend is younger than his wife and is wearing as revealing a top as an actress could wear on TV in 1961, James seems bored and distant, as he did in the first scene with Marjorie. Instead of having James gradually become jealous as he reads report after report, he demonstrates that he is losing interest in Estelle as he becomes jealous in regard to Marjorie. In the story, he is alone and thinks his wife is seeing other men; in the show, he is carrying on an affair of his own.

James claims to have a late appointment at the gallery and leaves Estelle at her apartment to head to his house, where he sees many parked cars and hears loud music coming from inside. Before he can enter, Bates calls out to him and tells him that the convertible belongs to "'Niles Brandon, the actor'"--the short story's European aspects have been Americanized. James returns to Estelle's apartment and is distracted; she confronts him about his lie that he was going to the gallery. There is a brief cut back to Bates, who smiles knowingly as he sees the lights go out in the Howgill house, checks his watch and leaves, and we return to Estelle's apartment, where she is angry and James is preoccupied. He receives a phone call from Bates and Estelle throws him out and ends their relationship, though when he leaves without complaint, she looks both surprised and disappointed.

Patricia Donohue as Marjorie

In the morning, James returns home. Marjorie says that she was visiting a friend in San Francisco (not Scotland) and he kisses her passionately. On a subsequent day, flowers are delivered to Marjorie with a loving note from James and she answers the door to admit Miss Perry, the film actress who had rented the house. Here, Sohl's teleplay makes a fatal error in changing the events of the short story. Miss Perry, who has a similar build and hairstyle to Marjorie, comes to pick up a cigarette lighter that she left behind. As the women chat, James emerges and meets the actress. Marjorie tells him that Miss Perry sublet the house for the whole time she was in San Francisco and there is a musical sting as the truth dawns on James. Miss Perry leaves and James confirms the truth with Marjorie, agreeing that it was lucky that she was able to sublet the house while she was away.

Arte Johnson as Bates

This change in the surprise ending removes the short story's charm. In the story, James believes that he has good reason to be jealous and possessive of the wife he suddenly finds desirable again, in part because he thinks that her personality is different from the one with which he had grown bored. Marjorie keeps the knowledge of the sublet to herself, not because she understands that it brought James back to her, but because she thinks that he would not approve. In this way, the married couple reunite and are happy once again. In the TV show, Marjorie has no concerns with telling James about the sublet and, when he discovers what was really going on at his house, he appears somewhat crestfallen but admits that it led to a reconciliation. The result is much less satisfying for the viewer.

"Secret Life" was published in the March 7, 1959 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Retitled "A Secret Life," it was adapted for television and broadcast on Alfred Hitchcock Presents on NBC on Tuesday, May 30, 1961, near the end of the show's sixth season. Nicholas Monsarrat (1910-1979), who wrote the short story, was an English author who served in WWII and who wrote novels beginning in 1934, including The Cruel Sea (1951) and The Tribe That Lost Its Head (1956). He also wrote short stories from 1943 to 1974. His works were adapted for film and television, including two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Addison Richards as Johnson

Don Weis (1922-2000) directed the TV version. He 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 published here.

Starring as James Howgill is Ronald Howard (1918-1996), son of British actor Leslie Howard (Gone with the Wind). Born in London, he was on screen from 1936 to 1975 and starred as Sherlock Holmes on a TV series that ran in the 1954-55 season. He was on Thriller three times and Alfred Hitchcock Presents twice; his other appearance was a superb performance in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."

Meri Welles as Miss Perry

Mary Murphy (1931-2011) receives second billing as Estelle. She was on screen from 1951 to 1975 and appeared in The Wild One (1953). She was in an episode of The Outer Limits and this was her only role on the Hitchcock show.

Playing Marjorie is Patricia Donohue (1925-2012), whose career on screen was mostly spent on TV from 1956 to 1984. Born Patricia Mahar, she was on the Hitchcock show twice ("Dear Uncle George" was her other appearance) and on Night Gallery twice, but her most memorable role was as the nasty wife on the classic Twilight Zone episode, "A Stop at Willoughby."

In smaller roles:

• Arte Johnson (1929-2019) as Bates; he served in Korea and then had a long career on screen from 1954 to 2005. He was also on episodes of The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery and did voice work in cartoons, but he is most famous for his work on the TV series Laugh-In from 1967-1971, for which he won an Emmy in 1969.
• Addison Richards (1902-1964) as Johnson, the lawyer; he had countless small roles in film and on TV from 1933 to 1964 and was in one other episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
• Meri Welles (1939-1973) as Miss Perry, the actress; she was on screen from 1959 to 1970  and had a role in Little Shop of Horrors (1960) as the blonde whom Seymour meets by a park bench, accidentally knocks out with a rock, and then feeds to his carnivorous plant. She was in three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "Madame Mystery."

Florence MacMichael is also credited with appearing in this episode; The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion says she plays Mrs. Hackett, but I see no such character in the show. Perhaps she has a bit part as the Howgills' maid, Nancy?

Read "Secret Life" online here, watch "A Secret Life" online here, or order the DVD here.

"Secret Life" was adapted once more for television by Ray Russell and broadcast as "The Reconciliation" on Tales of the Unexpected on September 16, 1984. This time, the teleplay follows the short story much more closely and the show is more entertaining than the Alfred Hitchcock Presents version. The humorous elements are almost completely removed, there is no character like Estelle, and the actress does not appear at the end to tip James off as to what has happened. Better still, the setting is England, as it is in the story, and James's actions are believable. In the final scene, his wife receives a telephone call and learns that James had a detective watching her; we hear the voice on the other end of the line and realize that another woman had rented the house. As in the short story, the wife keeps her counsel and is happy to reconcile with her husband without him being any the wiser. The entire episode is well done and clearly was adapted from the short story, not the prior TV version. Watch the Tales of the Unexpected version here and judge for yourself!

Sources:

The FICTIONMAGS Index, http://www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/0start.htm.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub., 2001. 

IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com.

Monsarrat, Nicholas. "Secret Life." The Saturday Evening Post, 7 Mar. 1959, pp. 22-23, 90, 92.

"A Secret Life." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 6, episode 33, NBC, 30 May 1961.

Stephensen-Payne, Phil. Galactic Central, http://philsp.com.

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://www.wikipedia.org.

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Jerry Sohl on Alfred Hitchcock Presents: An Overview and Episode Guide

Jerry Sohl wrote four episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that aired between November 1959 and May 1961, two in season five and two in season six. "Dead Weight" is a strong episode with a tight script, while "Not the Running Type" adopts a story by Henry Slesar and leans toward comedy. The clever twist may be why Norman Lloyd said this was one of the series' most popular episodes.

"The Doubtful Doctor" is also a comedic episode, where Sohl improves upon a very good short story by removing extraneous characters and focusing on the relationship between the two main characters. "A Secret Life" is a disappointment, in which Sohl added comedic elements to a more serious short story and made it less satisfying.

None of Sohl's four episodes are among the series' best, but "Dead Weight" and "The Doubtful Doctor" are worth watching.

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EPISODE GUIDE-JERRY SOHL ON ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS

Episode title-"Dead Weight" [5.9]
Broadcast date-22 November 1959
Teleplay by-Jerry Sohl
Based on an unpublished story by Herb Golden

First print appearance-none
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-yes

Episode title-"Not the Running Type" [5.19]
Broadcast date-7 February 1960
Teleplay by-Jerry Sohl
Based on "Not the Running Type" by Henry Slesar

First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 1959
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-yes

Episode title-"The Doubtful Doctor" [6.2]
Broadcast date-4 October 1960
Teleplay by-Jerry Sohl
Based on "The Doubtful Doctor" by Louis Paul

First print appearance-The Saturday Evening Post, 2 April 1960
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-yes

Episode title-"A Secret Life" [6.33]
Broadcast date-31 May 1961
Teleplay by-Jerry Sohl
Based on "Secret Life" by Nicholas Monsarrat

First print appearance-The Saturday Evening Post, 7 March 1959
Notes
Watch episode-here
Available on DVD?-yes

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "The Better Bargain" here!

Listen to Annie and Kathryn discuss "Flight to the East" here!

In two weeks: Our look at episodes written by Leigh Brackett begins with "Death of a Cop," starring Victor Jory!

The Hitchcock Project-Jerry Sohl Part Two: The Doubtful Doctor [6.2]

by Jack Seabrook

The third episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents to air with a teleplay by Jerry Sohl was "The Doubtful Doctor," which was based on a short story of the same name by Louis Paul that was published in the April 2, 1960 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

The short story begins as a man named Ralph sits in the office of Dr. Collins and tells a strange story. He had had a bad day, from cold coffee at breakfast to getting drenched by rain on his way to work. He arrived at the office to learn that his secretary was leaving to get married, and he was handed a summons telling him he was being sued over a fender bender. Things went from bad to worse, and when he got home, his wife Lucille had also had a tough day. The Hornsbys arrived for dinner and Lucille burned muffins in the oven, causing smoke to pour out of the kitchen window. At bedtime, Ralph spent an hour calming baby Rosemarie before returning to bed, only to get into an argument with Lucille. He took tranquilizers to go to sleep and told his wife that he wondered "'how he would go about things if he had it to do all over again.'"

Illustration from The Saturday Evening Post

Ralph awoke to find himself back in his bachelor apartment, two and a half years before. He soon discovered that the good old days weren't quite so good. He was overdue on his rent payments, and when he called his Uncle Phil for a loan, which had been gladly given the first time around, he was turned down. Ralph discovered that he had little money, was overdrawn at the bank, and even his mother was mad at him! Suddenly realizing that his life had changed for the better when he met Lucille, who was working as a receptionist, he took a cab to the Eagle Soap Company, only to discover that she didn't know who he was. Her name wasn't even Lucille anymore; it was Betty!

"The Doubtful Doctor"
was first published here.

Ralph persisted and she agreed to have lunch with him, but when he told her that they would marry and have a daughter, she called him crazy and told him to see Dr. Collins. That afternoon, Ralph called Ted Parkinson, his business partner in his other life, only to be rebuffed again. The next day, Ralph's mother urged him to move back in with her, and he couldn't even get his old job as a copy writer back. Distraught, Ralph walked to the river and tried to give a little boy his last $2.10. The boy insisted on giving him a few baseball cards in exchange, and Ralph jumped into the freezing water.

He emerged to find himself back where he started, with Lucille taking a wet towel off of his head. Certain that he had awakened from a nightmare, Ralph was thrilled with his life, even with all of its problems. His story finished, Dr. Collins assures him that it was just a hallucination brought on by the tranquilizers. There's only one problem: why does Ralph have wet baseball cards in his pocket?

"The Doubtful Doctor" is an entertaining story, very much in keeping with the type of fiction published in the slick magazines in the postwar years. The plot recalls the film, It's a Wonderful Life, with a man only realizing how happy he is when he is presented with an alternate path that his life might have taken. The gentle fantasy also recalls the short stories of Jack Finney, such as "Second Chance." The surprise ending, with the baseball cards casting doubt on the simple explanation that Ralph had a hallucination, is one that has been used many times.

Dick York as Ralph

Louis Paul (ca. 1902-1970) was the pen name of Leroi Piacet, an American author who wrote 13 novels and many short stories from the early 1930s to the early 1960s, usually published in the slicks such as Esquire and The Saturday Evening Post. He won an O. Henry Award in 1934 and taught short story writing at Columbia University in the 1940s and 1950s. Six TV shows were adapted from his works between 1955 and 1960; "The Doubtful Doctor" was the last.

The TV version aired on NBC on Tuesday, October 4, 1960, as the second episode of the sixth season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. At first glance, Jerry Sohl's teleplay seems to follow Paul's short story closely, but a more detailed examination reveals that Sohl removed extraneous characters and events in order to focus on the relationship between Ralph and Lucille.

The location of events is set as Manhattan in the first two establishing shots, a view of the skyline and a dissolve to a tall building, seen at first from sidewalk level, as a crowd of people rush by. The camera pans up the side of the building and there is a dissolve to the inside of the doctor's office, where the doctor speaks with Ralph. While the short story plants the seed of the surprise ending in the first paragraph, where Ralph says that the contents of an envelope are the reason for his visit, this is left out of the TV version, eliminating any suspense or question in the viewer's mind on that topic.

Gena Rowlands as Lucille

Instead, Ralph mentions that he had a similar experience once before, and this becomes the reason for his visit to the doctor's office; what he thought was a strange, one-time experience has become more concerning now that it has happened again. Some of the long list of problematic events from Ralph's day have been removed in order to streamline the story and, as Ralph begins to tell the doctor about his evening, the screen blurs and dissolves to a flashback sequence, allowing the events to be shown rather than told. For the most part, the next scene follows the story closely, even down to the dialogue. Dinner with the Hornsbys is deleted, as is the fire in the oven. In the story, Ralph takes tranquilizers to go to sleep, but there are no drugs in the TV show, perhaps due to self-censorship.

While in the story Ralph falls asleep, in the TV show he resumes his voiceover narration and stands up as if in a trance. He leaves the apartment and gets on the elevator. The doors close and there is a dissolve to a shot of Ralph sitting in his old apartment. The wall calendar says that it's December 1958 and Ralph's narration says that he's gone back two and a half years, which means that the scenes in the present take place in July 1961, even though the show was most likely filmed in the summer of 1960 and aired at the start of October of that year. Ralph stays put and Mr. Treadwell, the superintendent, comes to the door to demand the rent; this part of the show is an example of how Sohl streamlines events from the story, where Ralph goes outside and heads to his office. The story's three phone calls are eliminated and, instead, Ralph heads right to the Eagle Soap Co. to find Lucille.

John Zaremba as the doctor

Happily, her name in the show is Lucille, so the confusion with her being named Betty in this alternate reality is also eliminated. The interactions between the two characters are compressed, and instead of Ralph waiting for Lucille at the end of the work day, going home, and returning the next day, as in the story, he merely visits her in the morning and waits for her at lunchtime. The doctor is a psychiatrist, rather than the family doctor who delivered Lucille's baby. The scene in the restaurant is particularly good, and Gena Rowlands, as Lucille, gives a terrific performance, reacting to what Ralph says with a mixture of embarrassment, sympathy, and pity. In the story, Ralph mentions a mole on her upper thigh, but on TV, it's on her shoulder, and thus less suggestive.

The events that follow are also simplified. A phone call to Ted Parkinson is removed, and instead of spending the night at home alone, calling his mother the next morning, and being turned down when he tries to get his old job back, Ralph walks from the restaurant to an abandoned lot, where he sees a sign that says his future apartment building will be built there. In the story, he visits his apartment house and the doorman confirms that someone else lives in his apartment. In the TV show, Ralph's visit to the construction site and vacant lot underlines his predicament and the sadness of his life, contrasting a lot littered with rubble with his comfortable apartment.

Michael Burns as Sidney

Ralph sits down at the construction site and meets Sidney, the boy who is not given a name in the story. This scene is extended; Sidney is friendly toward Ralph and offers to play catch. He wears a baseball glove and has a ball, so when he pulls a handful of baseball cards from his pocket to sell to Ralph, it's in keeping with his love of the game. His friendly, open nature contrasts with Ralph's depression.

Ralph leaps into the river, but this time, instead of returning to the present to find Lucille holding a wet towel on his head, there is a cut from an overhead shot of the river to an extreme closeup of Ralph's face being pelted by water. The camera quickly pulls back to reveal that Ralph is in the shower. Throughout the show, these transitional scenes are accompanied by Ralph's voiceover narration. In the story, Ralph goes to sleep and awakens the next morning, but in the show, the events all seem to take place in a short time over the course of one evening. In the story, Lucille says: "'You weren't in such a loving mood last night,'" while in the show, she says, "'You weren't so loving before that shower.'"

The final scene in the doctor's office finds Ralph explaining that the first time something like this happened to him, he was in his second year of high school and he was worried about an exam. The doctor tells Ralph that he was worried right before both events and chalks them up to anxiety that caused him to flee into a world of fantasy. This replaces the story's explanation that drugs were the cause of Ralph's experience. The last lines of the story return to the envelope that Ralph mentioned in the first paragraph, closing the circle and satisfying the reader's curiosity. In the TV version, Ralph has not mentioned the envelope before, so when he pulls it out it is unexpected. The show ends with a closeup of the doctor, looking puzzled.

Joseph Julian as Treadwell

"The Doubtful Doctor" is a gentle fantasy made enjoyable by strong performances by the two lead actors, a well-structured teleplay by Jerry Sohl, and confident direction by Arthur Hiller, who keeps the story moving at a rapid pace. There is no crime or murder in sight, so the story's surprise ending with the baseball cards must have been what attracted the show's producers to it. In essence, it's a two-character show. Dick York is completely believable as Ralph, while Gena Rowlands gives depth to her character in a short time. The two are convincing as a married couple and equally convincing as a man and a woman who doesn't know him. The three other characters with speaking roles make only brief appearances and the focus is on the husband and wife, showing Ralph's gradual realization that his happy, successful life is due in large part to his marriage to Lucille.

"The Doubtful Doctor" is directed by Arthur Hiller (1923-2016). Born in Canada, Hiller had a long career as a director, from 1954 to 2006, starting out in TV and ending up in film. He was president of the Director's Guild of America from 1989 to 1993 and he directed 17 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "Disappearing Trick." He also directed three episodes of Thriller and the classic comedy, The In-Laws (1979).

Ralph Smiley as Jimmy

Dick York (1928-1992) stars as Ralph. York was born in Indiana and his screen career lasted from 1953 to 1984. Plagued by terrible back pain caused by an injury sustained on the set of a film, he nevertheless appeared in seven episodes of the Hitchcock show, as well as being on The Twilight Zone and Thriller. York's most famous role, however, was as Darrin Stevens on Bewitched, the popular situation comedy where he co-starred with Elizabeth Montgomery from 1964 to 1969, when he quit the show due to his back problems.

Gena Rowlands (1930- ) plays Lucille and gives her usual strong performance. Rowlands was on screen from 1954 to 2017, often working with her husband, John Cassavetes, and she received an honorary Academy Award in 2015. She also won three Emmy Awards and appeared in four episodes of the Hitchcock series, including "Murder Case," with Cassavetes.

John Zaremba (1908-1986) plays the doctor; he started out as a journalist at the Chicago Tribune before becoming an actor. He was in movies from 1950 and on TV from 1954, including regular roles on I Led Three Lives (1953-1956) and The Time Tunnel (1966-1967). He appeared on The Twilight Zone and Batman and he was on the Hitchcock show eleven times, including "The Kind Waitress."

In smaller roles:

• Michael Burns (1947- ) as Sidney; he appeared on TV and film from 1960 to 1986 and was a regular on It's a Man's World (1962-1963) and Wagon Train (1963-1965). He was also seen on Thriller and he was on two other episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "Special Delivery." Burns grew up to be a history professor and writer.
• Joseph Julian (1910-1982) as Mr. Treadwell, who comes to Ralph's door to demand payment of the rent; he was a busy voice actor on radio for decades, from the 1930s to the 1980s, and he appeared onscreen from 1950 to 1970, mostly on TV. Like so many other actors on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, he was a victim of the blacklist.
• Ralph Smiley (1916-1977) as Jimmy, the waiter at lunch who doesn't recognize Ralph or Lucille; he was on screen from 1951 to 1977 and also appeared in "A Piece of the Action" on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

Read "The Doubtful Doctor" online here, watch the TV show here, or order the DVD here. Read the GenreSnaps review here.

Sources:

"Archives West Finding Aid." Joseph Julian Papers - Archives West, https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv347648#:~:text=Joseph%20Julian%20was%20born%20in,in%20the%20Red%20Channels%20list. 

"The Doubtful Doctor." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 6, episode 2, 4 Oct. 1960. 

The FICTIONMAGS Index, http://www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/0start.htm. 

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub., 2001. 

IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com/. 

"Louis Paul, Author of 13 Novels, Dead." The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Feb. 1970, https://www.nytimes.com/1970/02/17/archives/louis-paul-author-of-13-novels-dead.html. 

Paul, Louis. "The Doubtful Doctor." The Saturday Evening Post, 2 Apr. 1960, pp. 25, 55, 57–60., https://doi.org/https://archive.org/details/sim_saturday-evening-post_1960-04-02_232_40/page/n26/mode/1up?view=theater. 

Stephensen-Payne, Phil. Galactic Central, http://philsp.com/. 

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://www.wikipedia.org/.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "Jonathan" here!

Listen to Annie and Kathryn discuss "The Doubtful Doctor" here!

In two weeks: Our look at episodes written by Jerry Sohl wraps up with "A Secret Life," starring Ronald Howard!

The Hitchcock Project-Jerry Sohl Part One: Dead Weight [5.9]

by Jack Seabrook

Jerry Sohl (1913-2002) wrote the teleplays for four episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that aired from 1959 to 1961. After serving in the Army Air Corps in WWII, he wrote for a newspaper and began to publish short stories in the early 1950s. In 1959, he began to write for TV, and this continued for two decades, during which time he wrote for shows such as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Star Trek. He was also a novelist, writing books for three decades, mostly in the science fiction genre. His last novel was published in 1983 and his last story in 1985.

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Jerry Sohl

Sohl's first teleplay to air was the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode, "Dead Weight," which premiered on Sunday, November 22, 1959. The script was based on an unpublished story by Herb Golden (1914(?)-2005), who spent 14 years as the motion picture editor at Variety before becoming a vice president at United Artists in 1959, the year this episode was filmed.

The show begins on Lover's Lane, as ad executive Courtney Masterson is parked above the lights of a city in his expensive convertible, passionately kissing his much younger girlfriend, Peg. The couple's lovemaking is interrupted suddenly by a man who holds a flashlight and a gun; he is Rudy Stickney, a young criminal who speaks in hip lingo and orders them out of the car. Rudy removes Courtney's wallet from his pocket and mocks his name, forcing the older man to open the car's trunk and remove its contents, including a couple of bags and a set of golf clubs. When Peg tries to run, Courtney leaps on Rudy, who drops his gun. Rudy pulls out a switchblade, but Courtney picks up the gun and suddenly the roles are reversed. Courtney forces Rudy into the car's trunk and closes the lid before driving off with Peg.

Joseph Cotten as Courtney Masterson

Quickly realizing that taking Rudy to the police station would create bad publicity, not to mention revealing to his wife that he was out with another woman, Courtney fails to mention his trunk's contents when a motorcycle cop pulls up alongside him at a traffic light. Peg tells Courtney that he should have killed Rudy when he had the chance; Courtney takes her home and then drives back to Lover's Lane and lets Rudy out of the trunk at gunpoint. The criminal quickly turns on Courtney, suggesting that he will blackmail the ad executive in regard to his relationship with Peg, so when Rudy begins to walk away, Courtney shoots and kills him.

Julie Adams as Peg

At the police station, Courtney claims that Rudy was a hitchhiker whom he picked up; the detective seems suspicious of the story, but Courtney explains that he grabbed for the gun, there was a fight, and the gun went off. The detective reveals Rudy's identity and criminal past, and before long, Courtney's actions draw praise and he is taken home. He tells his wife the same story that he told the police and the next morning Courtney is back at the office, where he is hailed as a hero. Unfortunately, waiting to speak to him is a private detective named Lester Eldridge, who explains that Courtney's wife was suspicious and hired him to follow her husband. He saw everything that happened at Lover's Lane and produces Rudy's switchblade. But Lester has an idea: instead of reporting to Courtney's wife or to the police, perhaps he and Courtney can come to an arrangement.

Don Gordon as Rudy Stickney

"Dead Weight" is a strong episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that benefits from a tight script, good performances, and crisp direction. There is wonderful lighting throughout the show; first, on Lover's Lane, which is convincingly remote and shadowy; then, as Courtney and Peg drive through town, with excellent rear-projection shots; and finally, at the police station, where harsh lighting makes it look like Courtney is being interrogated for murder. The four main characters all have serious ethical problems:

• Courtney cheats on his wife, murders Rudy, and lies to the police.
• Peg has an affair with a married man, suggests that Courtney kill Rudy, and supports covering up the initial incident and not going to the police.
• Rudy is a career criminal who holds up Courtney and Peg, threatens physical and sexual violence, and hints at future blackmail.
• Lester is willing to cover up murder and suggests blackmail.

Quite a group of mid-century villains! Courtney Masterson is an ad executive with his name on the door of a prosperous agency, making him a contemporary of Mad Men's fictional Don Draper, who has similar grey areas in his moral makeup.

Ted de Corsia as Lt. Ward

"Dead Weight" is directed by Stuart Rosenberg (1927-2007), who directed television shows from 1957 to 1966 and films from 1960 to 1991. He taught at the American Film Institute beginning in 1993. Rosenberg won an Emmy in 1963 for directing an episode of The Defenders, and he also directed three episodes of The Twilight Zone as well as the films, Cool Hand Luke (1967) and The Amityville Horror (1979). This was the first of five episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that he would direct; others included "Road Hog" and "Escape to Sonoita."

Angela Greene as Carol

Joseph Cotten (1905-1994) stars as Courtney Masterson. He was born in Virginia and appeared on screen from 1937 to 1981. Cotten met Orson Welles in 1934 and later became an inaugural member of the Mercury Theatre, appearing on stage and on radio in Welles's productions. He began his film career in 1937 but his first great role was in Citizen Kane (1941). Many other great films followed, including Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and The Third Man (1949). Cotten began appearing on TV in 1954 and his career onscreen continued until 1981. This is one of three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in which he appeared; others include "Breakdown."

Claude Stroud as Lester Eldridge

Two decades younger than her onscreen boyfriend, Julie Adams (1926-2019) plays Peg; voted Miss Little Rock at age 19 in 1946, she was on screen from 1949 to 2018 and her most famous role was in Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). Adams was in three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "Little White Frock," as well as episodes of Night Gallery and The Night Stalker. There is a website devoted to her here.

Don Gordon (1926-2017) seems a bit old to be playing the crook, whom the detective refers to as a "boy;" he was 32 at the time of filming. Gordon served in the U.S. Navy in WWII and appeared onscreen from 1949 to 1993. He was a regular on The Blue Angels (1960-1961), appeared on The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, and was a regular on Lucan (1977-1978). This was his only role on the Hitchcock series.

In smaller roles:

• 

  Gail Bonney

  Ted de Corsia (1905-1973) as Lt. Ward, who interrogates Courtney; he was on Old Time Radio and then on screen from 1947 to 1972, playing countless small roles on TV, including appearances on The Twilight Zone, Thriller, and The Outer Limits. He was seen on the Hitchcock show three times, including "The Magic Shop." His first film credit was for Orson Welles's The Lady from Shanghai.
• Angela Greene (1921-1978) as Courtney's wife, Carol; she was born in Dublin, Ireland, worked as a model, and dated John F. Kennedy. Her screen career lasted from 1944 to 1976 and included roles on Thriller and Batman; she was also on one episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

Reita Green

• Claude Stroud (1907-1985) as Lester Eldridge, the private detective with blackmail on his mind; he was on screen from 1934 to 1983 and appeared in two other episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "The Long Silence."
• Gail Bonney (1901-1984) as Mary, who tells Courtney that Lester is waiting in her office; born Goldie Bonowitz, she was on screen from 1948 to 1979 and played many bit parts. In addition to roles on Night Gallery and The Night Stalker, she was one of the most prolific actresses on the Hitchcock TV show, appearing in eleven episodes in all.
• Reita Green (1936- ) as the receptionist at Courtney's office; she was a dancer turned actress who had a short career on screen from 1956 to 1961. She married actor Doodles Weaver and, later in life, was known as the Wallpaper Queen of Burbank.

• 

  George Dockstader

  George Dockstader (1914-1987) as the motorcycle cop; he was on screen from 1947 to 1974, often in uncredited roles. He was on the Hitchcock show three times, including "The Cadaver," and had an uncredited role in Psycho (1960).
  

Watch "Dead Weight" online here or order the DVD here. Read the GenreSnaps review here.

Sources:

"Dead Weight." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 5, episode 9, 22 Nov. 1959. 

Durant, Brian. "Lost in the Fifth Dimension: Jerry Sohl's Legacy in the Twilight Zone." Lost in the Fifth Dimension: Jerry Sohl's Legacy in the Twilight Zone, http://twilightzonevortex.blogspot.com/2019/11/lost-in-fifth-dimension-jerry-sohls.html. 

The FICTIONMAGS Index, http://www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/0start.htm. 

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub., 2001. 

"Herbert Lincoln Golden's Obituary (2005) New York Times." Legacy.com, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/herbert-golden-obituary?id=29671367. 

IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com/. 

Prial, Frank J. "Business People." The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Dec. 1978, https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/20/archives/business-people-goldens-round-trip-banking-to-banking-vera-mayer.html. 

Sohl, Jerry, https://www.mchistory.org/research/finding-aids/collection/sohl-jerry. 

StellaStar. "Reita Green." Those Obscure Objects of Desire, 26 Feb. 2020, https://obscureactresses.wordpress.com/2017/01/23/reita-green/. 

"United Artists Television." Wikiwand, https://www.wikiwand.com/en/United_Artists_Television.

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://www.wikipedia.org/.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "Crack of Doom" here!

Listen to Annie and Kathryn discuss "Dead Weight" here!

In two weeks: Our look at episodes written by Jerry Sohl continues with "The Doubtful Doctor," starring Dick York and Gena Rowlands!