The Hitchcock Project-Halsted Welles Part Three-Strange Miracle [7.19]

by Jack Seabrook

Traveling too fast in order to make up for running late, a train jumps the tracks and crashes, catapulting one of its passengers, traveling salesman Louis Jadant, into a pile of bodies and debris. Unable to feel his legs, he calls for help and is rescued after a dead child is lifted off of him. "'They'll pay for that,'" he mutters, and he is taken by ambulance to a hospital. When his wife visits, he promises that he will learn another trade, and when he gets home, a new wheelchair and ramp await.

Neighbors visit, anxious to hear about the train crash, but when they leave, Jadant shocks his wife by standing up, explaining that he will continue to pretend to be paralyzed until the railway pays him compensation. Eventually, he receives a check for 5,000,000 francs. The local curate begins to visit and is impressed with Jadant's "cheerful, deep, simple faith"; the curate takes Louis to visit Raymonde, a "young paralytic girl" nearby, who makes money by using a knitting machine to make garments that she sells. Louis tells his wife that he will buy a similar machine and use it to prove to everyone that he does not expect to be cured. He will then visit Lourdes and take part in a miracle.

"Strange Miracle" was
first published here

At Lourdes, Louis rises from his wheelchair as planned and begins to walk, but after a few steps he falls to the ground, his legs paralyzed. Two days later, the curate visits Raymonde, who reports that, two days earlier, she had a vision of the Virgin Mary, who told her that she had "'just recuperated a pair of useless legs with which you will walk perfectly well.'" To the curate's shock, she rises from her bed and begins to walk.

"Strange Miracle" is a tale of divine retribution, where the duplicitous Louis loses his ability to walk and that power is transferred to a poor, young girl, curing her paralysis. The story is both supernatural and religious in the way it ends, which is surprising, since the character of Louis spends the entire tale demonstrating his cynicism and thinking himself able to fool everyone for profit. There is no rational explanation for Louis becoming paralyzed at Lourdes or for Raymonde being cured at the same moment; the reader must accept the climax as a miracle.

Or was it here?

George Langelaan (1908-1972), the story's author, was born in Paris and received a Croix de Guerre for his espionage work during WWII. He went on to write a memoir, novels, and short stories, the most famous being his first, "The Fly," which was adapted to film more than once. Another of his stories was adapted for an episode of Night Gallery.

"Strange Miracle" was first published in the August 1958 issue of the British digest Argosy and it was reprinted as "The Other Miracle" in the August 1958 issue of Cosmopolitan. While it's possible that Cosmopolitan was the place of first publication, the fact that Langelaan copyrighted the Argosy version suggests that the British publication came first. The story was later reprinted as "The Miracle" in Out of Time, a 1964 collection of Langelaan's short stories.

Halsted Welles adapted "Strange Miracle" for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and the episode aired on NBC on Tuesday, February 13, 1962. From the first shot it becomes apparent that the budget did not allow director Norman Lloyd to stage a train crash; we see the aftermath, with bodies being carried away on stretchers from the damaged train cars. Mr. Sequiras, as Jadant has been renamed, is seen pinned beneath metal bars; in a sequence that recalls the season one episode, "Breakdown," he stares ahead, motionless, and we hear his thoughts in voiceover narration as he moves his fingers. He then speaks aloud, calling for water and addressing someone as "Senor," the first clue that the show is not set in France, as is the short story.

David Opatoshu as Sequiras

There is a dissolve to a point-of-view shot from inside a vehicle as it drives toward the local hospital; a burro crossing the road in front of the vehicle helps to establish the locale as rural Mexico. Mrs. Sequiras exits the vehicle and we see that she is an attractive woman in high heels and a tight skirt suit, her hair in a chignon. She is led to see her husband by a nun, and he lies on a mattress on the floor among many other victims of the crash. Welles has jettisoned the first portion of the short story, which describes Jadant riding on the train and what he observes, followed by details of the crash, his rescue, and his uncomfortable trip to the hospital.

Instead, the interaction between Mr. and Mrs. Sequiras is marked by the husband's admiration of his wife's appearance, and a cut to a nun watching them suggests that she disapproves of his public display of ardor. The conversation ends with Sequiras embracing his wife passionately, something that quickly comes to an end as the nun approaches his mattress. There is nothing like this in the short story. The screen fades to black and then fades in on what looks like a town square as an ambulance pulls up and a man gets out, wiping his forehead to show that it's hot. Mrs. Sequiras rushes up to him to ask if her husband can be cured and he tells her no, identifying himself as an "'insurance adjuster for the railroad company.'" Sequiras is taken out of the back of the vehicle on a rolling stretcher, then carried into his home by two men. Unlike the short story, where he winks at his wife in the hospital and tells her that "'two dead legs are worth a lot of money,'" the TV version contains no hints that Sequiras is not really paralyzed until he and his wife are alone at home.

Miriam Colon as Lolla

The shot fades in on a closeup of Sequiras's legs as he sits in a wheelchair at home, his wife playing the piano as he plays Solitaire. In the story, Jadant is described as "a little like a king on his throne" as he receives neighbors who are anxious to hear about the accident, but in the TV version there are no neighbors and the Sequiras couple are clearly unhappy. Mrs. Sequiras, especially, seems disgusted with her new living situation, locked in a house with her husband confined to a wheelchair, the shutters closed. She announces that she is tired and that she is going to bed; when her husband again remarks about her "'very attractive dress,'" she sighs and heads to the bedroom. He wheels quickly to her side and begins to kiss her hand, but she pulls away, telling him again that she has to go to bed. The implication is that he remains sexually attracted to her, while she realizes that his paralysis means the end of their sex life together. Again, there is nothing like this in the short story.

Sequiras calls his wife "'Lolla'" as he talks loudly to her from the living room while she walks slowly around the bedroom, admiring her own youth and health. Sequiras mentions the money that he expects to get from the railroad, promising that they will be able to buy a car and purchase the house in which they live, but nothing moves her and she asks him to stop talking so that she can sleep. Unmoved by his promises of future wealth, she throws herself onto the bed, despondent, but when Sequiras suddenly appears at the bedroom door, standing up and perfectly healthy, she is shocked. She asks if he is cured and he explains that a specialist came "'all the way from Mexico City'" (confirming that the story's location has been moved to Mexico) and determined that he is incurable. After doing some exercises at the foot of the bed, he embraces her in an effort to reassure her that their secret is safe.

Eduardo Ciannelli

After another fade to black, the scene fades back in on a very different Mr. Sequiras, this time doing push-ups on the living room floor while his wife plays the piano. He stops her and they admire their bankbook together before she tells him that it's "'time to make your daily appearance.'" In another addition to the story, he loses his temper, telling her that he "'can't stand looking at that wheelchair anymore.'" They argue and she prevails as he sits angrily in the chair and she wheels him outside, where we get our first glimpse of the paralyzed little girl named Maria (Raymonde in the short story). She rides along in a small, wheeled cart that is pulled by a goat, and the priest greets her warmly. In the short story, the curate makes frequent visits to see Jadant and suggests that he meet the girl, even going so far as to wheel Jadant to visit her at home. In the TV version, Sequiras asks his wife who the girl is and she explains that Maria lives out in the country and comes to town every market day, covering her legs with a blanket because she is paralyzed.

The priest introduces Sequiras to Maria and tells him that the girl makes annual trips to "'the shrine of Novales.'" In the story, Jadant himself comes up with the idea to visit Lourdes for a cure, but in the TV version, which is set in Mexico, he gets the idea when the priest tells him about Maria's pilgrimages. In the next scene, Sequiras and his wife are at home, speaking to their guest, the insurance adjuster. In the short story, they have already received a settlement by this point, but in the TV show, the adjuster hands over the final check and gives Sequiras a release to sign. As Sequiras reviews the release, the adjuster discusses the shrine of Novales and the fountain there whose waters are said to have miraculous powers. This second mention of the shrine spurs Sequiras to tell his wife that they will go to Novales where, he says, "'I will suddenly find my legs. Just another of the famous miracles.'" As in the story, Sequiras is shown to be a cynic, who believes he can beat the system by faking his own paralysis and pretending to undergo a miraculous cure, even though he has been warned by Maria and the insurance adjuster that a cure such as that requires great faith.

Frank de Kova

The scene dissolves to a shot of a statue of the Virgin Mary. We hear running water in the background and we see nuns walking behind the statue, so it's clear that Sequiras has made the trip to Novales. In the story, Jadant buys a knitting machine and spends months establishing himself as a paralytic, but in the TV version these events are cut out and the story moves right from the idea of going to the shrine to the scene at the shrine. There is an interesting bit of camera work as the camera moves from the statue to a line of pilgrims approaching it, including a woman who edges toward it on her knees while a little girl spreads a cloth in front of her. These people of faith are contrasted with Mr. and Mrs. Sequiras, as she pushes him in his wheelchair toward the statue.

Sequiras tells his wife quietly not to help him as he drags himself to the fountain; as in the hospital scene, a nun stands nearby, watching them as if witnessing their unbelief. "'When the clock strikes five,'" he tells her, "'I will dip my hand into the water, and then I will stand.'" His wife asks him to wait another day, nervous because the nun is watching, but he goes ahead with his plan. This scene is quite similar to the one in the story, where Mrs. Jadant also has reservations about what her husband plans to do.

Adelina Pedroza

In a powerful shot that recalls a sequence in Lon Chaney's The Miracle Man (1919), Sequiras climbs out of his wheelchair and drags himself across the ground toward the statue, his eyes on the Virgin the whole time. He dips his hand in the water and rubs it on his legs before slowly standing, his eyes focused on the statue. He turns to face his wife and begins to walk toward her. She cries out, "'A miracle!'" and he collapses to the ground, a look of surprise on his face. After angrily yelling that he can't move his legs, Sequiras again looks at the statue, and there is a closeup of Mary's face, looking down at him serenely. Unlike the story, where Jadant is taken to an infirmary and told to pray for another miracle, in the TV version, there is a dissolve to Maria's goat. The camera moves back to show the little girl, being pulled along in her cart as she speaks to the priest. She explains that her miracle happened yesterday, "'exactly at five o'clock,'" which clears up the timing that is not as obvious in the story. The last scene and its dialogue are almost identical to those in the story.

The finest moment in the TV show comes at the end, in a beautifully subtle shot, as Maria gets up out of her cart and begins to walk, an angelic smile on her face. The camera slowly pulls back and, in the rear of the frame, we see Sequiras being pushed in his wheelchair by his wife, both of their heads down, their despondency apparent even though they do not speak. Maria's joy is contrasted with their sadness, and in the final frames we see the four main characters: Maria, her face beaming as she removes her shawl; the priest, looking on; and Mr. and Mrs. Sequiras, moving away and getting smaller, facing an unhappy future. This superb last shot elevates the entire episode.

"Strange Miracle" is an unusual episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents due to its use of religion and miracles. Sequiras gets what he deserves in the end, yet it is through the intervention of the Virgin Mary rather than fate, and the fact that Maria is given the ability to walk makes the show's conclusion oddly satisfying. It is a "Strange Miracle" indeed!

Norman Lloyd (1914-2021), the director, was one of the people most responsible for the success and quality of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Born Norman Perlmutter and active in the theater in the 1930s, he had a long career as a film and television actor, from 1939 to 2015, and appeared in Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) and Spellbound (1945). He also directed for television from 1951 to 1984. He acted in five episodes of the Hitchcock series and directed 22, including "Man from the South."

Tina Menard

Starring as Sequiras is David Opatoshu (1918-1996), who was born David Opatovsky in New York City. His career began in Yiddish theater before he started on Broadway in 1938. He appeared in films beginning in 1939 and served in the Air Force during WWII. His TV career ran from 1949 to 1992 and included roles on The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Star Trek. He was in two other episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "The Magic Shop," and he had a role in Hitchcock's Torn Curtain (1966).

Miriam Colon (1936-2017) plays Lolla, in her only role on the Hitchcock show. Born Miriam Colon Valle in Puerto Rico, she was on screen from 1951 to 2015 and appeared on Broadway from 1954 to 1969. She trained with the Actors Studio and founded New York City's Puerto Rican Traveling Theater. She received an Obie Award in 1993 for Lifetime Achievement in Theater.

Eduardo Ciannelli (1888-1969), who plays the priest, was born in Italy and came to the U.S. after World War II. He won a Tony Award for his stage acting in 1961 and appeared in nearly 150 movies. He was in movies from 1917 to 1969 and on TV from the early 1950s until his death. Among his films was Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent (1940). He appeared in one other episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "The Test," which aired the week after "Strange Miracle." He was also seen on Thriller.

In smaller roles:

• Frank de Kova (1910-1981) as the insurance adjuster; born Frank Campanella in New York City, he had a long career on screen from 1947 until his death. He was Italian-American but often played ethnic roles, the most famous of which was as Chief Wild Eagle on F Troop (1965-1967). He was in one other episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "A Personal Matter."
• Adelina Pedroza (1949- ) as Maria; she had a brief career, mostly on TV, from 1958 to 1969, and this was the only episode of the Hitchcock show in which she appeared.
• Tina Menard (1904-1993) as the nun who looks on with disapproval while Sequiras is at the hospital; born in Mexico, she was onscreen from 1931 to 1984 and appeared in an episode of The Outer Limits. This was her only role on the Hitchcock show.

As early as 2007, online comments noted the similarity of "Strange Miracle" to an episode of Night Gallery titled "The Miracle at Camafeo," which aired on January 19, 1972. The show's teleplay is credited to Rod Serling, based on a story by C.B. Gilford. The source story has been unidentified until now. With some help from Peter Enfantino, I have identified it as "A Miracle is Arranged," which was published in the July 1960 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Reading "A Miracle is Arranged" and watching "The Miracle at Camafeo" raises interesting questions about who may have borrowed what from whom.

"A Miracle is Arranged"
was first published here

"A Miracle is Arranged" is narrated by an insurance adjuster named Rogan who thinks Paul Melcor is a crook. Melcor is a salesman who was paralyzed when he was hit by a truck while walking on a sidewalk. Rogan suspects that Melcor is faking paralysis, especially when a blonde showgirl quits her job to become Melcor's nurse and then his wife. Rogan tells Melcor that he will hound him; Melcor tells Rogan that he plans to visit the shrine at Camafeo and be cured. Rogan follows Melcor to the shrine, where Melcor privately admits to Rogan that he faked his injury. When the man tries to stand, he finds himself unable to move.

Was C.B. Gilford aware of Langelaan's story when he wrote this? Both tales feature as a central character a man who fakes being paralyzed in an accident and who goes to a shrine to pretend to be miraculously cured; both end with the paralysis inexplicably becoming real. When Halsted Welles adapted Langelaan's 1958 story for TV in 1961, was he aware of Gilford's 1960 story and did it influence his decision to relocate the action from France to Mexico?

Ray Danton as Melcor

A decade later, Rod Serling wrote "The Miracle at Camafeo" for Night Gallery, adapting Gilford's story. The TV version is set entirely in Camafeo, a fictional small town in Mexico. The blonde showgirl is transformed into a classy wife played by Julie Adams; Melcor is an unrepentant fake who threatens his spouse when she expresses apprehension regarding his plan. In an interesting addition to the story, Melcor sees a blind little boy being led to the shrine, picks him up, and carries him. Melcor does not confess to Rogan, but his wife tells the adjuster that she won't stay with her husband any longer. In the end, the boy's blindness is miraculously cured. Melcor’s fake paralysis is also cured when he stands up and begins to walk, but when he looks at the bright sun, he is suddenly struck blind, as if trading places with the little boy.

There is no little boy and no exchange of disabilities in Gilford's story. Was Rod Serling aware of Langelaan's story or of Welles's TV adaptation when he wrote his teleplay? One has to wonder, since the addition of the child is so similar to what happens in "Strange Miracle."

Both stories and TV shows can be studied online. Read "Strange Miracle" here or watch the TV version here. Read "A Miracle is Arranged" here (mistakenly attributed to Jack Webb!) or watch "The Miracle at Camafeo" here and draw your own conclusions.

Sources:

"Down by the Old Bloodstream : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive, archive.org/details/downbyoldbloodst0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up. 

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

Galactic Central, www.philsp.com/index.html. 

Gilford, C.B. "A Miracle Is Arranged." Down By the Old Bloodstream, Dell, New York, 1971, pp. 143–159. 

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

Hollis, Dan. "'The Miracle at Camafeo.'" Twilight Zone Cafe, www.tapatalk.com/groups/twilightzoneworfr/the-miracle-at-camafeo-t3421.html. 

IBDB, www.ibdb.com/. 

IMDb, www.imdb.com/. 

Langelaan, George. "The Other Miracle." Cosmopolitan, Aug. 1958, pp. 74–79, https://doi.org/https://archive.org/details/sim_cosmopolitan_1958-08_145_2/page/76/mode/2up. 

"The Miracle at Camafeo." Night Gallery, season 2, episode 17, NBC, 19 Jan. 1972. 

"The Miracle at Camafeo." Ralph’s Cinema Trek, senensky.com/the-miracle-of-camafeo/. 

"Out of Time." The Bedlam Files, thebedlamfiles.com/fiction/out-of-time/. 

"Strange Miracle." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 7, episode 19, NBC, 13 Feb. 1962. 

Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org/.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "Nightmare in 4-D" here!

In two weeks: Our series on Charlotte Armstrong begins with a look at "Across the Threshold," starring Patricia Collinge, George Grizzard, and Barbara Baxley!

The Hitchcock Project-Halsted Welles Part Two-The Silk Petticoat [7.13]

by Jack Seabrook

Eccentric London scholar Humphrey Orford spends his days translating a sixteenth-century Italian epic poem and writing essays that are never published. In 1733, he lives in a mansion near Covent Garden and has no relations; his ailing wife Flora died a few weeks after they moved to the city from Suffolk twenty years before. She was buried in the cemetery outside St. Paul's and has been long forgotten when Orford is betrothed to wed young Elisa Minden, whose father is a friend of her husband-to-be.

A week before the wedding day, Humphrey insists on showing Flora's grave to Elisa; when he remarks that his late wife is lying right beneath them and could stand up and grab the young woman's dress, Elisa is terrified. Humphrey calls Flora "'a wicked woman'" and tells his fiance not to be afraid of the dead. They return to Orford's home for tea with Elisa's father, aunt, and cousin Philip, a young soldier. Elisa dislikes the house and begins to wonder why she agreed to marry the older man. The guests tour the house and Elisa sees Humphrey's study, where his desk sits in front of a painting of a man hanging from a gallows. She also observes a silk petticoat draped over the back of a chair. The article of clothing has been mended and patched many times and Humphrey tells Elisa that it is a gift for her. All of the guests suspect that the petticoat had belonged to Flora, but Humphrey lies and says that it belongs to Mrs. Boyd, the housekeeper.

"The Scoured Silk"
was first published here

Elisa also observes a portrait of Flora before she and the other guests leave. At home, Elisa asks Philip to come with her to speak to Mrs. Boyd. Returning to Humphrey's house, the pair visit the old housekeeper in her basement room and ask her to tell them about Flora, who had been the pretty daughter of Humphrey's gamekeeper. After they wed, he caught her with a lover, shut up their house, and brought her to London. She died and no one saw her again. Humphrey had her lover arrested and the young man was hanged; it is his picture that adorns the wall in Orford's study. Mrs. Boyd reveals that Humphrey talks to the portrait, addressing Flora, and then imitates her voice, responding. As for the silk petticoat, Flora was wearing it when she was caught with her lover.

After an altercation between Humphrey and Philip, the soldier leaves with Elisa and tells her that she will not marry Orford. The next day, Philip comes home and announces that Humphrey has been murdered in his study. He was found sitting at his desk with a knife in his back; he had locked himself in the evening before to eat dinner and in the morning he was discovered dead, the door still locked. Everyone is mystified until Elisa insists on visiting the scene of the crime. She observes that the silk petticoat is gone and, as she looks around the room, she notices the corner of the garment sticking out from behind a door hidden in the wall behind the desk. A small, secret chamber is discovered, and inside it is the body of Flora, a white kerchief knotted fatally around her throat, wearing the silk petticoat. Her husband had kept her prisoner in the cupboard for twenty years and had cut out her tongue to prevent her from calling for help. Her coffin was exhumed and found to be empty; no one ever was certain why she finally chose to get her revenge.

Michael Rennie as Humphrey Orford

"The Scoured Silk" is a haunting story with one curious flaw: how did Flora die? Did she murder her husband and then strangle herself by knotting a kerchief around her own neck? Is that even possible? Other than that, it is a thrilling, well-told story featuring a young heroine who barely avoids marrying a man who treated his wife with unbelievable cruelty. The story was first published in the June 8, 1918 issue of All-Story Weekly, as part of a series called "Crimes of Old London." The author, Marjorie Bowen, was the pseudonym of Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long (1885-1952), a British novelist and biographer who wrote her first novel, The Viper of Milan, at age sixteen. When it was published it was a bestseller and she continued writing numerous stories and novels throughout the rest of her life, sometimes using the pseudonyms Joseph Shearing and George Preedy. In fact, "The Scoured Silk" was reprinted in the August 1951 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine under the byline, Joseph Shearing.

Antoinette Bower as Elisa Minden

When Bowen's short story was adapted for Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1961 it was retitled "The Silk Petticoat," and there may have been some difficulty in writing the teleplay, since it is credited to Halsted Welles and Norman Ginsbury, which may mean that one of the writers turned in a script that had to be rewritten by the other. The show aired on NBC on Tuesday, January 2, 1962, and is a fascinating example of how an old story was adapted for television in the early 1960s. The central plot elements remain, yet there are significant changes that deepen the narrative and clear up its one curious flaw.

The show begins with a title card that reads, "London 1817," so the events have been advanced 84 years from those of the short story. A horse-drawn carriage brings Humphrey and Elisa to the churchyard, where her bright, sunny disposition contrasts with his grim outlook. He shows her Flora's gravestone, which reads that she died in 1793, 24 years earlier and thus almost a quarter century before the events of the show; the 24-year gap in time makes the show's final scene even more horrible. Unlike the short story, where Elisa is not said to be unaware of her predecessor, in the TV show she is surprised by the revelation and, while in the short story Humphrey suggests to his young fiance that Flora could reach up from her grave and touch her, that thought comes from Elisa in the TV show.

In the following scene, Elisa's father arrives at Orford's house and is welcomed by Mrs. Boyd, the housekeeper. He describes himself as a "'country doctor'" who cannot "'afford to live so luxuriously,'" adding a financial motive to his daughter's upcoming marriage that is absent from the story. The other guests--Philip and the doctor's sister--are missing from the TV version; Philip does not enter the story until a later scene. Humphrey and Elisa return home and she asks to see his study, which she has yet to visit.

Whoever painted this could have
gone on to stock the Night Gallery!

When Humphrey brings Elisa and her father to see his study, he comments on his "'work on the early Christian martyrs,'" a change from the story, where he was translating an Italian Romantic poem, a pursuit made to seem rather frivolous. Humphrey shows them a book of the life of St. Sebastian and discusses the fate of the martyr, calling his agony "'exquisite'" in a curious moment that makes him seem odd and appears to raise suspicion in the minds of his guests. "'In that condition, the victim's pain becomes pleasure so that those who inflict it can hardly be called torturers or even sinners.'" This strange bit of dialogue makes sense at the end of the episode when Flora's captivity is revealed; looking back, one suspects that Humphrey thought of himself as a modern-day archer, whose decades-long torture of his wife was a kind of purification ritual justified by her sin. After she discovers the painting of the hanged man and Orford leaves the room, Elisa comments to her father about her fiance's change in demeanor when he discussed St. Sebastian and torture: "'he seemed to revel in it.'" This frightens Elisa but, when she shares her concerns with her father as they leave, he reveals that he is in debt to Humphrey and marriage to Elisa will settle the obligation.

In the next scene, Elisa returns to the Orford house alone to speak with Mrs. Boyd. Unlike the story, where Philip accompanies Elisa and her father on their visit to Humphrey's house and then returns with Elisa to interview Mrs. Boyd, the TV show finds Elisa having this discussion without him. Instead of discussing Orford's past and his first wife with Mrs. Boyd in her basement room, Flora insists on being allowed to inspect the study. At first, Mrs. Boyd resists, claiming that she does not have a key, but eventually Elisa's determination wins out, Mrs. Boyd takes out the key from its hiding place, and they enter. Elisa asks about the silk petticoat and confirms that it does not belong to the housekeeper, who tells the story of Flora's deception and death, which Mrs. Boyd ascribes to "'terror or hatred.'" The housekeeper shows Elisa the portrait of the hanged man, who was Flora's lover; instead of being tucked away, as it had been in the earlier scene, it is now displayed prominently on a wall. Suddenly, Humphrey enters the study, dismisses Mrs. Boyd, and tells Elisa the tragic tale that is told by Mrs. Boyd in the short story.

Jack Livesey as Dr. Minden

The TV version continues to change from its source in the next scene, where Elisa enters in a wedding dress, presumably on the day of her wedding. She is nervous but comes to life when a maid announces that Philip has arrived. Moving his entrance later in the sequence of events makes it more consequential than it is in the short story, where he accompanies Elisa and her father when they visit the house and view the study. Elisa rushes to see Philip and Humphrey is visibly threatened by the young man and by Elisa's reaction to his presence, leaving the room and later hiding when Philip is about to depart so he can witness the chaste kiss on the cheek that the soldier gives to his cousin, along with the look of disappointment on her face when he leaves.

The next scene takes place that evening in Humphrey's bedroom; he invites Elisa to toast their marriage, so the wedding must have gone forward as planned, something that never happens in the short story and an event that makes Orford a bigamist. He again brings up her cousin Philip and the viewer is reminded of his first wife, who betrayed him; it becomes clear that Humphrey is concerned that history will repeat itself when he provokes an argument with Elisa by accusing her of plotting to meet Philip on her return from her honeymoon. The scene ends as Humphrey roughly kisses Elisa, a kiss that has no tenderness and is not returned.

Doris Lloyd as Mrs. Boyd

The final scene of the episode begins with Dr. Minden pacing in the foyer of his daughter's new home; she rushes down the stairs and summons him to come up and help find out why Humphrey is locked in his study and not answering. In the short story, Elisa has not yet married Humphrey when Philip returns to her father's home and delivers the news that Orford has been found dead. The TV version takes this scene and makes it more exciting by showing the viewer the discovery of the corpse. Dr. Minden puts his shoulder to the door and breaks the lock; he, Elisa, and Mrs. Boyd burst into Orford's study and are shocked to find him lying dead on the floor, his chair overturned, rather than sitting at his desk with a knife in his back, as in the short story.

In the TV version, there is no knife in sight, but Dr. Minden announces that Orford has been stabbed. Immediately, Elisa notices the corner of the petticoat sticking out from behind the hidden door and, after a bit of wall-tapping and careful examination, her father presses a hidden button and the door swings open to reveal the haggard face of Flora, who is very much alive but obviously insane. Mrs. Boyd helpfully tells the viewer that "'she must have stabbed him with the paper knife'" and Dr. Minden takes the bloody weapon from her motionless hand.

David Frankham as Philip

The final shock is delivered when the doctor examines Flora's mouth (thankfully the camera cuts away from this) and, when Elisa asks why the woman never cried out for help, her father responds, "'He's thought of that. He cut out her tongue!'" The trio walk out of the frame and the music swells as the camera slowly moves in to focus on Flora, wearing the silk petticoat and displaying a look of puzzled, insane horror on her face as the screen fades to black.

"The Scoured Silk" is a great horror story, but "The Silk Petticoat" improves on its source by leaving Flora alive at the end of the show. The confusion of her apparent suicide by neckerchief in the short story is eliminated and the look of madness on her face expresses the horror of her decades-long confinement to grim effect. The acting in this episode is excellent. Michael Rennie plays Orford as coolly evil; his tall, thin frame and patrician face are perfect for the character. Antoinette Bower, as Elisa, is also strong, demonstrating a character that may be more consistent with the 1961 date of filming than the 1817 setting.

Mollie Glessing as the maid

As for the supporting players, Jack Livesey is convincing as the country doctor in debt to Orford who is happy to sell his daughter to an older man in order to cancel his obligation. Doris Lloyd is shaky as Mrs. Boyd, at one point calling Dr. Minden "'Dr. Lubin'" and at another flubbing her line and immediately repeating it; the speed of filming and budgetary constrictions must have prevented re-filming the scene. David Frankham makes a brief appearance as Philip and Mollie Glessing has a short stint as the maid. Shirley O'Hara is haunting as Flora; she has no lines, of course, but the expression on her face is unforgettable.

The show is directed by John Newland (1917-2000), of One Step Beyond fame, whose style--at least in this episode--is unusual in that he mostly eschews the standard shot-reverse shot sequences that are so often used to display conversations between two characters. Instead, he films each character saying their line in closeup, cutting from one to the other and not relating them to each other in space. Newland got his start in Vaudeville and was an actor before he became a director. He is best known for hosting and directing the TV series One Step Beyond (1959-1961) and its sequel, The Next Step Beyond (1978). Newland directed other classic episodes of favorite TV series, including "I Kiss Your Shadow" on Bus Stop and "Pigeons From Hell" on Thriller. "The Silk Petticoat" was one of four episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that he directed, including "Bad Actor."

The teleplay is credited to Halsted Welles and Norman Ginsbury (1902-1991), a British playwright who has a couple of films and a number of TV shows to his credit, between the late 1940s and the early 1960s. I suspect that he wrote the original teleplay and Halsted Welles reworked it, since this was the only time Ginsbury's name appeared in the ten years of the Hitchcock TV show.

Shirley O'Hara as Flora

Michael Rennie (1909-1971) was born Eric Alexander Rennie in England. He started acting late, at age 26, and his first film role was as a stand-in for Robert Young in Hitchcock's Secret Agent (1936). He became a star after WWII and his best-remembered role is in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). He acted on TV starting in 1956 and appeared on Batman, as well as in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and "The Long Silence" on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

Antoinette Bower (1932- ) had just started her career on TV the year before this episode was filmed. She would go on to appear in movies and on TV into the early 1990s, including two roles on Alfred Hitchcock Presents (the other is "A Woman's Help," where she plays the other woman in a love triangle), as well as appearances on The Twilight Zone, Thriller, Star Trek, and many other shows. She still lives in Los Angeles and has appeared at conventions, greeting fans of classic TV.

In smaller roles:

• Jack Livesey (1901-1961) was on screen from 1917 to 1961, appeared on Thriller, and had parts in three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "The Last Escape."
• Doris Lloyd (1896(?)-1968) was born in Liverpool, started out in Vaudeville in 1916, and appeared in over 150 films from 1920 to 1967, including Phantom Lady (1944). She was in four episodes of Thriller and nine episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "Dip in the Pool."
• David Frankham (1926- ) worked for the BBC from 1948 to 1955 before coming to the U.S. and becoming an actor. He was on screen from 1956 until 2010 and wrote an autobiography titled Which One Was David? He was also seen in "The Impromptu Murder" on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and "Murder Case" on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
• Mollie Glessing (1891-1971) made a habit of playing maids and was in seven episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby." always in small roles.
• Shirley O'Hara (1924-2002) played small parts on film and TV from 1943 to 1980. She was on the Hitchcock show three times, including "Death of a Cop," and she appeared on The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.

Read "The Scoured Silk" here or watch the TV version here.

Sources:

Bowen, Marjorie. "The Scoured Silk." The Cold Embrace: Weird Stories By Women. Ed. S.T. Joshi. Mineola: Dover, 2016. 219-235.

Collected Twilight Stories, Vol. I, gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900561h.html. Accessed 21 May 2023.

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/.

"Marjorie Bowen." The Cold Embrace, p. 267.

"The Silk Petticoat." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 7, episode 13, CBS, 2 January 1962.

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

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

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "Crackpot" here!

In two weeks: Our series on Halsted Welles concludes with a look at "Strange Miracle," starring David Opatoshu!

The Hitchcock Project-Halsted Welles Part One-The Dusty Drawer [4.33]

by Jack Seabrook

Halsted Welles (1906-1990) began his career as a director for the Broadway stage, in charge of various shows between 1936 and 1948. He also wrote the last one that he directed, but it only ran for five nights. He taught drama at Yale and Smith in the 1930s and 1940s and he began writing for the radio in 1944, including many episodes of Suspense.

After his stage career ended, he began writing scripts for films in 1949 and for TV shows in 1950; he wrote many teleplays for the TV version of Suspense in the early 1950s. He continued writing films on and off until 1968, including the screenplay for 3:10 to Yuma (1957), but most of his work after 1950 was for television, including six episodes of Night Gallery and six episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His last teleplay aired in 1976. The FictionMags Index shows only one short story by Welles, published in 1953.

*   *   *   *   *

"The Dusty Drawer"
was first published here

The first episode of the Hitchcock show to air with a Welles teleplay was "The Dusty Drawer," which premiered on CBS on Sunday, May 31, 1959. It was based on a short story of the same name by Harry Muheim that was published in the May 3, 1952 issue of Collier's.

As the story begins, Norman Logan sees William Tritt eating in a cafeteria and joins him, asking Tritt when he will return the $200 he stole from Logan. Ten months ago, Logan cashed in bonds worth $324 and Tritt, a bank teller, entered $124 in Logan's checking account. Logan, a botany professor at a university in New York City, is convinced that Tritt took his money to cover up an error.

Tritt walks across the street and enters the bank; Logan follows a few minutes later and removes a few bonds from his safe deposit box before chatting with Pinkson, the bank manager, who summons Tritt to cash the bonds. While Logan sits waiting at a table, he discovers an old drawer that is hidden from sight beneath an overhang. He opens the drawer and finds a "dirty, cluttered mess," including a dead spider and a calendar page from 1936. Logan realizes that the drawer has been forgotten and is nearly invisible. Tritt comes over and cashes Logan's bonds without mentioning their earlier conversation in the cafeteria. Logan returns to the university and suddenly realizes how he can use the drawer to "rob the bank and pin the robbery on Tritt."

Dick York as Norman Logan

Two months pass and, in November, Logan begins to enact his plan. At a novelty store on 51st Street, he buys a cigarette case that looks like a .38 automatic pistol; at a shop on Second Avenue, he compares the toy to a real gun to confirm that it looks authentic. Finally, he takes the subway uptown to the bank. Logan sits down at the table and, when no one is watching, puts the toy gun in the hidden drawer. He checks on it during two subsequent visits and a week before Christmas he makes his move.

Visiting the bank to cash more bonds, Logan takes the gun out of the drawer. When Tritt sits down next to him, Logan points the gun at him and demands $10,000 in twenty-dollar bills. When Tritt goes to get the money, Logan replaces the gun in the drawer. Tritt summons Pinkson and Louie, the bank guard, holds Logan at gunpoint, but when he is searched, no gun is found. Tritt is embarrassed but insistent, and Pinkson apologizes to Logan.

In the weeks that follow, Tritt begins to make mistakes, and in late January Pinkson tells Logan that the teller has been getting upset easily ever since the incident in December. On March 10, Logan confronts Tritt with the gun again, but this time Tritt brings him $10,000 in a bag. Logan again replaces the gun in the drawer and adds the bag of money. When he leaves the bank, Tritt sounds the alarm, leading to a similar, fruitless search outside the bank. Tritt makes a spectacle of himself looking for the money and insults Pinkson, who slaps the teller. Pinkson has Tritt arrested and the next day, Logan returns and retrieves gun and money from the drawer.

Philip Coolidge as William Tritt

At home, Logan types a letter to Pinkson, apologizing and returning the money, and signs it with Tritt's initials. The next day, Pinkson telephones Logan to say that Tritt returned the money but continues to deny taking it. Tritt is fired and Pinkson apologizes to Logan, who goes back to work.

"The Dusty Drawer" is a well-plotted tale of revenge, where Logan discovers an invisible hiding place, has a sudden inspiration, and then enacts a plan over the course of the next six months or so that ruins the career of an officious bank teller. Why does Logan go so far to discredit Tritt? It is because the man refuses to admit an error that cost the college professor $200. The scenes where Logan tricks Tritt with the toy gun are entertaining, and Muheim creates an environment in which it is believable that the teller can open and close the forgotten drawer without being seen, thus allowing him to put first the gun and then the money inside with the certainty that they will not be discovered. Logan's ethics are twisted; he is willing to go to great lengths to humiliate Tritt even though he has no proof that the bank teller took his money in the first place. The story plays out over the better part of a school year, starting right after Logan returns to work in September and ending in March, not long before summer break begins. The dusty drawer represents the hidden side of the bank, where a teller steals money from a customer to cover up his own error, in contrast to the clean, efficient exterior that greets the public. When Logan discovers it, the drawer is a demonstration that there is more to the bank than what is seen on the surface. He is thrilled to be able to utilize this knowledge to right a wrong.

The story's author, Harry Muheim (1920-2003) earned a Bronze Star while serving in the Navy during WWII. From 1950 to 1959 he wrote teleplays for TV anthology shows while also teaching speech and drama at New York University. He published three short stories during the decade, including "The Dusty Drawer." In the 1960s, he began writing speeches for politicians and he later wrote several TV documentaries and a novel.

Wilton Graff as Pinkson

In a note following the story in Hitchcock in Prime Time, Muheim writes that, after his story appeared in Collier's in 1952, he adapted it for TV as a live, one-hour episode of the Philco Television Playhouse, using "the device of the performer-as-narrator." William Prince, the lead actor, "would play a scene, turn from the scene to comment to the camera, then turn back into the scene. It was a complex device that worked against the essential simplicity of the prose piece."

Subsequent research has revealed that Muheim's adaptation of "The Dusty Drawer" actually appeared on the Goodyear Television Playhouse on NBC on Sunday, August 3, 1952. It was a live broadcast that appears to have been lost. Muheim's memory lapse is understandable since Goodyear and Philco alternated weeks as the show's sponsor.

"The Dusty Drawer" was collected in the 1953 volume of Best Detective Stories of the Year and reprinted in the March 1956 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Finally, it was adapted by Halsted Welles for Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959. The TV show is not as successful as the short story.

J. Pat O'Malley as Col. Binns

In the first scene, instead of meeting in a cafeteria across the street from the bank, Tritt and Logan sit next to each other at a table in Mrs. Merrell's boarding house, where they both reside. A telegram is delivered by Tritt and it turns out that it was sent by Logan, who demands his $200. Adding other characters around the table allows Welles to introduce the situation that exists between the two men while adding more dialogue and injecting a humorous tone. A short scene follows that is set in front of the boarding house, with dialogue similar to that found in the short story's cafeteria scene.

The third scene occurs inside the bank, where Pinkson is introduced. Logan accidentally drops his bonds on the floor under the table and discovers the dusty drawer when he bumps his elbow against it and it gives way; in the TV show, it is less clear that it has been forgotten for years. While in the story, Logan goes back to work and has his epiphany there, in the TV show he immediately is struck by an idea and is so excited that he leaves the bank without cashing his bonds. The events in the TV show are sped up and the time sequence is compressed from that of the short story; the entire episode takes place between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Almira Sessions as Mrs. Merrell

Logan immediately goes to a toy store and buys a plastic gun, not a cigarette case that resembles a gun. He returns to the bank, with only a short amount of time having passed, and holds Tritt up at gunpoint for the first time, leading to the first search. In the scenes up to this point, Tritt has been smug and self-satisfied, and when Logan holds him up there is a clever bit of business where Logan uses his finger inside his coat pocket to mimic a gun even after he has put it back in the drawer. At the end of the incident, Pinkson thanks Logan for not making a complaint and Logan chalks his own generosity up to the Christmas season.

In the next scene, Tritt is a changed man, agitated and making mistakes, while Logan stands outside his teller's cage, whistling "Jingle Bells" in front of a large Christmas tree. Tritt hides from Logan in Pinkson's office and the bank manager emerges to speak with his whistling customer; Logan tortures Tritt even more by offering to drive him home, at which point Tritt insists that he is fine while washing down pills with a glass of water.

Charity Grace as Mrs. Radford

Dinner at the boarding house follows as snow falls outside and another telegram is delivered. This time it's for Logan, who antagonizes Tritt by leaving it on the table unopened. Tritt is paranoid and complains to the other boarders, finally insisting that Logan open the telegram, which turns out to be from his mother. This scene features more humor involving the other residents. Logan returns to the bank and holds Tritt up for the second time; this time, he conceals the gun in one of his oversized mittens, allowing him to pretend to be holding it even after it is back in the drawer. By now, Tritt is a beaten man, his body language exhibiting defeat. When Logan is searched outside the bank, Tritt ends up digging in a snowbank, looking for the gun and the money until only his feet can be seen, sticking out of the snow. The effect is overly silly and demonstrates that the show's writer and director chose to play up the story's humorous aspects.

Logan re-enters the bank and puts the gun and the money in his briefcase. Once again, events are compressed in time and there is little attempt to conceal what he is doing with the drawer. As a result, his actions lack credibility. Another scene at the boarding house follows; it's breakfast time, and Tritt and Logan are absent from the communal table. Tritt is in the mental ward and Logan is in his room, typing the letter to Pinkson and signing Tritt's name. He reads the letter aloud for the viewer's benefit and, in a change from the short story, deducts $200 from the $10,000 he returns and keeps it, reimbursing himself for the theft that precipitated the events of the story. The final scene takes place at the bank, where Pinkson tells Logan that Tritt returned the money (minus $200) and will be fired. The effect is ironic, with Logan displaying a smug smile as "Deck the Halls" plays on the soundtrack.

Edgar Dearing
as Louis

The TV version of "The Dusty Drawer" is less satisfying than the short story. The timing of events is compressed and the dusty drawer, the central item in Logan's plan, never seems particularly well hidden, nor does Logan seem to try to keep his actions private. Adding the scenes at the boarding house is an attempt to add humor and dialogue for exposition, but the additional characters are not necessary to the story. Having Logan keep $200 at the end makes sense, but the punishment he doles out to Tritt seems overly harsh and the character of Logan ends up being as smug and self-satisfied as Tritt was in the early scenes.

The casting is perfect--Dick York is exactly right as Logan, while Philip Coolidge is believable as Tritt, even though he is physically the opposite of the fat man in the short story. Wilton Graff is excellent as the bank manager. The other people at the boarding house are forgettable.

This episode was directed by Herschel Daugherty (1910-1993), a prolific TV director from 1952 to 1975 who also directed a couple of movies. He directed 27 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in all, including "The Blessington Method," and he directed 16 episodes of Thriller.

Barry Brooks as the
toy shop salesman

Dick York (1928-1992) stars as Logan. 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 Stephens 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. Among his other appearances on the Hitchcock show was "Terror at Northfield."

Philip Coolidge (1908-1967) is perfect as Tritt; a radio announcer turned stage actor, he was on screen from 1947 to 1968, appeared in Hitchcock's North By Northwest (1959), and was seen in seven episodes of the Hitchcock TV series, including "Whodunit." He was also on The Twilight Zone.

Wilton Graff (1903-1969) plays Pinkson, the bank manager; he was on screen from 1939 to 1964 and also appeared in two other episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "Death of a Cop."

In smaller roles:

• J. Pat O'Malley (1904-1985) as Colonel Binns, who sits at the head of the table at the boarding house; born in England, he began his career in the entertainment industry as a singer in 1925. He later emigrated to the U.S. as a singer and soon began acting, appearing on film starting in 1940. He was in Broadway shows from 1944 to 1954 and replaced John Williams as the inspector in "Dial 'M' for Murder"; he is best known today for his many TV roles, from 1950 to 1982, including appearances on The Twilight Zone, Thriller, Batman, and Night Gallery. This was his only role on the Hitchcock show.
• Almira Sessions (1888-1974) as Mrs. Merrell, who runs the boarding house; her first stage role was in 1909 and regular appearances on radio followed. She appeared in numerous films and TV shows from 1932 to 1972, including Night Gallery and one other episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
• Charity Grace (1884-1965) as Mrs. Radford, one of the women at the boarding house table; a schoolteacher who retired at age 60 and took up acting, she was on TV from 1947 to 1964 and appeared in five episodes of the Hitchcock series, including "Party Line."
• Edgar Dearing (1893-1974) as Louis, the bank guard; he played countless roles in films and TV shows from 1924 to 1964, but this was his only role on the Hitchcock show.
• Barry Brooks (1910-2000) as the toy shop salesman; he was on screen from 1948 to 1985 and appeared on The Twilight Zone as well as this single episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Read "The Dusty Drawer" here or watch the TV version here; buy the DVD here. Read the GenreSnaps review of this episode here.

Sources:

"Contemporary Authors. Encyclopedia.Com. 6 May 2023 ." Encyclopedia.Com, www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/muheim-harry-miles-1920-2003.

"The Dusty Drawer." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 4, episode 33, CBS, 31 May 1959.

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

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

"Halstead Welles: Credits, Bio, News & More: Broadway World." BroadwayWorld, www.broadwayworld.com/people/Halstead-Welles/.

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

Muheim, Harry. "The Dusty Drawer." Hitchcock in Prime Time. Eds. Francis M. Nevins and Henry Slesar. NY: Avon, 1985. 181-198.

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

"On Television This Week." New York Times, 3 August 1952, section 2, page 6.

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

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "Crackpot" here!

In two weeks: Our brief series on Halsted Welles continues with a look at "The Silk Petticoat," starring Michael Rennie!