The Hitchcock Project-William Fay Part Four: The Last Dark Step [4.18]

 by Jack Seabrook

What would cause a man or a woman to take "The Last Dark Step" and murder another human being? In the story of that title by Margaret Manners, the answer seems to be greed and selfishness. Brad Buckley is driving back home to New York City and being careful not to attract attention. He stops at a service station to wash blood from his hand and to burn and dispose of a stained handkerchief. Engaged to be married to a woman named Eleanor Wraight, he has killed a woman named Winifred "Freddie" Lenox. He recalls the first time he met Freddie, a bold, passionate freelance writer. Life with her was exciting, but he never thought of marriage and did not suspect that she did until he told her that he was planning to marry Eleanor.

Both women are blonde and tall, with good figures, but Eleanor has money. Freddie angrily declares that Brad cannot marry her and promises to make it impossible, snapping: "'you'll never marry anyone but me.'" Brad's thoughts immediately turn to murder. He quickly formulates a plan and asks her to meet him the next night for dinner. Back in the present, as he drives home, Brad recalls carrying out his plan earlier that day. He moved Freddie's car to a hidden spot in the Palisades, the steep cliffs in New Jersey overlooking the Hudson River, not far from the George Washington Bridge that leads into New York City.

"The Last Dark Step"
was first published here

Brad covered his tracks by taking two buses and the subway to get home; that evening, he parked uptown to wait for Freddie, who was late. She arrived, looking disheveled, and told him, "'Some day you'll be proud you were with me, glad to tell the world you were with your future wife, Freddie Lenox... Let's pretend I wasn't late...'" Freddie has spots of blood on her dress and blames them on a sudden nosebleed that developed while she was in the subway, on her way to meet Brad. Brad, always focused on himself, thinks that the blood will fit in well with his plan to murder her. As they drive to the Palisades, Freddie remarks that "'You won't marry Eleanor. In a few hours the very thought will be repulsive.'" She gives him his clasp knife, saying she always forgets to return it.

Brad pulls off the road near the spot where he hid her car and goes through the contents of her purse by making a friendly wager that she can't name everything inside it. She gives him back a key to his apartment and he gives her back her car keys. Brad suggests they walk to a nearby spot to go dancing and, on the path, he hits Freddie in the head with a rock and throws her off the cliff into the river. He enters her car and uses his handkerchief to hold the wheel, since he has blood on his hand. Back in the present, he exits the service station men's room, having cleaned the blood off of his hand and disposed of the hanky. He drives home and finds three detectives waiting in his apartment. Accusing him of murder, they search his person and find the clasp knife, recently cleaned, and the extra key, which does not fit his apartment door.

Of course, it will fit Eleanor's door. The detectives show Brad a letter found half-burned in his fireplace. It's from Eleanor, telling him that she hates him and can't marry him. They accuse him of stabbing Eleanor eight times and he recalls Freddie telling him, "'You won't marry her...'" He realizes that Freddie has killed Eleanor and framed him, and he also understands the meaning of her statement, "'Some day you'll be glad...'": she was his alibi for the time of the murder and would have forced him to marry her with the threat of letting him be convicted of Eleanor's murder.

Robert Horton as Brad

"The Last Dark Step" was published in the October 1957 issue of Argosy. The author is listed as Martin Manners, not Margaret Manners and, when the story was reprinted in the 1958 collection, Best Detective Stories of the Year, editor David Cooke points out that it is "written from the masculine viewpoint." Both Brad and Freddie commit murder, taking the last, dark step of the title in an attempt to eliminate the person who might stand in the way of their getting what they want. Brad wants to marry Eleanor and kills Freddie, who would have made his marriage a difficult proposition. Freddie wants to stay together with Brad and murders Eleanor, but she is smarter than Brad and takes one more step than he does: by framing him and making herself his alibi, she not only eliminates her rival but also ensures his loyalty to her, despite guaranteeing his hatred.

"The Last Dark Step" is an extremely well-plotted story, and the plot was retained by William Fay when he adapted it for Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The episode aired on CBS on Sunday, February 8, 1959, directed by Herschel Daugherty and starring Robert Horton as Brad (whose last name is now Taylor) and Fay Spain as Leslie (as Freddie has been renamed.) It opens with a scene involving a character who is only spoken of in the short story: Janice Wright (Eleanor Wraight in the story), Brad's fiancee. Over tea in a restaurant, she admires the engagement ring that Brad has given her. (Dialogue reveals that the TV version is set in Los Angeles instead of New York.) Janice wants to have a big wedding right away and is thrilled when Brad suggests that they marry in three weeks. He claims that he has to rush off to see a business associate and promises that he is not going to see Leslie, whom Janice calls "'that lady novelist.'"

Fay Spain as Leslie

Of course, Brad heads straight for Leslie's home, where she sits in a large room dominated by a stone fireplace, with shelves crammed with books visible in the next room. In contrast with Janice, who wore a dress in the first scene, Leslie is hard at work at her typewriter, glasses on and hair pulled back, wearing a button-down shirt and slacks. She struggles with a faulty desk lamp and, when Brad arrives, kisses him passionately, joking that his lack of response must mean that he has been with another woman. Leslie is writing a TV script to get "'rapid money so I can continue to afford you.'" She asks Brad to fix the lamp's plug because he's "'so clever at fixing things.'" She chides his dream of success in real estate and reminds him that she previously financed his sporting goods store. Clearly, Leslie works hard to earn enough money to hold onto her kept man.

Brad tells her that he wants to marry someone else and she bluntly tells him that "'You belong to me. You're like a sink or a stove or a clock on the wall. You're bought and paid for.'" The pocket knife that will figure in the show's climax is planted early in the viewer's mind as Brad uses it to fix the lamp cord and then throws it down on the desk in frustration. Leslie is cruel and angry as she and Brad discuss Janice and it becomes evident that she has sacrificed her own pleasures to keep Brad in suits and a fancy car. He even pawned an expensive ring of hers. Leslie insists that she will do anything to keep Brad. This scene features excellent dialogue and a strong performance by Fay Spain, who nails her lines and embodies the character of Leslie.

Joyce Meadows as Janice

The situation between Brad and Leslie is the opposite of that of a man with a mistress; Leslie has a strong desire for Brad and works hard to afford and keep him. It is sexism in reverse! Robert Horton is perfect as handsome, dumb Brad, who takes Leslie's car keys and goes outside to begin carrying out the murder plot that has quickly formed inside his head. Unlike the story, where the events alternate between flashback and the present, William Fay's teleplay unfolds in chronological order, and we do not have the benefit of a narrator telling us what Brad is thinking. He fiddles with the engine on Leslie's Triumph convertible so it won't start and, when he gets home, calls to tell her about the car and agrees to pick her up the next day at six p.m. so they can go to the beach. As he talks, he gazes at a framed photo of Janice on his desk, showing where his thoughts really lie.

The next day, Brad, disguised as an auto mechanic, fixes Leslie's car and drives it to a spot near her beach house, parking it behind a clump of bushes before taking the bus home. There is a dissolve to Brad sitting in a different car, waiting for Leslie, who is a half-hour late for their date. Unlike the story, she gives no explanation and has no blood soiling her clothes. She also does not make the prophetic remarks about his lover and herself that he will recall at the end. Instead, she kisses him passionately and he drives her to the beach house as dusk falls.

They arrive at the beach house (the same one that will be used just over a year later in "Madame Mystery") and there is a dissolve to the interior of the home as they prepare to go swimming. Leslie returns Brad's knife to him and they run across the beach and into the ocean, where he wastes no time in holding her under the water and drowning her. Back inside, he has already changed into dry clothes and leaves with his knife and a wet towel in a bag. Brad moves Leslie's car to a spot in front of the house and there is a dissolve to him entering his apartment to find two detectives waiting.

"The Last Dark Step"

"Madame Mystery"

The policemen tell Brad that his "'lady friend'" was murdered and interrogate him, finding the wet towel in his bag. He denies having been to the beach, thinking (wrongly) that they are talking about Leslie. They find the clasp knife in his pocket and see that it was recently cleaned but has three strands of hair stuck to it. They reveal that his "'lady friend'" was stabbed seven times and Brad realizes that they are talking about Janice. He admits that he was lying about his whereabouts and says he was at the beach, as he realizes what Leslie has done. The episode ends with Brad understanding his own predicament.

For a change, the TV version of "The Last Dark Step" is more subtle than the story and leaves out Leslie's prescient comments and the sense that she set herself up as Brad's alibi to ensure that he stays with her. Instead, he is accused of a murder he did not commit and can't discuss where he was or what he was doing because that would involve confessing to murder.

Leslie, hard at work 

Margaret Manners Lippmann (1914?-1974), author of "The Last Dark Step," mainly wrote short stories, though she also seems to have written poetry and had one novel published, a 1961 paperback original tie-in with the TV soap opera, Love of Life. She wrote under the name Margaret Manners (or, in the case of this story, Martin Manners) and her husband, Albert Lippmann, was a professor of French at New York University and Princeton University. The FictionMags Index lists short stories by Manners published from 1943 to 1961, and five of her stories were adapted for television, four of which were for the Hitchcock show.

Herb Ellis as Detective Breslin

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.

Television stalwart Robert Horton (1924-2016) plays Brad. He was in a handful of films but made his mark in television from 1951 to 1989, starring in Wagon Train (1957-1965) and A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966). This was one of seven episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in which he was featured, including "Crack of Doom," and after his television career ended he spent many years on stage.

Fay Spain (1932-1983) is outstanding as Leslie. She was on screen from 1955 to 1977 and appeared in one other episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "The Cuckoo Clock." She also appeared on Night Gallery. Two years before "The Last Dark Step," Spain had co-starred in Roger Corman's Teenage Doll (1957) as the leader of a teen-girl gang, despite being 25 years old at the time. That same year, she starred as a hot-rod-crazy teen in Dragstrip Girl. In 1958, she co-starred in Rod Serling's "A Town Has Turned to Dust" on TV's Playhouse 90, where she shared the small screen with William Shatner and Rod Steiger. Quite a change from Teenage Doll and Dragstrip Girl!

David Carlile as Sergeant Langley

Joyce Meadows (no relation to Audrey or Jayne) was born in 1933 as Joyce Burger and is still performing today. She appears briefly in the show's first scene as Janice. Meadows started in movies and on TV in 1956 and appeared four times on the Hitchcock series. She maintains her own website and was kind enough to comment for this blog in 2013.

Herb Ellis (1921-2018) appears in the final scene as Detective Charlie Breslin, who does most of the talking. Born Herbert Siegel, Ellis co-created Dragnet with Jack Webb and was on screen from 1950 to 1975, mostly on TV. He also had a role on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in "Not the Running Type."

David Carlile (1931-2006) plays Sergeant George Langley; his career was mostly on TV from the mid-1950s to the late 1990s; he was on the Hitchcock half-hour seven times, including "A Night With the Boys."

"The Last Dark Step" is available on DVD here or may be viewed for free online here. Read the GenreSnaps review of this episode here.

Sources:

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

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

IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/. 

"The Last Dark Step." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 4, episode 18, CBS, 8 Feb. 1959. 

Manners, Margaret. "The Last Dark Step." Best Detective Stories of the Year, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1958, pp. 69–84. 

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

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

In two weeks: "I'll Take Care of You," starring Ralph Meeker and Russell Collins!

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma's podcast about "The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby here!

Listen to Annie and Kathryn's podcast about "Silent Witness" here!

The Warren Report Issue 52: May 1974

The Critical Guide to 

the Warren Illustrated Magazines

1964-1983

by Uncle Jack

& Cousin Peter

Wrightson & Kelly

Creepy #62

"The Black Cat" ★★★★

Adapted by Bernie Wrightson

from the story by Edgar Allan Poe

Art by Bernie Wrightson

"Buffaloed" ★★★

Story by Larry Herndon

Art by John Severin

"Firetrap"★

Story by Jack Butterworth

Art by Vicente Alcazar

"Judas" ★★★

Story by Rich Margopoulos

Art by Rich Corben

"Survivor or Savior!" ★★

Story by Steve Skeates

Art by Gonzalo Mayo

"The Maze"★1/2

Story by Steve Skeates

Art by Leo Summers

"The Demon Within!" ★★★

Story by Steve Skeates

Art by Isidro Mones

Doubtless everyone knows the general plot of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale of horror, "The Black Cat," but, long story short, our hapless narrator details his continuous problems domesticating felines. His first cat gives him nothing but love, which is fine for a while but then begins to grate, and he rewards the pet with a knife in the eye. The man later hangs the cat from a tree in the yard. When the second cat he's adopted trips him up and the man takes a header down the basement steps, he goes a little nuts and grabs an axe. Since his wife has grown fond of the little thing, she attempts to talk her husband out of doing something he'll later regret. Her reward is an axe in the skull. The murderer then bricks up the corpse within the basement wall.

When the local police come calling to ask about the man's wife, he takes them downstairs and boasts about the solid construction of his house, banging on one of the walls for effect. The loud thud is answered by a high wail and the police tear the wall down, revealing the dead woman and the cat, the latter of which had been inadvertently bricked in as well. Though "The Black Cat" had been adapted countless times by 1974 (in fact, it had been filmed several times, including the [at that time] recent giallo known as Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key), Bernie Wrightson takes a story that had been around for 120+ years and makes it his own. No other artist in the history of comics personified horror like Bernie; when you think of Warren, that's who you think of. This was Bernie's full-length debut and if you look closely at the detail in each panel you begin to understand why, unlike a Martin Salvador, Jack Sparling, or Adolfo Abellan, Wrightson couldn't contribute on a monthly basis. Every single box on every page, small or big, is a masterpiece of style and form. We've had a few clues along the way, but I would say this event marks the beginning of Warren Golden Age II.

Hawkins, a buffalo hunter, is wounded when a herd of buffalo rush him, but he is nursed back to health by a pretty young Indian girl named Little Fawn. The girl's father, an Indian chief named One-Eye, doesn't take as kindly to a white man sharing his tent, but Little Fawn calms her pop down and goes back to tending her patient. Hawkins awakens one day and hears a strange sound; Little Fawn tells him that the noises they hear are her father talking to the Great Spirit and his buffalo brother. Hawkins scoffs and heads out of the tepee, only to be confronted with an amazing sight: four white buffalo. Knowing the pelts of the white buffalo are prized, Hawkins pushes aside Little Fawn and grabs his rifle. He makes quick work of the first three, but the fourth takes shot after shot and charges. Just before Hawkins is trampled, he sees that the great buffalo has only one eye!

A horror-western is always something to celebrate, but usually we get some awfully weak scripts. No, Larry Herndon won't win any Steve Skeates Writer of the Year Awards for "Buffaloed," but the words get the job done for the most part (although I could probably have done without the "Oh, and check it out! That buffalo has only one eye [wink wink]!" a full panel after the image is presented). The cause for celebration here is the return of John Severin, who hasn't been seen around these parts since the first Archie Goodwin era (hmmm... could there be a connection?). Severin was an artist whose style was uniquely suited to war and western funny books. Oddly enough, except for a trio of appearances in The Rook in the early 80s, Severin's work will be confined to Creepy.

Slumlord Aaron Pilkington visits one of the many tenements he owns to collect rent from his tenants. Though the conditions are filthy, with rats and mold everywhere, Pilkington displays an uncaring attitude to the people who have to endure the pestilence. Having had enough, a group of the tenants kidnap and torture Pilkington before setting him on fire. The End. If there's a moral to the story here, it's that the impoverished, if pushed too far, have no problem watching a man eaten by rats and burned to death. Am I the only one here who found the climax not uplifting but disgusting? A thinly-veiled rip-off of "Blind Alleys" (all that's missing is the end quote, "And then some idiot lit a match!"), "Firetrap" is as abhorrent as Steve Skeates's "Twisted Medicine" in the previous issue; sadism for kicks. I have no problem with humans doing nasty things to humans; what I find so loathsome is Butterworth's skewed sense of righteousness. "Lookie here, America. If you don't start showing some feelings for your fellow man, they're going to waterboard you."

Lt. Robert St. John is the final hope of mankind when an alien race speeds towards our world with conquest in mind. The plan is that astronaut St. John will head off the invasion deep in space and detonate a Cobalt bomb, vaporizing himself and the enemy. But en route to the rendezvous with fate, St. John is contacted by the alien leader and made an offer he can't refuse: if St. John will forego the whole "big blast" scenario, the aliens will grant the earthling immortality. St. John agrees and he's taken aboard the ship, where he undergoes an immediate transformation into immortal. After being granted an audience with the leader, St. John murders the alien and tells the rest of the crew that he has "won his title in combat" and is now captain of the ship. He calls off the invasion and orders his crew to head for home. I liked "Judas" and how it toyed with my expectations all during its running time. It's apparent halfway through that St. John isn't exactly playing with a full deck (early in the flight, he murders his cosmonaut co-pilot so that he can grab all the glory for himself) and that, despite his family back home, chances are he's going to grab the ring and be King of the Galaxy if the opportunity presents itself. In the end, he gets his cake and eats it too. Great Corben art and color.

A man from the pollution-choked future travels to our era to stave off the assassination of one Chester P. Hazel, who was to organize the "largest, most sweeping ecology movement in our history." The stranger travels to the 1970s and tracks down Chester (only to discover that Chester is a "she," not a "he!") just in time to thwart the killing. But has his action changed the future? He'll never know, since the man dies of radiation poisoning shortly after his valiant act. Steve Skeates uses pollution as a springboard, but it becomes more of a diving board, thanks to a muddled message, flowery art, and poor plotting. Our hapless hero is sent back from the future by a genius scientist who is smart enough to invent a time machine but can't protect his traveler from radiation? And why would the book the egghead is studying mention Chester Hazel when the woman is killed before she can start the movement? And that text doesn't mention Hazel is a beatnik chick who lounges around the Haight and doesn't seem to be doing a thing? And who's the guy who's sent to kill her? Willi Cicci? Who sent him? You could be forgiven for believing that the artist on "Survivor or Savior!" is Maroto rather than Mayo. Sure looks like Esteban's stuff. Everywhere Chester sits, the flowers seem to grow around her. It's not bad, don't get me wrong, it's just... familiar.

If Jerry Grandenetti had inked Frank Robbins

After embezzling funds from his office, John Jacob Hindley heads for the underground, only to be kidnapped by a group of creepy mutants who live in the abandoned subway tunnels. Hindley decides he must kill the group's leader, an armless, legless thing that sits on a throne and shouts out orders now and then, if he is to escape. Alas, once the assassination is complete, the creeps chop Hindley's arms and legs off and he becomes the new king of "The Maze." I can excuse the Raw Meat/Death Line riff from Skeates, but I can't get behind the annoying artwork by Summers. Leo is, literally, Warren's answer to Frank Robbins. Yeccccch.

After her young son is tragically killed, Miriam becomes convinced she's got a demon inside her. Hoping to end her pain, the woman climbs out onto a high ledge and gets ready to take the plunge. Her husband shows up, trying to talk her back in, but he loses his footing and falls to his death. Miriam dives after him. Though I'm not quite sure what message Steve Skeates is trying to get across here (or if he even has one to share), but "The Demon Within!" is the only story in a triple-Skeates-header that works this issue. Is there actually a demon lurking in the hallways of Miriam's soul? It sure seems like it with that final panel showing the smile that lights up the girl's face just before she takes a header. Demon or psychological madness? I'm not sure and, possibly, it's best that Skeates went for the abstract rather than the literal. A swell way to send off one of the best issues of Creepy to come along in a while.-Peter

Jack-I hate to be a downer, but this issue didn't live up to my expectations. When I saw that Wrightson, Severin, and Corben contributed, I was set for great things. The art in "The Black Cat" is classic Wrightson, for certain, but did he do much writing at Warren? I know him mostly from his DC work, so I'm not familiar with his writing, but I didn't think much of the adaptation. I was also unimpressed with Severin's art in "Buffaloed," which seemed rushed and not up to what we saw from him the last time he was at Warren. "Firetrap" also reminded me of Robert Bloch's story "Water's Edge," with the rats, and Alcazar's art is nice and shadowy, but the story is unimpressive.

"Judas" crept up on me and I actually prefer the story to the art, since I don't think Corben's style is best-suited for science fiction, at least not the type with lots of spaceships and people in spacesuits. The three Skeates stories are about as usual from him: "Survivor or Savior" has a disappointing ending, "The Maze" is offensive, and "The Demon Within!" is only half-decent when placed in comparison with the prior two tales. The art on "The Maze" by Leo Summers reminds me of Jack Davis's work in spots but it's hard to tell what's going on in the panels.

Torres

Vampirella #33

"Vampirella and the Sultana's Revenge!" ★★1/2

Story by Jack Butterworth

Art by Jose Gonzalez

"Childhood Haunt!" ★1/2

Story by Steve Skeates

Art by Rafael Auraleon

"Top to Bottom" ★★

Story by Jack Butterworth

Art by Rich Corben

"...Number 37 is Missing!" ★★★

Story by Budd Lewis

Art by Isidro Mones

"Barfly!" ★1/2

Story by John Jacobson

Art by Adolfo Abellan

Vampirella and Pendragon are summoned to Arabia to play a one-night stand for the Sultan of Ashib. Though the two are perplexed as to why a rich Arab Sultan would want a vaudeville act to perform before his majesty, they are also quite excited to visit this exotic, new land. Unfortunately, as with most of Vampirella's adventures, it's not quite so cut and dried. Once Vampi enters the Sultan's palace, she recognizes the Sultana immediately as Droga, the mistress of Jabez Kruger (the sleazy arms dealer from last issue's "The Running Red"); something's up. Though the Sultan knows all about his wife's affairs, he's still madly in lust with her and will grant any wish she asks, including the deaths of Vampi and Pen. 

The Sultan tosses the hapless heroes into his basement dungeon, wherein sleeps the Djinn, a vicious shape-shifter who's only too happy for the company. After an extremely short confrontation (how about one panel?), Vampi drains the thing of its blood. As the Sultan secretly wanted rid of the creature, he thanks Vampi by releasing her and Pen and turns his attentions to his adulterous wife, who's been seeing the stable boy once or twice a night when the hubby is busy. Though the Sultan swore he'd never harm a hair on his gorgeous wife's head, he concocts an even more villainous plan of revenge: force-feeding her until she's no longer the slim and sexy babe she once was. 

So much for the "dungeon of horrors" and "monstrous changeling" promised on the cover; where's the giant spider? As noted, the battle between Vampi and the Djinn lasts all of one panel; Butterworth/Loew's script seems to have been born of deadline doom rather than a driving need to tell the rest of Droga's story. And do we really need that reminder every issue when Vampi's bloodlust overcomes her (now, evidently, it's due to stress) and she starts draining blood, a la "When Bruce Banner gets nervous...?" At least Vampi doesn't fall in love with the Sultan. On the other hand, Jose Gonzalez hands in one of his finest performances. There are several different styles snuck in between the peek-a-boo poses (the panel of Vampi reclining on her bed, legs up and "come hither" look in her eyes, is a scorcher); the Mort Drucker backgrounds, Maroto-esque half-nekkid chicks, and one panel that halted me in my tracks. Is that a touched-up photo on page 9 (reprinted at right) or just a photo-realistic style I've not seen Jose use before? Anyway, as frivolous as the plot may be, this is still a fun read.

Pantha boards a bus and visits the boarding house she lived in as a child, searching for answers to her origin. She meets a handsome stranger named Jason and immediately falls in love with him, giving herself to him in a primal display of eroticism. When the home's director refuses to share files with Pantha, she breaks in later that night and witnesses him beating the children with a stick. Flashing back to her childhood, our moody female protagonist changes into something more deadly and rips the director to shreds. When she hears a noise behind her, she attacks, only to discover it was Jason, perhaps following her here to protect her. Pantha contemplates a life without the man she loved for three minutes.

The answers I'd hoped would be forthcoming three installments ago have yet to materialize. Instead, with "Childhood Haunt!" we get what amounts to a redressed Werewolf script. Pantha wanders around and kills a few people, with the final death being someone she "loved," and unearths exactly zero about her forgotten past. Just like Arthur Lemming. There's an unfortunate and wholly unnecessary racist incident at the beginning of the story that's quite perplexing, as is Pantha's proclamation of love for a man she just met at the bus depot. The new character exists simply to set up another mistaken kill. I'd love to see something radical here like, I don't know, propelling the narrative to a destination rather than continuously spinning those wheels. I continue to be neutral on Auraleon's art; Pantha's certainly a sexy figure, but why do his old people always look the same?

Henry finds a strange, lighted cube in a pawn shop in 1850 and spends the next 120 years trying to master whatever game is contained inside. Henry does not age and the years seem to speed by. Unknowingly, Henry sets off world wars with the box, but when it begins to talk to him, Henry's goal shifts and he decides he wants to make money with the thing. After years of attempting to get rich, Henry realizes he's wasted his entire life and the box sets him "free." Henry is murdered by a young dope fiend and the box has a new owner.

I'm not sure what to make of "Top to Bottom," Jack Butterworth's preachy and confusing diatribe about what a mess the human race is (as if Moench and McGregor hadn't already convinced us). There's always a problem when a funny book story needs a lengthy expository and even that doesn't help present a clear picture of what Butterworth is saying. It's Outer Limits-lite. If "Top to Bottom" were published today, I'd say Henry and his box are an analogy for the mindless video game zombies. This isn't one of Rich's better contributions, but then he isn't really given much to work with. Most of the scenes present Henry sitting in a chair looking at his cube, Henry walking around with his cube... 

Reporter Lenard Shatner is investigating the mysterious death of an eccentric painter, a man who has left behind a series of numbered paintings of horrific beasts. When similar deaths occur across the city (and the dead artist's paintings are found at the scene), Shatner begins to believe there might be a supernatural force at work. Aside from the disappointing finale, I liked "...Number 37 is Missing!" quite a bit. Writer Budd Lewis takes an old horror trope (the changing canvas) and injects it with a big dose of fun, while artist Mones does his best with what is essentially a lot of talking heads. Shatner is very much in the vein of a Carl Kolchak.

Not so good is the final story this issue, "Barfly," an ugly and meandering mess about a Chinese vampiress, come to America to embrace an opulent lifestyle and drink the blood of the rich. While the twist ending is clever, I found "Barfly!" to be way too long and Abellan's doodlings near-indiscernible. The less said the better.-Peter

One more from Bernie

Jack-Gonzalez really outdoes himself with "Vampirella and the Sultana's Revenge!" No one else is drawing beautiful women quite as well. Corben's art and color on "Top to Bottom" are inspired, though the story is preachy and thin. "...Number 37 is Missing!" is fun and I really enjoy Mones's art, especially the big panel depicting a New Orleans street. I also like the use of the name, Lenard Shatner--two actors from Star Trek! I like Auraleon's art more than you do, Peter, so the Pantha story is enjoyable from that aspect, but Skeates is just killing time with the stories. Finally, "Barfly!" is too long and seems pointless. I kept thinking it was over and then there'd be more pages!

Next Week...
It's Crossover Time!

Batman in the 1980s Issue 20: August 1981

 

The Dark Knight in the 1980s
by Jack Seabrook &
Peter Enfantino

Aparo

Batman #338

"This Sporting Death!"

Story by Gerry Conway & Roy Thomas

Art by Irv Novick & Frank McLaughlin

In the middle of a deserted sports stadium one night, a sportswriter is murdered by a mysterious hockey player. This is just the latest in a series of sports figures being killed, so Commissioner Gordon calls in Batman to investigate. A hockey player is killed in the middle of a game and Batman is there to battle the Sportsman, who gets away after attacking the Dark Knight with a tennis racket rigged to be a buzz saw.

When the Sportsman goes berserk at a sports mall, Batman confronts him and hears of his sad upbringing: the Sportsman's father was a doctor who injected his son with experimental chemicals to make him into a star athlete. Now that he's grown, the drugs are killing him and he's taking revenge on the wide world of sports. Batman makes short work of the villain and promises to get him psychiatric help.

Jack: "This Sporting Life" is one of the lesser efforts by Conway and Thomas, though Novick and McLaughlin give it the old college try with their usual, workmanlike art. From the first murder, the story seems ludicrous, as the killer skates off across grassy turf. The flashback to his childhood is unintentionally funny and the conclusion, with Batman promising mental therapy for a villain who has murdered numerous people, is incredible. Hockey was hot in the wake of the U.S. hockey team's upset victory at the 1980 Winter Olympics, but this story should've been tossed in the waste bin.

Peter: Gerry seems to be saving his quality scripts for Detective but, as with that Snowman mess he pumped out last issue, I suspect he's getting a little help from Roy Thomas. The Sportsman has all the earmarks of a seventh-tier Marvel villain, perhaps created to lob explosive softballs at Frank Castle, and his M.O. is laughable. How do you manage turf on ice-skates, no matter the turbo power? Sportsman even gets a cliched origin; the old "weakling abused by dad" warhorse. Final laugh for this issue comes as the EMTs haul Mantle off to jail in a strait-jacket but are kind enough to leave him in his quasi-Punisher football helmet. You weren't getting chuckles like these over at Frank Miller's Daredevil, believe me.

"Murder on the Midway Part 2:

Killer Under the Big Top!"

Story by Gerry Conway

Art by Don Newton & Steve Mitchell

Robin continues his search for the "Killer Under the Big Top!" Lorna Hill didn't do it; she was trying to help Waldo the clown. Magnificent Melanie, the lion tamer, didn't do it; she's going to marry Waldo! Waldo wakes up in the hospital and admits that a gun fell into his hand but was not pointed at Jo-Jo when the latter was shot. Robin deduces that Jo-Jo set up an elaborate plan, using a hidden gun, to shoot and kill himself and pin the blame on Waldo, since Jo-Jo had terminal cancer and was jealous of Waldo's relationship with Melanie.

Jack: Newton and Mitchell's work is a bit shaky this time out and the story could've used more pages, since the complicated scheme has to be explained by Dick Grayson in the final panels. Still, it's better than the lead story by a long shot.

Peter: Best opening line from a comic book in 1981: I'd waited in the darkness of the Hill Circus's Big Top for most of the night, hoping that the killer who'd framed my friend Waldo the Clown for the murder of Jo-Jo Jones would return to the scene of his crime... Eight pages later, "Murder on the Midway" comes to a satisfying, if far-fetched finale. I like its simple whodunit style; big props to Gerry Conway, the guy I was just ragging on, for resurrecting a dead back-up strip. 

Aparo

The Brave and the Bold #177

"The Hangman Club Murders!"

Story by Mike W. Barr

Art by Jim Aparo

Bruce Wayne attends a party thrown to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Hangman's Club, an organization set up by four people who claim they were jailed in error and who want to help others reform their lives. Wayne leaves but is soon called back as Batman to investigate the first of "The Hangman Club Murders!" Elongated Man shows up to help and the duo soon encounter a costumed killer who calls himself the Hangman! It doesn't take the detectives long to figure out that one of the four club founders is the killer and to catch him after one more murder has taken place.

Jack: Jim Aparo is really on target this issue, with a striking cover and gorgeous interior art. Adrienne Roy also provides excellent colors, especially in the night scenes, where Batman's figure is lit yellow against dark blue backgrounds. Elongated Man can be annoying or funny; this time, he's funny, and I like how he calls his partner "B.M." The Hangman's costume is silly--why would someone wear a noose around his neck? You'd think it would make it easier to grab him. The mystery is simple but I didn't figure it out; I thought the killer was the other founding member who was rumored to be a strangler. The story is dedicated to Bill Finger. In the letters column, Dick Giordano writes that he wants these three titles to follow Batman's adventures in chronological order and suggests that he'll move away from the practice of having Batman be devoted to costumed bad guys and Detective be more focused on investigative work.

Peter: The Brave and the Bold might not be the best written of the Bat-titles, but I think it's the most fun. It's got a "throw it at the wall and see if it sticks" vibe to it. The last handful of issues (save the Lois Lane team-up, which was pretty much a dog) have all been very enjoyable and come equipped with fabulous visuals as well. As I've mentioned before, I've never understood the fascination with DC's 1960s hero comics (they're all safe and goofy), but that comes from being a Marvel Zombie of long standing. These issues of B&B actually give me a hint as to why people like Jack liked that junk so much. Not that it's driving me to read Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen or Legion of Super-Heroes. I haven't lost my marbles

"Honor Among Thieves"

Story by Cary Burkett

Art by Dan Spiegle

Nemesis shows Valerie his swanky New York City apartment and tells her she can join him in his fight against crime. Meanwhile, Samuel Solomon plans to take over leadership of the Council. Nemesis trains Valerie to pilot a helicopter and he parachutes out over Solomon's house, but he is quickly captured and held at gunpoint by Solomon's men. It seems the aspiring crime boss wants Nemesis to help him wipe out the competition!

Jack: More time with Valerie is welcome, though her spunkiness gets old fast. These eight-page backup stories just seem to pass the time until a final cliffhanger; they're quite like old serial chapters in that way, though with little of the excitement of their predecessors. In a few spots this time, Spiegle's art reminds me of the work of Ramona Fradon, though with nowhere near as much of her skill.

Peter: I absolutely hated the first arc of "Nemesis" but I'm willing to give this new storyline a try. Only it's not really a "new" storyline, is it? Just more of the same. I do like that Burkett focuses on the down time between missions (or assignments, or whatever Nemesis is calling them), but we'll see how the action pans out next issue. The art is still the pits.

Buckler/Giordano

Detective Comics #505

"Werewolf Moon"

Story by Gerry Conway

Art by Don Newton & Dan Adkins

Mrs. Lupus watches as her daughter is dying from leukemia in a hospital bed. As she explains to the Batman, the only hope is finding the girl's brother, the werewolf, Anthony Lupus. Bats sighs and tells Gordon that's going to be a tall order since (as we saw way back in Batman #255 ) Tony L. was reduced to ashes by a lightning bolt. "Well, no, simmer down there, young fella. There's this little bit of info I didn't tell you about two months ago, but I happen to have the newspaper clipping right here somewhere... ah yes, here it is..." murmurs the number one cop in Gotham, and presents his colleague in law and order with some pretty solid evidence that Lupus is alive and practicing lycanthropy in the Alaskan wilds.

Before you can say "eccentric billionaire," Bruce Wayne is off to Alaska to rope himself a werewolf (although how he'll later explain that to Gordon and the rest of the citizens of Gotham is another story altogether). Wayne hires a guide and they quickly locate Lupus (he's in the house that looks like a ski resort out in the middle of nowhere). There's a big battle between Lupus and Wayne and the guide swears off adventure, heading back to civilization and leaving Bruce to fun and games. Luckily, Wayne brought both his Batsuit and the silver-lined net he made after fighting Tony the last time ("After all, you never know when you'll run into another werewolf!"); after a quick tussle, the Dark Knight has the shaggy beast trapped. When the sun comes up the next morning and Lupus reverts to human form, he's convinced to return to Gotham City to help his sister and accept an antidote that Batman is sure he'll invent before the next full moon.

Peter: While I didn't rave over Len Wein's script for "Moon of the Wolf," I was very excited to see Lupus's return, if only for the supernatural element the character hauls in with him. We need a change from the Penguin-Catwoman-Joker carousel now and then. The whole DC Universe is unbelievable, so why not throw in vampires and werewolves to shake things up now and then? For the most part, Gerry does a good job working up the suspense in "Werewolf Moon," but most of the proceedings are exactly what you might think they'll be. These kinds of "dips into the old well" highlighted Roy Thomas's career, so I'm wondering if Rascally wasn't whispering in Gerry's ear "there's gold in them thar Adams issues." 

Batman assumes that Lupus's body was "destroyed in that lightning blast" that climaxed "Moon of the Wolf." Raise your hands if you assume that Batman ever assumes anything. Wouldn't he have a look at said pile of ashes to see if it was still moving around? World's greatest detective! And how did Lupus find his way to Alaska without alerting any authorities? The great equalizer known as "coincidence" then finds its way into Gordon's hands with a newspaper exclaiming that Lupus is now a hunter in Alaska. Like last month's burp when Arkham "forgot" to tell Gordon that the Joker had escaped three weeks before, the Commish thinks not to pester the Bats with the info that a dangerous werewolf might have immigrated to Alaska until just the right moment. And Arthur Reeves, the villainous candidate for mayor, is definitely headed for some kind of unbelievable pay-off (like he's the Penguin's nephew or Alfred Pennyworth's other illegitimate kid), so let's just get there already. Hopefully, Batman will find that cure for werewolfism before Anthony donates some of his bone marrow to his sick sister. We don't want two werewolves running around Gotham.

Jack: I was thrilled to see the return of the werewolf, since that Adams run on Detective holds such fond memories. Conway's script is even better than the art by Newton and Adkins, which is very good indeed. I was turning the (virtual, electronic) pages quickly in this story because the chase and battle were so exciting. I can't say that about every "Batman in the 1980s" comic we read and it makes me wonder: why are Conway's scripts for Detective so much better than those he pens for Batman? Was he intentionally trying to make this a more adult book?

"Hunt for a Hunchback Killer"

Story by Cary Burkett

Art by Jose Delbo & Joe Giella

Batgirl races to stop a deformed killer from claiming another victim. Just when she thinks she has the drop on him, she drops her knock-out gas pellet, with no time to grab her Bat-nose-plugs. Out goes Babs Gordon, as the hunchback killer breathes heavily and drools on her silky, sexy neck.

Peter: I know what you're saying. Just how many hunchbacks live in Gotham City? I was thinking the same thing, amigos, but alas, we're being led down a stray path by an awkwardly-worded title. Shouldn't that be "Hunt for a Hunchbacked Killer?" Well, new editor Dick Giordano hasn't even rested his big feet on the desk yet, so I'll cut him some slack. And, besides, Dick would probably blame outgoing editor Paul Levitz for the blunder. In any rate, "Hunchback Killer" is as dumb as a room full of New York Jets coaches, but it's got charm. That hunchbacked killer for one. Iago spouts circa 1942 Universal Ygor dialogue and that, I think, is the key to his secret identity. Laugh at me now but you'll be saying, "That blogger nut was right" when it's revealed that Iago is an out-of-work actor who was hit in the head with a falling stage curtain and is now mentally stuck in Hamlet or some other Kenneth Branagh play. 

Babs is an incredibly likable character, as are the background folk. "Garsh, Ms. Batgirl" exclaims an aroused Jeff-the-motorcycle-maintenance-chap after Babs unmasks for his benefit, "I'd'a never thought you was Batgirl! Can I see the rest?" Cary Burkett is obviously trying to build a support cast that we can root for and remember. Now, Cary, could you get down to business and let us in on why Bob Barton doesn't like Babs Gordon and why he's suddenly out of town? The mystery is killing me.

Jack: This story gets right to it, doesn't it? I had to look back over the last few issues of Detective to see if it was continued from a prior episode, but no--this is our first sight of the hunchback. Why does he dress like he's in a Universal movie? If I were a hunchback, I'd try to hide it a bit better than that. And how exactly do Batman and Batgirl divvy up the crimes in Gotham City? A string of hunchback murders might warrant the A team, not the backup. Babs's feet might not hurt so much if she'd ditch those stiletto-heeled boots.

Next Week!
The full-length debut of Wrightson!
And you better believe it was worth the wait!

The Hitchcock Project-William Fay Part Three: Safety for the Witness [4.8]

 by Jack Seabrook

"Safety for the Witness," which premiered on CBS on Sunday, November 23, 1958, was the third episode in a month of Alfred Hitchcock Presents to air with a teleplay by William Fay, and it was based on the short story of the same name by John De Meyer that had been published in the March 1955 issue of The Saint Detective Magazine and then collected in Best Detective Stories of the Year, 1956.

The story concerns Cyril Jones, a fearful man who works as a custom gunsmith, unconcerned with the ethics or actions of some of his customers. On his way home one evening, he has the misfortune to witness the gangland slaying of Henry Custer, who had identified a killer. The murderers are Big Sam Foley and Tony Frachetti, and when Big Sam sees that Jones observed their violent act, he turns his gun on Cyril. The gunsmith awakens in a hospital bed, badgered by policemen who want him to identify Custer's killer. He pretends to have lost the power of speech, and his doctors and nurses go along with his scheme until he finally tells the police, "'I don't know.'" Jones reasons that the police can't protect him if he identifies the killers, so he begins to ponder how he can guarantee his own safety. He decides that the only solution is to kill Big Sam and Tony Frachetti.

"Safety for the Witness"
was first published here

One night, Cyril leaves the hospital and returns to his shop, where he prepares a rifle with a telescopic sight. In the morning, he rents a room in a hotel overlooking a restaurant frequented by mobsters and, as soon as his targets appear, he shoots them dead. The next day, consumed by guilt, Cyril visits the police station, where he confesses to the murders. The police are dubious, partly because Cyril did such a good job of covering his tracks. When the police chief reports Cyril's story to the district attorney, the D.A. points out that no jury would convict the gunsmith for protecting himself by murdering two "'vicious killers.'" The police would be embarrassed by their inability to protect witnesses as well. In the end, Cyril is set free and decides to find the kind nurse who cared for him in the hospital.

A light tone marks this story, where crime runs rampant in the city streets and four people are shot, three fatally. The city is never identified, but it is referred to as a "sprawling, roaring place" and a subway and waterfront are mentioned, so it could be New York, Boston, Chicago, or Philadelphia. The time period is also vague, though the atom bomb is noted as something that makes Cyril shudder, so the events must take place between 1945 and 1955.

Art Carney as Cyril Jones

The story's author, John De Meyer (1909-1966), was born in Massachusetts and wrote novels and short stories from the mid-1930s to the late 1950s. He also worked for the Milton Bradley Company. His novels included Bailey's Daughters (1935) and A Sentimental Yankee (1941); the FictionMags Index lists 17 short stories by De Meyer that were published between 1953 and 1959, 14 of them in The Saturday Evening Post. "Safety for the Witness" was his only story to be published in a crime digest, a fact pointed out by the editor of The Saint Detective Magazine in the introduction to this tale: "John De Meyer's stories usually appear only in the highest paying magazines in the land, and they are usually concerned with matters a little tamer than murder."

Robert Bray as Lt. Flannery

William Fay's adaptation of De Meyer's short story focuses on dramatizing the events and, to its detriment, leaves out much of the narrative that makes the story succeed. The very first shot sets the time period as being decades before that of the story; a title card reading, "A Big City, 1927" is superimposed over stock footage of four men in hats and coats loading guns on an outdoor staircase. The scene then dissolves to show a well-dressed woman in Jones's gun shop, examining a rifle with a telescopic sight. She chats about her last safari, when her husband mistook a herd of zebras for a striped awning, and she asks Jones to ship the gun to her in California. On the way out of the shop, the toe of her shoe gets caught in the teeth of a bearskin rug, setting the stage for an attempt at broad comedy.

James Westerfield as
Commissioner Cummings

Art Carney, as Jones, was well-known to TV audiences in 1958 as a comic actor, so it's not surprising to see the show take this approach to telling the story. Lieutenant Flannery enters the shop and questions Jones about a hoodlum named Dan Foley, establishing that the gunsmith's customers include both rich wives and mobsters. Flannery mentions the need to protect a witness to a gangland killing and Jones suggests that the police do not have a good track record when it comes to protecting witnesses.

Flannery leaves and Jones opens a newspaper while eating lunch in his shop. He sees a photograph of Henry Grimes, the witness in question, a smiling man in a straw hat. There is a dissolve to a shot of the same man walking along a city sidewalk at night, with Jones following not far behind. Two mobsters shoot the witness to death right in front of Cyril, who greets them by name as Mr. Foley and Mr. Felix. Foley apologizes and they shoot Jones before jumping in a black car that speeds away. A shot of the two victims lying on the sidewalk dissolves to one of Lt. Flannery and Police Commissioner Cummings slowly entering Jones's hospital room. He has been there for 20 days and does not respond to Flannery's inquiry about who killed the witness.

Mary Scott as Nurse Copeland

Nurse Copeland enters and aggressively stands up to the policemen in defense of Jones's right to rest undisturbed; after the men leave, the nurse tells him that she heard him talking in his sleep about Foley and Felix. She asks what he plans to do and we see him pondering that question. Cyril checks out of the hospital in the middle of the night; after he leaves, the nurse at the front desk remarks, "'I bet you eight to five he doesn't live till Tuesday.'"

The best sequence in the episode follows, as Jones walks back along the street where he was shot, alone now in the dark, and thinks he hears voices calling his name, followed by a gunshot. He rushes into his shop, where the phone rings but the caller hangs up when Jones answers. He prepares the rifle and checks into the hotel, where he looks out of the window and across the street to a luncheonette, in front of which Foley and Felix stand, making small talk. Cyril shoots both men and they collapse onto the sidewalk.

Karl Davis as Dan Foley

Jones then appears at the police station, where he confesses to double murder. When the desk sergeant realizes that he is the man who refused to identify the killers of Henry Grimes, Cyril is sent to be interrogated by the police commissioner, who is resistant to believing his story. Lt. Flannery joins them and suggests that Jones is honest but delusional, pointing out that the gunsmith can't prove what he says because there are no witnesses. Jones is locked up and the commissioner visits the D.A., who insists that no jury would convict Cyril and the police department would be embarrassed when its inability to protect witnesses was highlighted.

Jones, calmly reading a book in his prison cell, is released by Lt. Flannery, who has to throw the man out of prison to get him to leave. The show ends with a shot of Cyril looking into the jail from the outside, locked out of the place where he thinks he should be.

George Greico as the district attorney

"Safety for the Witness" doesn't work as a comedy, despite a host of talented people attempting to translate it from the page to the small screen. Humorous music cues throughout the show defeat any attempt at setting a mood of suspense, and the show's pacing is problematic. Whereas the short story works because of the narrative style that lets the reader in on Jones's thoughts and because of skillful character description, these techniques are not utilized in the TV show and, stripped of its depth, the plot is not strong enough to be compelling.

This episode is directed by Norman Lloyd (1914- ), who had joined the TV series the year before as associate producer. Born Norman Perlmutter, Lloyd began performing on stage as a child and was active in theater in New York City in the 1930s. He was a charter member of the Mercury Theatre with Orson Welles and began acting on radio in the late 1930s and on film in 1939. He appeared in Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) and Spellbound (1945) and he acted on television from 1956 to 2010, including appearances in five episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He also appeared on Night Gallery and was a regular on the series, St. Elsewhere (1982-88). As associate producer or producer, he worked on both Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour from 1957 to 1965, and as director, he helmed many TV episodes from 1951 to 1984, including 19 installments of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and three of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

James Flavin as the desk sergeant

Art Carney (1918-2003) stars as Cyril Jones. Carney began his show business career as a comic singer on the radio in the 1930s. He then served in the Army in WWII and was wounded at Normandy. Back in the States, he was a regular on TV on The Morey Amsterdam Show (1948-50) and began working with Jackie Gleason in 1950. He would go on to fame as Ed Norton, neighbor to Gleason's Ralph Kramden, in a long-running series of TV shows and skits about The Honeymooners that included the oft-rerun 39 episodes that aired in the 1955-56 season. Carney won six Emmy Awards in his career. He also appeared on Broadway, including originating the role of Felix Unger in The Odd Couple, and on film, where he won an Oscar for his starring role in Harry and Tonto (1974). He was also seen on The Twilight Zone and Batman. Carney acted on screen until 1993 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This was his only appearance on the Hitchcock show.

Doris Lloyd

Playing Lieutenant Flannery is Robert Bray (1917-1983), who was a Marine in WWII and who followed his service with a screen career that lasted from 1946 to 1968. He played Mike Hammer in My Gun is Quick (1957), was a regular on Stagecoach West (1960-61), appeared on The Twilight Zone, and was seen in five episodes of the Hitchcock series, including "Not the Running Type." He is best-known for his role as a regular on Lassie from 1964-68.

Police Commissioner Cummings is played by James Westerfield (1913-1971), a busy character actor who was onscreen from 1940 to 1973. He was seen in another episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Cell 227") and he was also on Thriller and The Twilight Zone.

Playing the role of Nurse Copeland is Mary Scott (1921-2009). Born in Los Angeles, she appeared in movies beginning in 1942 and on TV beginning in 1951. She is best remembered today for her roles in eight episodes of the Hitchcock TV show, including "The Diplomatic Corpse." In the late 1940s, she was on Broadway in a production of Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra when she met the English actor Cedric Hardwicke; she got pregnant and he divorced his wife. Hardwicke and Scott wed in 1950, when he was 57 years old and she was only 29. She later wrote an autobiography called Nobody Ever Accused Me of Being a 'Lady' and there is an interesting obituary here.

Dorothea Lord

Dan Foley, one of the men who shoots Cyril and is shot in return, is portrayed by Karl Davis (1908-1977), a pro wrestler and actor who sometimes went by the nickname, "Killer." He participated in wrestling matches from at least 1925 to 1957 and eventually parlayed his size and acting skill into a career in film and on TV from 1949 to 1961. Among his roles were that of a strongman in Mighty Joe Young (1949) and that of a wrestler in Rod Serling's TV play, "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1956); "Safety for the Witness" was the only time he appeared on the Hitchcock TV show.

George Greico (1915-1982) plays the district attorney; this was his first credit and he had a short career on TV until 1965.

James Flavin (1905-1976) plays the desk sergeant at the police station. He had character parts in nearly 400 movies and 100 TV episodes from 1932 to 1976 and was in four episodes of the Hitchcock series, including "Touche." He also played a sailor in King Kong (1933).

David Fresco

The rich woman in the first scene buying the rifle is played by Doris Lloyd (1891-1968), an English actress who was on screen from 1920 to 1967. She appeared in Phantom Lady (1944), four episodes of Thriller, and nine episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "Dip in the Pool."

Dorothea Lord (1920-2000) has a brief scene as the nurse at the front desk who doesn't think Cyril Jones will survive long outside the hospital; her TV career lasted only four years, from 1958 to 1962, but during that time she was in seven episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "A True Account."

Finally, David Fresco (1909-1997) plays the hotel desk clerk. A familiar face, he was on screen from 1946 to 1997 and appeared on The Twilight Zone, Batman, and twelve episodes of the Hitchcock series, including "The Day of the Bullet."

Order the DVD of "Safety for the Witness" here or watch it for free online here. Read the GenreSnaps take on this episode here. Thanks to Peter Enfantino for providing a copy of the short story!

Sources:

De Meyer, John. “Safety for the Witness.” The Saint Detective Magazine, Mar. 1955, pp. 72–89.

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

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

IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/. 

“John De Meyer Correspondence.” DigitalMaine.com, digitalmaine.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1207&context=maine_writers_correspondence. 

Saalbach, Axel. Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database, www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=7746. 

“Safety for the Witness.” Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 4, episode 8, CBS, 23 Nov. 1958. 

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

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

In two weeks: The Last Dark Step, starring Robert Horton and Fay Spain!