The writing is quite poor for this Kraft soap opera, dare one call it Cheesy? The talented lead players do a good job, stuck with cardboard characters trapped in an early '60s fake Suburban world worthy of a Joe Sarno sexploitation movie (which would have been far more interesting.
Given her immense talent, I was initially impressed with the subtlety of Gena Rowlands' minute changes of facial expression to exemplify a neglected wife almost cheating with a family friend. His sudden heart attack at a motel (their room bearing a warning "One Step Down" sign that gives the episode its suggestive title) immediately puts her into sustained distress, as the viewer is forced to share her anxiety for the rest of the hour. Final resolution is as fake as the contrived predicaments that keep this potboiler chugging along on a very low flame.
I'm a fan of director Bernard Girard, but he couldn't pump life into this placid story in which all punches are pulled. There's no crime involved, just "guilt for attempted cheating". Poor Gena is quickly painted into the background, saddled with a role that could have been played by anyone, not permitted to create a real character. Intead, Ida Lupino as the dead man's wife harkens back to volatile '40s heroines/loathsome characters in the Joan Crawford mold, grandstanding entertainingly just this side of camp. Leslie Nielsen's walkthrough as Gena's self-absorbed surgeon husband recalls bland leading men of yesteryear, who deferred to their star leading ladies in what used to be called a Woman's Film. There's no hint of his comedic talents that punctuated the latter phase of his career.
Given her immense talent, I was initially impressed with the subtlety of Gena Rowlands' minute changes of facial expression to exemplify a neglected wife almost cheating with a family friend. His sudden heart attack at a motel (their room bearing a warning "One Step Down" sign that gives the episode its suggestive title) immediately puts her into sustained distress, as the viewer is forced to share her anxiety for the rest of the hour. Final resolution is as fake as the contrived predicaments that keep this potboiler chugging along on a very low flame.
I'm a fan of director Bernard Girard, but he couldn't pump life into this placid story in which all punches are pulled. There's no crime involved, just "guilt for attempted cheating". Poor Gena is quickly painted into the background, saddled with a role that could have been played by anyone, not permitted to create a real character. Intead, Ida Lupino as the dead man's wife harkens back to volatile '40s heroines/loathsome characters in the Joan Crawford mold, grandstanding entertainingly just this side of camp. Leslie Nielsen's walkthrough as Gena's self-absorbed surgeon husband recalls bland leading men of yesteryear, who deferred to their star leading ladies in what used to be called a Woman's Film. There's no hint of his comedic talents that punctuated the latter phase of his career.