Just saw this on COZI TV. Really enjoyed it. Lynley, like a young Sylvia Sidney is both delicately exquisite and tough as Sister Pamela. Clu Gulager as Jimmy is convincingly vile and only gets worse, and the late Carmen Phillips is abrasive and pitiful as Jimmy's moll. The rest of the cast is also fine. I just wish that the story had been a tad better written so Sister Pamela could have rescued herself and not had to rely on a very unlikely source of assistance. Still, well done, with nary a trace of treacle or bathos.
9 Reviews
Sounds like your prayers hasn't been working out for you
sol12188 November 2011
***SPOILERS*** After receiving an original Donnatello statue for her Covent St. Catherine's novice nun Sister Pamela,Carol Linley, has it stolen from right under her nose at the train station by petty hoodlum who's out on bail Jimmy Bresson, Clu Culager. The statue was given to Sister Pamela by ex-convict William Downey, R.G Armstrong, who's now a big time art dealer. It was Downey a student of hers at Catholic parochial school that the now bed ridden Sister Lydia, Sara Taft, straighten out over the years by by keeping in touch with him through the mail.Now rich and well off Downey want's to repay her for all the good she's done for him by donating the priceless statue to her Covent.
With the statue now gone Sister Pamela starts to lose faith and after thinking things over quits being a nun,just before her final vows, and goes out into the workforce to find a job and support herself. As things worked out the job she gets, as a typist, is at the same place where Bresson works loading trucks. It's later when an overbearing Bresson, who's about as obnoxious as one can get,invites her to a party his girlfriend is throwing at her pad that Pamela finds a pawn shop ticket for the statue that Besson stole from her at the train station.
Trying the right the wrong that she holds herself responsible for former Sister Pamela, now calling herself Pamela Willey, goes to the pawn shop to retrieve this statue only to have Besson follow her there! Feeling that the what seemed like worthless statue is worth a fortune Bresson and the pawn shop owner Wormer, Don Hanmer, try to knock off Pamala in them suspecting that she's an undercover cop, and also her knowing that the two are involved in a theft ring, and keep the statute all for themselves.
****SPOILERS*** The story has an unexpected out of the blue and boomerang effect ending that it not only ends up saving Pamala's life but resorts the statute to it's rightful owner St. Catherine's. It's after that life saving incident that Pamela finally sees what the Lord's grand plan was not only in her losing and then recovering the Donnatello statue but having her regain her faith which she all but lost. Which among other things mirrors that famous religious quote "The Lord works in Strange Ways". And the circumstances of Pamela both losing and, with her life in danger, finding that priceless statute is what finally convinced her of that!
With the statue now gone Sister Pamela starts to lose faith and after thinking things over quits being a nun,just before her final vows, and goes out into the workforce to find a job and support herself. As things worked out the job she gets, as a typist, is at the same place where Bresson works loading trucks. It's later when an overbearing Bresson, who's about as obnoxious as one can get,invites her to a party his girlfriend is throwing at her pad that Pamela finds a pawn shop ticket for the statue that Besson stole from her at the train station.
Trying the right the wrong that she holds herself responsible for former Sister Pamela, now calling herself Pamela Willey, goes to the pawn shop to retrieve this statue only to have Besson follow her there! Feeling that the what seemed like worthless statue is worth a fortune Bresson and the pawn shop owner Wormer, Don Hanmer, try to knock off Pamala in them suspecting that she's an undercover cop, and also her knowing that the two are involved in a theft ring, and keep the statute all for themselves.
****SPOILERS*** The story has an unexpected out of the blue and boomerang effect ending that it not only ends up saving Pamala's life but resorts the statute to it's rightful owner St. Catherine's. It's after that life saving incident that Pamela finally sees what the Lord's grand plan was not only in her losing and then recovering the Donnatello statue but having her regain her faith which she all but lost. Which among other things mirrors that famous religious quote "The Lord works in Strange Ways". And the circumstances of Pamela both losing and, with her life in danger, finding that priceless statute is what finally convinced her of that!
Not great...but watchable.
planktonrules26 April 2021
When the story begins, a rich criminal type guy offers a Donatello statue of St. Francis to some nuns for their convent. They gratefully take it but soon after, as they are making their way back home on the train, a scumbag (Clu Gulager) steals it. One of the nuns, Sister Pamela (Carol Lynley) was already struggling with doubts about her suitability to remain a nun...and this incident pushes her to resign and enter the outside world. Oddly, she gets a job at a company where the thief works. Is either God working in mysterious ways or is Pamela planning something? See the show to find out for yourself.
So is it any good? Well, yes and no. When Pamela discovers where the stolen statue is, her actions simply make no sense. If you knew that a stolen item was at a local pawn shop what would you do? Well, certainly NOT what she did! Still, despite this nutty and nonsensical behavior and Gulager's less than subtle acting, it's not a bad episode...just a flawed and mediocre one.
By the way, the statue the nuns were given is a cheap looking thing and not a statue by Donatello. Donatello was a master....and he trained Michelangelo! So, even to this untrained eye, it was pretty obvious. However, you can't blame the show...it's not like they were going out to buy a million dollar statue to make things more realistic!
Also by the way, in a letter to Pamela from the convent, the writer talks about another nun receiving 'extreme unction'. That's a fancy term for the Catholic practice of anointing the seriously ill...which is usually done along with the last rites.
So is it any good? Well, yes and no. When Pamela discovers where the stolen statue is, her actions simply make no sense. If you knew that a stolen item was at a local pawn shop what would you do? Well, certainly NOT what she did! Still, despite this nutty and nonsensical behavior and Gulager's less than subtle acting, it's not a bad episode...just a flawed and mediocre one.
By the way, the statue the nuns were given is a cheap looking thing and not a statue by Donatello. Donatello was a master....and he trained Michelangelo! So, even to this untrained eye, it was pretty obvious. However, you can't blame the show...it's not like they were going out to buy a million dollar statue to make things more realistic!
Also by the way, in a letter to Pamela from the convent, the writer talks about another nun receiving 'extreme unction'. That's a fancy term for the Catholic practice of anointing the seriously ill...which is usually done along with the last rites.
Unusual, but Flawed
dougdoepke10 November 2015
Unusual story involving a nun and a priceless antique statue. A wealthy man (Armstrong) donates the antique to a convent to honor an elderly Mother Superior (Elsom) for her help when he was a boy. Sister Pamela (Lynley) goes to pick it up, but has it stolen by low-life Bresson (Gulager) on her way back. Now the Sister feels a duty to get it back, even though she leaves the convent for civilian life.
Suspense kicks in fairly early since we wonder how the innocent-looking Pamela can go up against the thuggish Bresson. Trouble is the mood is under-cut by Gulager's egregious over- acting. He doesn't just move, he hurtles; he doesn't just talk, he shouts. As a result, attention is moved from the plot to his excesses. Too bad, since a subtler approach had real possibilities. Lynley is well cast, looking positively angelic in a carefully composed way. The climax is a surprise, consistent with a religiously themed episode, but done in a fairly subtle way. Overall, the entry is an imaginative, if unfortunately flawed 60-minutes.
Suspense kicks in fairly early since we wonder how the innocent-looking Pamela can go up against the thuggish Bresson. Trouble is the mood is under-cut by Gulager's egregious over- acting. He doesn't just move, he hurtles; he doesn't just talk, he shouts. As a result, attention is moved from the plot to his excesses. Too bad, since a subtler approach had real possibilities. Lynley is well cast, looking positively angelic in a carefully composed way. The climax is a surprise, consistent with a religiously themed episode, but done in a fairly subtle way. Overall, the entry is an imaginative, if unfortunately flawed 60-minutes.
"I want you to see what faith and prayer can do."
classicsoncall12 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I have only one minor quibble with stories like this. All of the principal characters are destined to cross paths because of the requirements of the screenplay. There's nothing really random about the events of the episode, as Sister Pamela (Carol Lynley) takes it upon herself to retrieve the Donatello statue stolen from her, a gift to an ailing Sister Lydia (Sara Taft) from a man she tried to reform over a span of three decades by writing encouraging letters and sending him an annual Christmas card. The police lineup revealed that petty thief Jimmy Bresson (Clu Gulager) works at Gramercy Appliance, and because Sister Pamela felt he was the culprit, she applies for a job there after a crisis of conscience convinces her to leave the Holy Name Convent before taking her final vows as a nun. In concert with pawnshop owner Wormer (Don Hanmer), Bresson attempts to extort an exorbitant amount of money from Pamela for the return of the statue, with the help of a fence who would have an idea what the statue would be really worth. Well, you had to know that 'Mike' (R. G. Armstrong) would be the man who originally gave the statue to Sister Pamela in the first place; he even hands over a twenty-dollar bill to Wormer to make it worth his while for getting involved with Jimmy. The only thing that would have made the episode better was to have Mike Downey relent and enter the convent to say hello to Sister Lydia, so she could have experienced how her prayers influenced him, even if it meant that in this one instance, a bad guy could do a good deed.
To Be Human
Hitchcoc5 May 2023
Carol Lynley is a pretty young actress portraying a novice nun in this one. She has had trouble with her new life, but the mother superior has faith in her. The story centers on a priceless statue she is in possession of what is stolen by a low life, played by Clu Gulager. I wonder if he ever played a decent person. She feels the responsibility for the loss of the statue and goes civilian, trying to get it back. Once she knows the perpetrator, she must rub elbows with the guy and his friends. The scenes in the pawn shop show her to be alien to such places. This is a little morality play so we know it will work out in the end.
Hitchcock tatooing a cow LOL
figueroafernando27 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The crooked paths of God, supposing they exist, have strange links with those of some humans like Jimmy, who luckily could not be identified (although due to his uneven way of speaking yes) at the police station after stealing that ecclesiastical piece several centuries old that the supposedly reformed William Downy sent to Sister Lidya through the novice Sister Pamela; and I said crooked, of course, Sister Pamela renounces her vows and when she starts to work who do you think she will find? Exactly, Jimmy's playboy and now he was the one deceived by her, who, attending the party, found the pawn ticket. Voilá!, unlikely but it happens, for 20 dollars to recover the ancient statue to take it to whom it was given in the first place. And Hitchcock tattooing a cow, LOL!
Good episode
putahw-4099727 August 2022
I really enjoyed the story line. The acting was above par as it was for most of The Hitchcock series. I have always loved the unpredictable outcomes of the majority of The Hitchcock series. Although I have never been attracted to blonde haired women. Carol Linley was one of those unusually attractive women who could have dyed her hair any color and still looked gorgeous. She wasn't as great an actress as Audrey Totter but yet still believable in this role. This episode is worth watching for the story line if nothing else. The Hitchcock series is a must watch series for anyone who enjoys great writing and great acting.
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