The ultimate dark comedy. How can you miss with burly Robert Middleton playing a man of means who is saddled with a young and beautiful wife who cheats? Hitch seemed to love this theme.
Yes, it's an old story, but the master of suspense gives it the full treatment. I do agree with the last reviewer, it's one of those head scratchers. Does this goof really think money is going to keep his wife from fooling around?
The catch here is Middleton is a crime boss, with lots of connections. So the plan is to hire a hit man to make everyone happy!
Young Henry Silva is the perfect choice to play the smooth talking killer... and the best thing about this story is the dialogue between the boss and his new employee. Thanks to Bernard Schoenfeld, who wrote 16 episodes for Hitch. Bernard wrote one of the greatest prison films, CAGED, and the film noir THE DARK CORNER (1946), starring Lucille Ball. Watch for it.
Middleton, about a year earlier, played one of Humphrey Bogart's gang in THE DESPERATE HOURS, a role that insured his place in movie history as a real bad guy. The movie was shot at Universal, where Hitch did his tv show. The biggest surprise about that movie is Bogey's character was shot dead on the front lawn of the LEAVE IT TO BEAVER house! Super trivia question for movie and sitcom buffs.
A classic for late night tv. From SEASON 2 remastered Universal/CBS dvd series.