Lawrence Marcus delivered a highly unusual, elliptical screenplay for this Kraft Suspense episode, well-acted by the team of Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes. Not only did it keep me guessing, but had plenty of odd elements to ponder over.
Unlike the previous, rather dense IMDb reviewer, I paid attention to the story and intentionally oddball dialogue. Marcus sets the tale in 1949 after the Berlin Airlift, but like other details doesn't make it crystal clear why - leaving space for the viewer to wonder is a tried and true method of increasing suspense. And tying everything up neatly or telegraphing every twist is a sure way to destroying viewer involvement.
We see Gena lip-sync, and through her acting, sell a couple of songs as a hit jazz singer, including a bit of convincing scat singing. She meets Cassavetes, a lawyer back in his home town after being stationed in Germany, and they don't connect at all. The focus changes to her uptight manager, very well-played by Jack Klugman, whose behavior is erratic. So when he invites a young (under-age) looking fan Charla Doherty upstairs to see Gena's wardrobe, something seems amiss.
Suddenly, the cops arrive and arrest Klugman, accused of murdering Doherty, whose corpse is lying at the bottom of the stairs. Gena stands up for her manager and his innocence, but has difficulty getting local boy Cassavetes to defend him in court, especially as locals and their prejudice immediately condemns him as guilty.
John comes around eventually and is a true crusader, having to battle prejudice, especially inflamed whten the prosecutor gets Gena (as character witness) on the stand for cross examination and tries to paint jazz performers (and their managers) as a bunch of drug addicts.
Show ends with Cassavetes speaking in his own cryptic manner, matching Gena's own highly personal dialogue (which leads to the segment's title) and all the cryptic elements pay off. That is, unless you're a viewer who insists on being spoon fed content.
Unlike the previous, rather dense IMDb reviewer, I paid attention to the story and intentionally oddball dialogue. Marcus sets the tale in 1949 after the Berlin Airlift, but like other details doesn't make it crystal clear why - leaving space for the viewer to wonder is a tried and true method of increasing suspense. And tying everything up neatly or telegraphing every twist is a sure way to destroying viewer involvement.
We see Gena lip-sync, and through her acting, sell a couple of songs as a hit jazz singer, including a bit of convincing scat singing. She meets Cassavetes, a lawyer back in his home town after being stationed in Germany, and they don't connect at all. The focus changes to her uptight manager, very well-played by Jack Klugman, whose behavior is erratic. So when he invites a young (under-age) looking fan Charla Doherty upstairs to see Gena's wardrobe, something seems amiss.
Suddenly, the cops arrive and arrest Klugman, accused of murdering Doherty, whose corpse is lying at the bottom of the stairs. Gena stands up for her manager and his innocence, but has difficulty getting local boy Cassavetes to defend him in court, especially as locals and their prejudice immediately condemns him as guilty.
John comes around eventually and is a true crusader, having to battle prejudice, especially inflamed whten the prosecutor gets Gena (as character witness) on the stand for cross examination and tries to paint jazz performers (and their managers) as a bunch of drug addicts.
Show ends with Cassavetes speaking in his own cryptic manner, matching Gena's own highly personal dialogue (which leads to the segment's title) and all the cryptic elements pay off. That is, unless you're a viewer who insists on being spoon fed content.
