This is from "Four Star Playhouse"--a show that consisted of four top Hollywood stars who alternated who starred in each teleplay--the other three got that particular week off from the show. Actually, there were five stars, Ida Lupino and Joan Fontaine and Merle Oberon ended up switching roles in the show as the fourth star. The other three were David Niven, Charles Boyer and Dick Powell--some really disparate actors who seemed to have little in common.
This episode is very interesting simply because of who wrote the episode. While the name Roland Winters may not seem familiar to you, he was known not as a writer but as an actor, as he played the character Charlie Chan in six films in the late 1940s (following the death of the previous Chan, Sidney Toler). I just didn't expect that he could or would write TV shows and it turns out that in addition to writing this episode, he created the stories for two others as well as wrote an episode of "Lux Video Theatre"!
This installment stars David Niven and guest stars Cederic Hardwicke--an actor with a most wonderfully melodious voice. The story is a juicy tale of irony and revenge. I won't say more, however, as it might spoil the fun. Overall, the story is fascinating and one of the best of the series--even if the cool ending is a bit hard to believe.
This episode is very interesting simply because of who wrote the episode. While the name Roland Winters may not seem familiar to you, he was known not as a writer but as an actor, as he played the character Charlie Chan in six films in the late 1940s (following the death of the previous Chan, Sidney Toler). I just didn't expect that he could or would write TV shows and it turns out that in addition to writing this episode, he created the stories for two others as well as wrote an episode of "Lux Video Theatre"!
This installment stars David Niven and guest stars Cederic Hardwicke--an actor with a most wonderfully melodious voice. The story is a juicy tale of irony and revenge. I won't say more, however, as it might spoil the fun. Overall, the story is fascinating and one of the best of the series--even if the cool ending is a bit hard to believe.