The Jack Is High; Kraft Suspense Theatre; Edd Byrnes; Ralph Senensky; Larry Storch; Pat O'Brien

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Season #2, Episode #6

The Jack is High

Original air Date: November 19, 1964

Setting/Time:  The present - mainly on a highway between Nevada and Los Angeles.

Plot/Review/Discussion:

Five armed men stop and rob an armored car near Reno, Nevada and steal the $3,000,000 inside.  When the robbery is discovered they become the most wanted men in the region. They must elude the police, transport themselves and the cash to Los Angeles and melt into the city before the police find them. 

The main conflict of this story is, obviously, cops v. robbers.  The robbers put into place an ingenious plan to hide themselves in the belly of a gasoline tanker truck, into which a false inner tank has been inserted. The robbers will take turns driving and hiding in the inner tank (with the money) during the journey to Los Angeles. This plan is intended to fool police checkpoints that will inevitably appear on the highway as the police attempt to prevent the unknown robbers from escaping.

Other conflicts emerge between the robbers.  Some of the robbers are portrayed as decent (even refined) men who are simply down on their luck, while one of them is a more brutal thug and career criminal. The career criminal is impatient with the plan and the miscues that inevitably occur.  Threats and fistfights result as the truck stops at various points along the highway so the robbers can switch drivers or treat an ill member of their gang. (The highway obviously predates the limited access, modern interstate.)

The audience learns about the robbers only through the police investigation, as the police learn about their backgrounds and motivations for robbing the armored truck. The robbers talk about themselves only to reveal their bad luck and their hopes for a better life with the stolen money. All of the robbers have interesting, but sad, stories, except for the career criminal. The career criminal seems to be inserted mainly to add contrast to the other characters.

There are numerous points of suspense during the epsiode, as the robbers confront police checkpoints and barely escape suspicion a couple of times.  The writer and director build the suspense effectively, as the police investigation and the robbers' plan/journey reach critical points in the climax.

I will avoid plot spoilers, but the ending scene is quite memorable. The ending was simple, chilling, believable and avoided excessive cleverness and violence.  Many of those who saw this episode in 1964 still remember this scene decades later.

One of the best sources of information about this episode is the blog of director Ralph Senensky.  Senenksy's blog includes plot spoilers (even at the beginning of the post), so be careful if you have not seen this episode. Senensky's blog is here and here. Senensky includes a great deal of information, including the story of how a man died during filming of the opening scene. 

Senensky also writes of the general difficulties involved in filming outside, including obstacles to audio recording.  Senensky writes in detail of Universal's (and other studios') policy of inserting studio-recorded dialogue to compensate when background noise ruined a take. Senensky explains how he circumvented that policy to preserve quality.  The viewer does not always fully appreciate the effort involved in filming outdoors. Senensky's blog helps us to associate better quality films with actual outdoor shots instead of indoor shots with painted backgrounds.

William Wood wrote this episode.  This was the first of five episodes he wrote for KST.  Those episodes are somewhat diverse - often (but not always) involving action.  Wood often wrote crime stories, including one 1979 tv movie (Death Car on the Freeway) involving  highway suspense. 

The idea of gangsters hiding in the belly of a tanker truck was used (very differently) in the James Cagney 1949 movie White Heat. While I have no idea if White Heat inspired the tanker scenes in this episode, White Heat is known for having inspired many movies in different ways.

Cars

This episode featured many 1964 Ford Galaxies as police cars.  The following car appeared amidst the police Galaxies several times:

1964 Dodge 880?

It appears to be a 1964 Dodge 880.

The most prominent vehicle was the tanker truck, but I could not identify the make or year.

The highway featured a number of interesting cars. The clip below shows a 1962 - 1964 Buick Riviera (that traveled in the other direction a moment earlier) and a 1954 or 1955 Cadillac convertible.

A moment earlier, a 1959 Pontiac and a 1963 Pontiac passed in the opposite direction (if you blinked you would have missed them).

In this scene, the white car with its trunk open appears to be a 1956 Pontiac convertible.

It was obvious that the producers/directors of this (and every other KST) episode were not concerned with the historic/classic importance of the vehicles (for which I do not blame them, given their job in getting a show on the air). The vehicle shots were brief, included only a portion of each car and were often blocked by people or other cars. 

A show produced in 2013 and set 50 years in the past would overemphasize the vehicles and use only the most memorable models.  Such shows make for nice eye candy, but sacrifice authenticity.  The cars that appear in KST are much more meaningful because there was no obvious effort to display those cars. It is much more fun to see which cars turn up randomly in an episode where there was no intention to highlight those cars.  The viewer has the feeling that he is actually looking through a window into the past.

Actors

Ralph Senensky's blog also contains a great deal of information about the casting choices in this episode, including how those choices were made and what difficulties those choices presented.

Edd Byrnes played one of the robbers.  He was the "good guy" in the disputes with the career criminal.  The major role of his career (77 Sunset Strip) had just ended a year earlier.  Byrnes would remain active through the 1990's, including as host in the pilot of Wheel of Fortune and other series work.  Senensky provides interesting thoughts on the studio's choice to cast Byrnes.

Larry Storch played another robber.  He has enjoyed a near 60 year career as a comedian and impressionist, with his most famous role (on F Troop) beginning a year after filming "Jack is High."  Storch's comedic talents played a brief, but pivotal role in the plot.  Senensky's blog comments on the importance of his own avoidance of Universal's outdoor retake policy, especially as it related to Storch's performance.

In September 2008 (almost 44 years after this episode aired) Storch and Byrnes took part in a panel discussion at a Maryland nostalgia convention.  During questioning regarding their careers and different films they had made, both Storch and Byrnes denied ever having made a film or show together.

(Byrnes is in the middle (speaking) and Storch is on the left.)  KST received no mention during the discussion of these actors' lengthy careers. While they obviously forgot their (major) role in this episode, such forgetfulness is hard for the viewer to imagine. We watched their characters sit next to each other, interract, talk, argue and even fight.  This discussion indicates that a television episode can mean more to the audience after 4 decades than it does to the actors. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Edd Byrnes (left) and Larry Storch (right) in Kraft Suspense Theatre in 1964

Edd Byrnes and Larry Storch - Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Larry Storch (left) Edd Byrnes (middle) in 2008 discussing everything but their only role together

Harry Bellaver played another of the robbers.  His film career lasted almost 50 years (interspersed with a long Broadway career).  He played Sitting Bull in Annie Get Your Gun (both on Broadway and on film). His longest television role was on The Naked City, which role ended about a year before this KST episode aired. Bellaver's role in this episode was pivotal, although no larger than the other robbers. His role was also sympathetic.

Pat O'Brien plays a police detective for the second time in KST, having played earlier in Threatening Eye. His career lasted more than 50 years. 

Henry Jones was the "brains" behind the robbery, playing the character known as "The Professor."  Jones was a constant presence in movies, television and Broadway for  years.  I recall him playing mostly smooth talking villains.  Jones' villains, by design, were not very menacing and were sometimes comical.  Jones' most famous roles were in Vertigo, Bad Seed and as a regular on Phyllis.  I remember him from the Six Million Dollar Man and Big Valley. 

Don Kennedy plays a policeman for the first of two times in KST, appearing later in episode 2.15.

William Boyett plays a policeman for the second time in KST, having appeared previously in episode 1.07.

Star Trek connections.

William Bramley played the career criminal in the second of his two KST episodes.  He would later play the lead policeman in Star Trek's "Bread and Circuses."  He often played authority figures (police, judges, military, etc.) during his 25 year career, including West Side Story, The Outer Limits, The Streets of San Francisco and Barnaby Jones.

This episode was the second of three KST episodes that Ralph Senensky directed. Senensky directed more than half a dozen Star Trek episodes, each of which Senensky writes of at his blog (along with many other series that he directed in his quarter century career). 

"Jack is High" was one of several television shows in which Bramley and Senensky teamed up, including KST's "A Hero for our Times," Star Trek's "Bread and Circuses," three episodes of The F.B.I. and one episode of Breaking Point.

Kraft Suspense Theatre; A Lion Amongst Men; James Whitmore; Tommy Sands, Peter Duryea

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Season #2, Episode #3

A Lion Amongst Men

Original Air Date: October 22, 1964

Setting/Time: A small rural/mountain/western town (Cedar Bay) in the present (in late October).

Plot/Review/Discussion -

James Whitmore plays "the Major," a Korean War veteran that emphasizes preparedness and physical fitness in his daily living. He and his army friends have built a training center at their mountain cabin retreat. The Major believes that the rest of society, particularly the young people in high school, have gone soft. The conflict is established early, as the Major confronts some smart-alec students who show no respect to the Major and his friends.

The writer faced some difficulty in creating a balanced conflict among the characters. Ordinarily, smart-alec teenagers do not make for sympathetic characters - especially when they confront or oppose military veterans. So the writers gave the Major some unpopular traits. He disliked ethnic students. He used sneaky methods. He spoke in favor of "real Americans" and against "their kind." The Major was Archie Bunker nearly a decade before All in the Family. These traits balanced the negatives of the teenagers.

The Major's animus toward ethnic students and use of non-PC buzzwords served no purpose in the plot, as it played no role in the final confrontation. That character trait existed just so that the writers could present a political view.

The local teenagers, led by the high school quarterback named Riccio, go on a rampage of vandalism on Halloween eve. Their last stop is the Major's house. The teens' vandalism included cherry bombs. The noise from the cherry bombs sent the Major into an episode of post traumatic stress disorder. He began suffering flashbacks to the Korean War.

The Major captured Riccio and took him prisoner in the house while the other teenagers escaped. The Major began berating Riccio for various aspects of unAmericanism, while slowly slipping into a delusion that both of them were fighting in Korea a decade earlier.

The Major then began blaming his former superiors for orders that resulted in the death of the Major's soldiers in a particular Korean War battle. The Major took Riccio to the mountain retreat where his breakdown became complete. He eventually began firing his gun into the night air while Riccio tried to run away. This confrontation took place while the other teens and the sheriff raced to the retreat to rescue Riccio.

The main point of the story appears to focus on post traumatic stress. The Major's confrontation with Riccio brings that issue to the forefront, while the prejudice issue appears to serve no purpose. The "generation gap" also looms in the background, but is overshadowed by the other issues.  At the end, Riccio gains a new appreciation for the Major and what he endured in the war.  The episode was a learning experience for both characters, but the political issues got in the way.

The story could have been much more effective and dramatic had the writers not injected the political and PC elements into the story. In 1964, Americans were not yet tired of seeing fictional bad guys made obvious with dialogue that referred to "real Americans" while criticizing "their kind." The Archie Bunkers of television were still considered controversial and had not yet become mere parodies of themselves. Today, Americans have grown weary of the "race card." It has become too easy for a writer to place a "racist" label on a character by having him insult someone's ethnicity. For this reason, this episode has not aged well.

Just as importantly, both the war on terror and recent economic troubles in the U.S. and Europe have created a new emphasis on preparedness. The Major does not seem as out of place today as he would have been in 1964. As I watched this episode, I had to remind myself from the beginning that the Major would soon emerge as the bad guy.  The Major's emphasis on preparedness probably caused the 1964 audience to peg him as the bad guy much sooner. 

The Sheriff doubled also as the high school football coach. But he did not provide sports updates or serve as an art critic.

Cars

The Sheriff drove a 1964 Ford Galaxie. There also appeared to be a 1964 Dodge or Plymouth, which was somewhat common for this and other shows of that era. The high school kids drove a 1957 Dodge convertible.

Actors

James Whitmore played the Major. This was his second appearance on KST. His acting career spanned almost 60 years and featured such TV shows as Twilight Zone, Big Valley, KST spinoff Run For Your Life and The Virginian. He played a prominent role in 1970's Tora! Tora! Tora!

Tommy Sands played Riccio. Sands was, at the time, Frank Sinatra's son-in-law. He made guest appearances on such shows as United States Steel Hour, Wagon Train and Hawaii Five-0. He enjoyed a successful music career as a teen idol in the 1950's, singing in an episode of Kraft Theatre in 1957.

Star Trek connection

Peter Duryea played Palchek - one of Riccio's teenage friends. Little more than one month after this episode aired, Duryea began filming his role in Star Trek's first pilot episode - "The Cage." Duryea is one of many actors from that particular episode to be featured in KST.

Kraft Suspense Theatre; The Robrioz Ring; Robert Loggia; Julie Harris

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Season #1, Episode # 27

The Robrioz Ring

Original Air Date - May 28, 1964

Setting/Time - A beach town near San Diego in the present.

Plot/Review/Discussion

Having seen this episode more than once, it is apparent that it takes more than one viewing to appreciate all of the plot layers in this story. Two individuals come together in a west coast beach town, each with their own story, their own history and their own problems. Their stories are brought together almost seamlessly by an ancient ring in ways that will be hard for the viewer to predict.

(Do not be put off by my reference to an "ancient ring." Even though this reference might cause a modern audience to think of magic, sorcery and wizards, nothing of the sort plays a role in this episode. The ring just happens to be the object at the center of the conflict.)

Mario Robrioz is a cliche'd playboy who does not work and lets women support him. He is descended from long lost Spanish royalty that settled the region centuries ago. His most prized possession is an old ring passed down through many generations from son to son. The ring is his tie to the past. His past gives him the pride that allows him to refuse work and live with a royal attitude. Upon returning from a trip, he discovers that his mother has pawned the ring. Enraged, he spends the episode trying to get it back.

Lucy Bram is a spinster school teacher from Philadelphia vacationing on the west coast with two friends. She happens to buy the ring at the pawn shop just as Mario arrives.

Lucy's role is somewhat confusing at first. While Julie Harris is very attractive, she is called upon to play Hollywood's version of a less attractive female. Despite her obvious attractiveness, the role is that of a spinster. So the story uses various devices to convince the viewer that she is the least attractive of her group (clothing, shyness, more outgoing friends, etc.). (Hollywood would never actually cast an unattractive woman as a romantic lead.) This characterization is important because, as the spinster, she is the right woman in the right place to turn Mario's task into a romantic nightmare.

Mario uses romance as a ruse to get close to the women over the next few days. He fixes their flat tire, acts as tour guide, etc. Mario's plan works only too well - Lucy falls for Mario, but Mario also falls for Lucy. That is the point where the proverbial hijinks begin. Lucy will not admit to her friends that she is in love with Mario. When their friends catch them together, she must pretend that Mario's advances are unwanted - thus enraging Mario.

Lucy has two reasons for pretending that there is no affair:

• The pair really have nothing in common. She is not going to throw away her schoolteacher/ spinster life to settle down with a somewhat crude playboy that does not work for a living.


• Lucy is afraid that no one would believe that a man would be interested in her. She is taking the easy way out instead of trying to convince her friends of a scandalous truth.
  

Lucy suffers pain and embarrassment - pain at having to give up Mario and embarrassment for having been with him in the first place. These emotions are explored sympathetically (but are not beaten to death). Lucy is trapped by her past and by who she is. [Mario would later summarize their differences by saying (in one of his calmer moments), "We are who we are." ] But while Lucy is trapped by her past, Mario is predictably enraged by it - even to the point of forgetting (for the moment) his goal of recovering the ring. Mario is angered not at rejection (for he is not really rejected) but at being hidden. Mario is angry because Lucy is embarrassed.

This point is where the conflict is most pronounced. Through a series of encounters with Mario (and as her friends console her) we see Lucy suffer from her own internal conflict about what to do. She also is forced to deal with Mario's anger. At this point, neither Lucy's nor Mario's behavior is exemplary (this is the point where I became vague so as to avoid plot spoilers).

The conflict is presented subtly (despite Mario's outbursts). A first-time viewer might mistake the drama as an abusive suitor vs. a reluctant woman. But upon reflection and consideration of all of the dialogue it becomes obvious that the relationship is very complicated. Just as Lucy is struggling with new and confusing experiences, Mario is coming to grips with his own life. We see him slowly realize that this affair is about more than just the ring and more than merely his relationship with this woman. He, too, has been trapped by his past.

As with prior episodes, I appreciate this episode much more by comparing it to the Hitchcock episodes of that era. Had this story aired on Hitchcock, the ring would have possessed some magical power that would have dominated the plot and resolved the climax. Instead, the characters' own decisions dominated the plot, while the ring slowly got pushed to the background. Rather than take the easy way out by resolving the plot with magic or spirits, the story forced the characters to face their own identities and their own pasts. What the story lacked in cleverness, it made up for in thoughtfulness.

The music score for this episode is unique among KST episode, unlike many of the scores that were repeated in at least three or four episodes.

This episode featured numerous beach scenes, including shots of naval ships near San Diego. The outdoor scenery made the episode more realistic.

Actors

Robert Loggia played Mario. He has been a fixture in movies and television for more than 50 years, including guest appearances on Hitchcock and Big Valley, starring roles on short lived TV series and films now in post-production. This episode was Loggia's first of two KST appearances.

Julie Harris plays Lucy. She has been active for more than sixty years. She starred with James Dean in East of Eden in 1955. She was a regular on Knots Landing in the 1980's. She was honored at Kennedy Center in 2005.

Julie Adams played one of Lucy's traveling companions. This was the first of her two KST episodes. She has acted for roughly sixty years and remains active in lesser roles today. She was featured in recurring roles in The Jimmy Stewart Show, Perry Mason, Murder She Wrote and others (plus numerous one-time guest roles).

Virginia Gregg played the other travelling companion whose wisdom and experience helped Lucy during and after her encounters with Mario. Her voice was a fixture on radio for many years. She received repeat guest roles on shows such as Gunsmoke, Dragnet, Hitchcock, Twilight Zone and others. One of her now most noted roles was uncredited at the time, when she played the voice of Norman Bates' mother in Psycho (and both sequels).

Cars

"Robrioz Ring" was a good episode for observing classic cars. The traveling ladies drove a light blue, convertible 1964 Ford Galaxie, which model was usually reserved for police cars in shows of that era. Numerous other cars appeared on the street during driving or walking scenes, including a 1960 Chevy, a Corvair, a 1959 Cadillac, an early 1960's Volkswagen Beetle, a Thunderbird and a 1961 or 1962 Buick Skylark (and others). The viewer can also see the same 1963 Chrysler as a background vehicle in numerous scenes. This collection of cars would today make for a popular car show. But in TV of the 1960's, they were merely background that you would miss if you blinked.

Portrait of an Unknown Man; Kraft Suspense Theatre; Clint Walker; Robert Duval

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Season #1, Episode #22

Portrait of an Unknown Man

Original Air Date - April 16, 1964

Setting/Time - A western mountain sheep herding town in the present (in October).

Plot/Review/Discussion

Clint Walker plays a very tall man (David Wolfe) who is new in town and wants to be left alone for reasons that are unclear. As he arrives near the town, he abandons his broken down car to roll down an embankment along the road. He shows up at a general store in the mountains and orders many supplies but refuses to say why. Walker then loads his supplies on a burro and begins a 3 hour trek up the mountain to his newly rented cabin.

The following clip picks up the action after Walker has ditched his car (and just after the locals have called the sheriff to find out who won the world series after their radio broke):




This event begins constant gossip among the townspeople over what Walker is doing up in his cabin three hours away. Several of them even walk up there (!) to visit/spy on Walker. Much of the plot involves additional scenes/confrontations in which the townspeople seek answers from Walker, while Walker remains secretive and professes his desire to be left alone. The suspicions of the local residents were based on the fact that Wolfe paid for his purchases with a one hundred dollar bill.

The story is very much like "My Enemy, This Town" (1.15). There is a constant series of confrontations between one man and the local residents, in which the man repeats the same theme over and over again. These confrontations are much milder in this episode than in "Enemy," but the repetitiveness still makes for an inferior plot.

This'll learn ya' to use 100 dollar bills!














There is a related plot involving the general store owner and his daughter. That conflict/plot had been brewing under the surface for years prior to the events of this story. Apparently the father wanted his daughter to marry the man who molested her when she was underage. Walker's arrival in town helps bring the secondary plot to the forefront, while the secondary plot helps bring the main story to a resolution.

There are small points where the plot is difficult to believe. The writers went to great lengths to isolate Walker/Wolfe in his mountain cabin. While that isolation reinforces Wolfe's character, it makes it difficult to create additional confrontations/interactions between Wolfe and the townspeople. The writers' solution was to have townspeople take a three hour hike (each way) to visit Wolfe so that new confrontations could advance the plot.

Miscellaneous - The exterior set would be reused in "The Long Ravine" (2.24).

Cars

Clint Walker drives what is most likely a 1952 Ford at the beginning of the episode. He then proceeds to push a different 1952 Ford down the hill (either it was different or things were removed on the exterior before it was released to its destruction). This car was difficult to identify due to the beat up condition. Aside from broken windows and many dents, the only problem with the car seemed to be a broken hose - until it rolled down the embankment.

The Sheriff drove a 1964 Ford Galaxie.

Actors

Clint Walker plays David Wolfe. He was active in TV and movies for more than 40 years. He played the title character in Cheyenne for seven years. He played a small role in The Ten Commandments.

Robert Duval in "Portrait of an Unknown Man"







Robert Duval plays in one of his earliest roles as Harvey the handyman. He remains active today after more than 50 years in Hollywood. At the time this episode aired, TV guest roles were typical for Duval instead of the movie roles that he would get regularly in the 1970's and beyond.

Mala Powers played the store owner's daughter. Her acting career began with the help of Ida Lupino, when she played a rape victim in Lupino's Outrage. She guest starred on numerous television series, including Cheyenne with Clint Walker.

Quote of the Episode -

Robert Duval/Harvey (shouting indignantly): "Wait a minute! You think you can come down here, hand an order in and then just fill it?"

Clint Walker/Wolfe (matter-of-factly): "Yes."

Lessons I Learned from "Portrait of an Unknown Man."

• If your car breaks down, just dispose of it by letting it roll down an embankment. No one will mind.



• Sheriff's deputies, in addition to their duties as art critics, also provide sports updates.



• You can come down here, hand an order in and then just fill it.



• Don't trust any man who has a 100 dollar bill.



• If your daughter is single, marry her off to the first child molester that becomes available.



• If you are curious about a stranger in town, spend six hours walking back and forth to his house so you can check up on him.
  

The Threatening Eye; Kraft Suspense Theatre; Jack Klugman; Annie Farge; Phyllis Thaxter; Ida Lupino; Coleen Gray

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Season #1, Episode #18

The Threatening Eye

Original Air Date - March 12, 1964

Setting/Time - Present day California [update April 13, 2013 - in March in a medium sized town.]

Plot/Review/Discussion -

I saw this episode once over a year ago (which means that RTV should be getting ready to re-run it again, but only after another 5 airings of "My Enemy, This Town"). I don't remember much of the detail, but I recall the basic plot.

"The Threatening Eye" was generally unique among KST episodes because the main plot involved a mystery. A middle aged man was pursued romantically by an attractive young woman. The reasons for this pursuit were unclear. We watch as the young woman does her best to wreck the man's marriage. Eventually, the young woman resorts to illegal means to pursue her goal. (Pardon my vagueness, but I am trying to avoid plot spoilers.) We share the man's puzzlement as he tries to explain/understand the woman's attraction to him and her anger at his rejection of her advances.

The plot thus combines both the pursuit (by various means) and the mystery. The underlying reason is not revealed until the very end. I recall the reason, but I do not recall that reason even being foreshadowed during the episode. In fact, the viewer might not even realize that a mystery exists until the answer to the mystery is revealed.

Much of the plot focuses on subtle manipulation and deception. The actual resolution of the mystery (and the lack of foreshadowing of such resolution) is less important than the subtle drama that takes us to that resolution. Of course, the plot and the young woman's tactics become less subtle as the story unfolds.

This snippet (midway through the episode) summarizes the mystery that the audience and Klugman's character struggle with until the final scene. 

The title comes from Shakespeare's "King John." Shakespeare's quote reads, "When Fortune means to men most good, She looks upon them with a threatening eye." -King John, Act iii. Sc. 4. This reference might be the closest the episode comes to foreshadowing the explanation to the mystery.  [Update - April 27, 2013 - This is the second of at least three episodes with a Shakespearean quote in the title.]

The episode was written by Howard Browne, who was well known for crime, mystery and action writing, including 1967's St. Valentine's Day Massacre, numerous television episodes, two later episodes of KST and his work editing a science fiction journal in 1952.

[Update - April 27, 2013 - There is an interesting line early in the episode that is a subtle reference to work-related sexual harrassment.  Dabney Coleman's character, in describing the sexual harrassment of a female employee, tells Farge's character,  "It seems that her boss figures a secretary should perform two functions - one of which is to be a secretary."]

Actors -

Jack Klugman plays the middle age businessman. He is most famous for his starring roles in The Odd Couple and Quincy M.E. in the 1970's and 1980's. Klugman has been visible in recent years for his appearances on numerous syndicated Twilight Zone reruns from the early 1960's. "Threatening Eye" was the first of his two KST episodes. Klugman remained active for more than 50 years.

Annie Farge played the pursuing secretary. Farge had played the title role in the sitcom Angel in the early 1960's. I could find no reference to her, either at IMDB.com or elsewhere, that post-dated 1964, even though she was young at that time. She appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson less than a month after this KST episode aired. Her final known acting role occurred in the fall of 1964 on Perry Mason. [Update - April 27, 2013 - Wikipedia reports that Farge returned to France in the mid-1960's and died six months after I posted the initial version of this review.]

Phyllis Thaxter plays the victimized wife. She enjoyed a 50 + year career in theatre, tv and movies. Her first movie was Thirty Seconds over Tokyo in 1944. In 1948, she starred with future KST actor Robert Ryan in Act of Violence. She acted in her share of Hitchcock episodes and one Twilight Zone episode. By the late 1970's she would play Clark Kent's mother in Superman. She often played similar roles to that of the wife in this KST episode - the patient and overshadowed victim of the more flambouyant villains. Her ex-husband, James Aubrey, was, at one time, the President of CBS-TV.

Pat O'Brian played the first of his two roles as a policeman on KST. Dabney Coleman made the first of his two KST appearances in this episode. [Update - April 27, 2013 - Coleman played a private detective early in the episode.]

Ida Lupino directed this episode. She had starred in Season 1's "One Step Down."

[Update - April 27, 2013 - Coleen Gray played another employee of Jack Klugman's company, whose friendship with Klugman played a pivotal role at various points in the show.  Her career spanned 40 + years, including recurring guest roles on such shows as Perry Mason, McCloud and Ironside, as well as a guest appearance on KST spinoff Run For Your Life.  For many years, she was active in Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship.]

Cars - I cannot recall the cars used in this episode. I recall only that they played an important role at one point in the plot and that interesting models were used. 

[Update - April 27, 2013 - Jack Klugman drove a light blue 1964 Ford Galaxie (one of two 1964 Galaxies that appeared in this episode).  The stalking secretary drove a 1961 Ford Galaxie.

Phyllis Thaxter's character drove a 1954 Ford - probably a "Crestline."

A snippet of one Galaxie following another (with a third Galaxie passing by).

1954 Ford Crestline

Kraft Suspense Theatre; Who is Jennifer;? Gloria Swanson

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Season # 1, Episode 13

Who is Jennifer?

Original Air Date: January 16, 1964

Setting/Time: A California town - the present.

Plot/Review/Discussion -

This story is about two people who are trying to deal with their past.

"Jennifer" is a young transient who is secretive about her identity and history. She claims to have lived in orphanages as long as she can remember. There is even some question about whether she is 18 years old. Police charge her with some minor offense and then investigate whether she is the long missing child of a local woman (Mrs. Heaton). The police become convinced that she is not the same girl, but they do not inform Mrs. Heaton of this finding. (Police methods at this time differ sharply with what you might see on CSI - never once do you hear the acronym "DNA.") Instead, they use the girl as part of a ruse to determine if Mrs. Heaton was responsible for her child's disappearance years ago. The police tell Mrs. Heaton that Jennifer might be her child in order to induce Mrs. Heaton to let Jennifer move into Mrs. Heaton's home.

The plot is essentially a mystery story. We are faced with the question of Jennifer's true identity and the mystery of what happened to the local woman's child.

As with many KST episodes, this episode is about choices. Jennifer agonizes over the police scheme in which she takes part. Mrs. Heaton agonizes over choices in the past. It is the resolution of the conflict from those choices that resolves the plot and solves the mystery.

The plot is weak and confusing as it relates to the mystery of Jennifer's identity. [Or maybe I am just used to being spoonfed by less subtle stories in modern television.] It is possible that the Jennifer mystery was added to the plot because the story of Mrs. Heaton's past was not enough to fill up an entire episode. That is just my own speculation. The episode was enjoyable notwithstanding those weaknesses.

Cars -

This is the first KST episode that I know of that features the 1960 Mercury Monterey.

1960 Mercury Monterey







I do not have a picture of the car from this episode, but here is a similar model in Mission Impossible. It has a very distinctive look and appears in at least two more episodes. The car had the same light blue color in all three episodes. It was featured more prominently in the later episodes.

One also sees a 1964 Ford Galaxie station wagon pass by Jennifer on the road. Those Galaxie models usually appeared as police cars in television episodes of that era. It is rare today to see them as station wagons.

Actors -

Gloria Swanson plays the local woman (Mrs. Heaton) whose daughter disappeared years ago. Swanson was a legend of silent films dating back to 1914. Her most prolific period occurred in the mid to late 1920's. Her roles decreased when the silent era ended, but her most noted role was in 1950's Sunset Boulevard. She continued to get movie and tv roles until the mid-1970's.

Brenda Scott played Jennifer. She acted regularly in the 1960's and 1970's, but her roles appear much less often after that.

Dan Duryea starred as the police detective attempting to solve the mystery. He acted for almost 30 years until his death in 1968. He guest starred in numerous well-known television programs and had a regular role on Peyton Place. He was the father of Star Trek's Peter Duryea (who also played a role in KST in season #2), but that is not this episode's "Star Trek connection."

Star Trek connection -

There are two Star Trek connections in "Who is Jennifer?"

David Brian played Mrs. Heaton's attorney, who helped her confront the mystery of Jennifer while becoming suspicious of the police investigation. Brian would later play John Gill (the "Fuhrer") in Star Trek's "Pattern's of Force." He enjoyed a quarter-century career.

George Slavin received writing credits on this episode and Star Trek's "Mark of Gideon." There were no obvious similarities or parallels between the plots or characters in those episodes (except that the Star Trek episode was also a mystery of sorts).