Hello der!!.. Today we have a crazy little story from early TV, it's all about a man who makes a deal with a mysterious businessman in order to rid himself of his high maintenance wife, and to set her up with a rich gentleman that will be able to make her happy!..
This thing stars Tom Ewell as Charlie Drome, Anne Bancroft (as Anne Marno) as Helen Drome, Martin Gabel as the Agent and Joseph Wiseman as the Croupier/Devil. Really nice job on the title card!
Of course our narrator pal Frank Gallop pops in to say...
Turn out them got-dang lights!..
Here're Charlie and Helen Drome, all Helen can talk about is the fact that Charlie promised they'd soar like eagles after they got married but it's like they're holed up in a chicken coop! She needs material things to make her happy... Anne was 20 years old at this time, what a beautiful lady she was.
The couple live above Charlie's book store, there, he meets up with an agent for a wealthy client who will pay Charlie $50,000 for Helen! Because of course he's very attracted to her and can give her everything she ever wanted. And Charlie knows that he could never make her happy, so, he signs the contract. But, he wants a $10,000 advance to take Helen out for a night on the town, which he's given.
They end up at the roulette wheel in a casino, Charlie wants to see if he's lucky at gambling tonight since he gots some loot in his pocket... And of all things, Charlies wins every freaking time, what the Hell!
The next morning Charlie tells Helen the whole story about the arrangement he made for her, because that's how much he loves her!!
But now, Charlie wants out of the contract, he's changed his mind!.. The agent leaves to tell his client about the situation.
Charlie goes up to tell Helen what has happened when someone enters the book store. Sensing possible trouble, Charlie grabs his revolver...
It's the damn croupier (dealer at roulette wheel) from the casino!! He informs Charlie that he let him win the money, how else could he win like that! Charlie feels threatened so he pulls out his gun and empties it on the guy to no effect. Charlie's really confused when the 'man' tells him that the deal is off. It's like this... He knows Helen has fallen back in love with Charlie, and after all, the Devil has his pride too. He won't take a back seat to a loser like Charlie, so, farewell... Join us tomorrow for more kuhl junk, here at The Dungeon!!..
3 comments:
Best thing about these old live TV shows is that you get to see some fantastic actors before they became famous! Anne Bancroft and Tom Ewell in this'n! And of course Joseph Wiseman (Dr. No!), and Martin Gabel (husband of ubiquitous game show panelist of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, Arlene Francis).
Yes, Joseph Wiseman! I love the guy as a villain...and the devil is a great role for him.
Oh yeah! And he was in a great Twilight Zone episode, "One More Pallbearer!"
And I remember liking Martin Gabel in Hitchcock's film, Marnie, and in a very unusual movie of 1952, The Thief, which had no dialogue at all! A real feat of imaginative filmmaking!
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