This piece has little suspense but an interesting plot. As the title indicates, it has lyrical aspirations that nevertheless prove way beyond the scriptwriter's grasp. The writing seems clunky and disjointed. But production values are high, and the episode I saw had fine color and crystal-clear sound. Tippi Hedren is gorgeous and Jeffrey Hunter is handsome, and both come across with the charisma of big screen stars who respect the medium of television and take their work seriously, even when the script isn't helping them.
This 50 year-old episode's main interest for today is the Hitchcock tie-ins, the obvious one being the presence of Hedren, who had recently played back-to-back leads in The Master's THE BIRDS (1963) and MARNIE (1964). As the anguished assistant to a reclusive tycoon, the disturbing quality that Hedren possesses, which Hitchock used to full effect in his films, is put to good use here as well. From her opening laugh, we sense that this character is off-base, despite her sophisticated, in-charge appearance. She mocks and threatens the forthright hero while simultaneously protecting him and being attracted to him. Her cascade of emotions creates the poetic soul of the piece. In the climax we discover Hedren's off-kilter aura is not perversity but emotional underdevelopment as the result of being under her tyrannical evil brother's thumb.
Along the way, we get a scene of Hunter being forcibly intoxicated by the evil brother's henchmen that comes straight out of NORTH BY NORTHWEST, and Hedren demonstrates once again how effectively she can collapse in a psycho-sexual fever into the arms of the dashing leading man, as in MARNIE.
This 50 year-old episode's main interest for today is the Hitchcock tie-ins, the obvious one being the presence of Hedren, who had recently played back-to-back leads in The Master's THE BIRDS (1963) and MARNIE (1964). As the anguished assistant to a reclusive tycoon, the disturbing quality that Hedren possesses, which Hitchock used to full effect in his films, is put to good use here as well. From her opening laugh, we sense that this character is off-base, despite her sophisticated, in-charge appearance. She mocks and threatens the forthright hero while simultaneously protecting him and being attracted to him. Her cascade of emotions creates the poetic soul of the piece. In the climax we discover Hedren's off-kilter aura is not perversity but emotional underdevelopment as the result of being under her tyrannical evil brother's thumb.
Along the way, we get a scene of Hunter being forcibly intoxicated by the evil brother's henchmen that comes straight out of NORTH BY NORTHWEST, and Hedren demonstrates once again how effectively she can collapse in a psycho-sexual fever into the arms of the dashing leading man, as in MARNIE.
