The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow

Mrs. Snow, also known as Aunt Addie, is so rich she has a walk-in safe. She is a kind, pleasant lady played by the excellent Patricia Collinge, but she doesn't really care for her niece Lorna's brand new husband Bruce. He is played by the excellent Don Chastain, who never achieved quite the stardom people had anticipated -- he is a talented actor with a strong presence and chiseled, photogenic features, but luck and timing play their part. New wife and niece Lorna is played by Jessica Walters, beautiful of course, but always a little strong of jaw to be playing 1960's ingénues. This viewer enjoyed cocktails with Ms. Walters many decades ago, and of course she was very pleasant, but nothing could erase the indelible impression she made in her performance as frigid, bitchy Libby in "The Group," also made around this time. But back to Mrs. Snow, who finds herself in a claustrophobic situation thanks to the evil Bruce. As her ordeal unfolds, she is given to soliloquies that are delivered persuasively to her cat. These scenes are artfully handled, and Patricia Collinge pulls the viewer into sharing her mounting panic. This is neatly juxtaposed with scenes of sophisticated couples enjoying a stylish cocktail party, blissfully unaware of poor Mrs. Snow's ongoing ordeal. These scenes are also sharply photographed, and you may enjoy the 1960's cocktail dresses on display. It's all very chic, but it ends too abruptly, on a note of sudden revelation. That's all very arty, of course, but we really want the cathartic scene where we see what happens to Bruce. Nevertheless, this is one of the best written, best acted and best directed episodes of the series.

Once again a beautiful young woman marries a total jerk who is only after her money. She has a kind aunt who will be giving her her inheritance in a year, but the husband wants it now. He is gambler with people after him to pay off debts. He begins forging checks found in the aunt's desk. She doesn't like him but for the sake of her niece has tolerated, even helped him. When she discovers the forgeries she is going to blow the whistle. He locks her up in a personal safe which has no escape function. I have to say, I was always taken with Jessica Walter. She is so gorgeous as a young woman and even as an older one. I remember her being a hot to trot businesswoman on The Big Bang Theory. Many remember her as Clint Eastwood's adversary in Play Misty for Me.

"The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow" is one of the better shows from the second season, featuring veteran stage actress Patricia Collinge, whose most memorable role was as young Charlie's mother in Hitchcock's favorite film, "Shadow of a Doubt." She portrays wealthy Adelaide Snow, who allows her young niece Lorna (Jessica Walter) and her husband of three months, Bruce Richmond (Don Chastain), to live in her expansive home, along with a multitude of cats. Adelaide is a widow who wants to do right by Lorna, and gets Bruce a job after bailing him out of a gambling debt her niece remains unaware of. Problems arise when Bruce gets caught by her aunt forging checks to cover further losses at the track, not wanting his loving wife to learn about his indiscretions. Adelaide turns her back on the unscrupulous Bruce, only to be suddenly locked in her own private vault, with no hope of escape, as everyone else has gone away for the weekend, including Bruce, who immediately leaves to join the already departed Lorna. Things look bleak for Adelaide, as her oxygen is running out, and only her beloved cat to keep her company. The fitting climax evokes memories of a certain Poe story, supported by an excellent cast, including George Macready, Anna Lee, and June Vincent. Patricia Collinge had only two dozen screen and television credits, of which this was followed only by a 1967 episode of N.Y.P.D. (she died in 1974). The always stunning Jessica Walter was only 23, and making just her sixth television appearance, still seven years away from her most famous role in 1971's "Play Misty for Me," opposite Clint Eastwood.

The IMDB summary is not quite correct....the man involved is NOT the niece's fiance but her husband, Bruce. It seems that Bruce married into a rich family and they don't realize that he's quite the rogue. Not only is he a gambling addict, but he's willing to do just about anything to satisfy this addiction. So, when Aunt Adelaide (Patricia Collinge) discovers that Bruce has been forging checks with her name on them in order to pay off gambling debts, she foolishly tells Bruce she's going to call the police. So, it's no surprise when he responds by trying to kill her by locking her into a walk-in-safe in her home. Nearly all of the episode consists of her being stuck and what happens during this time.

The idea of the episode is good....quite sound. But there are two big problems with it. First, this episode easily could have been one of the older half hour ones....at an hour, it just seemed drawn out and padded. Second, to help pad it, often they show the old lady in this safe talking to herself...again, obvious padding. As a result, they took what could have been an exceptional episode and made it a rather tepid one instead. In addition, at the end, why does Bruce act like he did? It didn't make a lot of sense.

Superior Hitch, tight, suspenseful, and ironical. Wastrel son-in-law Bruce (Chastain) has forged checks against his mother-in-law (Collinge) to pay a gambling debt. Now she's found him out and wonders what to do since it's a family matter. Meanwhile likable daughter Addie (Walter) knows nothing about what's going on. So what's Mom going to do, and maybe more importantly, what's a desperate Bruce going to do.

It's a real nail-biter once the suspense kicks in. Actor Chastain is new to me with not many credits (IMDB). Still, he's quite good here as a no-goodnik schemer whose sweat almost shows. Also, Walter's lovely with lots of décolletage, and catch their bedroom scene in swim clothes that I'll bet pushes the TV envelope even for 1964. Collinge is a long-standing Hitch favorite, especially for TV. Here it's easy to see why. Plus I like the irony with the blowing scraps of paper. Anyway, it's an hour that doesn't disappoint, with the great George Macready picking up an easy payday. Meanwhile, I'm suddenly off to give my cats a big bowl of goodies.