Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.06

Salvage

starring Gene Barry, Nancy Gates

directed by Justus Addiss

Lois Williams (Nancy Gates) fears the return of Dan Varrell (Gene Barry). She talked his brother Ritchie into robbing a bank and then when she was questioned by the police she panicked and told them where Ritchie could be found. Ritchie was killed by the cops when he pulled a gun on them.

Dan wants to get even with Lois. He wants to see her pay for what happened to his kid brother. She refuses to beg for her life. Dan is impressed and has a change of heart. He tells her that he wants to go into business with her. She has her doubts but when he puts up the money to open a dress shop she realizes he means it.

Lois does a good job running the business. Dan even talks her ex-boyfriend, whom she’s still crazy about, into getting back together with her. Lois is on cloud nine. That’s when Dan levels with her.

Thoughts

This episode ended very abruptly. I wasn’t totally surprised by the twist ending. It is kind of the calling card for a show like this. I like this episode very much but I can see how the twist ending might be a little too much for some people. I felt like both of the lead actors really delivered the goods.

Notes

This is the first of ten episodes of this show that Justus Addiss directed. He also directed 3 episodes of The Twilight Zone (1959). He directed mostly television episodes.

This is the second of two episodes of this show in which Gene Barry appeared. The first one was 1.03 Triggers in Leash. I like both episodes very much.

This is the first of two episodes of this show in which Nancy Gates appeared. She was also in two movies that I have watched, Suddenly (1954) and Hell’s Half Acre (1954), although she wasn't one of the lead actors in either of those films. I just watched Hell’s Half Acre yesterday. What are the odds?

Elisha Cook, Jr. has a small part in this episode which wasn’t central enough for me to mention him in my summary. I’ve seen him in at least nine movies in recent years. He didn’t play the lead in any of those films. This is the first episode of television I have seen in which he appeared in recent years. This is the only episode of this show in which he appeared but he made guest appearances in plenty of other shows I grew up watching including Batman, The Wild Wild West, Star Trek (1966), The Bionic Woman, Night Court, The A-Team, The Twilight Zone (1985), and 13 episodes of Magnum PI.