Four Star Playhouse 1.03

The Lost Silk Hat

starring Ronald Colman

directed by Robert Florey

A well dressed man (Ronald Colman) tries to convince first a laborer, then a clerk, and finally a poet to go into the house he just left to retrieve his silk hat. He offers to pay them to get his hat back for them. He suggests ruses they could use to gain admittance to the house such as saying that they are there to wind the clocks or tune the piano. Each of the three men he asks to help him out turns him down. He finally goes back into the house to retrieve the hat himself.

Thoughts

The most perplexing thing about this episode is why the man doesn't want to re-enter the house. The episode description indicates that there was a lover's quarrel between the man and the woman he was visiting. There is scant evidence that this was the case in the episode. I was left wondering if he was lying (when he mentioned a woman) since he seemed to be doing everything he could to avoid telling anyone why he didn't want to knock on the door and go back into the house himself.

Good but not great. It kept my attention but the ending lacked a twist and failed to satisfy me.

Notes

This is the first of five episodes in this season that did not star one of the four stars of Four Star Playhouse. Ronald Colman played the lead in three of those five episodes. This is the first of four episodes of this show that starred Ronald Colman. I have also seen him in Lost Horizon (1937).

Richard Whorf, the actor who played the poet, was better known as a director. He has 17 acting credits and 67 directing credits on IMDb. He directed one episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955).

Jay Novello played the part of the clerk. This is the first of four episodes of this show in which he appeared. He also appeared in one episode of The Outer Limits (1963).

Tudor Owen played the part of the Laborer. This is the first of two episode of this show in which he appeared. He also appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone (1959).