Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.17

The Older Sister

starring Joan Lorring, Carmen Matthews, Polly Rowles

written by Robert C. Dennis, Lillian de la Torre

directed by Robert Stevens

Reporter Nell Cutts (Polly Rowles) visits Lizzie Borden (Carmen Matthews) one year after she was acquitted of murdering her parents with an axe. Nell wants the truth from Lizzie. She first meets Emma (Joan Lorring), Lizzie's younger sister. Emma is in a rush to leave town but feels obliged to answer Ms. Cutts' questions.

Lizzie eventually materializes and scares Nell off. Lizzie reveals to Emma that she knows what really happened on that fateful day. It was Emma who killed their parents. She didn't want Emma to suffer so she did what she could to dispose of the evidence. Nell returns, hoping to get a statement from Lizzie and sees the murder weapon which Lizzie just retrieved from its hiding place.

Lizzie tells her that she did it, she killed her parents. She then scares Nell off again.

Thoughts

The cast of this episode is all female with the exception of a background character who doesn't have any lines. I'm pretty sure that it is the only such episode up to this point. I have no idea how many more such episodes there were of this show. I doubt there were many but the fact that the Joan Harrison produced this show leaves me some hope that there might be more.

This episode is based on actual events up to a point. Lizzie and Emma Borden were real people. Their parents were murdered. Lizzie was accused but acquitted of their murders.

Who is the older sister in this episode? The real Emma was nine years older than the real Lizzie. Joan Lorring who played Emma was 15 years younger than Carmen Matthews who played Lizzie. Once again, who is the older sister?

This wasn't a bad episode but I don't love it. It takes place almost entirely on the first floor of the Borden house. The performances weren't bad but I kept waiting for something to grab me about it but nothing really did.

Notes

This is the only episode of this show in which Joan Lorring appeared. This is the first of six episodes of this show in which Carmen Matthews appeared. She also appeared in one episode of The Twilight Zone (1959). This is the only episode of this show in which Polly Rowles appeared.

Patricia Hitchcock played the part of Margaret, the Borden's housekeeper. This is the second of ten episodes of this show in which she appeared. The first one was 1.05 Into Thin Air. She didn't play anywhere near as big a role in this episode as she did in that one.

This is the only episode of this show which Lillian de la Torre had a hand in writing. The story for this episode was based on the play she wrote about Lizzie Borden called Goodbye, Miss Lizzie Borden.

This is the fourth of 30 episodes of this show that Robert C. Dennis had a hand in writing. The second one he wrote was 1.08 Our Cook's a Treasure although it was based on a story by Dorothy L. Sayers. He also wrote four episodes of The Outer Limits (1963) and two of The Six Million Dollar Man.

This is the sixth of 44 episodes of this show that Robert Stevens directed. The last one he directed was 1.16 Youg Gotta Have Luck.