This is an episode from the 1953-55 anthology series, "Pepsi Cola Playhouse". This episode stars Craig Stevens and Marilyn Erskine. Stevens and Erskine are newlyweds looking for their first home. They find a place that just seems too good of a deal to be real. The real estate agent admits that the reason for the low price was that a murder had happened there 3 months before. The deal is too good to pass on and they buy the place. The talkative neighbor, Sheila Bromley, soon fills Erskine in on the gory details of the murder. The wealthy 45 year-old woman who had owned the house. Had left on a trip and returned with a 27 year old husband. Soon afterward the woman was chopped up and the husband had disappeared. The police figure hubby was after the hidden cash the woman was known to have kept in the house. The police do not believe though that the killer had found the money. They had staked out the house for several months but got no bites from the murderer. The police then decide the man in long gone. The description Bromley gives of the killer fits Stevens to a tee. This needless to say rattles our dear bride no end. Every time Stevens does some house repairs Erskine becomes more convinced he is the man. Is he doing repairs or looking for the loot. Is she right? Or is she simply becoming unglued. Erskine now decides to search the house herself. She of course finds the cash. While Stevens is out doing some shopping, Erskine calls Bromley but the line goes dead. She looks out the window and sees Stevens' car parked in the shadows. "What to do!" There is a knock on the door. Erskine looks and heaves a sigh of relief when she sees a cop. She invites the man, Dean Cromer, in. She then tells him about finding the cash. He asks to see it. Erskine gladly hands it over. The cop grabs the money and then a less than friendly smile spreads over his face. "I'm real sorry that I need to do this," he says as he reaches for Erskine's throat. Of course we know that the cop is no cop. He is the killer returned for one last try at the cash. Just then Stevens and the real cops break in and put the boots to Cromer. Stevens' car was outside because Cromer had given him the butt end of a pistol. He had come to just as the police arrived. The busy body next door, Bromley, had called the police when Erskine's phone went dead. Erskine of course feels like an idiot. She just won't mention it to Stevens.
This is a pretty good little episode IMO. The director was actor and producer Richard Irving. As an actor, Irving had roles in RAW DEAL, CANON CITY, TOO LATE FOR TEARS, ARMORED CAR ROBBERY, THE MOB, ROADBLOCK and ON DANGEROUS GROUND. He later became a TV director and then a producer, MASADA was one of his projects. The screenplay was by Lawrence Kimble who worked on CRIMINAL COURT, SAN QUENTIN, COVER-UP, ONE WAY STREET and TWO OF A KIND before moving to television. The D of P was Clark Ramsey. Ramsey worked mainly on TV but did manage the odd low rent film. THE HOODLUM, FEDERAL MEN and MA BARKER'S KILLER BROOD are examples of his work.
Stevens we all know from WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS and PETER GUNN. Erskine, who was married to Stanley Kramer for a while, worked pretty well only on television.
This is a pretty good little episode IMO. The director was actor and producer Richard Irving. As an actor, Irving had roles in RAW DEAL, CANON CITY, TOO LATE FOR TEARS, ARMORED CAR ROBBERY, THE MOB, ROADBLOCK and ON DANGEROUS GROUND. He later became a TV director and then a producer, MASADA was one of his projects. The screenplay was by Lawrence Kimble who worked on CRIMINAL COURT, SAN QUENTIN, COVER-UP, ONE WAY STREET and TWO OF A KIND before moving to television. The D of P was Clark Ramsey. Ramsey worked mainly on TV but did manage the odd low rent film. THE HOODLUM, FEDERAL MEN and MA BARKER'S KILLER BROOD are examples of his work.
Stevens we all know from WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS and PETER GUNN. Erskine, who was married to Stanley Kramer for a while, worked pretty well only on television.