One of the Family

The acting here is very good, especially if you're a movie buff. Sometimes that makes up for a routine script, although the story is fairly interesting.

Lilia Skala guest stars, playing the suspicious nanny (Frieda) for a baby, belonging to the father she also used to take care of. Skala had been recently nominated for an Oscar for her role as Mother Superior in LILLIES OF THE FIELD. A story soon surfaces about a homicidal nanny, fitting Frieda's description, who poisoned another baby. Suspicions arise (from the wife) when their baby becomes ill.

If you're a Hitch tv fan, you may immediately recognize a similar story (from the half hour series), starring Everett Sloan who suspected his maid was dabbling with poison. A common storyline, still worth a look to see how it all unfolds, and with more running time.

Skala is very good in this type of role, and you really begin to wonder just what's going on. Additionally, some other interesting characters pass by the old homestead. Applause for actress Oliver Deering, playing Christine. She was a favorite of director Cecil B. DeMille, appearing in two of his classics, including the TEN COMMANDMENTS.

Doris Lloyd plays the maid and Frances Reid plays the snooty grandmother. Perfectly cast here. Reid later began a new career in soap operas.

Not too long after this episode came the Bette Davis thriller, THE NANNY. Coincidence, possibly, but the only reason I bring it up is I always wondered how Hitch would have handled that screenplay. Watch it if you ever get the chance.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 16 CBS dvd box set. All three seasons on dvd, according to Amazon, were produced in Europe and may not play on American made dvd players. Best to check with the seller.

The true destroyer in this episode involves the actions of the central figures. The young mother is absolutely ridiculous in her handling of the situation in which she finds herself. A woman who is known by the father comes to be a babysitter while the couple is to go on a vacation. But all over the news is stuff about an arsenic murderer. As the baby sitter continues to act in her own nutty way, the mother becomes suspicious. Of course, when another woman shows up and labels the original one, we think things are settled--but we Hitchcock viewers know better--right. The final scene is so nutso. That woman had opportunities to head out the door until things got sorted out. The baby would have been safe. But the story is so full of holes and sheer idiocy, it doesn't happen.

The story is well rehashed in the other reviews, so I'll add that many of them are accurate in describing the actions of the young wife/mother--who looks a lot like a young Diana Rigg, but isn't-- and her husband's old nurse; I found their chemistry to be uncomfortable. Even before strange things start to happen, the wife has a tendency to go from polite to snippy and back again. (And for a brand-new mother, she doesn't seem to have a second thought about hopping over to Europe for a few months, leaving the infant with someone she never met. But that's just me.) As the story goes on, the psycho is revealed and the young wife snaps into imperiled-leading-lady mode. Hitchcock's commercial bits are the best part.

A well to do young family in Los Angeles has just hired a nanny for their baby. It seems that this woman, Frieda, was the husband's nanny when he was a child and so he agrees to hire her on the spot.

At the same time, there's a story in the newspaper about a German nanny who poisoned an infant in San Francisco. And, over time, the wife comes to think that their new nanny might just be this killer. Is she jumping to conclusions or is their sweet new nanny a homicidal maniac?

This is a very exciting story, though like some other hour long episodes, it's one that probably would have worked better as a half hour one. In other words, the story seems a bit padded and slow paced in spots. However, it does have a nice twist and is well worth seeing.

Okay entry, but nothing special. Upscale young couple (Slate & Hays) hires a nanny (Skala) to take care of their infant son, so they can travel more. Skala's got to be reliable since she was Slate's German nanny when he was a baby. But, is she still trustworthy. Hays gets concerned when a toddler is poisoned in San Francisco by a nanny turned fugitive. Then, when a suspicious Hays quizzes Skala about her previous employer, she lies. At the same time, Hays' child is suddenly undergoing mysterious illnesses. So what's Hays to do—she can't fire her husband's childhood nanny, plus hubby thinks the wife's just overreacting. But, is she.

The entry builds good tight suspense in driving toward the climax. But then the climax is dragged out with too much talk that I'm afraid amounts to padding—always a pitfall for an hour-long weekly series like Hitch. Thus, impact of the ace build-up is spread out and weakened.

As usual, the performances are A-grade, but it's really Hays who gets the screen time. Slate (a Steve McQueen look-a-like) mainly fills out story requirements as the affable husband, while Skala and Deering get to show their chops. Anyway, a tighter climax could have lifted the episode to first-rank. As things are, it's still a fairly engrossing 60-minutes.