In this one, we have Cornel Wilde, Kay Stewart, Whitney Blake and Francis De Sales.
Wilde plays an up and coming Hollywood director who is about to sign a million dollar contract. He is also newly engaged to the hot new actress in town, Whitney Blake. Blake and Wilde are beaming as they pose for the press during the announcement of both events. Can it get any better, Wilde wonders? When the press gathering ends, Blake tells Wilde she needs to go to an interview at the NBC TV studio. She asks Wilde to meet her there at 7 sharp that evening. They kiss and leave, Wilde for his agents office and Blake for the studio. Wilde can hardly wait to put pen to paper on the big contract, As Wilde is crossing the lobby, he bumps into Kay Stewart. Stewart is Wilde's ex-wife. The two had not parted on good terms. It seems Wilde had forged a $500 check in her name when he dumped her in NY nine years before.
Wilde asks what on earth she is doing here on the west coast? She responds that she is in town on business. She is a buyer for an east coast store and is in the building to meet a supplier. Wilde tells her that he still feels like a rat the way he left. He tells her that he had gotten a divorce in Mexico. Stewart answers it would not be legal in the US if she fought it, but not to worry.
Wilde excuses himself for a minute and heads for a phone. He calls his agent, De Sales. "Is there a morals clause in the contract? Yes." Answers De Sales. "The head of the studio is big on a squeaky clean image. He does not like scandals". De Sales then tells Wilde that the studio has postponed the signing that afternoon. Wilde hangs up the phone.
"My god!" Wilde mutters to himself, "That must be why Stewart is here!" Wilde returns to the lobby and finds Stewart speaking with a man. He watches till the man leaves and grabs Stewart again. She smiles and pulls out a cigarette. Wilde takes the matches from her hands and lights her up. As he does so, he notices that the matches have the logo of the studio he is about to sign with.
Wilde talks Stewart into a drive over to see his new house. She agrees, but makes a quick call before they head out.
Wilde gives her a tour of the house, then, he grabs Stewart and forcefully asks. "Why are you really in town? Are you going to ruin my life? What do you want! A payoff? How much do you want?" Stewart goes wide-eyed and attempts to break away. "I don't want a thing!" She answers.
While trying to break away, Stewart tumbles backwards down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom. Wilde rushes down to her and finds that her neck is broken. What to do! Wilde grabs a chair and tries to think his options out. He decides he will leave Stewart's body at the back of the house. He has to meet Blake at seven. He will play it cool for the evening, then return afterwards and take the body out of town. He'll find a place in the hills to dump her. With any luck, nobody will suspect a thing.
Wilde drives over to the NBC lot to meet his soon to be bride. He enters the studio and is whisked onto a darkened sound-stage. The lights pop on and there he is in front of a cheering audience. A man approaches and says, "Welcome to your Big Moment!" Wilde discovers he is on a THIS IS YOUR LIFE type program.
A curtain off to the side parts, Wilde sees 8 chairs with 7 people seated there. Blake, De Sales, the studio head, his 8th grade teacher etc. The announcer then says, "All the people who helped you towards this BIG MOMENT, are here to witness you sign your new contract live on television." "The one empty seat you see, is for your ex-wife. She is late, but she had called and said she was going over with someone to look at your house. We sent a police car to your place to escort her back to join the show". Wilde lowers his head, he knows the game is up, he is sunk.
This is a pretty nifty half hour's worth of entertainment. The director of this episode is, Paul "THE BURGLAR" Wendkos. It is not even listed on his IMDb page. The D of P was Irving Lippman whose claim to fame is the 1950's sci-fi classic, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH. Most here should recall Whitney Blake from the comedy series, HAZEL. (b/w)
Wilde plays an up and coming Hollywood director who is about to sign a million dollar contract. He is also newly engaged to the hot new actress in town, Whitney Blake. Blake and Wilde are beaming as they pose for the press during the announcement of both events. Can it get any better, Wilde wonders? When the press gathering ends, Blake tells Wilde she needs to go to an interview at the NBC TV studio. She asks Wilde to meet her there at 7 sharp that evening. They kiss and leave, Wilde for his agents office and Blake for the studio. Wilde can hardly wait to put pen to paper on the big contract, As Wilde is crossing the lobby, he bumps into Kay Stewart. Stewart is Wilde's ex-wife. The two had not parted on good terms. It seems Wilde had forged a $500 check in her name when he dumped her in NY nine years before.
Wilde asks what on earth she is doing here on the west coast? She responds that she is in town on business. She is a buyer for an east coast store and is in the building to meet a supplier. Wilde tells her that he still feels like a rat the way he left. He tells her that he had gotten a divorce in Mexico. Stewart answers it would not be legal in the US if she fought it, but not to worry.
Wilde excuses himself for a minute and heads for a phone. He calls his agent, De Sales. "Is there a morals clause in the contract? Yes." Answers De Sales. "The head of the studio is big on a squeaky clean image. He does not like scandals". De Sales then tells Wilde that the studio has postponed the signing that afternoon. Wilde hangs up the phone.
"My god!" Wilde mutters to himself, "That must be why Stewart is here!" Wilde returns to the lobby and finds Stewart speaking with a man. He watches till the man leaves and grabs Stewart again. She smiles and pulls out a cigarette. Wilde takes the matches from her hands and lights her up. As he does so, he notices that the matches have the logo of the studio he is about to sign with.
Wilde talks Stewart into a drive over to see his new house. She agrees, but makes a quick call before they head out.
Wilde gives her a tour of the house, then, he grabs Stewart and forcefully asks. "Why are you really in town? Are you going to ruin my life? What do you want! A payoff? How much do you want?" Stewart goes wide-eyed and attempts to break away. "I don't want a thing!" She answers.
While trying to break away, Stewart tumbles backwards down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom. Wilde rushes down to her and finds that her neck is broken. What to do! Wilde grabs a chair and tries to think his options out. He decides he will leave Stewart's body at the back of the house. He has to meet Blake at seven. He will play it cool for the evening, then return afterwards and take the body out of town. He'll find a place in the hills to dump her. With any luck, nobody will suspect a thing.
Wilde drives over to the NBC lot to meet his soon to be bride. He enters the studio and is whisked onto a darkened sound-stage. The lights pop on and there he is in front of a cheering audience. A man approaches and says, "Welcome to your Big Moment!" Wilde discovers he is on a THIS IS YOUR LIFE type program.
A curtain off to the side parts, Wilde sees 8 chairs with 7 people seated there. Blake, De Sales, the studio head, his 8th grade teacher etc. The announcer then says, "All the people who helped you towards this BIG MOMENT, are here to witness you sign your new contract live on television." "The one empty seat you see, is for your ex-wife. She is late, but she had called and said she was going over with someone to look at your house. We sent a police car to your place to escort her back to join the show". Wilde lowers his head, he knows the game is up, he is sunk.
This is a pretty nifty half hour's worth of entertainment. The director of this episode is, Paul "THE BURGLAR" Wendkos. It is not even listed on his IMDb page. The D of P was Irving Lippman whose claim to fame is the 1950's sci-fi classic, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH. Most here should recall Whitney Blake from the comedy series, HAZEL. (b/w)