User Reviews

Poor Leonard (Martin Balsam). He just wants a little relief and respite from his nagging wife, Elsie (Vivian Nathan). It seems that, fifteen years before, Leonard took Elsie on a trip to Haiti, where she had an accident that has turned her into an invalid. Or so she claims... the doctors and Leonard are not so convinced. What Leonard is convinced of, however, is that Elsie is a bitter, negative, charm-free shrew; so he decides to take matters into his own hands.

Leonard visits a mortuary and makes complete funeral arrangements, even though there is no actual deceased--yet. In the meantime, Elsie's latest doctor gives her medication that could prolong her life for at least another 30 years. But Leonard has other ideas...

A well written, engaging episode.

Martin Balsam plays the ultimate henpecked husband. His wife, played by Vivian Nathan, is a snarling unsympathetic invalid who blames him for her medical condition and everything else that goes wrong in her selfish world. According to her, Balsam doesn't make enough money, and worse, doesn't even take responsibility for her well-being and happiness. But then, Vivian is only really happy when she's nagging her husband to death. She also complains about her husband's daydreaming and obsession with traveling. In reality, Balsam doesn't make enough money to take a trip out-of-state. But there is an answer to his problems. Old Martin decides that there is only one course of action. He visits the local funeral home where he tells the director (O.Z. Whitehead) that he will need a casket and the best arrangements possible for someone who will be leaving this earthly world. After a brief stop at an old novelty shop (run by Slim Pickens), he decides not to buy the poison dart gun. There's a much better alternative to put someone to permanent sleep and rat poison purchased at a nearby pharmacy soon becomes his weapon of choice. After all, his wife never goes to bed without drinking her glass of milk.

"Final Arrangements," directed by the prolific Gordon Hessler (later a Hitchcock series producer), is well-crafted with a nice little twist at the end. It isn't entirely unexpected considering poor Martin's circumstances. The parts are all played to perfection, especially Ms. Nathan's nagging and pitiless wife. She'd drive any man over the edge. It's a wonder that her husband lasted as long as he did. As it turns out, there is a "happy" ending.

This is one of my all time favorites. I never get tired of watching it. The windup is so unexpected the first time you see it. First rate performances by Martin Balsam, Vivian Nathan, O.Z. Whitehead and Slim Pickens. Some might consider it a bit slow, but I find it to be nicely paced. I could only hope that Leonard found happiness on the other side, especially after trying to patiently dealing with his hypochondriac wife who continued to nag and berate him for so many years. I know it is only a story, but with somethings that I have seen, I wonder what happened afterwards? What did his wife do? My husband always tells me that I have to write my own ending. Bottom line - it is definitely worth watching.

This is another episode I enjoyed but I must give a bit of a caution when it concerns this episode. This episode ends with a suicide and imo the theme for this episode is 'Death is freedom' So you might want to skip this one if you're going through a rough time in your personal life.

Leonard and Elsie are the two main leads in this episode. Leonard's catching it. The poor man is really catching it. His wife is 'mean'. I'd say the b word but my review probably wouldn't post. Everyday is the same. She got hurt in an accident on their honeymoon and she's been a beast from that point on. She's been milking this accident. Rants and raves to Leonard about everything. Leonard's pretty much a trapped animal by this point in time. He has very little that brings him any joy or pleasure. Life's just gotten to be a chore by this point in time. But Leonard has a plan and it's quite different than a lot of other Hitchcock episodes that will feature the death of the awful spouse. But Leonard's got a lot of planning to do. And then he's really gonna get Elsie....

Leonard cashes out his life insurance policy, clears out his savings, quits his job and blows through that money he's just accumulated. He goes and picks out the most expensive casket and funeral service he can get. There's a bit of a mystery here if you're watching this episode for the first time because you just assume the body in that casket will be his wife's.

Leonard goes home and tell his wife about cashing in on his policy, spending all that and his savings, quitting his job. Leonard's really making sure that Elsie will pay after he's gone. I say all this because of things I've brought up in other reviews. I know I've watched AHP for probably the last decade but you really can't watch shows like this with a modern mind. You do have to consider the time frame. Leonard's basically blown up Elsie's world. No other family's mentioned and I sincerely doubt Elsie had any friends to lean on until she got on her feet. She will have to get a job to support herself. It'll have to be done ASAP. She's gonna be going through a lot of changes in her life because she finally pushed her husband over the edge. The modern mind can probably just write it off. So get a job, big deal. It is quite a big deal if you've never worked or had to support yourself before.

Back to the episode: There's a knock at the door and Leonard orders Elsie to answer it. It's the undertaker coming to retrieve the body. Leonard's drinking the drink he poisoned and he's already on his back by the time Elsie comes in with the undertaker. Leonard's dead and the look on his face is one of absolute peace. It's probably the first bit of piece he's had in his married life.

There's a minor inconsistency in this episode when Leonard Thompson (Martin Balsam) passes on the first coffin he sees as being too expensive, but then settles on one that's almost twice the price. But it didn't really matter, because what we didn't know at that point was that he intended to go out in style. Pretty drastic if you ask me because his solution didn't offer a second chance. But I could see how his wife Elsie (Vivian Nathan) drove him over the edge with her constant complaints about his job, money and her personal health. Being a hypochondriac kept her in bed for most of the past fifteen years, and that would try anyone's patience. One of the great things I like about these old anthology series is seeing who shows up in them, and Balsam was a nifty casting choice. He also appeared in a memorable 'Twilight Zone' episode a couple years after this one aired titled 'The New Exhibit'. Without giving it all away, his character had a similar fate to the one experienced here.