User Reviews

Dave Sumner stops at a wealthy home to see his old college friend, Stanley Towers (played by Jack Carter). Stanley is a huge success and is always cooking up some sort of business deal, including ways to outwit the tax collectors. Feeling sorry for his old college chum Dave, who professes to go about doing odd jobs, Stan offers him a general servant job for $80 a week plus board and Dave is happy to take it.

He gets to know Mrs. Towers (played by Joanna Moore) and while there are hints for the viewers that they might become romantic, nothing of the sort ever happens. One morning after having a big fight with her husband, frustrated because he never spends time with her, it's always business, business, business with him, she decides to leave him-at least temporarily, and asks Dave to drive her somewhere-anywhere but here. Dave says he can't do that. Right then Stanley comes in, appears to believe they are becoming romantic so he orders his wife upstairs and fires Dave, who seems upset but takes it calmly.

No need to spoil the ending scene, but I will say it was unexpected by me. I'd say they kept us guessing with a few false clues so we'd ignore the clues that could have led us to figure out the ending.

What stood out to me was not just that Joanna Moore was one of the three stars, but her teaming with one of the other guest stars, Howard Morris. For four episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, Joanna played a nurse named Peggy who was Andy's girlfriend-long before Helen Crump came to Mayberry. During those years, 8 times guest star was on that series who was played by Howard Morris; the character of wild, unschooled, mountain man with a high-pitched voice Ernest T. Bass. I'm sure many fans who remember Ernest T, could watch this episode and never realize the calm, mild-manned, well-spoken Dave was actually played by the same actor.

Howard Morris had an ability to give many different qualities to his voice, leading to a long career as a voice actor in animated shows, while doing some appearances as a regular actor. He was a semi-regular on the medical drama Trapper John, M.D. in the early 80s.

I remember many times seeing his name as a director of TV shows, including Hogan's Heroes, Bewitched, Hank, Please Don't Eat the Daisies (a much underrated series in my opinion), Patty Duke, 8 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, 5 episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gomer Pyle, and the pilot for Get Smart.

On his work with Dick Van Dyke, Morris played a art critic on one show, and as I look at the IMDB list of the 5 episodes he directed, I think four of them were among the funniest that series ever had, and the other-The Return of Edwin Carp, one of the worst. I'm sure Mr. Hitchcock would agree that even the best director can't make a great show with a really bad script.

As for this episode, I liked that it seemed to lead us toward thinking we knew where it was going, but didn't take us there-and didn't have any sort of cliched ending either. Thus I believe it deserves a 9.

Any regular viewer of the series will always be looking for the twist, and in this regard, the episode's plot follows one's earliest predictions. However, this doesn't detract from the oddly tense story. Top of the Class college buddy Dave, now down-and out, visits rich friend Stanley who does shady deals. Stanley appears to mean well but really wants to humiliate Dave. Our opinion of Stanley lowers as he treats his own wife like property. While the wife's emotions are on the surface, Dave doesn't show anything. Because of his blank look and the one-shots isolating the actors, what's unsaid comes across even more palpably, like watching a bomb tick. Deliciously tense. Unnecessary, though perhaps intentionally humorous, is the climactic patriotic music which signifies the act of betrayal here was justified rather than cowardly.

I remember Jack Carter as a stand-up comedian back in the day. You couldn't tell that from this episode. Here he's a money obsessed business executive who only has time for the next big deal or the next major tax dodge. When Dave Sumner (Howard Morris), an old college buddy, shows up at Stanley Towers' (Carter) door, he arrives virtually penniless and in need of a job. Stanley does his old friend a favor, but doesn't miss an opportunity to rub it in regarding Dave's status in college as a top student and president of the senior class. It looks as if Dave's intelligence wasn't able to translate into a successful career, and he winds up serving guests at Stanley's dinner parties, while Mrs. Towers (Joanna Moore) fumes at her husband's neglect in favor of his business considerations. As expected, Dave doesn't last long as an employee of the self centered businessman, but when Stanley finds himself the subject of an IRS audit, he finally learns what Dave had been up to for the past twenty years, and it won't help his business prospects for the future.

***SPOILERS*** Down and out with no place to stay or food , besides from scavenging the throw aways from the restaurants and supermarkets, to eat in a desperate move Dave Sumner, Howard Morris, looks up his former collage classmate Stanley Towers, Jack Carter, for a job at his over-sized mansion in the suburb. Taking the desperate Sumner in as his personal butler Stanley feels a bit good in knowing that Sumner who was voted most likely to succeed in his collage class is now nothing but a homeless bum compare to him, who barley had passing grades, who's a multi millionaire.

Doing his job as best as he can Sumner is approached by Stanley's old lady Louise, Joanna Moore, who sick and tired of her scheming husband who's making all kinds of illegal deals with his cronies in the business world in order to avoid paying taxes. Wanting the very ethical Sumnner to check out with her Joanna is turned down by him in his total loyalty to the man that provided him not only employment but a roof over his head and food on the table. It's soon that Stanley notices that there something going on between Sumner and Joanna and kicks both of them out of his place with innocent Sumner who was loyal to him getting the worst of it. By him losing whatever safety net that the job working for Stanley provided for him.

****MAJOR SPOILERS**** It's later when Stanley is being audited by the IRS that he gets the surprise of his life. Not that the Federal Government finally got the goods on him in cheating on his tax returns but even more surprising who's the guy or IRS Government Agent who ended up getting the goods on him!