Charles Boyer stars in this installment of "Four Star Playhouse". It's an unusual role for him and the plot's a clear change of pace for the show. This isn't a complaint--more an observation about the style of "The Other Room".
When the show begins, two old school acquaintances are meeting for dinner. One was at the head of his class and people expected a lot from him, but now decades later the man (Boyer) is an unhappy and unappreciated school teacher. He longs to quit this thankless job and write and he begs his old friend to help him--but to no avail. However, sitting nearby is a stranger (John Hoyt) and soon this person calls the school teacher and wants to discuss a proposition-- one where the teacher CAN quit his job and write if he's willing to do something rather larcenous. The stranger's plan is to have the teacher marry the stranger's sister and then, later, pretend to be killed in an accident. The plan, according to the stranger, is to substitute a man roughly the same size and build as the teacher and make the body difficult to identify. And, since he already knows a man who is dying anyway, he'll switch the two when the man dies of natural causes. Sounds too good to be true? Yep...there is definitely a catch as well as a few interesting plot twists.
In many ways, this episode plays more like one from "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". But it's a nice change of pace and the show ends quite well. Worth seeing....as are all the episodes of this excellent series.
When the show begins, two old school acquaintances are meeting for dinner. One was at the head of his class and people expected a lot from him, but now decades later the man (Boyer) is an unhappy and unappreciated school teacher. He longs to quit this thankless job and write and he begs his old friend to help him--but to no avail. However, sitting nearby is a stranger (John Hoyt) and soon this person calls the school teacher and wants to discuss a proposition-- one where the teacher CAN quit his job and write if he's willing to do something rather larcenous. The stranger's plan is to have the teacher marry the stranger's sister and then, later, pretend to be killed in an accident. The plan, according to the stranger, is to substitute a man roughly the same size and build as the teacher and make the body difficult to identify. And, since he already knows a man who is dying anyway, he'll switch the two when the man dies of natural causes. Sounds too good to be true? Yep...there is definitely a catch as well as a few interesting plot twists.
In many ways, this episode plays more like one from "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". But it's a nice change of pace and the show ends quite well. Worth seeing....as are all the episodes of this excellent series.