Up Jumped the Devil

I remember watching the 1965 showing of this episode. I think it was on a Sunday night after a film myself and my mother had just watched on BBC. Hugh O'Brian played the part of Jack Farmer, who tries to murder his boss, Chandler Handford - (played by Otto Kruger), by pushing him over a cliff, just at the back of his home.

Before O'Brian performs this evil act, he reminds Kruger of an expression: "Up Jumps the Devil". I can't quite remember how O'Brian explained the meaning of the expression, but I think it was something to do with having a run of good luck, then things suddenly going wrong.

Fortunately for Kruger's character - and unfortunately for O'Brian's character, the victim survives the murder attempt, although Kruger is confined to a wheelchair. This worries O'Brian until he finds out that Kruger now suffers from amnesia - he cannot remember anything that happened before the murder attempt.

Towards the end of the show, during a conversation with O'Brian, Kruger uses the expression: "Up Jumps the Devil". He then explains the meaning of the expression, just as O'Brian had done before he tried to murder him. In a fit of remorse, O'Brian tries to confess to the attempted murder, but no one believes him. This is due the alibi that he had created for himself. O'Brian becomes convinced that Kruger can remember more that he is letting on and is now slowly trying to drive him mad.

This was a very clever and well thought out play, which you very rarely see on television these days.

Powerful performance of Hugh O'Brian as a compulsive gambler, who is also an ambitious business man whose the boss proposes him something which he was not prepared for. As you have probably guessed, you deal here with a character study, especially the lead's one, played by O'Brian. The gambler side is not so emphasized on, but remains important to fully understand the whole O'Brian's character. You also have a powerful, tense murder scheme in the pure Columbo series style, with the sharp and accurate timing for the assassin, who thought of the perfect alibi...I did not expect that so far in the story which I thought at first it would be a simple drama story, and certainly not a crime one. Terrific score to support the murder sequence and its surroundings. One might say that we have already seen that before and I would say yes, but that remains a very good and suspense story anyway with a Hugh O'Brian at his very best, probably as we have never seen him before. But this remains a curious mix up between drama and crime tale. Yes, curious, with unforeseeable twists.