Anniversary of a Murder

Gerald Simms (Harry Townes) is having an affair with Frances Hiller (Randy Stuart). They meet in dark, out of the way places and they both are worried about getting caught. One night, after seeing each other, they are in the car headed home when Gerald accidentally hits and kills a young man. Instead of contacting the police, weaselly Gerald insists he and Frances pretend it never happened--and they agree not to see each other for a year. A year passes and although Gerald seems pretty comfortable with his lies, something strange begins happening. He begins to hear the voice of the dying young man calling out for help from his dictaphone machine. Later, when he plays it for Frances, she, too, hears the voice. What the voice compels them to do, you can hear for yourself.

This is an interesting episode. I also loved how as the pair were meeting, the narrator popped back into the story and walked around them--a very strange and striking scene. Well worth seeing.

Harry Townes & Randy Stuart play Gerald Simms & Frances Hiller, who are conducting a secret affair, as Gerald is a married businessman desperate to keep it from his wife. One night while returning from a restaurant, driver Gerald is distracted and accidentally hits and kills a young boy on his bicycle. Rather than report it, they both agree to cover up the death, which they succeed at, but a year to the day later, Simms gets a chilling message from the dead boy on his Dictaphone! How can this be, or is someone playing a game with him? Effective episode with two fine lead performances and fitting(if abrupt) end for them both, as John Newland sums it all up.

Not bad story, involving a hit and run issue, and a character study concerning guilt after the death of a small boy killed by a hit and run driver. It could have been told in many anthology stories, including TWILIGHT ZONE, ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS - but without the eerie and fantasy element though - SUSPENSE, THRILLER. Not a bad tale, riveting enough to grab your attention. More drama than real thriller, and engrossing too. I guess many audiences could recognize themselves in those characters who represent the common American folks. It could happen to anyone, and in addition, you have this voice from beyond grave.... Not that unusual but still effective.

Successful businessman Harry Townes (as Gerald "Jerry" Simms) is disturbed upon hearing a mysterious voice on his Dictaphone. "I can't see! It's all black! I want to go home… please!" Mr. Townes realizes it's the "Anniversary of a Murder" and the voice belongs to the victim. However, it is not exactly a murder, as we see during a flashback… On the evening of the incident, Townes is out with attractive Randy Stewart (as Frances "Fran" Hiller). They are married to other people, and Ms. Stewart considers ending the affair. "I'm not a fickle fellow," replies Townes. After a few drinks, Townes is behind the when tragedy strikes… The moral of the story may be: A guilty conscience hits adultery. Hard.

***** Anniversary of a Murder (9/27/60) John Newland ~ Harry Townes, Randy Stewart, Amzie Strickland, Alexander Lockwood

Contrived is the word for this one.

A married businessman and his married mistress are dining and dancing the night away, while debating some troublesome issue that will be forever unknown, partly because the latter's voice does not register clearly, and partly because the recording has weathered badly across sixty years.

But their disagreement seems to have been resolved, perhaps with the aid of the demon alcohol, by the time he drives her home, even canoodling with her at the wheel. Of course, the inevitable happens, and they find they've run over and killed a boy in the pitch-dark. Vaguely promising to report the accident, he drops her home, and then decides that as nobody witnessed the collision, he'll pretend it never happened. She feels, however, that they should stay apart for a year.

On the anniversary, he takes a call on his Dictaphone, and is startled to hear the boy's dying words, exactly as he heard them on the night. He becomes thoroughly distracted, as noticed by his refreshingly normal-looking secretary (Amzie Strickland), and sends for the mistress he hoped to spend the night with, who also hears the ghost-call. Yet when the tape is played to the police, they hear nothing. We can't reveal the ending, though we can promise you it isn't pretty, and it's as contrived as the rest of the plot.

Your eternally charming host John Newland gets away with his usual brand of blarney: "The conscience can create a voice of its own - the voice of doom, heard only by the guilty."