Guilty Witness

When Mr. And Mrs. Crane hear the Verbers having a violent argument in the apartment just above them, and then Mr. Verber disappears the next day, they can't help suspecting the worst.

Solid thriller from beginning to end with a great build up that leads to a whopper of a finale that I didn't see coming. The focus was on whether the wife had really done away with her husband, and when truth was unravelled, the last revelation came right at the tail-end. It's a nifty entry that lends a good insight on 1950's life, the store, domestic and neighbourhood life.

Yes, folks, another excellent and unusual plot about which the end is the most impressive. The ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS series trademark. The basic scheme, plot, is not that new, of course, but it is riveting for the audiences. The disappearance of someone, a missing person is enough to rivet you, especially in such an anthology show. And it propoes characters in whom many folks could recognize themselves. And maybe those same folks will not see their neighbours the same way after watching this episode. I recommend this episode, it is a pretty good one. There had been far worse in this anthology show, believe me.

Annoyed by the constant fighting of their next-door neighbors the Verbers Ben and Amelia (Ed Kemmer, Judith Evelyn), grocery story owners Stanley (Joe Mantell) and Dorothy Krane (Kathleen Maguire) become suspicious when they don't see the husband Ben for a few days. After overhearing a detective Sgt. Halloran (Robert F. Simon) say the man might have been murdered, Dorothy gets involved in the deadly case.

I swear I love these little stories, but, some of them defiantly haven't aged well over the years, I mean these were made 60+ years ago and society was a whole lot different back then then it is now. While the concept may have been a little more believable in 1955, its kinda ludicrous now. There's a twist here as usual and while I enjoyed it I'm not sure if I really understand it, Much like another reviewer stated I mean why would one of our main characters (I won't name any names to keep from spoiling anything) literally bring all this suspicion to themselves? I mean they are the one that got this whole thing going and you would think they would want to stay out of it, it order from being found out, who knows maybe I'm just missing the point here. It's still a nicely set up little episode that feels very "Rear Window" like at times, and Hitchcock's narratives with the hanging noise is fun as well. I'm just not sure If the character motivations here really match that of what is revealed in the twist.

Nifty episode with a good kicker I didn't see coming. One thing that helped put the series on the TV map was acting talent. I expect Hitchcock's name had a lot to do with that. Here the principals put that talent on good display. Stanley Crane (Mantell) owns a little neighborhood grocery and lives in a crowded apartment building. Meanwhile, his wife (Maguire) is a snoop who suspects the upstairs neighbors of suspicious doings. She hounds Stanley, but he shrugs her off. Then one day, there's screaming upstairs and a thud and the wife suspects the worst, or is it just her over-active imagination acting up again.

Good peek into the past when there were still small grocery's, women in flouncy skirts, and merchants knew their customers. Then too, I like the ordinary looking cast appropriate for their everyday roles. Sure, the cop (Simon) doesn't really act like a cop. He shares the investigation and confides in Stanley in unprofessional fashion. Nonetheless, consider how cleverly the script uses the final twist to illuminate what's gone before. All in all, it's 30-minutes of Hollywood showing its non-glamor side and to entertaining effect.

This is a pretty pedestrian crime drama. It's about the frantic wife who hears a lot of violence going on in the upstairs apartment. He husband tells her to mind her own business, but then he becomes involved himself. The key to the whole thing is finding how a body would be disposed of. To modern viewers, this is a bit far fetched; at the time it was done, it was probably more believable, especially to a male dominated society (more male that is). Anyway, I believe this eventually evolves into a story about a person who is delusional. The acting is pretty believable. The final moment is pregnant with possibilities but the question is, "Why would someone bring suspicion to herself?" Or am I missing something?