Kill with Kindness

Looks like this entry was reaching for a façade of black humor. The Oldhams, brother and sister, are aging and barely getting by. Unless they figure something out, their old age looks bleak. What they do have is a life insurance policy on brother Fitzhugh (Cronyn). Then along comes homeless old guy Gyorgy (Gleason). Nobody would miss him were he to disappear, so putting on their best face, they invite him in.

The entry depends more on character interest than suspense. Bird-watcher and butterfly-fancier Fitzhugh is too ditzy and bumbling to generate menace. That's left to sister Katherine (Mathews) who squashes butterflies rather than petting them. Trouble is she relies on her bumbling brother to do the dirty work. So we wonder just how much danger old Gyorgy is really in.

Cronyn specialized in eccentric parts and is clearly enjoying this ripe slice of ditz. Mathews was an early Hitch favorite, especially as Lizzie Borden's sinister sister, The Older Sister (1956). At the same time, Gleason makes a convincing penniless old man. The upshot however is fairly mild, while the episode as a whole remains largely a quirky Hume Cronyn showcase.

I agree with many of my fellow reviewers, it's the acting. So truly impossible to beat the likes of Hume Cronyn and Carmen Matthews, playing a very pleasant, generous and diabolical brother and sister. Only with Hitch.

Emmy award winning writter AJ Russell wrote this gem, who ironically majored in comedy material. AJ was a frequent writer for Jackie Gleason and his HONEYMOONERS sitcom, and also won an Emmy for his work on the PHIL SILVERS SHOW. Later a senior writer for GENERAL HOSPITAL.

The bottom line is the all mighty dollar, as usual. It seems the brother and sister's old house is insured (and so is the brother), so why not burn it down to the ground and collect. To throw the insurance investigator's off, they decide to toss in a body -- such as a homeless man ( played by James Gleason), who would be mistaken for the brother as well. Cha-CHING.

Can you beat that?

One you have to see, and see again, expertly directed by Herschel Daugherty, who fronted endless cop shows and dramas throughout his long career.

Not to be missed for these three unforgetable actors.

Gleason would retire not to long after this episode with the iconic film, THE LAST HURRAH, starring Spencer Tracy.

SEASON 2 EPISODE 4 remastered Universal dvd box set. 5 dvd set. 2006.

We can tell by his hair that Hume Cronyn is playing an eccentric (and Hitch's intro suggests there's a fire involved).

Cronyn's Fitzhugh is soft spoken and into birds and butterflies, but his sister (with whom he lives) has a more serious interest. She kindly brings an old drifter to their home and feeds him, but the conversation suggests something else is afoot. Perhaps a bit too obviously so ("we're impoverished, nothing left but this house and our insurance policy").

The setup is fun and there's definitely a comic tone to this one, but the ending falls completely flat for me.

Katherine (Carmen Mathews) and Fitz (Hume Cronyn) are a brother and sister who live together. Katherine is the boss and Fitz is in his own little world of birds and butterfly collecting most of the time. The pair have a secret plan....to burn down their house and make it look as if Fitz was killed in the blaze...and then collect the insurance money.

To make the plan work, they need a body to substitute for Fitz...and they see a hobo (James Gleason) in the park. Katherine invites him in for a warm meal and gives him some clothing...so that his body, or what is left of it, looks like Fitz after the fire. But like in all the episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", you know things won't go exactly as they intended.

Overall, this is a mixed bag. I love the acting and the characters...but the story and the twist are only okay....not bad...just okay.

Hard to believe this was the same Cronyn who played the sadistic, manipulative Capt. Munsey in "Brute Force" and the morally ambiguous lawyer in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" - that's what made him a superb actor.

And I enjoyed seeing Mathews' sweet old lady facade crack and show her true spirit when she shared with Gleason her secret glee at squashing one of her brother's beloved butterflies.