Coming Home

Wonderful acting including Jeanette Nolan. A man finishes a sentence of 20 years. He gets a nice chunk of money from prison savings. He foolishly flashes his wad ih a bar and it's gone in a few minutes. He goes to see his ex wife who is pretty old now (as is he). There is a wonderful scene between them followed by a Hickockean ending. Well done.

When the story begins, Beggs is getting out of prison after doing a 20 year stretch. He has a decent amount of money saved up from working in prison...and he is foolish enough to flash some of it in a sleazy bar. A 'lady' sees it and gets him drunk...and when he awakens, the money is gone. Now, with no money and no place to stay, he makes his way back to his old apartment..where his estranged wife lives. What happens next, you'll have to see for yourself.

While Crahan Denton isn't exactly a household name, he's terrific here as the ex-con...really sympathetic and believable. Additionally, the writing really was great...and your heart really hurts for the guy. Well made in every respect and well worth your time.

Odd little drama. It has the usual twist ending and some minor suspense. But it's really a rather compellingly done human interest story, thanks to a superb performance from Crahan Denton as an aging ex-con. He brings just the right amount of dignity and cynicism to what would otherwise be a clichéd role. Just as importantly, his presence conveys a hint of vulnerability despite the many hardening years of imprisonment. And in a very well acted and calibrated office scene, the warden is shown as respecting those qualities in the departing inmate. Later, when Denton tries to contact his wife after years of separation, but can't follow through, conflicts from the buried past flicker across his face, and we feel long-suppressed emotions suddenly rising to the surface. It's that sort of thing that makes the unfortunate turn of events in the bar scene so affecting.

Fortunately, the production people hired that fine actress, Jeanette Nolan, to play the conflicted wife. Just as importantly, they refused to dress her up or disguise her ugly little cold water flat. The down-trodden couple's moment of reconciliation amounts to a rare moment of genuine sweetness for a series that did not emphasize tender emotions, to say the least. This may not be the most gripping or suspenseful of the Hitchcock entries. But it remains oddly memorable and a permanent record of one very fine talent behind all those anonymous credit-crawl names.

Coming Home is a fine showcase for two superb players who never achieved the recognition they deserved; although one of them, Jeanette Nolan, had a successful career, mostly on television. The other, Crahan Denton, had a career in the theater, was already middle aged when he began appearing on television and, later, in motion pictures; and he died way too young.

This is the only time I've ever seen Denton in anything in which he was top billed, and his performance, as a man just released from prison after serving a twenty year sentence for robbery and shooting a policeman, is almost self-effacing in its excellence. He doesn't miss a beat.

Denton disappears into the role of Harry Beggs, and his subtle playing raises the quality of the episode considerably. His character's awkwardness in a bar, having his first taste of alcohol in ages, and his inability to recognize that he's being set-up to be taken for the more than $1600 he has in his wallet, makes his fate quietly credible. One senses the actor playing not for sympathy but understanding.

Later in the episode, in his scenes with his wife, who never even once visited him when he was in prison, now bitter and impoverished, we see Denton and Jeanette Nolan playing off one another beautifully. It soon becomes apparent there's genuine affection between these two people upon whom fortune has never smiled.

Coming Home is more drama than melodrama; concerns not so much crime but the fate of a man who has committed one, has paid the price. Crahan Denton's somewhat severe demeanor, pensive and tragic, is perfect for Harry Beggs, who has done good and bad things in his life and is first and foremost a man, and this is what shines through in his performance.

The performances here are worthy of an Emmy, also showing the craftsmanship of director Alf Kjellon, known for HAWAII FIVE O, the WALTONS, many more hits.

Tell you one thing, it's a fairly grim story, no other way to put it. Beware you'll come away from it more depressed than shocked. And with good reason, soap opera dean Henry Slesar (EDGE OF NIGHT) wrote the script, and it makes you wonder how he came up with it because the ending is a knockout.

Dramatic actor Crahan Denton, in perhaps his most recognized tv role, plays ex-con Harry, who finishes his long term in prison, coming home to his wife, Edith (excellently played by Jeanette Nolan). This was her type of role, defined.

No welcome mat, no party, even making it more dark when Harry stops off at bar, meeting sexy young thing Susan Silo. The streetwise kid plays a part in stealing his hard earned prison money, over $1600 dollars. Gone just like that...

What a story, which keeps you hanging on for more, and definitely there's a lot more.

Denton compliments Jeanette Nolan, a distinguised actor, who also appeared in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. He passed suddenly a few years later. Susan Silo (as Angela), went onto a successful career as a voice actor, still working today.

FYI: Harry's $1600 dollars would total more than $17,000 today. That's a lotta' dough to be carrying around in the first place or second place!

SEASON 6 EPISODE 25 remastered Universal dvd box set. 16 hrs running time.

Worth every minute.