The Better Bargain

An aging mobster who has gone more or less legit marries a beautiful woman more than half his age. When he suspects she is cheating on him, he hires a notorious hit man to do her and her mystery lover in. He soon finds he has gotten more than he bargained for. This episode is what I call a lazy script. We know the truth minutes into the plot. Also, the entire episode takes place on one set, so it's very stagey. The one glimmer of hope is the performance by Henry Silva as the poetry-spouting hit man. Silva's character clearly was patterned on the legendary Jack Palance, and he is very young and suave and sinister here. If you must watch the episode, savor Silva's snake-like performance. The rest is filler.

Robert Middleton is back (he appeared just a couple of episodes ago) as a man who suspects that his much younger wife is having an affair. He has hired a private investigator (an unassuming man, "like a bug on a patch of grass") and soon hires a killer (a smooth one).

A lot of the fun is the conversation between the investigator and our protagonist, who doesn't get the poetic references. Francois Villon is name-checked and quoted. When the wife appears, she's wearing a stunning hat. It looks like leaves or feathers are sticking out of the sides. She seems a bit spoiled, wanting him to buy her a car.

I didn't see the ending coming, but this, to me, is less about twists than about characters. It's also entirely in one room, with the protagonist always there and the others coming and going.

What a good surprise to have here Henry Silva as a hired killer, in a character that reminded me Vince Edwards in MURDER BY CONTRACT. Because of the way he speaks of women as targets...Nothing exceptional however, you wait for the twist ending. And for this kind of plot - husband trying to get rid of his cheating wife and (or) her lover - is not new and there are plenty of those schemes. Not a bad episode, of course, I would put it just in the middle batch; not the top, not the bottom, just the middle. Robert Middleton already played in an AH PRESENTS series episode, with a poker game. Do you remember?

This is a very predictable little vignette about a rich crook who has a young gold digging wife. The gangster is very jealous and wants to control the young woman, but he knows that his hold is limited. He brings in a cold blooded hit man to kill both the wife and her lover, but his emotion gets the best of him. This is what sets up the eventual resolution. Lost in all of this is the poetry of the person with whom the wife is having an affair. The pompous gangster is not very bright and doesn't see some things that would have clued him in. The most interesting part of the episode is the byplay between the two men as they discuss what is going to happen, the bargaining, and the deal they consummate. I have this one figured out way ahead of time, but the Alfred Hitchcock episodes make on suspicious of the apparent truths. This is a pretty minor effort for the series.

The ultimate dark comedy. How can you miss with burly Robert Middleton playing a man of means who is saddled with a young and beautiful wife who cheats? Hitch seemed to love this theme.

Yes, it's an old story, but the master of suspense gives it the full treatment. I do agree with the last reviewer, it's one of those head scratchers. Does this goof really think money is going to keep his wife from fooling around?

The catch here is Middleton is a crime boss, with lots of connections. So the plan is to hire a hit man to make everyone happy?

Henry Silva is the perfect choice to play the smooth talking killer... and the best thing about this story is the dialogue between the boss and his new employee. Thanks to Bernard Schoenfeld, who wrote 16 episodes for Hitch. Bernard wrote one of the greatest prison films, CAGED.

Middleton, about a year earlier, played one of Humphrey Bogart's gang in THE DESPERATE HOURS, a role that insured his place in movie history as a real bad guy. The movie was shot at Universal, where Hitch did his tv show. The biggest surprise about that movie is Bogey's character was shot dead on the front lawn of the LEAVE IT TO BEAVER house. Amazing. Super trivia question.

A classic for late night tv, and for fans of Robert Middleton. From SEASON 2 remastered Universal/CBS dvd series. 16 hrs total running time. All seven seasons are on now dvd in a single box set. Released 2022.