Whodunit

The entry doesn't come off despite some promising ingredients. The clever premise would make an engaging Twilight Zone, minus Hitch's whimsy, of course. Mystery writer Arlington (Williams) is murdered in bed, but heaven's admitting angel (Napier) gives him a few minutes reprieve to return to earth and find out who the culprit is. Trouble is there's no shortage of suspects, including the writer's wife (Blake). Seems our sleuth was not a very nice guy in real life. So which suspect is it.

Some Hitch favorites are in the cast, including Williams, Napier, and the sour-looking Coolidge. But I did expect Marshal Dillon to stride in and rescue Miss Kitty, oops, right era, wrong series. But it was unusual seeing Blake in a role outside of Dodge City. Frankly, I didn't think the rather listless payoff measured up to the opening. Plus, the suspects' portrayals are colorless, probably so that the culprit will be hard to detect. Anyhow, if heaven is anything like Hitch's version, I'm ready, especially if Ruta Lee is my angel escort.

Alfred Hitchcock liked a touch of humor in his stories, and sometimes a lot more than that. This is one example, a mystery writer who thinks he should have no trouble figuring out who murdered him given his last day to live over again. In the end he still needs help figuring it out, but also by then no longer really cares. Indeed, he now wonders how he ended up in Heaven -- only to learn that mystery writers always go there. God apparently has interesting tastes.

Not bad tale, this curious one that looks very like a TWILIGHT ZONE episode. Why not? It is curious, inventive, and the twist ending is not that foreseeable. I was surprised, really and I think there won't be many of this kind in the further episodes. This episode will not be my favorite, no risk of this. The angel element bothers me very much. It may be amusing for many folks, but not me. I found it so stupid. That's only my own opinion. The music score all long this story is so annoying. But I am sure many of people have enjoyed it. Ridiculous, that's the proper word to describe it. Now, that's up to you.

I really didn't care so much who the killer was. The last few minutes of dialogue between Mr. Williams and Mr. Napier was so classy, so British, that any shortcomings others have described fade away. Seeing Amanda Blake, took a minute or two to realized it was her, shows there was more to her than Gunsmoke. This is a nice little story that won't give you nightmares.

There have been lots of stories of people who are allowed to come back for one more day after their deaths. This one is pretty tame. A mystery writer who has been murdered begs the admitting angel to let him know who killed him. They agree that he will go back to the time before his death and try to figure it out, hence the title. This then gets a bit dull. Like most mystery stories, a group of suspects soon materializes. They all have motives. He is such a pompous ass that they may be doing us a favor. Anyway, we know that when all is said and done there is going to be a bit of disappointment. The acting is OK. It has that real fifties feel to it. As it turns out, most of the suspects would probably have allied themselves with this man if he had just been a bit kinder. It's a decent entry into the canon, but didn't grab me that much.