Worse Than Murder

Better episode than the first two. A woman who feels she is entitled to inheritances from rich relatives, finds herself on the outs after the death of an uncle. She is a widow and assumed she would get a chunk of cash. Instead, it went to her rich mother in law. She finds out that the old man kept a diary and since he died intestate, she can go after the old lady because the book says something about some shenanigans that went on involving a second injection of insulin. Meanwhile there is sort of romantic thing going on between the mousy daughter and the attending physician. The problem with this episode is that it's a little hard to understand how the nasty woman is going to cash in. Still, it's fun rooting against her.

THRILLER's third episode stars Constance Ford (also in episode 1) as a blackmailing temptress who taunts the tomboyish Christine White and tries to seduce her doctor boyfriend John Baragrey (later seen in "A Wig for Miss Devore"). Perhaps the best of the first half dozen shows (which isn't saying much), with the always enjoyable Constance Ford acting up a storm, paying rent by bedding her landlord (Dan Tobin), while extorting money from her wealthy bed ridden mother-in-law (Harriet MacGibbon). Christine White made numerous TV appearances but very few movies (starring in William Castle's "Macabre"); sharp eyed viewers will remember her as the grieving widow of Mitchell Ryan in 1973's "Magnum Force," who has the hots for Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry (as do all the other gals in the film.) Almost totally offscreen ever since, she apparently resided in her hometown of Washington D.C. writing political articles until her 2013 death. Watch for a memorable turn from Jocelyn Brando (Marlon's sister) as a former nurse who is tracked down by the scheming Ford.

Constance Ford portrays Connie Walworth, who has just learned that she was left out of her father-in-laws will, since he was not fond of her. Connie however is a most conniving and determined woman, and learns of a series of diaries that the man kept and after reading one, finds out that he and her mother-in-law may have been involved in a murder for inheritance scheme that delights her no end, but coming up with a blackmail scheme to extort money will not go as smoothly as she hopes... Constance Ford is a real hoot here as Connie, giving a lively performance about this shameless woman not above fiancée stealing either. Nothing much new here, but she makes the episode work.

This is the first time watching Thriller series, and so far this is the best episode. It was better than the first two episodes, in my view. It has a good solid story with a severe plot about dirty family members. They have sordid secrets involving scams and money, murder and deception. I rather liked the villain lady who comes across as quite scary, mean and tough. She was a real assertive independent woman, don't forget it. Unfortunately the damsel in distress, who plays the daughter of the sick old lady, had to cut off her long hair in favour of a basin cut! That wasn't cool,. But still a minor detail I couldn't stop noticing.

I love TV anthology shows--especially the ones from the 1950s and 60s. I have watched quite a few of these lately--all either from DVDs from Netflix or from archive.org. However, after seeing disc one of "Thriller", I am apprehensive to get another. While you MIGHT think the shows are about the supernatural and are very similar to "The Twilight Zone", they are nothing like that--at least in the early episodes. I've read from one reviewer that the show DID later become like that--but I am not sure I have the patience to wade through any more mediocre shows like I just watched on disc one.

Of all the episodes I've seen, "Worse Than Murder" is probably among the best--though I thought it was imminently skippable. It stars Constance Ford as Connie--a truly horrible person. She married into a wealthy family but is about as family-oriented as a female black widow! Now that the rich uncle died, she is waiting to pounce on the money and has plans for it. However, the guy did not leave a will and so all the money will go to his sister---her mother-in-law. Connie is determined she WILL get at least some of the money...or else.

This show was mildly entertaining--mostly because Ford really chewed up the scenery with her VERY flamboyant performance. However, it sure wasn't subtle and left me wondering where the 'thrilling' part of "Thriller" was.