The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series) The Second Wife (1965) User Reviews

Grim, effective story, perfectly cast

[jadedalex · 9/10 · 22 June 2012]

I've been viewing many of the Hitchcock hour episodes, and 'The Second Wife' stands out as one of the excellent episodes from this rather uneven television series. I admire the restraint of Robert Bloch, who wrote the teleplay. Bloch is usually about as subtle as a train wreck, but he respectfully leaves the original story alone, and adds some of his own touch.

John Anderson presents a very creepy character here. Short on words and stoic in manner, there is an 'Ed Gein' strangeness about him. (At the train station, one of Anderson's acquaintances is seen wearing one of those goofy 'Ed Gein' ear-muffed hats.)

Anderson is a talented actor, and Hitchcock had used him in 'Psycho' as the nosy and talkative car dealer 'California Charley'. He is playing quite the opposite character in 'The Second Wife', but sports the same face--a face that always looks like its up to something.

June Lockhart gives a solid performance as Anderson's lonely bride. In moments, the camera catches her in a pretty light, and then at once it disappears into a plainness.

The atmosphere is dark. As has been commented on by a previous reviewer, there is powerful cinematography presented here, certainly a cut above the usual television fare.

The ending, which I will not detail here, is quite good. A twist ending that rings true. The drama is presented with integrity...there is no feeling that the script or what you have seen previously has lied to you.

Basically, anytime I'm watching a 'Hitchcock', a 'Zone', a 'One Step Beyond', I'm asking myself if there is a 'payoff'. Is the story believable? Do you forget the actors are acting? 'The Second Wife' is an episode I remember from childhood, and, unlike other titles, I appreciate it more now that I'm older.

June Lockhart marries a less than charming, mysterious man.

[darrenpearce111 · 7/10 · 12 August 2017]

Hitchcock takes a dig at contemporary TV in his introduction. There's an allusion to June Lockhart's series ''Lost In Space'' with him accompanied by robots and I love his oblique reference to ''Bewitched'' to show his usual scorn at advertising.

Hitch talks about TV becoming removed from reality, yet the lack of caution taken by the title character (played by June Lockhart) on becoming the second wife in this story is pretty incredible too. All the suspicion starts afterwards The enjoyment is in following the workings of her mind about this extremely saturnine husband who makes coffins.

Light on story but well played by the two principals.

Many Are Chilled But Few Are Frozen.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 2 February 2012]

In this episode, the chief honors have to go to Set Decoration by John McCarthy and Perry Murdock, and to the Art Direction by Alexander Mayer. In this drama, June Lockhart is the new correspondence bride of John Anderson. They've never met before. Anderson is not exactly a warm person and when he takes Lockhart into his working-class house and shows her around, the viewer's heart sinks.

You have rarely seen such a dump. It makes my hovel look like the Vanderbilt House. Anderson's house is cold and damp -- and looks it. The few electric lights only add to the gloom. The furniture is scattered about in an unsightly way, looking like the remnants of some yard sale from 1935. Anderson shows off the kitchen, in which he himself has installed the appliances. The basement is freezing. Lockhart does her best to provide him with a wife -- the previous one died while on a vacation -- but neither the dwelling nor Anderson improve. Anderson seems to have no friends and doesn't attend church. Lockhart: "You don't mind if I go, do you?" Anderson: "Suit yourself." Lacking heat, the pair must wear their coats indoors.

From the women she meets at a quilting bee, Lockhart learns that the first wife went on vacation with Anderson to his home town of Small Boot, Texas, and there died of food poisoning, leaving him the pick up truck and a few other goods.

Inevitably, Anderson insists that he and Lockhart go on a vacation over Christmas to Small Boot, where she'll at least be warm. Well, at the moment, she may be chilled but she's not stupid. She discovers what appears to be a freshly dug grave in the basement. And Anderson lugs home a box that appears to contains a coffin and then lies about it.

She buys a pistol and when Anderson tries to hustle her down into the frozen basement where he has a "surprise" ready for her -- well, she doesn't go gently into that trap.

The two leads are almost perfect for their roles. Lockhart is vaguely middle aged, vaguely pretty, and one can understand the desperation that drove her to this sort of problematic marriage. Anderson is a good actor. He was the pilot in a Twilight Zone episode, the one in which the jet passenger liner hits a strange air stream and gets bumped into the past. He was also the used car salesman in "Psycho." He has the kind of ruggedly lined face that can go either way. Here, he's a fountain of total indifference -- which, in the end, weakens the plot a bit.

Nice job though. It will make you proud of the shack you now occupy. At least it worked for me.

A Marriage Not Made in Heaven

[dougdoepke · 3 June 2015]

The plot line may be spare along with the two-person cast, but the 60-minutes manages real suspense. Poor Martha's (Lockhart) a lonely-hearts bride, while Luke's (Anderson) her gruff, rough-hewn intended. Trouble is Luke apparently doesn't know how to display tenderness toward the needy Martha. He's more fumbling than ardent, which Anderson brings off well. Then too, as reviewer Maxwell points out, his dwelling is one of the ugliest, coldest, most inhospitable hovels in TV annals. Martha tries to make the best of it, but then finds out about the suspicious death of his first wife. But more ominously, why's he's digging in that dank cellar and what's in the coffin-like box; plus, why were his first words to her about her bankbook. In short, Lassie's mom is in big trouble.

Fine acting from both principals, though Lockhart's a bit too attractive to be convincing. And for TV, that unusual double-bed scene makes sense, otherwise we might wonder if the two ever got together. Brisk pacing by director Newman prevents the sparse plot from dragging. Also, there's the thunderous scoring that insists something bad may happen any moment. Anyway, good ironic ending showing there was still life left in that final year.

Suspenseful

[sue58759 · 10/10 · 23 April 2021]

This is a good, suspenseful film. According to one rating, it was mentioned that Martha bought a gun without a gun license, but in the 1950's and early 1960's a license/permit was not needed to purchase one.

A Memorable & Suspenseful Story . . . .

[sundayatdusk-97859 · 10/10 · 31 March 2023]

This is one of the most suspenseful episodes of this series. June Lockhart is a lonely-hearts bride, marrying John Anderson as soon as they meet. (John Anderson was one of my most favorite character actors. He played the pilot in the "Twilight Zone" episode where the plane kept going back in time, so he could not land it.) Her new husband is the gruff type, but they make a marriage that seems to be working.

One day at a meeting with other women in the town, however, she hears rumors about the suspicious way her husband's first wife died. How well did she really know her husband? Why did he want to return to his hometown for a vacation, the very place his first wife died? Was her life possibly in danger and should she do something about that or not? This is an Alfred Hitchcock episode I'll always remember.

She Had a Right to Be Scared

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 2 June 2023]

The problem for the characters is their inherent weaknesses. John Anderson's Luke is a stoic, practical man. He is rather emotionless and seems rather threatening. June Lockhart is a mail order bride who has to know that theirs will be a challenging marriage. She does well, trying to fit in. He is the opposite of romantic, so one wonders where all that will play out. The worst thing that happens to her is associating with the church group. They are stereotypical gossips whose men stereotypically run their lives. They plant the seeds of doubt when they talk about Luke's first wife and how she died. I thought it was entertaining and I felt bad about what happened.

"Life's full of surprises."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 24 January 2023]

You get a genuine sense of foreboding in this episode when upon meeting for the first time, Luke Hunter (John Anderson) asks his never before seen, and soon to be next wife Martha Peters (June Lockhart), to see her bankbook! Wouldn't you have called it quits right there? Setting her reservations aside, the middle-aged couple gets hitched by a local minister, and proceed to set up housekeeping at Luke's bareboned home, sparsely furnished and warmed only with fireplaces since he considers a furnace too expensive to put in. Upon learning that Luke had previously been married for only six months, and that his first wife died of food poisoning on a trip to his hometown in Texas, Martha becomes more and more apprehensive and nervous, fearing that her own marriage will be a short one. Some of her anxiety is fed by the members of her sewing circle who remember first wife Virginia, a group that Luke grumpily refers to as a 'mangy bunch of anteaters'. I tried to form some kind of connection there and wasn't able to, though it did sound rather creative.

You can probably see the episode's twist coming about mid-way through, and when Martha goes to a local supply store to buy a gun, that pretty much clinches it. But the real twist comes after she shoots Luke attempting to lure her into the basement, where she already saw a grave sized hole dug into the dirt, and a coffin delivered home when her husband returned from work. You have to feel sorry for Martha at that point, knowing she blundered big time, and that Luke Hunter, for all of his gruff demeanor, actually did something nice for his new bride.

June Lockhart is probably the first actress I've ever seen that I can recall by name, having appeared as the mom, Ruth Martin in the 'Lassie' series of the late 1950's/early 60's, a television staple in my family's home. Now get this - her first screen work was as a young child in the 1938 version of "A Christmas Carol", (it helped that her real mom and dad were principals in the film), and she's still active in the industry today as I write this! For his part, John Anderson appeared in just about every TV Western ever made, and besides his role here, he also showed up in a single episode of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'.

Unsuspenseful

[darbski · 6/10 · 25 November 2017]

****SPOILERS**** I MEAN IT !! If you haven't seen this episode, do not read any further.

It won't work. No Heat? Really? I don't think so. Even if it's only for a small part of the year, People who build dwellings are gonna have some kinda heat. Like, oh, I don't know... maybe a fireplace? What about a kitchen stove (how did she cook, otherwise?), a Pot Bellied Franklin stove in the front room? Come on!! But, let's just say all those options are for some reason off the table. He's gonna give her a new furnace; what a great guy!!! A paragon of integrity, after all.

Just a couple of small things, then... What's he using for fuel? Wood? (see fireplace), nope. What about gas? Okay, all you have to do is have the local natural gas company dig up your yard, get out to the main line; you know, like under the street, too, and then run it inside to your appliance (a shiny, new gas furnace). Now, that's no problem, except HOW are you gonna keep what you're doing secret? What about Propane? Good idea, except where are you gonna put the tank? Supposed to be a surprise, remember? You also have to run the supply line inside to your appliance. Fuel oil? Good idea, AND they used to put some of the tanks inside (to keep the fuel itself warmer than the outside temperature); of course, THEN you have to knock a nice, big hole in the wall (foundation), of the basement area, so, again, secrecy is out the proverbial window. Electric? NOW you're cookin with gas (so to speak); THAT could be done, and if you played it right, she would be surprised, for sure. Did they have electricity in their dump to begin with? Yeah. I though so. See, none of these things make any sense, possibility-wise. How about dragging a large box down to the basement by himself? Oh really? and he's gonna be able to get all these things done by himself? Yeah, right.

Now, let's just say he could do the fuel oil idea. What's the hole for? NOT the oil tank. Because these small systems work on a gravity/pressure supply. The tank can NOT be lower than the burner, unless there is a supply pump in the loop. Electricity, remember? Besides which, even rural supply companies have state, county and professional standards that would not allow the set up in question. Something else is the fact that you're gonna want a very stable pad to set the heating unit in place. It can't rock. or move around; and must be level. Most use concrete. A lot of work, and next to impossible to keep secret. also, what about a thermostat? If he can do all these things, Why are they living in a dump with no heat to begin with? I hate to be a killjoy, but this one's a dead turkey. The premise is not feasible.

Predictable

[snafu22q · 7/10 · 25 April 2022]

While all of the components of a good episode (competent acting, script, direction, etc) are present, the conclusion was apparent halfway through the show-not due to anything in particular, but simply because that's the way an Alfred Hitchcock production *would* end. Maybe a decade earlier the ending would have been a surprise, but by 1965, it's simply what would be expected.

Running on empty?

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 30 June 2021]

Generally, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" were very good shows. But like any anthology series, there were some great episodes as well as quite a few stinkers. However, by season three of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", the show was having more and more stinkers....episodes that I can only assume were rejected for earlier seasons and were used only when they'd run out of ideas. By the time "The Second Wife" debuted, there had been too many poor episodes...and this particular episode isn't very good either.

When the story begins, Martha (June Lockhart) has arrived in town to marry Luke (John Anderson)...a man she's never met. It seems her marriage was arranged by some matchmaking agency and instead of getting to know each other a bit, they head straight to the preacher to get married. Soon after, when Martha sees Luke's home and behaviors, she starts to have doubts about this marriage...especially when she begins to wonder what happened to Luke's first wife.

The episode has a strong sense of foreboding....without much discernable reason for this. Considering it's an hour-long show, I wish the writer had built up the suspense more logically instead of just relying on music and pained looks on Lockhart's face. And, since it was an hour, there were LOTS of pained looks and foreboding music!

So is it any good or is it yet another season three dud? Well, it's no dud...but it also isn't all that logical. I think that the ending COULD have worked much better had Martha seen more reasons to fear her new husband.

A futile attempt to imitate 'The Two Mrs. Carrolls'

[binapiraeus · 4/10 · 12 August 2014]

I regret to say that this is one of the episodes of "The Hitchcock Hour" that really makes you wonder whether Hitch was losing his grip... Of course, it's not easy to provide the TV audience with a thriller every week, and so it's only logical that not ALL of them can be great. But this one can actually only be described as a pretty weak effort to imitate great classic Noirs like "The Two Mrs. Carrolls", or to a lesser extent, "Conflict"...

The well-known story of an initially unsuspecting new wife (she'd got to know her husband through a marriage institute, and only gets to see him the first time the day he picks her up in her new 'hometown', and they go straight to the justice of the peace to get married). His home doesn't please her at all, it's a cold, dark shack poorly furnished (the only thing that provides something of an eerie atmosphere); and what's worse, she soon finds out from the gossip of the local women that her new husband has been married before - and his wife had died after only six months of marriage from a strange food poisoning... And so, as she perceives everything he's planning to do with her as well, she becomes alert and buys a gun (without a gun license??), so that he won't be able to take her by surprise...

Now, I hate to write negative comments about movies or TV episodes - but in this case, I really can only say that even after half of the running time, I was already waiting for the end... Not out of curiosity, although I WAS hoping for one of Hitch's typical sudden plot twists (which never occurred), but because I was simply bored - and except for that, those housewives of the 60s, as they are portrayed here, must have been even worse than those of the 50s! No wonder that the 'generation of '68' rebelled against their parents...

You can certainly find a LOT of great, suspensive, chilling episodes in "The Hitchcock Hour" - but THIS one IMHO ISN'T one of them.