Unfortunately, the IMDb summary gives away the whole plot for this gripping episode. An elderly cabinet maker (Dekker) married to a shrewish wife (Van Fleet) ha amassed a decent savings and intends to leave it to his loving niece, who lives with the couple and works for them. The wife decides to do in her husband for the money and blame his death on a young worker (Mineo). Great cast, especially Van Fleet as the nutty wife and Mineo as the young worker. Leonard Nimoy plays a detective. It's always funny to see Nimoy in a suit when we are so used to seeing him in his pointy ears and Starfleet garb. Van Fleet gets to scream and pop her eyes and do everything but spit as the psychotic wife. Definitely worth a watch. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me this started out as a play. It has that kind of feel to it.
7 Reviews
Dysfunctional family par excellence
cbmd-3735222 December 2022
Husband values creating beautiful furniture, but his wife has always preferred money and position. She uses the deaf mute cousin to spy on the husband. Sal Mineo does a impressive job as the cousin, afraid of both spouses. Only the niece values him as a person. The husband knows the wife will kill him , but his lawyer - a cheerful smiling and bright Leonard Nimoy tells him how to leave his money to his niece without violating communal property laws. There is a terrible amount of yelling, that painful to hear. Jo Van Fleet as the homicidal wife is truly frightening, especially after she finds out how her husband has deprived her of his money.
A uniquely perverse melodrama
lor_25 February 2024
Remarkably strange and original, "The World I Want" was written by Halsted Welles, a forgotten writer and Broadway director who has one classic movie in his resume, the original "3:10 to Yuma" Western suspense film of 1957. He specialized in suspense, even writing dozens of segments of the early '50s live "Suspense" series.
WIth Jo Van Fleet in the lead, this Kraft Suspense Theatre segment falls in the very popular early '60s genre of Gothic horror ignited by Robert Aldrich's hit "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", in which the lead roles would go to great, mature Hollywood leading ladies of yore. Van Fleet gets to emote the extremes of emotion here, way beyond what would be acceptable in "normal" TV series (but perfect for a one-off Anthology slot).
Central character is Fern, wonderfully underplayed by a lovely 20-year-old actress Patricia Hyland (whose TV acting career was unsuccessful), is writing a composition for school titled "The World I Want". Her hope for a world of love without hate contrasts with her actual situation, living in an unhealthy, hermetic environment, cooped up in living quarters part of the aunt & uncle's homemade furntiture business, with Sal Mineo as her only friend, deaf and dumb.
Van Fleet and husband Albert Dekker are from the Old World creating craft furniture, but in a toxic love/hate marriage. They sleep in separate rooms and are both paranoid. Dekker's fears that his wife will murder him (she's a sleepwalker at night in white nightgown, pure Gothic motifs) and he goes to, of all people, a kindly young Leonard Nimoy as the son of his now-deceased lawyer to draw up a will, but instead Nimoy uses legal gimmicks that permit Dekker to leave his entire $62,000 savings to his niece Fern, closing out Jo with only $5.
Mineo gets to emote strictly in pantomime, while both Dekker and Jo are unhinged, contrasting with sensitive Hyland, who also voices-over her hopes in soothing narration. Matters grow increasingly violent and lead to a reductio ad absurdum conclusion to the little play.
This reminded me, seen 60 years after broadcast, of a brilliant arthouse movie from Mexico, Arturo Ripstein's incest drama "The Castle of Purity". I saw it a MoMA in a film series and was impressed with how it built the enclosed world of a family not permitted to leave their home with the taboo subject matter of incest.
Director Silverstein manages to include exploitation movie (circa 1964) level content into the censored world of television, as in Dekker's affection for his underage niece; Van Fleet's technically crazed swings between her romantic memories of unrequited love from her youth to murderous feelings toward hubby; and even a solid fetichism in both adults ritually combing out Hyland's hair "100 strokes each night".
A classic.
WIth Jo Van Fleet in the lead, this Kraft Suspense Theatre segment falls in the very popular early '60s genre of Gothic horror ignited by Robert Aldrich's hit "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", in which the lead roles would go to great, mature Hollywood leading ladies of yore. Van Fleet gets to emote the extremes of emotion here, way beyond what would be acceptable in "normal" TV series (but perfect for a one-off Anthology slot).
Central character is Fern, wonderfully underplayed by a lovely 20-year-old actress Patricia Hyland (whose TV acting career was unsuccessful), is writing a composition for school titled "The World I Want". Her hope for a world of love without hate contrasts with her actual situation, living in an unhealthy, hermetic environment, cooped up in living quarters part of the aunt & uncle's homemade furntiture business, with Sal Mineo as her only friend, deaf and dumb.
Van Fleet and husband Albert Dekker are from the Old World creating craft furniture, but in a toxic love/hate marriage. They sleep in separate rooms and are both paranoid. Dekker's fears that his wife will murder him (she's a sleepwalker at night in white nightgown, pure Gothic motifs) and he goes to, of all people, a kindly young Leonard Nimoy as the son of his now-deceased lawyer to draw up a will, but instead Nimoy uses legal gimmicks that permit Dekker to leave his entire $62,000 savings to his niece Fern, closing out Jo with only $5.
Mineo gets to emote strictly in pantomime, while both Dekker and Jo are unhinged, contrasting with sensitive Hyland, who also voices-over her hopes in soothing narration. Matters grow increasingly violent and lead to a reductio ad absurdum conclusion to the little play.
This reminded me, seen 60 years after broadcast, of a brilliant arthouse movie from Mexico, Arturo Ripstein's incest drama "The Castle of Purity". I saw it a MoMA in a film series and was impressed with how it built the enclosed world of a family not permitted to leave their home with the taboo subject matter of incest.
Director Silverstein manages to include exploitation movie (circa 1964) level content into the censored world of television, as in Dekker's affection for his underage niece; Van Fleet's technically crazed swings between her romantic memories of unrequited love from her youth to murderous feelings toward hubby; and even a solid fetichism in both adults ritually combing out Hyland's hair "100 strokes each night".
A classic.
Unpleasant characters who pleased me
searchanddestroy-121 May 2021
I agree with the other comments who say that the story and some characters are very unpleasant, especially the couple Jo van Fleet and Bert Dekker, arguing together over money. Maybe not disgusting nor disturbing but unpleasant. However, this story is unusual if you compare with the other ones of this series, at least most of them, with predictable tales and foreseeable endings, too smooth and lousy for my taste. This one offers you some sub characters whose performances may be more nteresting than the lead one's. Among the best episode of the whole show.
As MartinHafer said ''very unpleasant''
bellino-angelo201417 August 2018
Yes, it's not one of the best episodes of the show. And thank God it lasted only 45 minutes!
Albert Dekker stars as a old man that makes a will where his wife (Jo Van Fleet) won't inherit anything! Then the story goes on and focuses on this couple. He is agressive but tolerates his niece and his deaf cousin, but meanwhile he hates his wife because she uses the deaf boy to spy on his actions. And sometimes she fights with her husband. In fact, Dekker and Van Fleet are so unlikeable that I only wanted them to stop shrieking and treating each other like garbage. It was only painful to watch. And the ending is very obvious. With the deaf guy (Sal Mineo) that saves the day.
Although it was nice to see Leonard Nimoy as a detective, and a rare chanche to see him not in the Star Wars outfit! However I think it's one of the worst episodes of the show! Sorry
Albert Dekker stars as a old man that makes a will where his wife (Jo Van Fleet) won't inherit anything! Then the story goes on and focuses on this couple. He is agressive but tolerates his niece and his deaf cousin, but meanwhile he hates his wife because she uses the deaf boy to spy on his actions. And sometimes she fights with her husband. In fact, Dekker and Van Fleet are so unlikeable that I only wanted them to stop shrieking and treating each other like garbage. It was only painful to watch. And the ending is very obvious. With the deaf guy (Sal Mineo) that saves the day.
Although it was nice to see Leonard Nimoy as a detective, and a rare chanche to see him not in the Star Wars outfit! However I think it's one of the worst episodes of the show! Sorry
Let's get this straight
blake-3639831 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
First of all, I do agree that this is an awful episode. Dekker and Van Fleet's, performances were over the top. Ask yourself, how did these two ever get together in the first place.
Secondly, Leonard Nimoy did not, I repeat, did not play a detective, he was a lawyer.
Thirdly, the sign language was made up by the girl and the young man and was not an established sign language.
Secondly, Leonard Nimoy did not, I repeat, did not play a detective, he was a lawyer.
Thirdly, the sign language was made up by the girl and the young man and was not an established sign language.
Thoroughly unpleasant.
planktonrules14 October 2015
'deaf and dumb' wants to cut off wife--thinks she's trying to poison him she IS having him followed by deaf guy sign language is crap
Although I am not exactly politically correct, I noticed that the summary of this episode talks about a character who is 'deaf and dumb'. Well, that is an incredibly insensitive description for someone who is deaf and has difficulty speaking!! As for the character (Sal Mineo), when he and the family do sign language, it's all gibberish--and none of it is real sign language.
The show begins with a nasty old man (Albert Dekker) going out to get a will made...one in which his wife gets NOTHING!! The story that follows is about this nasty couple---two incredibly miserable and awful people. He is a grouchy and nasty man who likes his niece and tolerates the deaf cousin living with them--and thoroughly hates his wife and thinks she's trying to poison him. She is very nasty and gets the deaf guy to spy on her husband and horribly manipulates this man. And, the viewer no doubt will find both of them thoroughly detestable. In fact, they are so nasty that I found myself ready to turn off the show several times as these creeps screamed, bellowed and treated each other like dirt. Fun? Certainly not! The ending is dumb and preachy...and predictable. This is a thoroughly unpleasant show, that's for sure! And one that I didn't enjoy in any way! Yecch!
Although I am not exactly politically correct, I noticed that the summary of this episode talks about a character who is 'deaf and dumb'. Well, that is an incredibly insensitive description for someone who is deaf and has difficulty speaking!! As for the character (Sal Mineo), when he and the family do sign language, it's all gibberish--and none of it is real sign language.
The show begins with a nasty old man (Albert Dekker) going out to get a will made...one in which his wife gets NOTHING!! The story that follows is about this nasty couple---two incredibly miserable and awful people. He is a grouchy and nasty man who likes his niece and tolerates the deaf cousin living with them--and thoroughly hates his wife and thinks she's trying to poison him. She is very nasty and gets the deaf guy to spy on her husband and horribly manipulates this man. And, the viewer no doubt will find both of them thoroughly detestable. In fact, they are so nasty that I found myself ready to turn off the show several times as these creeps screamed, bellowed and treated each other like dirt. Fun? Certainly not! The ending is dumb and preachy...and predictable. This is a thoroughly unpleasant show, that's for sure! And one that I didn't enjoy in any way! Yecch!
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