COMFORT FOR THE GRAVE is a 1958 episode of the anthology series, SUSPICION. This series ran for 42 episodes between 1957 and 1959. This episode stars real life married couple, Paul Douglas and Jan Sterling.
Mobster James Gavin is sitting in his nightclub talking on the phone. Gavin, visibly upset, slams the phone down and storms out to his car. As he reaches for the car door the barrel of a shotgun appears out of the shadows. Two rounds are pumped into Gavin and the gun is then tossed at his feet.
Several weeks later, Gavin's brother, Paul Douglas hits town. He visits his brother's widow, Jan Sterling. He questions her on who would have wanted Gavin dead. "It was the life he led'. Sterling tells him.
Anthony Caruso now puts in an appearance. Caruso is a cousin of Douglas and Gavin. He is also now the boss since Gavin bought it. He takes Douglas on a tour of the club, including the back-room were the "numbers racket" end of the business is ran.
Douglas tells Caruso he is here for " Vendetta'. "I swear I will kill my brother's killer!" Douglas growls. "I start tomorrow".
Caruso drops Douglas back at Sterling's for the night. Not being able to sleep he rummages through Gavin's desk. He finds a small notebook of figures. He smiles as he recognizes the figures as a code he and his brother had used as children.
The book turns out to be a ledger of cash paid out by Gavin. The next day, Douglas starts to visit everyone in the book. First it is Lisa Pons, an ex hatcheck girl from the club.
Douglas figures it is Gavin's bit on the side. He finds out that Pons was just someone his brother was helping get away from the life.
He then pays Police Detective Herbert Rudley a visit. The ledger mentions several thousand dollars being given to Rudley and Douglas figures he is a bent cop. Turns out that the money was to help out Rudley with hospital bills for his wife. No strings attached Rudley tells Douglas. "Your brother was a crook, but he was also a good man. I'm doing my best to find his killer". Douglas bows his head and heads back to the club.
At the club Caruso tells him that he believes another mobster, Lyle Talbot, could be to blame for Gavin's death. Douglas asks for Talbot's address and stomps out.
Next thing we see is a bloodied and unconscious Douglas lying on a table. Needless to say, Douglas's attempt to bull his way into Talbot's place did not go well. As his head clears, he is given a grilling by Talbot and his boys. Talbot tells him he was in the middle of buying Gavin out. He had no reason to bump him off.
Douglas again returns to the club and grabs up Caruso. "I figured it out! ' Douglas screams as he lays into Caruso with his fists. "You sent me to Talbot's to get killed because you killed my brother!" Caruso swears between punches it was not him.
Douglas drops him to the floor and heads back to Sterling's house. Caruso grabs the phone and calls her. "He is coming your way." "I thought you said Talbot would kill him!" Sterling responds.
We now find out Caruso and Sterling had been stepping out together behind her husband's back. We also find out it was Sterling who had been hiding in the shadows with the shotgun. She was tired of sneaking around and decided to take care of the problem herself.
However, she had not taken into account her dear brother in-law Douglas and his Vendetta! Sterling implores Caruso to come over and take care of Douglas. Caruso laughs and says, "You killed Gavin on your own, so you can take care of this, I'm leaving town." Sterling pockets a small automatic and goes downstairs to wait for Douglas. When he shows, she offers him cash to leave. "Just leave and forget about Gavin." She offers five grand, ten grand, twenty- five grand to go.
"Money! Why are you offering money!" It finally dawns on Douglas who his brother's killer is. He grabs Sterling by the neck and starts to throttle her. After a few seconds Douglas stops and releases Sterling. "I can't do it. I am no killer." Douglas turns from Sterling and heads for the door. Our girl Jan pulls the automatic and calmly shoots Douglas in the back. Douglas staggers outside and collapses.
Police detective Rudley, who has been following Douglas on his rounds about town, rushes up. Douglas points inside and says Sterling killed his brother. Rudley and his partner enter the house to put the grab on Sterling.
Not a bad little bit of television in my humble opinion. The feature has a 51 minute runtime.
No need to list our married couple's noir resume as we all know it.
The other cast members include Herschel Bernardi, Frank Allacca and Tommie Moore.
The director was television vet, Jules Bricken. The story and teleplay was by Halsey Melone and Richard Deming.
The d of p was three time nominated, and one time Oscar winner, Lionel Lindon. His work included, THE BLUE DAHLIA, QUICKSAND, ALIAS NICK BEAL, WITHOUT HONOR, THE TURNING POINT, THE BIG CAPER, HELL'S ISLAND and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.
Mobster James Gavin is sitting in his nightclub talking on the phone. Gavin, visibly upset, slams the phone down and storms out to his car. As he reaches for the car door the barrel of a shotgun appears out of the shadows. Two rounds are pumped into Gavin and the gun is then tossed at his feet.
Several weeks later, Gavin's brother, Paul Douglas hits town. He visits his brother's widow, Jan Sterling. He questions her on who would have wanted Gavin dead. "It was the life he led'. Sterling tells him.
Anthony Caruso now puts in an appearance. Caruso is a cousin of Douglas and Gavin. He is also now the boss since Gavin bought it. He takes Douglas on a tour of the club, including the back-room were the "numbers racket" end of the business is ran.
Douglas tells Caruso he is here for " Vendetta'. "I swear I will kill my brother's killer!" Douglas growls. "I start tomorrow".
Caruso drops Douglas back at Sterling's for the night. Not being able to sleep he rummages through Gavin's desk. He finds a small notebook of figures. He smiles as he recognizes the figures as a code he and his brother had used as children.
The book turns out to be a ledger of cash paid out by Gavin. The next day, Douglas starts to visit everyone in the book. First it is Lisa Pons, an ex hatcheck girl from the club.
Douglas figures it is Gavin's bit on the side. He finds out that Pons was just someone his brother was helping get away from the life.
He then pays Police Detective Herbert Rudley a visit. The ledger mentions several thousand dollars being given to Rudley and Douglas figures he is a bent cop. Turns out that the money was to help out Rudley with hospital bills for his wife. No strings attached Rudley tells Douglas. "Your brother was a crook, but he was also a good man. I'm doing my best to find his killer". Douglas bows his head and heads back to the club.
At the club Caruso tells him that he believes another mobster, Lyle Talbot, could be to blame for Gavin's death. Douglas asks for Talbot's address and stomps out.
Next thing we see is a bloodied and unconscious Douglas lying on a table. Needless to say, Douglas's attempt to bull his way into Talbot's place did not go well. As his head clears, he is given a grilling by Talbot and his boys. Talbot tells him he was in the middle of buying Gavin out. He had no reason to bump him off.
Douglas again returns to the club and grabs up Caruso. "I figured it out! ' Douglas screams as he lays into Caruso with his fists. "You sent me to Talbot's to get killed because you killed my brother!" Caruso swears between punches it was not him.
Douglas drops him to the floor and heads back to Sterling's house. Caruso grabs the phone and calls her. "He is coming your way." "I thought you said Talbot would kill him!" Sterling responds.
We now find out Caruso and Sterling had been stepping out together behind her husband's back. We also find out it was Sterling who had been hiding in the shadows with the shotgun. She was tired of sneaking around and decided to take care of the problem herself.
However, she had not taken into account her dear brother in-law Douglas and his Vendetta! Sterling implores Caruso to come over and take care of Douglas. Caruso laughs and says, "You killed Gavin on your own, so you can take care of this, I'm leaving town." Sterling pockets a small automatic and goes downstairs to wait for Douglas. When he shows, she offers him cash to leave. "Just leave and forget about Gavin." She offers five grand, ten grand, twenty- five grand to go.
"Money! Why are you offering money!" It finally dawns on Douglas who his brother's killer is. He grabs Sterling by the neck and starts to throttle her. After a few seconds Douglas stops and releases Sterling. "I can't do it. I am no killer." Douglas turns from Sterling and heads for the door. Our girl Jan pulls the automatic and calmly shoots Douglas in the back. Douglas staggers outside and collapses.
Police detective Rudley, who has been following Douglas on his rounds about town, rushes up. Douglas points inside and says Sterling killed his brother. Rudley and his partner enter the house to put the grab on Sterling.
Not a bad little bit of television in my humble opinion. The feature has a 51 minute runtime.
No need to list our married couple's noir resume as we all know it.
The other cast members include Herschel Bernardi, Frank Allacca and Tommie Moore.
The director was television vet, Jules Bricken. The story and teleplay was by Halsey Melone and Richard Deming.
The d of p was three time nominated, and one time Oscar winner, Lionel Lindon. His work included, THE BLUE DAHLIA, QUICKSAND, ALIAS NICK BEAL, WITHOUT HONOR, THE TURNING POINT, THE BIG CAPER, HELL'S ISLAND and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.
