User Reviews

This episode features a classic Alfred Hitchcock Presents plot line: Philandering, handsome business executive husband with a loyal, long-suffering wife at home and a sexy girlfriend on the side. Wife finds out about the girlfriend and demands he stop seeing her; girlfriend wants boyfriend to get a divorce. So the husband is getting pulled in opposite directions.

His answer to both is "just give me some time to work it out," which satisfies no one.

The story takes an ominous turn when the wife has had enough and decides to act. Several plot twists ensue, with a satisfying, although not completely surprising, ending.

This episode opens with the Master of Suspense humorously delivering his opening monologue while trapped in a stockade. It's uncanny how each time out, Hitchcock and his writers come up with something to entertain or amuse before the main event.

I like it when these episodes involve more than a simple twist. The obvious and immediate reaction of the viewer is that the 'other woman' (Georgann Johnson) will wind up dead at the hands of the put upon wife (Louise Platt), but in true Hitchcock fashion, the story proceeds to take out it's revenge on the unfaithful husband (John Baragrey) instead. The guy was so cavalier in his treatment of both women that he couldn't see it coming, but then again, what guy who cheats on his wife expects to get caught?

This story's title reminded me of the 1948 picture "Road House" with Ida Lupino. In it, she's a torch singer involved in a love triangle as well, her signature song being 'One For My Baby', with 'one more for the road'.

When I think of what an Alfred Hitchcock story should be, this one is in my top five episodes. It twists and turns perfectly, so much so it could actually change a person from living this kind of lifestyle. Because at the end of the day, it can not be sustained for long without a tragic end for one or more of the trio. Classic Hitchcock.

This episode is recommended, if only to those avid for plays with characters named Marcia, Beryl and Charles ….

In this quite special, quite apart episode, daddy Hitchcock amused himself, gently, by setting a rehearsal of a scene he directed with full brio more than 15 yrs before ….

Add to this that daddy Hitchcock was our chief toxicologist. (As a medical student, I gave a pretty mediocre exam of toxicology, a pretty messed one, but I cherish this science notwithstanding ….) I leave for a future entry the inquiry as to how many Hitchcock characters get it by poisons …. ONE FOR THE ROAD is a rehearsal of the famous SUSPICION climax, when Grant brings the glass of poisoned milk …. That fatal glass, that deadly milk, those dreaded steps … . Another play of three performers, the actors being John Baragrey, Georgann Johnson and Louise Platt; poor Baragrey is enormously dis-likable, his character behaves like an oily jerk. In Hitchcock's collection of crooked jokes and pranks, this is straight romance.

Charles Hendrix cheats his wife Marcia with his lover Beryl Abbott; both women are rather bland and homely, with Beryl, the blonde, being a bit cuter.

Now Hendrix is a good name for a family; Marcia, for a bland wife, and Beryl—for a blonde, slightly slutty mistress.

The role of the finally betrayed mistress, Beryl Abbott, is interesting; and the blonde babe delivers a nice performance. Perhaps her beauty, and the sharp cinematography, give this episode some nasty romance, make it more touching than usually. A jealous wife, Marcia Hendrix, tries to poison her rival, Beryl, by mixing the sugar with poison; then she finds out that her husband dropped by his mistress sooner than she expected, and so she goes to warn the lovers or check the results. Adultery, deceit and lies are poison. But we like Beryl.

On the pretty intro, daddy Hitchcock plays the captive audience, in an allegorical posture.

Dear pals, this addictive TV series amazes me on and on, it's so sharp and straight likable. I like both its sharp, polished look, and its aspect of laboratory, a toxicology laboratory where daddy Hitchcock could freely experiment and test his poisons.

"You're still seeing her, aren't you?" "Just give me some time to work it out."

Any man pursuing a bit on the side should watch this episode - as an awful warning. Not against the fate suffered by Mr Baragrey here, but against the tired clichés that go with this situation. So many men really want two wives: the adoring good housewife, and the glamorous single girl. (I ADORE her 50s designer kitchenware.) Here they are contrasted: brunette wife versus blonde mistress, and they don't look at all alike. In real life they often do. I've always found that odd. Yes, it's a shame polygamy is illegal.

Performances are as good as the script. Louise Platt (the wife, Marsha) was a stage actress, you can hear it in her deep, throbbing voice that she uses so effectively.

The punishment for adultery is not so harsh these days - I don't think a man would lose his job if he got divorced, or if the story came out. And the wife wouldn't be so afraid of "a scandal" - both threats the man in question here uses to keep his wife quiet. They have no children, so they can't be used as leverage.

But, if you find yourself in this situation, you could always learn the script.