User Reviews

A Jury Of Her Peers is a first rate Hitchcock entry, adapted from a story by Susan Glaspell, it's a murder mystery that gets solved by the efforts of the women townfolk who live not too far from the farm where the widow of a murdered farmer is found, near catatonic, with the body of her husband still upstairs.

The tale itself reveals the working of the minds of a handful of member of a small, isolated rural community of the sort that scarcely exists today in 21st century America. A Jury Of Her Peers is now a period piece, though when first broadcast it must have felt closer to home for many viewers.

In this, the talk is the story. We hear it told, from different perspectives; and the familiarity of the neighbors of the middle aged, childless widow with her and her husband is the key to understanding what likely happened. Fine acting all-round by the mostly female cast, headed by early talkie leading lady and, for a short while, superstar, Ann Harding, aged, yet still radiantly beautiful.

A thinking man's episode has a man visiting his neighbors, an elderly couple living on an isolated farm, only to find the husband dead in bed, apparently strangled, and the wife out of it. This is a tough one to summarize, but what it boils down to is the town sheriff and district attorney visit the farm in the aftermath of the grisly discovery, accompanied by their wives. While the men search high and low for an answer to the farmer's untimely death, the women quietly discover what happened through simple clues. Now, do they tell the men what they've found? For what it is, the plot is pretty gripping and the teleplay -- based on an actual play -- very well acted. Veteran actors Ray Teal and Ann Harding are the stars.

Husband dead in bed...strangled neigbor tries to cover it up...thinks husband deserved it.

When the story begins, a man has been discovered dead....strangled in bed. As for his wife, she's out of it...sitting in her rocker and seeming to have no idea what's happened. Later, investigators arrive, along with their wives. As the men are examining the corpse, one of the wives pieces together clues they find elsewhere in the house...and it appears as if the wife had just had enough...enough of her husband's brutality and cruelty. The question is whether the wives will tell their husbands...or just keep it to themselves since the man seemed to have it coming!

This is an interesting character study and while the twist isn't amazing, the episode is engaging and worth your time. Not brilliant but well done.

This is a clever tale, and if you analyze it closely, there are shades of Lizzie Borden, a fascinating murder story in its self. In this case, veteran actress June Walker plays Millie Wright, saddled with a horrible husband and life --who does something about it. Let's all not forget that the only thing Lizzie Borden ever admitted to was having a cruel step mother and an abusive father. She may have done something about it also.

Millie's husband is accordingly found strangled to death in bed and that's it. She most certainly stands as the prime suspect, but enter some close friends, who know the score. Foremost is Ann Harding (in a terrific later role) who is the genuine star of the story. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Harding, like June Walker, was a long time Hollywood actress.

Incidentally, note how the crime was committed. Millie could have stabbed or shot her husband, but he was strangled with her bare hands, up close and personal. She truly must have hated this brute.

Also adding some flair to the story is Robert Bray as the perplexed sheriff, popular character actor Ray Teal and Frances Reid, a top actress, later to be a soap star on DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

The catch to all this is the men hunt in a far different direction than the women of the house... and watch what happens. Beautifully directed by old pro Robert Florey, the king of so many classic B films. At one time, he was even a publicity man for Rudolph Valentino! Florey directed five episodes for Hitch, and they must have had a lot of laughs together.

Master storyteller James Cavanaugh wrote this classic, and fifteen other episodes for the series. He also was the main writer for SUSPENSE.

A fascinating story of human nature, good and bad.

From SEASON 7 EPISODE 12 remastered.