Two Czechs named Joseph Lanowski! One calls self Joe Lane (Balsam), other is just now immigrating back to usa (Wallach)
This half-hour teleplay begins with Joseph Lanowski (Eli Wallach) arriving in the USA to live from Czechoslovakia. However, he is detained because a person with his exact name is already in the USA and they both claim to be the same person...with the same parents, birth, etcetera. One of them is obviously lying. Is it the man who talks about being in a communist prison camp (Wallach) or the guy who's been in America many years and has Americanized his name to 'Joe Lane' (Martin Balsam). And, with the one who is lying...why? Is he a spy or a Soviet provacator or what?! It's up to the INS agents to determine the truth. Who knows? Perhaps BOTH are Joseph Lanowski.
I noticed one review talked about Wallach overacting, though I think considering what happened in the show, his outburst were realistic. Balsam, as you'd expect, is also very good in the story. And the story is interesting...and really has nothing to do with the more recent debates about immigration. It stands on its own as an unusual and worthwhile TV episode...though I do agree the ending is a bit weak.
This half-hour teleplay begins with Joseph Lanowski (Eli Wallach) arriving in the USA to live from Czechoslovakia. However, he is detained because a person with his exact name is already in the USA and they both claim to be the same person...with the same parents, birth, etcetera. One of them is obviously lying. Is it the man who talks about being in a communist prison camp (Wallach) or the guy who's been in America many years and has Americanized his name to 'Joe Lane' (Martin Balsam). And, with the one who is lying...why? Is he a spy or a Soviet provacator or what?! It's up to the INS agents to determine the truth. Who knows? Perhaps BOTH are Joseph Lanowski.
I noticed one review talked about Wallach overacting, though I think considering what happened in the show, his outburst were realistic. Balsam, as you'd expect, is also very good in the story. And the story is interesting...and really has nothing to do with the more recent debates about immigration. It stands on its own as an unusual and worthwhile TV episode...though I do agree the ending is a bit weak.