"Goodyear Theatre" The Victim (TV Episode 1958) Poster

(TV Series)

(1958)

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He's depressed -dammit!
lor_13 December 2023
Nearly a one-man show, this rather skimpy story for Alcoa/Goodyear theatre benefits from Jack Lemmon as the lead, his so-familiar mannerisms bringing it to life. I only wish there had been more meat on these bones, as suspense director Robert Florey might have made a classic if the story had been more compelling.

It's a tale of paranoia, not given the fantastic treatment of a Rod Serling but a more prosaic telling. Basically, Lemmon is in a deep funk, still unable to cope with life six months after his wife's death. He can't even get up enough energy to take care of his cute daughter (played by Lana Wood disarmingly -her face and smile identical to the so differently ubersexy adult actress she would become 20 years later), who he leaves to her aunt to raise.

Lemmon's paranoia about a couple of men following him around suspiciously is illustrated by us seeing just that happen, and left to wonder if he's merely imagining it. There are not camera, editing or SPFX tricks involved, so the tangible visuals of the 2 guys reappearing is not very interesting.

The resolution of the mystery is disappointing, because it too is tangible, not fanciful at all. A story like this requires more danger and intrigue, and in this version is flat -just watching a guy be depressed.
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2/10
The victim is the viewer.
mark.waltz27 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This TV anthology episode makes very little sense, dealing with a recent widower Jack Lemmon who becomes paranoid as everything around him, putting his nose in where he shouldn't and getting into trouble as a result. That makes this episode convoluted and crazy, where it should have been about how he deals with a caring sister-in-law (Doe Averdon) who has been taking care of his daughter (a young Lana Wood, looking exactly like older sister Natalie did a decade before) while Lemmon struggles to get through the day. Seeing a bunch of shady looking man standing outside his apartment, he becomes paranoid that they are after him for some reason, and ends up in a bizarre plot involving another neighbor with a hit on them. Attempts in making a complex drama fail miserably here, and the results are just eye rolling. Lemmon, already an Oscar winner by then, is decent, but the script is more sour than any lemon that anybody ever tried to make lemonade out of.
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