Category: Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries

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Orson Welles' Great Mysteries

Unseen Alibi

Orson Welles' Great MysteriesInvited to London by a fashion model he only just met, American bachelor Jerry arrives at the appointed place, at the appointed time, opens the door of her apartment, and walks in. He a framed photo of a man, and then stumbles upon the corpse of the man in that photo, dead of a stab wound. In his panic, Jerry accidentally finds the murder weapon nearby, leaving his fingerprints on it. He panics and runs, only to be arrested by police waiting just outside the door of the apartment. Jerry is now the prime suspect in a murder, though he can produce no evidence or witnesses to exonerate himself. What he doesn’t know is that he’s walked innocently into an elaborate crime to be the decoy for the real killers.

Orson Welles' Great Mysteriesteleplay by Kenneth Jupp
based on a story by Bruce Graeme
directed by Mark Cullingham
theme music by John Barry

Cast: Dean Stockwell (Jerry Norton), Joss Ackland (Inspector Hud), Lewis Wilson (Police Sergeant), Raymond Skipp (Police Constable), James Ottaway (Hotel Porter), Gary Myers (Burford), Orson Welles (Narrator)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Orson Welles' Great Mysteries

The Ingenious Reporter

Orson Welles' Great MysteriesHarry Langley, an ambitious American reporter working in Paris, learns of an unsolved murder and hatches a scheme to pose as the murderer to get himself arrested, and to then send his employer “exclusive interviews” with the prime suspect in the case…at least until he is released for a lack of any actual evidence. By hanging out near the scene of the crime, making suspicious comments, Langley attracts police attention soon enough, especially when he throws a suitcase of “incriminating evidence” into the nearby river. His resolve to get the big story cracks when he is told that his Parisian girlfriend was the victim; suddenly, despite his innocence, Langley looks like the guiltiest man in the world.

Orson Welles' Great Mysteriesteleplay by Carey Harrison
based on a story by Pontsevrez
directed by Peter Sasdy
theme music by John Barry

Cast: David Birney (Harry Langley), Geoffrey Bayldon (Magistrate), James Maxwell (Duperrey), Ronald Radd (Leduc), Anthony Ainley (Lafarge), John Cater (Martell), Orson Welles' Great MysteriesJames Mellor (Bucheron), Neil Wilson (Concierge), Peter Madden (Judge), Pam St. Clement (First Woman), Eamonn Boyce (First Man), Mia Nardi (Henriette)

Notes: Fresh from a recent stint as the star of the spy series Spyder’s Web, actor Anthony Ainley appears here in the courtroom scenes. Throughout the 1980s, Ainley would take on the role of the Master in Doctor Who.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Orson Welles' Great Mysteries

For Sale – Silence

Orson Welles' Great MysteriesMr. Pennington and his mistress check into a hotel room for a night, watched at a discrete distance by a man who checks into the room next door with recording equipment. That man, Briggs, contacts Pennington later to extort him; for £10,000, Briggs will sit on the photos and sound recordings of Pennington’s tryst, but if they can’t come to an arrangement, that evidence will come to light and ruin Pennington’s life. But Pennington is a high-level employee of an electronics company and has invented surveillance gear of his own…enough to turn the tables on Mr. Briggs and turn his life upside-down.

Orson Welles' Great Mysteriesteleplay by David Ambrose
based on a story by Don Knowlton
directed by Peter Sykes
theme music by John Barry

Cast: Jaack Cassidy (Pennington), Ed Devereaux (Hamilton Briggs), Rona Newton-John (The Woman), Linda Liles (Hotel Receptionist), Harold Goodwin (Hotel Porter), Margaret Burton (Secretary)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Orson Welles' Great Mysteries

The Furnished Room

Orson Welles' Great MysteriesA man named John, looking for a room to rent in New York City, is also looking for a woman named Louise. He’s sure that the lady from whom he’s rented a room has seen her, though she denies it – New York is, after all, a big city. But everywhere he looks, John is sure he sees evidence of Louise. He’s certain she was there. And not being able to find out what happened to her might be the death of him.

teleplay by David Amrbose
based on the short story by O. Henry
directed by Alan Gibson
theme music by John Barry

Orson Welles' Great MysteriesCast: Clarence Williams III (John Cambridge), Irene Worth (Mrs. Purdy), Sally Travers (Mrs. McCool), Joan-Ann Maynard (Louise)

Notes: Clarence Williams III had just completed his run as Linc Hayes on the popular American series The Mod Squad when he starred in this episode. Among a great many other roles, he would later appear in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (To The Death, 1996).

LogBook entry by Earl Green