User Reviews

This is an episode from "Screen Directors Playhouse"--an anthology series that featured an incredible lineup of actors and directors--often some of the best talent Hollywood had to offer.

"Marhkeim" was adapted from a story by Robert Louis Stevenson and stars Ray Milland. Interestingly, in addition to starring in the film, he narrates the beginning of the film--setting the context and explaining a bit about the story.

This is a very weird story. Markheim enters a shop to supposedly buy a gift for his fiancé, but, quite unexpectedly, he suddenly stabs to death the shopkeeper! Apparently he planned to steal some supposed hoard of money in the shop to help all of his financial problems vanish. However, after looking a bit, a stranger (Rod Steiger) enters and Markheim soon realizes it's the Devil or one of his agents. Steiger offers to help him find the money and escape, but Markheim hypocritically states he's not a bad person--even though the body of his victim is in the next room. Where this all goes next, you'll just have to see for yourself.

Overall, this is one of the better episodes I have seen--mostly due to the acting. Milland and Steiger are exceptional. The plot, too, is nice--very original. My only reservation, and it's a minor one, is that I might have ended it a bit differently. Still, it's well worth seeing.

Screen Directors Playhouse: Markheim (1955)

*** (out of 4)

Based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson, Ray Milland plays Markheim, a man suffering from poverty who decides to kill a local shopkeeper and rob him. After the murder and while searching for the money, a mysterious man (Rod Steiger) appears on the scene offering to help Markheim but there might be a price to pay. As the two men talk Markheim is guaranteed freedom for the crime but soon it becomes clear that the mysterious man is the Devil himself. At the start of the film we get Milland doing a brief narration where he discusses this story and mentions that it was written years before Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but the two share a lot of things in common. You can easily see the influences this story probably had on the later story by Stevenson as there's a nice discussion about what a murderer looks like as the shopkeeper allows Milland to enter his store simply because he looks respectable. This was an extremely well-made film that features a pretty darn good story, great performances and some tight direction by Zinnemann. The story itself asks some interesting questions about reason to commit murder, what to do to get away with it and if someone can live a normal life after they've killed someone. Milland's performance is right on the mark and what makes it work is that the screenplay asks so many questions and it's clear that Milland makes the character think them over. It's always hard to get into an actors mind but a great performance can allow this and Milland does just that. Steiger's role isn't nearly as flashy but I really enjoyed the way he played the evil one because he does it in such a peaceful, laid back way that you start to realize that the temptations the actor is bringing and the way he's playing the part is the same way that many actors played Jesus. The cinematography is top-notch, the score nice but I would say the ending is a tad bit of a letdown.

This is a thinking person's entry, spoken in highly literate English and dealing with a complex subject—good and evil warring within the human psyche. Whether viewers respond favorably depends, I guess, on how well a person responds to challenging material, especially on a medium not known for deeper content. Actually, the episode reminds me of those early days when TV was trying to establish serious credentials above those of I Love Lucy. That was the so- called golden age of TV, of Playhouse 90, Hallmark Hall of Fame, et al., when serious live drama was an integral part of prime time viewing.

This literate 30-minutes fits in perfectly, almost like a well-appointed stage play, but with a lot of noirish atmosphere. I'm curious, however, whether the TV ending matches that of the Stevenson short story since the TV version appears to end on a philosophically reassuring note. Anyway, in my little book, it's an entry well worth watching, if for no other reason than to catch Rod Steiger at an early stage of his exotic career.