I love the old live teleplays that were common in the late 1940s and through the 50s. Such TV classics as "Marty" and "Requiem For a Heavyweight" are great entertainment and make you marvel that such exquisite writing, acting and productions were possible live! And, fortunately, Kinescope copies of many of these shows, such as "Playhouse 90", "Kraft Theatre" and "Studio One" are available--at least a few of the programs.
While I have seen many great such live shows on DVD recently, every so often I've also seen some that were only okay...or worse. While "Dark Possession" is not one of the 'or worse' shows, it really fails to score a home run--despite having been written by Gore Vidal and starring Geraldine Fitzgerald. Now there certainly ARE some great story elements and I like the idea of poison pen letters arriving that upset the household--particularly when these anonymous letters say that they KNOW that one of them murdered her husband!! But, despite a neat idea, the actual payoff is exciting but really, really goofy! This is NOT a subtle finale and is also pretty hard to believe. I won't say more about it, as it would spoil the film, but the wild twist is NOT psychologically possible...but cool. So, psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals should probably NOT watch--as they will likely start yelling at the screen when this twist is unveiled! Despite the plot problems, it IS interesting and is not a teleplay you can easily forget. Ms. Fitzgerald chews up the screen with some wild acting and it never bores!
While I have seen many great such live shows on DVD recently, every so often I've also seen some that were only okay...or worse. While "Dark Possession" is not one of the 'or worse' shows, it really fails to score a home run--despite having been written by Gore Vidal and starring Geraldine Fitzgerald. Now there certainly ARE some great story elements and I like the idea of poison pen letters arriving that upset the household--particularly when these anonymous letters say that they KNOW that one of them murdered her husband!! But, despite a neat idea, the actual payoff is exciting but really, really goofy! This is NOT a subtle finale and is also pretty hard to believe. I won't say more about it, as it would spoil the film, but the wild twist is NOT psychologically possible...but cool. So, psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals should probably NOT watch--as they will likely start yelling at the screen when this twist is unveiled! Despite the plot problems, it IS interesting and is not a teleplay you can easily forget. Ms. Fitzgerald chews up the screen with some wild acting and it never bores!
