User Reviews

Amidst a trio of elderly cousins with ill intent, the young Priscilla (Gina Gillespie) fondly reminisces with her favorite companion and guardian Mr. George. She's been left an estate of a half million dollars by George Craig's fiancée, another relative who's passed away, and if the cousins have their way Miss Priscilla might have an unfortunate accident, thereby passing the inheritance to the remaining relatives. However the disembodied voice of Mr. George keeps Priscilla safe by guiding her actions and steering her away from harm each time a threat presents itself.

I have to say, each of the conniving characters met their end rather creatively, if not quite believably, having suffered not much more than a good bump on the noggin. Except for Miss Edna (Virginia Gregg), who found herself on the wrong end of the staircase when her trip-wire was guided by unseen hands. As with many a Twilight Zone episode, this Thriller offers a satisfying conclusion to the viewer if you don't start wondering about some of the possible ramifications. Such as, how is it that three people have died in the span of a few days under mysterious circumstances? I guess you're not supposed to think about those things with a story like this, because the villains of the piece got exactly what was coming to them. Had Mr. George still been around for real, he might have been charged for being off his rocker.

This is a nicely crafted ghost story although there is nothing very intellectual about it. The plot is predictable and the joy comes in watching it play out. A little girl is living with her cousins who think that her dead mother will leave them a bunch of money upon her death. It turns out that little Priscilla is the sole beneficiary. Still, if anything happens to her, they become the heirs. They are an interesting trio. One is an elderly woman who acts like a little girl, running around with a mechanical bird in a cage. The male is sorry character, afraid of his own shadow. He starts out having some redeeming qualities, but sinks into the same lust for money as the others. Then there's the evil female cousin who sets out to bring about the death of the little girl. The kicker is that a man who loved her mother but never married her haunts the house. He makes contact with Priscilla, to the chagrin of the other participants. He warns the little one when she is in danger and takes an active role in exacting vengeance on the potential murderers. It's simply fun watching it all happen. There is a really nice musical score. If one thinks too much, it would be hard to imagine their scheme having a chance, even if they succeeded in killing the girl. They are such obvious suspects. Fun episode.

There's a lot of irony in this fun episode that shows the future young Blanche Hudson (Gina Gillespie) with a Baby Jane Iike doll that all of a sudden seems to have a male voice coming out of it to protect her from greedy self proclaimed guardians who obviously want to kill her. It's the two women (Lucille Bronson and Virginia Gregg) who begin the plot, with their brother Howard Freeman reluctantly join in. One by one, the ghostly voice (veteran actor Les Tremaine) orders Gillespie to get out of sight as he deals with each of them one by one in very humorous ways. When ghostly George's sister (Joan Hopkins) shows up, it's time for a showdown, and guess who wins.

The three distant relatives of Gillespie's are deliciously vile, so each payback is quite amusing. One seemingly loses their head, and another gets the big boink, with the third (and most despicable) finding that their stairway doesn't build itself for her to go to paradise. This reminds me of gothic thrillers like "Double Door", "Three Weird Sisters" and "The Chalk Garden", and after a slow start, picks up the pace (thanks to returning director Ida Lupino) to become quite delightful.