Suspense - The Clock and the Rope

In "The Clock and the Rope," a man makes a date, gets in a fight with his date's ex, and winds up being convicted of murder.

As the episode opens, Henry Gilford describes how his problems began, why it is that he doesn't like to be indoors, why he hates clocks... 

It had all started when he made a date with a girl who frequented the gas station where he worked. They had agreed to meet late the following evening, but she drove off before Henry could get her name.

When Henry arrived to meet his date the next night, her angry ex was there also, and a fight was already in progress. Henry had to knock the man out to protect himself and Henry's date told him to leave before her ex woke up. He did, and two hours later, the cops picked him up on suspicion of murder. Unfortunately for Henry, the girl disappeared, and the police didn't  believe his story.

Now Henry has been convicted of murder, and the only thing that can save him is the girl. Will she reappear, or will he hang?

"The Clock and the Rope" was written by Louis Pollack and produced/directed by William Spier. Jackie Cooper starred as Henry Gilford. Also appearing were Cathy Lewis, Wally Maher, Junius Matthews, John McIntire, Paul McVey, Joseph Kearns, Lester Jay, Elliott Lewis, and Jack Kruschen. This episode aired on December 5, 1947.

. Download Suspense_1947.12.05_Clock And The Rope

(Image from Stock.xchng)

Comments

[Grigs]

Well, this episode lived up to the name "Suspense". I really enjoyed Jackie Cooper's performance.

My personal belief that a guy should never date ladies that he doesn't know was also reinforced! LOL

[cmillinsf]

I agree with you on both counts-- Jackie Cooper was great in this episode, and it is better to know someone before you date them! The Clock and the Rope isn't one of Suspense's blatant cautionary tales, but it does make some effective points.

[Eyedunno]

I have mixed feelings about this one. It's kind of a good thing that they didn't go for the obvious (for Suspense) thing of having the woman just taking advantage of him to kill the man, get his money, and run. But on the other hand, the solution they went with strained credibility more because she was the murdered man's wife. Even in the '40s, they had no way to determine that the man was married? And from that point, you'd think the wife, as next of kin, would be the first person they'd try to find and contact!

I liked the added bit of suspense with the warden though.