Alfred Hitchcock zeigt The Long Silence (1962–1965) watch online HD

I tuned in to catch that fine actress Phyllis Thaxter. Oddly she doesn't have much to do verbally since her character, Nora, is paralyzed because of unscrupulous husband, Rennie. Still, Thaxter's role requires that she express strong emotion through carefully controlled motions, which she does admirably. Anyway, there's some suspense in how Nora will escape her husband's murderous intent since she's confined to a bed. Because she knows he killed her son Robbie, he has to silence her before she possibly regains memory and speech. Her mental cries (voice-over) for help to the nurse and other son add to the suspense as we suffer with her desperate frustration.

Oddly the aristocratic Rennie as the husband is required to be a rather inept criminal. He goes through a number of emotions not usually seen from such a generally aloof performer. All in all, it's a fairly effective woman-in-danger entry. Plus, it's from the pen of that Twilight Zone favorite, Charles Beaumont.

****SPOILERS**** With her son Robbie,Rees Vaughn, on the lamb suspected of embezzling his bank of $200,000.00 he grief stricken mother Mrs. Nora Cory Mason, Phylis Thaxter, fears the worst, in that Robbie won't let himself be taken alive, and suffers a nervous breakdown. It's later that Robbie unexpectedly shows up at the Manson Mansion and confronts his step dad Ralph Manson, Michael Rennie, with the fact of him being the one who embezzled the Cory, his natural father, bank and framed him for it. Attempting to keep Robbie from telling the police, and even worse his wife Nora, Mason accidentally chokes,with an illegal choke hold according to the New York City Police Department regulations, Robbie to death making him now not only an embezzler but murderer as well.

Panic stricken and trying to cover up his crime Manson after hanging the already dead Robbie starts to type up a suicide note with Robbie admitting to embezzling the family bank and killing himself for doing it. That's when Nora, who heard the typing from her bedroom, shows up and finds out what her ungrateful husband, who's been living off her money for years, did and in a state of shock falls down the stirs leaving herself completely paralyzed!

****SPOILERS**** In trying to make sure that she doesn't recover and be able to talk Manson stays by Nora's bedside 24 hours around the clock to make sure that she doesn't open her mouth about what he did. That arouses suspicion by the nurse Jean Dekker, Natalie Trundy,who starts to feel that there something very odd about Manson's overly protective actions for Nora that really has nothing to do with her recovery. As things turn out Manson's insistence to be with Nora every hour of the day and night soon backfires on him. That's when Nora starts to recover her health as well as voice & memory of that tragic evening. With Nurse Dekker now realizing what a creep Mason is she, after being excused by Manson, burst into Nora's bedroom and catches him in the act of trying to suffocate her. Which not only saves Nora's life but has her son George, after Manson clobbered Dekker, come to her rescue and put an end to his crazy charade of being a caring and loving husband.

I don't know why this episode isn't better known. It has an excellent set up, is well-directed and extremely suspenseful. This could have been made into a very good movie. I won't go into details, except to say that it is a woman who has been become completely paralyzed and has lost her memory trying to remember why she is afraid of her husband, and letting others, except her husband, know. Excellent.

Perhaps, because it is part of the lesser-known and lesser-aired hour-long shows, but this has all of the elements of a terrific story and it is a shame this isn't included in the best-of lists that pop up now and again for this show.