As Hitchcock fare, the entry is pretty slender. The screenplay manages some tension as Thaxter's Miss Dent holds her former boss Mr. Blake (Scott) at gunpoint throughout their commuter ride home on the Five-Forty-Eight. She's a troubled, lonely woman quite willing to be seduced by Blake in a well done scene suggestive for 50's TV. The problem is he callously fires her the next day amid all her romantic expectations. Now she's mad as heck and we wonder what form her troubled revenge will take.

The story's adapted from literary writer John Cheever, but comes across as rather talky for a standard Hitchcock entry. The ending manages some irony, but lacks the expected punch. Where the entry succeeds is as a showcase for actress Thatcher who specialized in just such troubled roles. Here, she goes through a gamut of emotions convincingly, such that the episode really depends on her skills to carry it along. She's one of those attractive rather than glamorous actresses who found a successful niche in Hollywood. Scott appears type-cast as the insensitive cad, doing his usual credible job, but without the trademark moustache. Gothic director John Brahm, is, as always, an ace at creating dark atmosphere. Anyway, for fans of Thaxter, myself included, the 30-minutes remains a showcase.

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A mentally unstable secretary finally catches up to her cruel former boss and makes him listen to what she has to say, at gunpoint.

Zachary Scott and Phyllis Thaxter in Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955)

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Alfred Hitchcock in Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955)

Phyllis Thaxter in Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955)

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