- A married businessman keeps his naive young mistress in an apartment, assuring her with costly gifts that he will marry her as soon as he can secure a divorce from his harpy wife. The young woman's mother is not so easily persuaded.
- A mother who's distraught about her daughter's affair with a married businessman confronts the man in his office. He's been trying to assure them for a year that he's working on gaining his freedom from his wife so he can marry the young daughter. The middle-aged executive won't waver from his story, but can't persuade the indignant, self-righteous mother to stop interfering.—David Stevens / edited by Hans Delbruck
- Alfred Hitchcock is sitting at a large heavy desk and reading his fan mail. The first letter is from a 60 year-old man with a 22 year-old wife and they have a handsome 25 year-old male border living with them. One morning he finds ground glass in the sugar and writes to find out if this is unusual -- signed Anxious. Hitchcock replies it is unusual, but not to worry because his wife is young and will discover arsenic is customary for this situation. He starts to read the next letter out loud from the sponsor complaining about his "snide and impertinent" remarks towards their commercials and this letter is to 'warn' him... and then he starts to read to himself. We understand it is a legal letter and not fan mail. He leads into the commercial saying this is the part of the program where the sponsor has been waiting for and he is too "prudent" to describe it.
The Morning After story was written by Henry Slesar who was an American author, playwright and copywriter who also wrote under pseudonyms O.H. Leslie and Jay Street. He was known for his use of irony and twist endings. TV Guide called him "the writer with the largest audience in America" because he wrote hundreds of scripts for television series and soap operas. He also published hundreds of short stories, including detective stories, science fiction, criminal stories, mysteries and thrillers which appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (which this show is one) and Playboy. Slesar was honored with the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1960 for his first novel, The Gray Flannel Shroud (1958). His stories have been used many times on AHP.
A mother (Jeanette Nolan) is expecting her daughter, Sharon Trotter (Dorothy Provine) over for dinner. She is dropped off by her fiance, Ben Nelson (Robert Alda), in a fancy convertible. He is sorely disappointed because it was difficult to find time off to meet her. He wants her to break the dinner date, so they could spend time together. She tells him she can't do that and they argue a bit, but she's sorry she can't because her mother so much looks forward to their dates. She tells him that she loves him. Sharon Trotter is a young, very pretty blonde who dresses fashionably in new clothes. In contrast, Mrs. Trotter dresses conservatively in well used clothes and appears straight-laced. They end up talking about Ben, but Mrs. Trotter clams up when they do. Ben is the top executive of a plastics company with money and he's been luring Sharon with fancy gifts. She's dressed fashionably because of Ben. She says she does not approve of Sharon dating a "married" man. Sharon tells her mother that he's going to get a divorce. Her mother states emphatically that he's been saying that for over a year. Sharon is seeking her mother's approval, but is getting negative feedback instead. Mrs. Trotter mentions Steve, another beau, but Sharon says she didn't want to end up slaving at home like her mother and Papa. Mrs. Trotter doesn't think it's old-fashioned for a wife to have a home of her own. Sharon has a place of her own, but Ben is paying for it. Sharon thinks a person has to take their happiness wherever they can find it. Her mother replies did her daughter ever think about taking Ben's wife's happiness away from her? Sharon states that Ben's wife is not in love with him like she is and only hanging on to him because of sheer spite. However, Sharon has never met the wife except stories from Ben. They both discuss how Ben's money, business and property is in her name and wonder. Sharon is a bit naive, but she can't see past the gifts, money and power Ben the executive has and the comfortable life which he can provide. Why is Mrs. Trotter so concerned? It's about a mother's love for her daughter and she's going to get to the bottom of what they discussed. Sharon gets heated from their discussion of Ben's wife and she blurts out that she's going to get what's coming to her. Mom explains that two wrongs don't make a right like her Ben being married and having an affair with another woman and doesn't like the trouble he has brought into her daughter's life.
The following scenes gets to the heart of the story about Mrs. Trotter's love for Sharon. She goes to see Ben at his office Ben Nelson Plastics. It's quite a daring move to get involved in her daughter's personal affairs this way. We see Nelson in his executive office transcribing a letter and he is taken aback once notified that a Mrs. Trotter is calling. He realizes it is the mother of his mistress Sharon and asks what does she want. She says, "It's personal." He tells his secretary to let her in, but that he'll need a moment. He needs a moment to comport himself as he has to keep his affair with Sharon under wraps. When Ben meets Mrs. Trotter, the first words out of his mouth are a lie, "This is a very pleasant surprise." Ben is a rich and powerful man with a spacious penthouse office and view. He uses his bravado to mask the awkwardness of having his mistress' mother in his office which doesn't happen every day. What's funny is he catches himself saying, "It's a very pleasant surprise" again. He ends up saying, "It's about time we got around to meeting." Sure. It's only a year later to meet your supposed fiance's mother for the first time. He admits to making mistakes and that the "man upstairs" understands that. Speaking of which, Mrs. Nelson is there to tell him that the affair that he is carrying on is wrong. Ben is resourceful in protecting his own self interests and turns the tables around on Mrs. Nelson by asking her if Sharon knows she came to visit him? That would ruin the trust between them and he reassures Mrs. Trotter that "Sharon will never know about this." They both part trying to made do with a very trying situation for each.
In the next scene, we see Ben hurrying to visit Sharon at her luxurious apartment that Ben has furnished for her. It is a stark contrast to her mother's apartment. The first thing he tells her is her mother came to see him. We get to know first-hand how Ben is so "truthful" with his words and behavior. He tells Sharon that he doesn't want her meddling in their (his) affairs. Sharon is surprised, but defends her mother to Ben and takes it upon herself to confront Ben that he has left Sharon in a vulnerable position as she would be left with nothing if he decided to up and leave her for someone else if not his wife. The audience knows that these are things that Sharon and her mother discussed, and the reason why Mrs. Trotter went to see Ben. Ben continues with his lie that they are going to get married as soon as he can work it out, but Sharon tells him that he's been saying that for a year, that his wife won't let him go and that she isn't sure if Ben wants it. Ben replies he would have walked out a year ago, but that he wants things for both of them like this and he presents her with a diamond bracelet. She's impressed and things are back to where they were again. He repeats the lie that he doesn't want to let his wife take everything that's his when it's actually his wife's. Sharon says that she rather have a gold wedding band than what he's given her, so Ben ends up asking her to a trip to Europe that he's going to for business. What an operator! However, Sharon knows that mother wouldn't approve and tells Ben that it would be a slap in her face that she didn't care about how her mother felt. Ben turns it around that Sharon has to control her mother and keep their affair secret from his secretary and his office or else it would get back to his wife pronto and it would ruin their "relationship." Sharon says she thought his wife already knew and Ben has to cover his rear end. He says that she knows, but she doesn't know that it is Sharon. He says that he protected her, so she doesn't have to be dragged into court (and weaken his defense in divorce court). Ben emphasizes that her talking to his secretary or someone and it could get back to his wife. Sharon is sorry for her mother's behavior and says that her mother won't talk to her friend or anyone. She says that "It won't happen again." This serves Ben's purpose in visiting Sharon. They end up kissing and making love.
What's really bold is the next scene where Mrs. Trotter takes it upon herself to visit Mrs. Nelson (Fay Wray) at home. The Nelsons live in a large, expensive house. After some hemming and hawing from Mrs. Trotter as she thinks Mrs. Nelson already knows about the affair and divorce, she finally blurts out that she's trying to save her daughter. However, we discover that Mrs. Nelson knows nothing. She is a refined, polite woman but we can see her anger bubbling below the surface. She knew nothing about Sharon and and her husband's affair. Holy guacamole! Mrs. Nelson is shocked and Mrs. Trotter is incredulous in realizing that Mrs. Nelson didn't know and starts crying big time. She is the one who told Sharon to think about Mrs. Nelson's feelings. I'm reminded of Sir Walter Scott's quote, ""Oh! What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." We realize this is all due to Ben's lies to Sharon, Mrs. Trotter and now Mrs. Nelson.
Afterward, we see Ben come home late at night after spending time with Sharon. There is a storm raging outside and there is one raging inside Mrs. Nelson. She was not aware of the affair that's been going on for a year and is devastated. She sits in the dark as a bleak figure slumped in a chair waiting to confront her husband Ben. We see Ben from her point of view as she looks upward. Later that night, we see Mrs. Trotter arriving at Sharon's apartment, wet from the rain. She says that she's been walking around thinking what she should do. She confesses to having visited Ben, but cannot confess to visiting Mrs. Nelson as Sharon tells her that she cannot interfere again and that she has to keep quiet. Mrs. Trotter wants to tell what she discovered about Ben, but Sharon interrupts and says that she knows Ben better than her. She tells her that he's a closed subject. Sharon turns and goes get the bath ready for her and tells her mother to get out of her wet clothes. Her mother is about to walk out of the apartment when the phone rings. She whispers hello and it's Ben. Ben tells her that his wife died tonight. He says that he had to get her involved because the police was there to ask him many questions and investigate Mrs. Nelson's death. He tells Mrs. Trotter thinking she's Sharon that she has to say that he was there from 6 o'clock to midnight. Mrs. Trotter says she will. Sharon comes out of the bathroom to tell her that the bath is ready and she sees her mother on the phone. She tells her that it was a call from Ben and that Mrs. Nelson died tonight. The police have been asking questions and Ben had to tell them about his relationship with Sharon. Mrs. Trotter tells Sharon that Ben wants her to say that he wasn't there all evening. Sharon is in shock from the news of Mrs. Nelson's death and Mrs. Trotter hopes she did the right thing as the screen fades to black.
Alfred Hitchcock is back to introduce the commercial as a one minute soap opera about a poor lowly advertising man from rural Madison Avenue win customers for his sponsor and find happiness in the upper income bracket. Afterward, he says that he is a clean desk man and shows the audience his large desk with large drawers so that everything is kept off the desk area and inside the drawers from the waste basket, telephone and his tiny secretary. Written by jasonbourneagain.
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