Tales of the Unexpected: Heir Presumptuous is set in a small American county where rich businessman George Devon (Robert Snively) refuses to loan one of his nephew's $25,000, upset at his uncles tight ways George's nephew murders him & leaves but is spotted by Mary (Ann Doran) the housekeeper. Mary informs county Sheiriff Milt Singleton (Darren McGavin) of the murder & what she saw, however since George has identical twins (David Cassidy in a dual role) as nephew's she didn't know which one she saw. Both twins profess their innocence & claim to have a water tight alibi & since no-one can tell them apart it looks like they will never know which one did it...
This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 5 from season 6 & originally aired here in the UK during May 1983, directed by Phillip Leacock one has to say that Heir Presumptuous is a reasonable murder mystery with a twist but it could have been so much more. The story by C.B. Gilford was dramatised by Ross Thomas & has the neat concept of two identical twins killing their uncle for the inheritance, although that makes them obvious suspects one has a iron clad alibi & since no-one can tell them apart the truth behind who committed the murder looks like it will never be known & without knowing which one the killer is neither David or Donald will stand trial. Or at least that's their plan which is quite cool but the majority of the episode is spent with Sheriff Singleton as he tries to uncover the truth & in the twist ending he manages to figure out a way to tell them apart & prove which one the killer is. At only twenty five minutes in length this moves along at a decent pace & is an OK mystery but not much is done with the premise which could have been used to make a cracking murder mystery whodunit. The ending is reasonably satisfying I suppose as the Sheriff manages to solve the crime by being even cleverer than the killer but we still don't learn which twin actually did it...
One of the US made episodes Heir Presumptuous is well made although like the other US lensed installments it has a different sort of look & feel to the ones shot in the UK. Popular actor & singer David Cassidy appears in a dual role as both twins via some body doubles & optical effects which let two of him appear on screen at once while veteran actor Darren McGavin appears as the Sheriff.
Heir Presumptuous is a reasonable murder mystery with a decent twist but it isn't anything amazing & the plot had much more potential than is shown here. Worth a watch but not brilliant.
This Tales of the Unexpected story was episode 5 from season 6 & originally aired here in the UK during May 1983, directed by Phillip Leacock one has to say that Heir Presumptuous is a reasonable murder mystery with a twist but it could have been so much more. The story by C.B. Gilford was dramatised by Ross Thomas & has the neat concept of two identical twins killing their uncle for the inheritance, although that makes them obvious suspects one has a iron clad alibi & since no-one can tell them apart the truth behind who committed the murder looks like it will never be known & without knowing which one the killer is neither David or Donald will stand trial. Or at least that's their plan which is quite cool but the majority of the episode is spent with Sheriff Singleton as he tries to uncover the truth & in the twist ending he manages to figure out a way to tell them apart & prove which one the killer is. At only twenty five minutes in length this moves along at a decent pace & is an OK mystery but not much is done with the premise which could have been used to make a cracking murder mystery whodunit. The ending is reasonably satisfying I suppose as the Sheriff manages to solve the crime by being even cleverer than the killer but we still don't learn which twin actually did it...
One of the US made episodes Heir Presumptuous is well made although like the other US lensed installments it has a different sort of look & feel to the ones shot in the UK. Popular actor & singer David Cassidy appears in a dual role as both twins via some body doubles & optical effects which let two of him appear on screen at once while veteran actor Darren McGavin appears as the Sheriff.
Heir Presumptuous is a reasonable murder mystery with a decent twist but it isn't anything amazing & the plot had much more potential than is shown here. Worth a watch but not brilliant.