Melody Lee gets a postcard from an old friend, Julie Cavanaugh, asking for her help; it seems she's frightened about strange things happening at her home, Grey Oaks plantation. Reluctantly, Rex agrees to go with Melody Lee to the plantation. As they're departing, the street artist Beauregard O'Hanlon tells them that Grey Oaks is haunted and urges them to take along his special powder that will ward off ghosts. The plantation was once magnificent but has gone to seed. Mr. Cavanaugh gives them a cool reception and Mrs. Cavanaugh acts a bit strangely and only wants to talk about bringing back the glory days of the plantation; they only briefly see Julie. That evening the electricity goes out in a storm and Melody Lee thinks she sees an apparition. Rex observes that "We are about as welcome as fruit flies in a peach orchard." As they're leaving, Julie beckons to Melody Lee. Oddly, given her earlier desire to help her friend, Melody Lee tells Rex to ignore this and they drive away. Soon after seeing a funeral parade, they learn that Alexander Teale, a servant at Grey Oaks, had died the night they were there by falling into quicksand. Rex decides to resume investigating Grey Oaks and Alexander's death. John Hoyt as John Cavanaugh does an especially good job, but Louise Beavers also gives a noteworthy performance as Mrs. Teale. There is a fun bit at the beginning of the episode where Cal is settling in to his new office. Cal is quite the silent film buff and has hung dozens of silent screen stars' photos on the office walls. He mentions that his favorite actress is Marie Prevost - a wonderful actress who is mostly forgotten now. Another enjoyable episode.
3 Reviews
Marvelous episode from several different angles
mlbroberts28 September 2021
The main plot of this, the second episode of the series, has Melody Lee worried about a postcard from an old friend who asks for help. Melody Lee talks Rex into going with her to the old plantation house where her friend lives, and where they discover something strange is going on because the girl's father is keeping her from seeing anyone. Stuck there overnight because of a storm, Melody Lee sees what she thinks is the ghost of her friend's great grandfather, and Rex hears someone out on the plantation crying out at midnight.
They sort it all out to find it's no ghost, but the real captivating part of this story is the performance of Louise Beavers, a wonderful black actress who plays the part of the mother of an adult son who works at the plantation and who, it turns out, was the source of the crying out when he was murdered before he could tell Rex what was going on. Ms. Beavers was stunning in what was only a 2 minutes performance, but her grief and disbelief and agony were so real, so human, so beautiful portrayed that it blows me away every time I see it. One of the things I liked about this series - at least before all the black people were removed from the series in its second half - was that black people were portrayed with genuine humanity, as people with jobs and families and not just as caricatures like Amos and Andy of the 50s. This was 1959 and apparently could not be tolerated, so the show went lily white in its second half. It was much better in the first half.
They sort it all out to find it's no ghost, but the real captivating part of this story is the performance of Louise Beavers, a wonderful black actress who plays the part of the mother of an adult son who works at the plantation and who, it turns out, was the source of the crying out when he was murdered before he could tell Rex what was going on. Ms. Beavers was stunning in what was only a 2 minutes performance, but her grief and disbelief and agony were so real, so human, so beautiful portrayed that it blows me away every time I see it. One of the things I liked about this series - at least before all the black people were removed from the series in its second half - was that black people were portrayed with genuine humanity, as people with jobs and families and not just as caricatures like Amos and Andy of the 50s. This was 1959 and apparently could not be tolerated, so the show went lily white in its second half. It was much better in the first half.
Nice, atmospheric episode
shakspryn22 May 2023
There's a strong haunted-house type atmosphere to this story, with an old plantation mansion, a big storm, and so forth. And all of that is fun for the viewer!
The guest actors had some good characters to play, especially the flirtatious Southern belle aunt.
Arlene Howell is very beautiful and photogenic, which isn't surprising, since she was Miss Universe of 1958. She's so fresh and charming to watch, I wish she had stayed with the series for all 39 episodes, instead of leaving halfway through.
This episode is mostly Rex Randolph dealing with the mystery, though Cal Calhoun provides some assistance. This is only the second episode I have seen of this series, and I'm favorably impressed, so far. Arlene Howell's presence is a big plus! It's the second episode, and she's already had better scenes, and more to do, than Jacqueline Beer had in the first eight episodes of Sunset Strip!
The guest actors had some good characters to play, especially the flirtatious Southern belle aunt.
Arlene Howell is very beautiful and photogenic, which isn't surprising, since she was Miss Universe of 1958. She's so fresh and charming to watch, I wish she had stayed with the series for all 39 episodes, instead of leaving halfway through.
This episode is mostly Rex Randolph dealing with the mystery, though Cal Calhoun provides some assistance. This is only the second episode I have seen of this series, and I'm favorably impressed, so far. Arlene Howell's presence is a big plus! It's the second episode, and she's already had better scenes, and more to do, than Jacqueline Beer had in the first eight episodes of Sunset Strip!
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