"General Electric Theater" (1959)Character: Ann HowardEpisode: "And One Was Loyal"Premiered: January 4th, 1959
Episode synopsis:
Ann Howard (Joan Crawford) happens upon old flame George Manson (Tom Helmore) at her art exhibit in New York. Ann and George had met previously in Singapore, and the episode acts as a large flashback to the time of their original meeting. At that time Ann was a mute, and George met her during his stay at the bed and breakfast Ann and her then-husband own. George complimented Ann's art and encouraged her to pursue her talent.
After a game of cards between Ann, George, and Ann's husband, Roger (Robert Douglas), Ann wins, and documents the winnings in a special notebook she keeps of all her card winnings. Roger becomes angry that Ann won the game, and assaults a nearby porter, who is protected by Ann against her husband's anger. Following the assault, George invites Ann to come live in a house he owns in London while pursuing her art career, and as a refuge from her husband.
Later, Roger is attacked by a snake that has been tied above his bed, and after escaping attempts to charge at Ann, but plummets over a balcony railing and dies from the fall. Afterword, Ann's ability to speak returns, and George learns that Ann became a mute due to shock, after her husband had previously tied her up near a riverbank with the threat of death by a crocodile. After meeting with a police inspector investigating the snake incident, George takes Ann's notebook detailing her card winnings.
Back to present day, George visits Ann after her exhibit, and reveals to her that he had taken her notebook documenting her card winnings as so that the police inspector wouldn't find it and surmise Ann is who paid to have the snake placed in her husband's bedroom. Ann reveals to George that she knew the houseboy Roger assaulted is who attempted to kill her husband with the snake. George and Ann embrace as the episode fades to black.
Cast & Crew:
Director: Herschel Daugherty
Written By: Stanley Abbott (Story), Francis M. Cockrell (Teleplay)
Producer: Revue Productions
Joan Crawford - "Ann Howard"
Tom Helmore - "George Manson"
Robert Douglas - "Roger Howard"
Production:
Joan began filming for this episode in November 1958. Peter Sabiston of the Kurt Frings agency negotiated the episode's contractual agreements.