"The Crime of Daphne Rutledge" is an installment of "General Electric Theater", a dramatic anthology series from the 1950s. It begins with teens discovering a badly injured man (Hugh Marlowe) and soon his wife admits to having pummeled him with a flashlight and running him over...the second part, being an accident. It's obvious that the meddling mother-in-law is taking control over everything and she wants the wife (Angela Lansbury) to agree to a quiet divorce. But the wife insists on a trial and readily admits her guilt. But of course, there's more to the story.
The idea behind this program was very good....that a man can drive his wife to violence against him and that a meddlesome mother-in-law can exacerbate things. However, the way all this is resolved at the end is utterly ridiculous and very hard to believe. Had this been dealt with in more than a 30 minute time slot, it might have worked. As is, it just seems pretty ridiculous....and I know "General Electric Theater" can be much better than this.
The idea behind this program was very good....that a man can drive his wife to violence against him and that a meddlesome mother-in-law can exacerbate things. However, the way all this is resolved at the end is utterly ridiculous and very hard to believe. Had this been dealt with in more than a 30 minute time slot, it might have worked. As is, it just seems pretty ridiculous....and I know "General Electric Theater" can be much better than this.
