Kraft Suspense Theatre A Hero for Our Times (1963–1965) Online

A Hero for our Times – 1963 This is an episode of the 59 episode run of, Kraft Suspense Theater. The series ran between 1963 and 1965.

Lloyd Bridges and his mistress, Sandra Church, have just finished a round of clutch and grab at Church's apartment. Bridges is getting ready to head home to the wife and kids. As he slips on his coat, he glances out the window. In the apartment across the street, he sees a man, Victor French, beating a woman, Ina Victor, to death.

Bridges grabs the phone and calls the Police. He tells the cops what he has just seen, then hangs up without giving his name. He then leaves Church's apartment and walks away. The murderer, French has also left the scene. The Police show and find the body.

The next day, Bridges, sees in the paper that the Police have arrested, Dabbs Greer, on suspicion of murder. Greer is the slightly slow in the head janitor for Victor's apartment.

Bridges of course knows that Greer is innocent. Should he go to the Police? He has just gotten a promotion and a big raise at work. And how will his wife, Geraldine Brooks react if he gets involved. The truth about his mistress, Church will come out. He decides to wait. The Police will sort it out.

Several weeks go by and Dabbs has now been charged with murder. The trial is starting that day.

This of course really starts to eat away at Bridges' conscience. He goes to longtime friend, John Ireland, and asks for advice. Ireland tells Bridges that he will contact the Police. He will pretend to be the witness. Bridges fills Ireland in of what he had witnessed.

Ireland calls Dabbs' defense lawyer. He tells him that he was the man who called in the report. Ireland is put on the stand and all seems to be going well. That is till the D.A. trips him up on some small details. Ireland is lucky not to get himself locked up as his testimony is tossed out.

Ireland meets Bridges over drinks to discuss Bridges remaining choices. French, who was in the courtroom watching, followed Ireland to the bar. He correctly figures that Bridges must be the real witness.

Bridges and Ireland tip a few more drinks during which Bridges decides he will come forward. He will contact the D.A. the next morning.

While Bridges is driving home from the bar, French tries to run him off the road and into a ravine. A traffic cop sees the attempt and gives chase. French fails to make a sharp turn and goes for an unplanned flight into a creek bed, and is killed.

Bridges stops to help the cop pull the body from the car. He recognizes French as the murderer.

At court the next day, Bridges tells his tale for judge, jury, and of course, the media. Doing the right thing might mean he will likely lose his job, wife and family, but it is right thing to do.

The rest of the cast includes, Warren Parker, William Bramley, David Lewis and Berkeley Harris.

The director was veteran television man, Perry Senensky. He worked on series as varied as, ROUTE 66, THE PAPER CHASE, THE NAKED CITY, THE FUGITIVE, THE BIG VALLEY, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, STAR TREK and THE FBI.

The d of p was Richard Rawlings. His work was also mainly on television. He shot all 98 episodes of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. (color)

When this episode begins, Mason (Lloyd Bridges) is at his mistress' apartment. As he looks out the window, he sees a man attacking a woman in the apartment next door. He sees her lying on the floor and she appears to be dead. So he calls the police...but doesn't leave his name when he leaves the report because he is naturally afraid of folks learning he's an old lecher. However, a bit later, an innocent guy is arrested and is going to go on trial! Can Mason live with himself if this innocent man is convicted? And, what he doesn't realize is that the real killer eventually realizes that Mason was a witness...and he's not about to give him a chance to talk...if this weasel would talk in the first place.

I really liked this episode. It isn't because the plot was so original but it was a really nice character study of a guy who really has some decency within him even though he's done some terrible things. Bridges is especially good.

***SPOILERS*** Having an affair behind his wife's back at his girlfriend Ruth Evens, Sandra Church, apartment overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge business executive Mason Eldridge, Lloyd Bridges, sees a woman being brutally attacked while looking out the apartment window. Calling the police to come over Mason doesn't leave his name in not wanting to get involved in that it would expose him in cheating on his wife Doris, Geraldine Brooks.

It's later when reading the morning papers Mason is shocked to see that the person arrested in being responsible for the woman's murder that he witnessed was the apartment building janitor Newton Yort, Debbs Green. Knowing that Yort is Innocent in the crime Mason is now facing the dilemma of by keeping quite he may well be responsible for having an innocent man end up in the San Quentin gas chamber! That in Mason keeping his mouth shut in order to save both his marriage and job as a big time executive in a San Francisco real estate firm!

Mason has both his girlfriend Ruth and best friend friend sculpture Scotty, John Ireland, in them by trying to help him out in testifying that they in fact saw the woman murdered and it wasn't Yort who did it! That leads to Scotty being exposed as lying under oath and perjuring himself when he story fall completely apart on the stand ! That also leads a guilt ridden and tortured Mason to debate with himself and his friend Scotty if he should come clean and finally do the right thing and testify in court in Yort's defense. It's then that things turn deadly with the real woman's murderer, Victor French, who's been following events in the case since day one decides to shut Mason up for good! With the killer trying to kill Mason he instead ends up getting killed himself when he tried to drive Mason's car off the road. Mason now realizes that justice was done in the killer getting his just deserts but there's still the fact that an innocent man Newton Yort is going to end up paying for his crime. Mason in him seeing no other way out finally decided, in what's a spur of the moment, just before Yort is to be sentenced to get on the stand and tell the truth and let the chips, his marriage job and reputation, fall where they may in him doing it.

***SPOILERS*** It took a lot of courage on Mason's part to not only get innocent Newton Yort off but in exposing himself as a sniveling coward who tried to get other to do, and almost end up behind put bars, what he should have done in the first place! But it was that one act of courage and decency that in the end not only saved Mason's both job and marriage, which in fact he thought by then he lost, but also made him a hero in the eyes of everyone. Including his long suffering wife Doris! Who despite him cheating on her felt that what Mason did in saving Yort's life more then made up for it!