Starring James Stewart, the December 1, 1949 episode "Mission Completed" features Stewart as a paralyzed veteran lying in a hospital. One day, he recognizes a flower dealer as the Japanese officer who tortured him during the war; all at once, his long-lost strength begins to boil to the surface... You may download the episode from archive.org here.
Because most of the episode was narrated by its protagonist, it needed a strong, captivating actor. Naturally, Stewart had the chops; in fact, his own time spent in uniform during the war gave him credentials for this role which would eluded a home-bound actor. In my mind, I imagine the paralyzed Stewart looks a lot like the similarly-paralyzed Stewart from his later role in Vertigo (hence the above image).
Tomorrow: "As to forgetting one's worries in absorbing work, I can't think of a better place in the world for a man to do that than Scotland Yard."
2 comments:
This is a really strong episode, although the ending seems like a cop-out. While we naturally expect there's a twist, this seems like a very risky action by the doctor and I also think the ending is pretty hand-wavy, ignoring the psychological damage faced by Stewart's character as well.
I do think he's amazing in the role, though--the scene where he calls his old army friend up is a nice way in which he's both sympathetic and not (and yet obviously has reasons to explain his behavior).
Hi Mike!
I feel a little let down by the ending, but the first third of this episode is definitely among the strongest openings found in any episode of Suspense. And yes, James Stewart did incredible work throughout!
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