Show:
The Evil Touch
Episode:
"The Lake"
Airdate:
September 16, 1973
Synopsis:
When Arthur Randall's wife refuses to give him a divorce, he arranges for her
"accidental" death while they are vacationing at their lake house.
RL's Character:
Arthur Randall
Favorite Scene:
I don't know that I really have one. None of them stand out.
Favorite Line:
Cynthia (kissing Arthur on the cheek): "Good morning, Mr. Randall."
Arthur: "Not too good, darling. She said no. My wife has a
very limited vocabulary."
Comments:
The Evil Touch was an anthology series that was produced in Australia
and was hosted by Anthony Quayle. 26 episodes were produced, and most starred a well-known American actor with Australian
actors in the supporting roles. It was syndicated in the United States during the 1973-74 TV season.
RL appeared in another episode of the series, "Seeing Is Believing", but I have
never been able to find a copy of it.
RL wore a necklace (at least he did during the '60s/'70s), and you can see it
dangling from his neck during the last few scenes of the episode. Unfortunately, there aren't any close-ups of
him and you can't really tell anything about it.
It was sweet seeing RL driving that Mercedes convertible. If I'm not mistaken, that's
the kind of car he bought when he got his first big pay check for 87th Precinct, and it just fits him.
Arthur's wife was a bitch. All she did was demand and complain. It's
no wonder he wanted to kill her. <g> And his secretary wasn't much better. He had lousy taste in women.
Pet Peeves:
His clothes. With the exception of the jeans and the red turtleneck that
he had on in the first scene in the boat, I hated everything he wore, especially the red pants he had on in the last few
scenes. That's right. I said red pants. And the shirt he was wearing with them was almost
as bad.
Also, I thought the storyline was just down right silly. First of
all, if Arthur wanted to get rid of his wife, all he had to do was divorce her, whether she agreed to it or not. He
had already offered to give her more money than she would ever need in exchange for his freedom, so it wasn't like he wasn't
willing to pay her a hefty settlement. And the whole thing with the ring being gone, him going back to the lake
to look for it, and it turning up on Ellen's finger was just ludicrous.
RL Factor:
Not bad, but his clothes ruin everything.
Availability:
To my knowledge, this episode has not been released on either VHS or DVD.
I won a 16mm print off of eBay and had it converted to DVD.
