Airing on January 1, 1956, The Big Switch marked the first episode of 1956.
In this episode a gangster (George Matthews) plans to murder his girlfriend (Beverly Michaels) and hires a friend (George E. Stone) set up an airtight alibi so he can get away with it.
Much of what makes this episode work is the lead performance by George Matthews (in his first of two episodes). The craggily tough guy character actor is perfectly cast as this hard-boiled gangster. He is completely gripping in this role making him fun to watch in the old-fashioned gangster tradition. As much of a stereotypical of gangster as this character is at first, we later learn that he has more of a heart than it at first seems.
The storyline is pretty basic. It is hard not to guess how it will end and there is little here that we haven't seen before. However, due to a great lead performance and some well written dialogue the episode is still quite effective.
This is the second of five episodes directed by Don Weis (who previously directed Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid (1955)). This is the last of three episodes written by Richard Carr (he previously wrote Triggers in Leash (1955) and Salvage (1955), whose screenplay was based off a story by Cornell Woolrich.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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