Patricia Breslin Movies

As an experiment to find out if spouses are truly capable of murder if given the chance, psychology professor James Parkerson (Barry Nelson) places a newspaper ad offering the "ultimate solution" for domestic discord. When the authorities protest, Parkerson assures them that his experiment is strictly theoretical, and that he intends to do no harm. But circumstances change considerably when a prospective client named Johnson (Richard Dawson) asks Parkerson's help in devising a method to kill the husband of Johnson's girlfriend -- whereupon the professor realizes that he is being asked to plan his own murder. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This episode opens with an apparent murder in a college classroom--which turns out to be a staged event, dreamed up by Professor Ronald Hewes (Barry Atwater) to test his students' powers of observation. After the demonstration, however, Hewes discovers that the gun used to "kill" him had only one blank and five real bullets, ample proof that someone is planning to do away with him. Can this have anything to do with the fact that Hewes has made a small fortune by claiming authorship of a lurid bestseller which was actually written by one of his former students, a young girl who'd committed suicide? Whatever the case, Hewes is currently being taken to the cleaners not only by the dead girl's sister, but also by his own wife Laura (Patricia Breslin)--and it is Laura whom Perry Mason must ultimately defend on a charge of murdering the "prankish professor". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Wealthy Clara (Vivienne Segal) has trouble believing her much-younger husband, Claude (Mark Miller), when he declares that he is 100-percent faithful to her. Rather than express these doubts to Claude, Clara confides in her best friend, Margo (Patricia Breslin) -- little suspecting that Margo and Claude are lovers. The plot thickens when Margo, hoping to get her mitts on Clara's money, suggests to Claude that he eliminate his suspicious spouse...then grows impatient when Claude appears to lose his nerve. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Homicidal represents producer/director William Castle's slant on Hitchcock's Psycho. The film concerns a young woman named Miriam Webster (Patricia Breslin) who seemingly has everything a girl could want - including a successful flower shop business, and a handsome beau, Karl (Glenn Corbett), who works as a pharmacist. Events take a turn for the worse, however, when Miriam's half-brother, Warren, returns from Europe - with a rather unpleasant friend in-tow: a blonde named Emily (Jean Arless). Emily promptly sets about destroying Miriam's life: the newcomer attempts to wheedle Karl away from Miriam, then rips the flower shop to pieces, then ultimately reveals a little taste for knife-wielding that directly threatens Miriam's safety. Like The Tingler and other Castle outings, this one originally featured a gimmick, preserved in the video release: a "fright-break" just prior to the climax, which allowed terrified audience members approximately 45 seconds to get out of their seats and leave the theater - to avoid the prospect of being "frightened to death." One look at Jean Arless's credit in the cast listing betrays the final twist in this one, directly (and unapologetically) lifted by Castle from Psycho. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Future Star Trek captain William Shatner stars as Don Carter, who is on his honeymoon with his perky young wife Pat (Patricia Breslin). Stranded in a small town while their car is being repaired, Don and Pat wander into a diner, where their attention is diverted by a curious fortune-telling machine. Out of amusement, they begin feeding coins into the machine -- and before long, Don has become "hooked" on the sinister device. Stafford Repp, who later played Chief O'Hara on TV's Batman, appears as a mechanic. Written by Richard Matheson, "Nick of Time" made its Twilight Zone debut on November 18, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In dire need of money after being robbed, Bart (Jack Kelly) hires on as boss of a cattle drive. His employer is Abigail Allen (Patricia Breslin), a wide-eyed, seemingly helpless blonde. It is only after two of the drovers die within the first two days of the drive that Bart realizes he's been hoodwinked--and that Abigail is nothing more nor less than a scam artist. Watch for a young Robert Conrad, just before Warner Bros. elevated him to stardom on TV's Hawaiian Eye. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While driving along a country road, Harry Adams (Richard Kiley) and his wife (Patricia Breslin) are pulled over for speeding. This begins a chain reaction of events which lead to the inescapable conclusion that the town in which the Adamses are stranded is chock-full of crooks and grafters, including a corrupt traffic cop (Walter Matthau), a dishonest judge (Charles Watts), and a duplicitous car repairman (Richard Erdman). Without giving away too much of the outcome, let it be noted that Harry loudly complains about every outrage, while his nervous wife never relaxes her grip on her outsized purse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi