Villainess Review: Ann Merriweather & Virginia Grant (Thriller)

The late 1950s-early 1960s featured quite a trend on TV: horror/suspense anthology series. It was the period that gave us the original Twilight Zone, as well as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but the show that I'm focusing on in this review is the underrated series, Thriller. I had been familiar with the show, it popped up in reruns on all sorts of channels, but I didn't actually watch this show until two years ago--August 2020, to be exact. The pandemic was at its highest peak, and the sports pause allowed me to watch a lot of other things, including doing some binge watching. Among the number of shows I did enjoy watching was Thriller, which aired for two seasons between 1960 and 1962.

The anthology series was hosted by Boris Karloff, and as sure as that was his name, this show was quite a delight for me to binge watch during the early stages of the "bubble" Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2020. Many episodes really stood out to me, with "The Merriweather File," being among them. The episode gets the suspense started early, as the home of Ann and Charles Merriweather is broken into by a mysterious culprit with deadly intentions, as we see said villain turn on gas as part of a murderous attempt. The attempt was thwarted, but we see the same culprit return to the house and go after Ann, and after the body of a man named Jake Harbor was found in the trunk of Charles' car, Howard Yates (a friend of the Merriweathers) goes on an investigation.

Howard visits the home of a woman named Virginia Grant, as she had known Charles--who was, of course, the prime suspect. Virginia made some pretty interesting comments; for one, she stated that Charles and Ann's marriage was a facade, and secondly, she revealed a damning secret. Charles and Ann were once parents, but that came to a tragic end when Ann accidentally backed her car into their only son, killing him instantly. Charles could not avoid the charges against him, and in a fast forward to Christmas time, Lt. Giddeon (who was in charge of the case) revealed to Howard that Charles was executed.

But that's not all, folks!

As it turned out, Charles had masterminded the plot to kill Ann, as he had been unable to forgive his wife for the accidental death of their son. But he was only the mastermind; the hired (proverbial) gun was none other than Virginia Grant, as she was his mistress. So the mysterious villain in the opening was actually a villainess, as Virginia was the one who turned on the gas in the first attempt, and went after Ann in the second attempt. As for Jake, he was actually enlisted by both halves of the illicit couple to kill Ann, who actually feigned falling asleep as Jake broke in, allowing Ann to emerged and shoot Jake to death. Yes, Ann was Jake's killer (in self-defense), but after figuring out that Jake was sent by Charles, she placed Jake's body in the trunk of Charles' car to frame him. So Virginia ended up in a women's prison, Charles ended up executed, and as for Ann (who caused Charles' fatal downfall) she ended up living her best life...as Howard's new wife!

And now, the villainesses:

Ann Merriweather

"The Merriweather Files" was the 21st episode of Thriller's first season, and aired on February 14 (yes, Valentine's Day), 1961. The episode's surprise true main villainess, Ann Merriweather, was played by Bethel Leslie, and she's one of the best female baddies from that show's short run. I remember being surprised that Ann was villainous. I know what they say: "It's always the quiet ones." Even so, I seriously didn't think Ann had it in her to be so fiendish and diabolical, but when that reveal came, I literally drank it all in. We really get two sides of Ann in this episode; she starts out as nice and quiet woman who is revealed to have a tragic backstory: the accidental death of her son. While she remained a devoted wife, Charles went off the deep end and wanted her gone.

Though Ann killed her latest attempted murderer in self-defense, it's after this point that Ann's heel turn takes place, as she transforms into a ruthless villainess hellbent on literally destroying her husband. Her actions directly resulted in Charles being convicted and executed for actions that were committed by his wife, and this shot at the end of Ann entering the house during the revelation that she was married to Howard was just golden. To me, there's a mix personalities here. Again, Ann's enjoying her best life, but she's also relishing in the fact that she got away with her role in eliminating her husband, and that is absolutely delicious. Leslie acted out all facets of Ann's personality to perfection; her performance was the true breakout attribute of this episode.

Bethel Leslie has done quite a few dastardly deeds on screen; playing villainesses on the aforementioned Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The New Perry Mason, and Mannix. One of Leslie's final films was the 1999 classic, Message in a Bottle, and her final film was Uninvited, which was released on November 26, 1999 in Argentina. Leslie passed away just two days later.

Check out Ann Merriweather's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!

Virginia Grant

During the epilogue that revealed Ann Merriweather as a villainess, another female baddie was unveiled: Virginia Grant, portrayed by K.T. Stevens. On-screen, we only saw Virginia during her interaction with Howard, and even though it wasn't much, it told a lot about her. From the way Virginia talked, viewers had to know she was hiding something, and in regards to her closeness with Charles, well...let's just say the revelation that they were illicit lovers was something we all could see coming a mile away. Virginia was quite the evil hitwoman, but I have to mention this:

An actual female Hand of Death scene in a 1960s program. That, to me, is quite revolutionary. It would be decades before Hand of Death scenes would reveal those sinister (usually) gloved hands as belonging to a woman, but regarding the evil Virginia Grant, we were treated to this in the very beginning of the episode. Her on-screen scene, plus her two scenes donning her villainous disguise, and it equals a very relentless and vicious villainess in Virginia Grant, with Stevens' performance being quite a delight to witness, despite how brief it is.

K.T. Stevens actually returned to the series as another scheming villainess, Olive Guthrie, during the show's second (and final) season. Though Stevens acted on several shows and films, she's best known to fans of I Love Lucy as one half of the new neighbors, who were rehearsing their performance as foreign spies--prompting Lucy to actually believe that an invasion was imminent. Stevens passed away on June 13, 1994; her final performance was in Corrina, Corrina, one of Whoopi Goldberg's noted films.

Check out Virginia Grant's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!

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