Janet Leigh: Haunting in ‘House on Greenapple Road’ 1970

Janet Leigh is memorable as a desperate housewife in "House on Greenapple Road."

 

The two hour long ABC TV movie, House on Greenapple Road, aired January 11, 1970, and introduced audiences to Lt. Dan August. Here, the taciturn detective was played by Christopher George, who fit the role perfectly. The ratings were so good that it was turned into a weekly series, but George was unavailable, and the role went to Burt Reynolds.

Christopher George is well-cast as hard-nosed Lt. Dan August, but still able to show compassion toward the people mixed up in his case, in "House on Greenapple Road."

What's interesting about House on Greenapple Road was how adult the subject matter was for 1970 television. The film opens with a gory crime scene discovered by a child and the missing person/possible victim appears to have been an unhappy housewife who had a series of salaciously depicted affairs. Based on a bestselling book by Harold R. Daniels, the search for the missing person/victim is spliced with flashbacks of the seamy backstory, which reminded me of the 1965 feature film Sylvia, a shady lady who’s past is investigated. However, this TV movie is more hardnosed that the old-school theatrical melodrama starring Carroll Baker. This is interesting, considering the much stronger censorship on television versus film at the time.

Janet Leigh as a dissatisfied housewife, who looks for love in all the wrong places. Here, she hooks up with the country club life guard, in "House on Greenapple Road."

The mystery blonde here is played by Janet Leigh, in one of her best but lesser-known performances. Aired a decade after a career high in Psycho, Janet Leigh was 42 and struggling to keep her career afloat as a leading lady. The role of a woman who relied on her face and body for self-worth hit a bit close to the bone for Leigh. Her daughter revealed after her death that Janet had eating disorders and feared growing older, losing her looks and figure. It's ironic in House on Greenapple Road that Janet looks incredible and is very vulnerable, but is treated so casually by the male characters. There are some allusions to her famous role in Psycho. Here she is Marian Ord, in Psycho she was Marion Crane. In her various trysts, Janet sports a lovely figure in various undergarments, which also caused a stir in the Hitchcock classic. Her characters seek to opt out of their dull lives, only to find themselves in great danger. The film's ending is a clever nod to Psycho.

Janet Leigh was 42 when she filmed "House on Greenapple Road." Despite fine performances & looking great through the '60s, keeping stardom was an uphill battle.

House on Greenapple Road has a cast of veteran stars and then-newcomers. The story is intriguing, there's some nifty camera work, the story is unsentimental, and the acting is solid. The type of crime committed and the final revelation may have been a shocker back then, but it's very commonplace today in our current reality show mentality. So the story hardly feels dated by today’s standards.

"House on Greenapple Road" was one of those TV movies that haunted
my '70s childhood when re-run on the afternoon movies!

The premise of House on Greenapple Road is based on a true story. A house wife just disappeared one day in 1961 and was never heard from again. And her kitchen was left a literal bloody mess, like this movie. While there were all kinds of rumors, nothing was proven, but that's where the similarity ends.

Christopher George, Janet Leigh, and Tim O’ Connor offer standout performances as Dan August, and the couple in question, Marian and George Ord. 

(R) Christopher George's Dan August spars with (L) Peter Mark Richman's sleaze businessman in "House on Greenapple Road."

The actors who play the men in Marian's life are good in their sleazy roles. Burr DeBenning is a country club life guard, who’s a bit mature act so ageist toward Marian. Peter Mark Richman (Blake Carrington’s lawyer!) is Sal, a business man who gets off on treating the needy housewife like a hooker. Lawrence Dane is the new age preacher who wants to do more than enlighten Marian. There’s boozy and cynical William Windom as the country club president, who picks up where the life guard left off.

William Windom is the country club president who is one of houswife Marian's lovers in "House on Greenapple Road."

Great veteran actors like Walter Pidgeon, Keenan Wynn, and Barry Sullivan offer solid support. Julie Harris is typecast well as the uptight sister-in-law. Joanne Linville is righteously bitchy as the country club president’s rightly jealous wife.

Julie Harris brings her patented nervous edge to the role of the sister-in-law to
Janet Leigh's housewife in "House on Greenapple Road."

Pre-stardom Ed Asner plays a heavy-handed sheriff. Lynda Day is a pissy, pot-smoking secretary named Lillian Crane, a riff on Psycho’s Vera Miles as Lila Crane.  And Jan Brady herself, Eve Plumb, is the Ords’ young daughter, who discovers the blood-drenched crime scene.

Eve Plumb is the young daughter who finds a bloody crime scene in
"House on Greenapple Road."

Janet Leigh’s innately empathetic persona makes the audience want to understand her character. Marian is more than a promiscuous woman. She is looking for validation and her list of Mr. Wrongs reminds me of Looking for Mr. Goodbar, which was also based on a true story. Marian Ord’s husband always forgives her as she seeks to bolster her self-esteem regarding aging and losing her desirability. Among the wrong places she looks for love is with the country club life guard, a sleaze bag business man, a new age minister, and the country club president! Marion’s always disappointed, only to move on to the next man. Yet, in her naïve way, her intentions are sincere. Yet, she’s treated as a toy, when she’s looking for a teen dream version of true love. And Marian’s search doesn’t end well. Leigh’s naturalistic, strong acting make you believe in her character’s motivations, as messed up as they are. Leigh gave some terrific performances in the ‘60s and looked great doing so, but one can only assume it was her age that found her increasingly passed over by the ‘70s.

Janet Leigh as Marian, furious over feeling played, in "House on Greenapple Road."

Tim O’Connor, intense in his breakthrough role on Peyton Place as Elliot Carson, is equally filled with nervous energy here, as George Ord. The sad sack, mild husband loves his wife, but she is not satisfied with their middle-class life. Marian’s fear of losing her appeal is accelerated by the feeling that life is passing her by. The affairs at least jump-start her self-worth, but Marian’s also looking for a real love, and a way out. And O’Connor’s scenes admitting all this later are made genuinely moving by his strong performance.

Tim O' Connor as George Ord finally comes clean about his marriage to Marion.

Here’s the real life story that House on Greenapple Road uses as a premise for the fictional novel and movie, based on the 1961 disappearance of Massachusetts house wife Joan Risch: https://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Painted-Blood-Unsolved-Disappearance/dp/1476681848

And here’s one of my favorite films, which starred Janet Leigh, my take on 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-manchurian-candidate-1962.html

This look on Janet Leigh's face as Marian Ord touched me, when she begs her
latest lover not to laugh at her, in "House on Greenapple Road."