Tales of the Unexpected (TV Series) There's One Born Every Minute (1981) User Reviews

Decent crime drama with a couple of twists.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 15 October 2007]

Tales of the Unexpected: There's One Born Every Minute starts as Arthur (Frank Finlay) & Margaret Pearson (Heather Sears) decide to invest £50,000 that they inherited when Margaret's sister died into a cheap sounding but bogus property deal. They hand the £50,000 over in cash to conman Edward Cox (Andrew Burt) who then disappears, the Pearson's are distraught & the police don't hold out much hope that they'll find Cox or their money. However, all is not as it seems & those who are being conned aren't as obvious as it first seems...

Episode 13 from season 4 this Tales of the Unexpected story originally aired here in the UK during June 1981, the fourth of ten Tales of the Unexpected episodes to be directed by Alan Gibson this isn't a bad way to pass 25 minutes at all. The story by Bill Pronzini was dramatised by Chaim Bermant & takes a familiar Tales of the Unexpected premise of a crime with an unexpected twist. These episodes are all about the build up & the eventual twist, here both are fine & I have to say there are a couple of fairly effective twists in There's One Born Every Minute which I didn't see coming. It certainly entertains for it's short duration & has a pretty good story which isn't too obvious. The title There's One Born Every Minute refers to a British saying which basically infers that there's a fool born every minute, I'm not sure if this saying is well known outside the UK though so I thought I'd just mention it.

I will assume Tales of the Unexpected had a pretty small budget since it was made for British TV, this one looks dull having been shot on videotape although it hasn't dated as badly as some episodes from this series. One thing you can rely on with Tales of the Unexpected is that there's more than likely to be a good cast & here sees Oscar nominated Frank Finlay star.

There's One Born Every Minute is a good solid crime drama with a few decent twists to keep you guessing, it's nothing amazing but it passes the time harmlessly enough.

Be careful what you wish for.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 14 February 2016]

Mature couple Arthur and Margaret Pierson have been left £50,000 by the death of her Aunt. Edward Cox is attempting to sell them a piece of land, currently bare, with talk of huge property development in the pipeline. Margaret has never done anything like this before, she is dazzled by her chance in a lifetime, Arthur is sceptical, worried that it's a scam and they'll be left penniless, especially as Edward is demanding cash, to save on capital gains tax. If it comes off, their stake could be worth £750,000, it's a big gamble. The couple head to Midland, and proceed, Arthur even gets the courage to tell his boss where to go, resigning from his job in style. A series of twists follow...

There's one born every minute is a rather good episode, a tale of greed on many levels, everyone is looking to make a few quid. It's well made, well acted, Frank Finlay in particular is very good, there are a cracking few twists, feels like it belongs to an earlier series, better then the recent few episodes. 7/10

"Won't I get stuck in the mud?"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 14 October 2021]

You can usually rely on a good double cross in these 'Tales of the Unexpected', but this episode goes one better with a unique triple cross. You have the phony real estate guy Cox (Andrew Burt) swindling the Pearson's out of fifty thousand pounds, and then we find out Cox was in on it with his sister, who was Arthur Pearson's lover. There's a hint to the third 'cross' when Joy (Jo Rowbottom) calls Arthur Pearson Frank Finlay) a 'broken down old creep'! He goes off to lick his wounds, not realizing that his wife Margaret (Heather Sears) planned on ditching him for the con-man Cox. The detective that handled the case for Mr. Pearson could only shake his head, saying there were two born every minute, but the title of the story was more accurate. And the sucker here was Arthur, who never knew what hit him.

A refreshing feminist twist

[sajamor · 7/10 · 13 February 2020]

This was a great episode like the other one I've seen based on a Bill Pronzini short story, Proof Of Guilt.

The acting is excellent across the board, in particular from Finlay and Sears. I also loved the masterful way how our sympathies and perceptions of where they should lie got turned right around.

What I applauded loudest of all, however, was a woman triumphing. One problem I do have with TOTU is the subservient roles the female characters usually have - housewives, cheated wives, mistresses or secretaries. Several times marriage is given as a reason for women leaving jobs, which was an outdated notion even in the early 80s. I grew up then and just about all married women even with young children worked!