Betrayal is a 1974 ABC Movie of the Week directed by Gordon Hessler and starring Amanda Blake and Tisha Sterling, adapted from the novel Only Couples Need Apply by Doris Miles Disney. It first aired on December 3, 1974.
Plot
Helen Mercer, a wealthy elderly widow, hires a young woman, Gretchen Addison, as her secretary. Mercer, nicknamed "Deadeye" after having shot her criminal handyman, is lonely, and her ad for a secretary is as much about companionship as business. Little does she suspect, though, that the woman and her boyfriend Jay are criminals on the run after a killing, who target elderly women to extort them. The partners plan to make Mercer their next victim, killing her and stealing her money. Addison, however, grows to admire Mercer, and decides she needs to change her ways.
Cast
Amanda Blake ... Helen Mercer
Tisha Sterling ... Gretchen Addison alias Adele Murphy
Dick Haymes ... Harold Porter
Sam Groom ... Jay
Britt Leach ... Fred Hawkes
Edward Marshall ... Roy
Ted Gehring ... Police Sergeant
Dennis Cross ... Highway Patrolman
Eric Brotherson ... Mr. Hall
Vernon Weddle ... Savings Officer
Rene Bond ... Betty, waitress
Lucille Benson ... Eunice Russell
Critical reception
Journalist David Deal wrote in 2005 that the film was "mild in the terror department but the fears it depicts are very real nonetheless."