"Thriller" was an anthology series of crime and horror stories which ran on the NBC Television network from 1960 to 1962. The program was hosted by actor Boris Karloff who would introduce each episode. He frequently used the line "And as sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is going to be a thriller!" This episode is titled "Man of Mystery" and was first broadcast on April 2, 1962. Joel Stone is a very wealthy international businessman and financier whose is known as the "Man of Mystery." He is a handsome playboy with a string of girlfriends, none of whom will talk about him or have died. During the program introduction host Boris Karloff handles coins and bills. The coins appear to be studio prop coins of various sizes.

Actor Boris Karloff introduces the episode.

Hands are then shown handling wads of currency and piles of coins.

A box of banded currency is then shown.

The bills are standard Mexican Revolution motion picture stage or prop bills. For more information on these bills please visit: Mexican Revolution Currency Notes.

Then hands pick up a pile of coins.

Next shown is a real $10,000 bill.

The man on the note is Salmon Chase, the US Supreme Court Chief Justice from 1864 to 1973. The four principal actors in the episode and Boris Karloff are shown next as faces on the note.

Since her character is interested in money this picture is appropriate.

Boris Karloff does not appear in the episode as an actor. Karloff asks the question: "What will a man do to get a large amount of money and what will he do to keep it?" The program starts with a writer in a seedy apartment.

The book the writer is holding is entitled "Man of Mystery", a biography of financier Joel Stone. The writer calls a publisher to tell him the book is complete. Next a man in black enters the apartment and murders the writer. The next scene is a large office in a high-rise building.

The sign reads:

Joel Stone is the financier who is an international playboy who has had a string of girlfriends and mistresses, some of whom are deceased and the rest do not want to talk about their relationships with him. Joel has a small somewhat odd looking assistant Lucas who always accompanies him.

At a nightclub, Joel and Lucas sit at a table and watch Sherry Smith singing a song.

Actress Mary Tyler Moore sings the song "Let's Fall in Love." In Sherry's dressing room, club comedian Lou Walters talks to Sherry.

Lou tries to persuade Sherry not to see Joel due to his reputation. She accuses him of being jealous and goes to meet Joel.

Lou goes to see Jill Naylor, an alcoholic who was Joel's mistress several years ago.

She does not want to talk about Joel but after Lou offers her liquor she tells him to come back tomorrow. However, the man in black then visits her and throws her out a window. The next scene is of Joel's mansion.

Lucas is there along with a Japanese butler Koto. Away from Sherry, the two men discuss her.

Joel and Lucas have to fly to Iran for an oil deal. Lucas takes a photograph of Jill out of a frame.

Lucas puts the photograph of Jill into the fireplace which shows that she has been eliminated. Joel invites Sherry to his mansion for dinner. She meets a very strange sight in the dining room.

The "guests" are all lifeless mannikins and Sherry wonders what is going on. Joel explains that a man in his position can not have friends. Sherry tells Joel that Lucas has a "creepy" appearance and frightens her. Lou is still trying to stop Sherry from seeing Joel but is having no luck. He is also pestering the police about the death of Jill and getting nowhere. During another visit Joel proposes to Sherry and asks her to go away with him to Mexico. He has a suitcase with a million dollars in bonds and tells her that he is tired of business. They head for a cabin that Joel owns, this time without Lucas.

Sherry looks at a photograph album.

The album contains pictures of various women who are Joel's previous conquests. Joel goes upstairs and then returns, but he trips and falls down.

Sherry lets out a loud scream.

Joel lays on the floor, dead, and Lucas comes down the stairs.

Lucas tells Sherry that he is the real Joel Stone and that the man she has been seeing is an actor. He explains that when he started in business no one would work with him because of his appearance, and that using a "front man" allowed him to succeed.

Lucas tells Sherry that he wanted the same thing that other men wanted and that when the actor was finished with a girl he would then take her over. He tells her that he thought she was the "right woman" for him.

Sherry wants no part of Lucas and is visibly frightened. Lou then shows up.

Lou pushes Lucas away and then realizes the situation as Lucas smiles at him.

Lucas asks Lou a question, "Is this the end of the Man of Mystery?." The next scene shows a new business name.

"Harlan Croft" is the new name and Lucas has a new front man.

A visiting reporter mentions that a woman killed Joel Stone and then threw herself out a window. Lou takes a photograph of Sherry and throws it away.

Normally Boris Karloff only did an introduction at the beginning of an episode but for this one he appears at the conclusion also. He holds a bunch of flowers as if he is meeting a date.

The business sign used in the program has changed again.

Boris Karloff as the host
Mary Tyler Moore as Sherry Smith
John Van Dreelen as Joel Stone
William Windom as Lou Walters
Walter Burke as Lucas
Director: John Newland
Writers: Robert Bloch, based on his short story with the same title

From 1934 to 1960 the US Treasury Department prohibited the showing of US currency and coins in motion pictures as it considered the showing of money to be the same as counterfeiting. Author Robert Bloch, who wrote the short story that was the basis for this program, also wrote the novel Psycho and when that novel was filmed the film's producer persuaded the Treasury Department to lift it's ban on the showing of money in motion pictures.