Alfred Hitchcock Presents (and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour) - NO SPOILERS, please!*

"An Unlocked Window"was the first one I had seen, I think it was on METV. Absolutely amazing. I was on the edge of my seat

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: An Unlocked Window - Video Dailymotion

 

"Poison"
s4 e1
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Casey Robinson, from the short story by Roald Dahl

Malaya: Harry Pope is lying in bed and discovers that there is a poisonous snake asleep on his stomach -- and his "friend" Timber Woods doesn't seem too insistent on helping the situation.

Dahl's original story was a very short exercise in subtle tension, with a brief anti-racism message near the end. Hitchcock has thrown the racism out completely and much more significantly, he has totally switched the characters around. Whereas in the story the villain finds the snake on his belly, here the heavy is the observer. It's the sympathetic weakling who is in jeopardy.

IMHO this is actually an improvement on the Dahl story. I think making the heavy the onlooker multiplies the tension exponentially (whatever that means). The audience slowly realizes he's going to take his sweet time helping. Even more, he seems to be sadistically enjoying the game of cat and mouse. For me, that's much more effective than the one quick irony of the racist showing his colors at the end. Heavy-as-onlooker involves him in the drama as an emotional participant; innocent onlooker is simply that, an onlooker.

Episode writer Casey Robinson worked on the Casablanca script (mostly the Paris section).

Star Wendell Corey is very unflatteringly made-up and photographed. Not quite as bad as his Perry Mason episode (where he looked like a corpse who had just risen from the grave) but bad enough. Was this Hitchcock's intention?

Great performance by Donald (a virtuoso exercise in emotional expression with only his face and right hand to work with), good ones by Corey and Arnold Moss as a native doctor (Abraham Sofaer must have been busy), solid scripting of a classic suspense situation, superbly shot and lighted (though Corey might argue about his makeup). A high point for the series.

"Don't come any closer!"

 

Picked up the first season box set of this mid 50s television series at my local thrift shop.
I watched a handful of the episodes and was somewhat suprised how low key and low budget they are /were.
There's almost nothing to them !
That's about it.

 

I've been watching them lately, DVR-ing them, and skipping around to watch episodes from different seasons. I think they're a lot of fun, generally very good, and some are excellent. And short but sweet! The earlier episodes do seem to have a more old-fashioned feel to them compared to the later ones.

And lots of old stars popping up. Recently watched a great Season 5 episode, Man From the South, with Steve McQueen and Peter Lorre. Another favorite was from the early '60s, with Burt Reynolds and a young "Dean Stanton". Other episodes with people like Dick York, Brian Keith, Ann Francis, Leslie Nielsen, and of course Billy Mumy!

 

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour) - NO SPOILERS, please!*

While Hitchcock's dry, macabre sense of humor set the tone for the series, the main people behind AHP were Joan Harrison and Norman Lloyd. They selected the stories, cast them, chose directors, etc. Also credit to James Allardice, who wrote the wraparounds for AH to deliver.

AH w/ his real life "Hitchcock blonde", producer Joan Harrison.



AH w/Norman Lloyd

 

I mentioned James Allardice who wrote all of Hitchock's wraparounds. My favorite was the outro for the classic episode "The Jar":

"Some viewers may see a resemblance between the jar in tonight's story and another entertainment device found in the home. I assure you there is absolutely no comparison in quality between the two. But we in television are doing our best, and someday -- who knows?"

 

one of my favorite episodes!

 

I thought they were extremely entertaining back then and still do...they had plenty of substance. IMO of course.

 

they need to finish releasing them and NOT ON MOD DVD!
or give us a Blu-ray complete box set...hopefully not by Shout...oh, wait... they only release DVD box sets at Blu-ray pricing...

 

yeah a complete collection please...what's the hold up? Dribbling these out like a gravy in the recent Limited Edition Hitchcock boxset, or just a few DVD sets years ago...something should be done to collect them in 1 full nice set at least!

 

yea, reissue the AH movie box and throw in some AHP episodes ...Huh?...NO...we want them all...I have 5 seasons of AHP on DVD IIRC Season 6 was MOD of which I never bought.

 

Ive watcxhed season 1 and really enjoyed it

 

they're all good I own 5 seasons and love them!
this episode stayed with me since i was a kid...really freaked me out back then and still does...
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" Breakdown (TV Episode 1955) - IMDb

 

Youtube will probably pull this soon, but i put it up for a friend. For 1943, this must have been pretty damn shocking to hear from serial killer Joseph cotton

 

I still enjoy watching them. Like all anthologies, the episodes can be hit or miss. But when they hit, they’re very good.

I also prefer the episodes from the 60s - they seem less old-fashioned, as someone above mentioned. Hard to believe that less than a decade would make a difference.

I even liked the first season of the 80s revival, before they moved production to Canada and changed production teams (and moved to USA cable). I thought that first NBC season was superior to the more-hyped “Amazing Stories”.

 

Some very good episodes...my favorite was the Leg of Lamb episode (which I think Hitch directed).

 

Of season one, I thought The Belfry was an excellent episode, my favorite from the season.

 

Yeah, “Lamb to the Slaughter” was directed by Hitchcock himself, one of only I believe eight episodes that he directed.

I love “Man from the South”, about the drifter who bets a rich man that he can light his lighter ten times in a row. This was remade for the 80s version (as well as for another anthology series or two). Steve McQueen and Peter Lorre were in the original. I think the remake had Steven Bauer and John Huston.

 

They are on ME.TV. I dvr them and watch from time to time. They are fun, but mostly their ironic endings are not so ironic.

 

I love them all ! I am a big Hitchcock fan though.

 

just got season 2 last week

 

I’ve been binging the heck out of these. I am halfway through season six and find the series to be outstanding.

 

are there any plans in the US to continue on with Alfred Hitchcock Presents? we already have Seasons 1-5...it's been years...way too long to let the rest stay on the back burner!

 

is Season 6 out on DVD? where are you watching them?