I'm currently watching through the second season (which I rented before the first--not that it matters too much in an anthology series). Here's my comments on the episodes so far...

1. WET SATURDAY: Cedric Hardwicke's daughter has killed a man, but undeterred, he's come up with a perfect way around it. A bit too talky, but pretty fun--Hardwicke's unflappable dad and John Williams' sap work well. One of Hitch's most priceless finales.

2. FOG CLOSING IN: A disturbed woman's life changes when an aslyum escapee confronts her. While the beginning hints at a really scary episode, this comes off as more perplexing than anything else with an uninspiring ending. George Grizzard, an actor I like, is vaguely irritating as the simpleton escapee.

3. DE MORTUIS: Two men come to the conclusion that their buddy has killed his trollop of a wife. One of many "jumping to conclusions" episodes, but this one at least has a juicy ending.

4. KILL WITH KINDNESS: A batty couple plan on murdering a bum as part of an insurance fraud scheme. Hume Cronyn does his patented loony twit act and James Gleason is fun as the innocent victim. The ending could be better defined.

5. NONE ARE SO BLIND: Hurd Hatfield, an egotist supreme, plots to murder his rich aunt. A fine twist ending with very subtle direction (I had to go back and rewatch parts of it).

6. TOBY: A period piece--Jessica Tandy is a mysterious woman who comes to live in an apartment building with her unseen son. Nothing surprising or really that interesting, Tandy's typically fine work aside.

7. ALIBI ME: A cheap crook has impetuously killed his rival and desperately needs an alibi. A little long to get to the point, but a really fun twist ending. The show was always masterful at the "best laid plans" endings.

8. CONVERSATION OVER A CORPSE: Two batty sisters plot to kill a nasty real estate mogul who wants their property. Way, way too cutesy at the beginning--it gets better, but this sort of plot was done too many times this season (it comes off as basically an amalgamation of "Kill with Kindness" and "The Rose Garden").

9. CRACK OF DOOM: A compulsive gambler has stolen money in order to stay in the game. Tough to describe this episode, but a very good one. Robert Horton, a familiar AHP guest, turns in great work here.

10. JONATHAN: A young man with an unhealthy obsession with his father returns home for the funeral and confronts his stepmother. Not bad, but one expects a better ending than the out of left field revelation that we do get. Tough to really sympathize with any character.

11. THE BETTER BARGAIN: A corrupt businessman hires an assassin to kill his philandering wife. A twist ending that is so obvious that one rejects it as improbable, but fun anyway because of Henry Silva's performance as the poetry-quoting killer.

12. THE ROSE GARDEN: A book publishing house agent becomes concerned that his client's book too closely mirrors reality. Great atmosphere and setting (and great work by John Williams again)--doesn't really go anywhere though and what's with the "no tribble at all"-style ending in which the cast engages in hearty laughter?

13. MR. BLANCHARD'S SECRET: A mystery-loving suburbanite is convinced that her neighbor killed his wife. Sort of a light-hearted, distaff version of Rear Window--at no time do we really feel any suspense, but the performances are likeable, I suppose (Mary Scott, in the lead, is both charming and irritating at once). 2/3 of the stars of "Crack of Doom" appear. The best part is the intentionally overheated flashback "murder" scene.

14. JOHN BROWN'S BODY: A woman and her lover plan to drive her older husband insane. Finely paced episode with a weird but fairly satisfying (if obvious) twist ending.

15. CRACKPOT: A honeymooning couple is stalked by a mysterious "crackpot." After a wonderful mood-encrusted opening scene and a fine job by Robert Emhardt as the crackpot, this episode gets a little too Inner Sanctum-like. The ending makes very little sense (and one has to bust a gut at the policeman's line that this was "the only way we know how").

I got through a few more before I had to return the set.

16. NIGHTMARE IN 4-D: A nebbish becomes embroiled in a murder/love triangle in his apartment building. A great performance by Henry Jones in the lead and some fine atmosphere, but very confusing at times with the guilty party arrested on virtually no evidence.

17. MY BROTHER, RICHARD: An aspiring politican's psychopathic brother murders for him. Harry Townes is a lot of fun as the psycho (it's a good David Hyde Pierce role--like Niles on crack), but this episode suffers from padding (the long scene where the DA talks to the framed kid) and a wheezy resolution.

18. THE MANACLED: While being escorted to prison, a prisoner tries to convince his captor to let him go. Some sharp dialogue and a good story make this one a pretty solid episode (William Redfield, himself a nebbish actor, was young enough to make playing a crook realistic). The ending would have been better had it had some conection to the events beforehand.

19. A BOTTLE OF WINE: A jilted husband threatens malfeasance upon his wife's lover. Herbert Marshall and Robert Horton are quite good, but this is somewhat pointless. I'm also not sure what we're supposed to feel at the end--how is Horton a coward when Marshall says he poisoned him and locks him in and pulls a gun on him?

20. MALICE DOMESTIC: A writer may be being poisoned by his wife. A good, solid all-around episode (with a few red herrings). Excellent performance by the dog. The ending features one of Hitch's greatest zingers.

21. NUMBER TWENTY-TWO: A young man defiantly faces the police lineup and interrogation. Believe it or not, but it's a Very Special Alfred Hitchcock that takes on juvenile delinquency by showing the hard reality of prison (Hitch says so in the ending). Tough sledding, but an extremely young Rip Torn.

22. THE END OF INDIAN SUMMER: An insurance investigator tracks down a "black widow" killer. In retrospect, an extremely obvious plot twist, but a solid, well-done piece of work. Gladys Cooper is quite good as the old woman.

23. ONE FOR THE ROAD: A philandering salesman must contend with the jelaous emotions of his wife and his mistress. The ultimate in sleazy adulterers gets his! A little too stilted at times, though, and some performances could be better.

24. THE CREAM OF THE JEST: A has-been actor is determined to get back into show business. A superb performance by the great Claude Rains makes this one worthwhile, but there are just too many unexplained pieces of business to make the script a keeper. Just a few clearer lines would help the story along.

I now own Season One (and hope to eventually rent season two to finish it off).

So here's the beginning of season one reviews...

1. REVENGE: After his fragile wife is assaulted (read: rape), her husband is determined to exact revenge upon her attacker. A solid, moody piece, directed by Alfred himself, although one can see the ending coming pretty nicely.

2. PREMONITION: A pianist returns home, intent on finding out who murdered his father. Nice to see a young John Forsythe and a VERY young Cloris Leachman, but this is an obvious ending and not really that interesting an episode.

3. TRIGGERS IN LEASH: A western story about two men determined to fight a duel and a restaurant proprietor trying to prevent them. Ellen Corby is great as the owner, and it's neat to see a young Darren McGavin relentlessly overacting in his role. That said, the ending is pretty predictable (noticing a trend?), and it's kind of goopy stuff.

4. DON'T COME BACK ALIVE: An aging couple fake the wife's disappearance so she can be declared dead after a time and they can collect insurance. Excellent performances by Sidney Blackmer and Virginia Gregg in the leads, with a wonderfully obnoxious Robert Emhardt as a dopey insurance investigator. While one knows the scheme will not succeed, how it fails is interesting.

5. INTO THIN AIR: During the French World's Fair, a young woman's mother disappears and nobody at her hotel even remembers them checking in. A good old-hat mystery that flags a bit at the ending, using exposition rather than problem-solving. This one would have really worked better in a longer form.

Also notable is a pre-Andy Griffith Show Aunt Bea in "Revenge".

Supposedly, season three is now out, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere.

I found it at Schuler's Books in my home city.

I think my favorite from season one has to be "The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby", despite the fact that it has a bit of a believability problem. Still a classic. Also undeniable classics from the first season is "Back For Christmas" and "Breakdown", a holdover standby from classic radio.
In the second season I think "None are So Blind" takes the prize as the best of the season out of a fairly good field of candidates. This is because it has, as Mike said, one of the greatest impact surprise endings of the entire series. It kind of reminds me of the Twilight Zone's "Eye of the Beholder" in that both surprise endings are "hidden" during the show despite being on camera the whole time. But wheras the TZ episode completely telegraphs their surprise and makes it obvious in the first five minutes, the Hitchcock show hides theirs in a completely masterful fashion.
Another episode I found memorable from season two was "Father and Son". This was not really a crime/mystery story, and the ending wasn't really a "twist" ending, but kind of pognaint and a little sad.
Season three just may be the best ever of this show. It opens with one of the most bizarre entries in "The Glass Eye", featuring Captain Kirk William Shatner and supermidget Billy Barty. Nothing says a horror story like a ventriloquist's dummy. Personal favorite is Roald Dahl's "A Dip in the Pool", a classic tale inspired by a scene in his friend Ian Fleming's James Bond adventure "Diamonds are Forever". "Lamb to the Slaughter", another Dahl story, is probably the all-time best-remembered episode of this series. Another one I found memorable was "The Foghorn" which is eerily haunting in it's atmosphere, and the ending for it has to be one of the most devastating and depressing things I've ever seen on dramatic TV.

Oh I love that None are So Blind ending. It's the kind of ending where you go back and rewatch, and knowing the ending, note how obvious it is...but there's no way you're going to get it upon first viewing.

Here's some more from season two:

25-27. I KILLED THE COUNT: A three-parter (!) about a Scotland Yard investigator trying to find out who killed a dissolute count--he finds plenty of suspects who are eager to admit their culpability. While an okay story (which is very similar to Murder on the Orient Express), there's no reason why this should be a three-parter, and it feels padded. It does have a nice cast, with John Williams in a more comical version of his inspector role from Dial M for Murder, a smooth Alan Napier, and a very young Rosemary Harris.

28. ONE MORE MILE TO GO: After David Wayne kills his wife, he puts her body in his trunk and drives to dispose of it...shouldn't be too hard, right? A classic episode--there's no reason why we should sympathize with Wayne, but we squirm along with him as everything goes wrong on the little car trip. In case one couldn't tell by the very stylish direction, Hitch did this himself (witness the completely silent first third).

"I Killed the Count" is one of the series' very few real clunkers, the only multi-part AHP episode. The multipart format just doesn't work very well within the context of such a series, and the cliched "multiple confessors" mystery is uncompelling with a yawn-inducing pacing.

It seems like in these early epsiodes, John Williams, John Qualen and Robert H. Harris guested in just about every other show.

I mentioned Roald Dahl's various contributions to this series before - his droll macabre short stories which introduced elements of bizarre horror into the commonplace of everyday settings fit perfectly with the Hitchcock style. Dahl would in later years host his own anthology series (some episodes of which are currently availible on DVD) in which many of the Hitchcock episodes he wrote were remade for this series (usually inferiorly). Dahl's series also featured stories by other authors which had originally appeared on AHP, including Stanley Ellin's "The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby" and John Collier's "Back For Christmas" and "De Mortuis."

If you like classic horror/mystery anthologies from the black-and-white era, you might also like to check out Boris Karloff's Thriller, a series which was somewhat uneven but which produced some real classics.

Oh, my word, John Williams is all over the place in season two--with that three-parter, he feels like a permanent resident of the season.

29. VICIOUS CIRCLE: A young hood sells out his principles to work for a mobster, but will he eliminate his own girlfriend? Really odd to see Dick York as a hit man, but York nicely sells the character growing older in the final scenes. That said, it's a little too obvious what will happen, especially with the title.

30. THE THREE DREAMS OF MR. FINDLATER: A henpecked husband constantly dreams of his "fantasy girl," and eventually decides to plan his wife's murder. A trifling episode--the ending did catch me by surprise, but I'm not certain if it's particularly clever or not. Fun to see John Williams sans mustache (with a hilarious disguise in the ending).

31. THE NIGHT THE WORLD ENDED: An obnoxious reporter plays a trick on a drunken bum by convincing him the world will end at 11:45. A little obvious where things are going, but Russell Collins turns in a superb performance as the bum and the ending is a nice construction. That's a really young Harry Shearer as one of the boys the bum encounters.

32. THE HANDS OF MR. OTTERMOLE: In 1910's London, a serial killer stalks the streets. Some nice creepy atmosphere enlivens this, with sort of an unsettling ending--the very small cast does make identifying the killer a not too hard task. Theodore Bikel is marvelous as the martinet police sergeant, especially his end monologue.

33. A MAN GREATLY BELOVED: A little girl finds out a secret about her mysterious new neighbor. A little too cutesy (especially with narration by the girl), this is the kind of episode that probably would work best on paper as a story, as the actual point is fairly interesting (the story is by A.A. Milne). Cedric Hardwicke, as the neighbor, has good chemistry with the girl, and a very young Robert Culp shows up.

34. MARTHA MASON, MOVIE STAR: A housewife obsessed with her favorite actress kills her husband and tries to make it seem like he ran off with another woman. An okay episode--Judith Evelyn gives it everything she's got in the lead role and the ending is a nice instance of a double sting (the first sting is obvious, the second not as much).

35. THE WEST WARLOCK TIME CAPSULE: Fed up with his obnoxious brother-in-law, a taxidermist decides to use his work to help him out. Not as creepy as the setting would indicate, this fairly obvious episode benefits greatly from a strong performance by Henry Jones and one of the more annoying characters ever on the show in his brother-in-law (we're with Jones all the way).

FINALLY got my hands on a copy of Season 3! As soon as AZU-Oregon is over I'm going to watch a young Shatner in "The Glass Eye".

Hitch at the end of the episode "Disappearing Trick":

"Since this program is on film, and will probably be shown for many years to come, I should like to address my next remarks to those of you who are watching the show in the year 2000. Please write in at once and tell us what life is like. I'm quite curious."

Little did he know . . .

36. FATHER AND SON: A wastrel of a son stoops to the lowest sort of double-dealing in order to get money for his latest venture. Terrific performances by Edmund Gwenn and Charles Davis as the title characters--the ending is perhaps a little too muted to suit me. It's the sort of thing that is a touch too subtle for AHP.

37. THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MR. WEEMS: Looking to drum up some customers for their graveyard, a group of businessmen opt to pay a subsidy for a dying man if he will be their first customer. One can easily see where this is going, but there are some fine performances from frequent guests Russell Collins and Robert Middleton, plus a light touch.

38. A LITTLE SLEEP: A party girl gets embroiled in a lover's triangle between two brothers. This episode takes one heck of a long time to get going, but Vic Morrow is very strong as the semi-retarded brother. Barbara Cook is pretty irritating in the lead role, but I think that's the point--the whole thing is "Of Mice and Men" as done by Hitch, really.

39. THE DANGEROUS PEOPLE: Two men at a train station become convinced that the other man is an escaped lunatic. Very much like a Rod Serling script, right down to the explicit moral at the end. Suspenseful, though, and I have to admit the guy playing the real psycho is pretty scary (a later thriller anthology would have that guy actually kill the two other men, I bet).

Since Mike is taking on the task of reviewing seasons one and two, I figured the least I could do is chip in by offering my capsule reviews of season three. The one thing that strikes me as I go through this set is that there is a number of episodes that I have absolutely no memory of ever having seen before. I thought I’d seen all the episodes of this show back when it ran on a local affiliate back when I was in high school. Anyway, here’s the offerings from the first disc of season three.


THE GLASS EYE:
I’ve already commented on this one earlier on this board as well as on the William Shatner board in the Classic Trek section. Suffice it to say, it’s one of the series classics and one of the more grotesque, almost Twilight Zone-esque episodes.

THE MAIL ORDER PROPHET:
A businessman (E.G. Marshall) begins receiving letters from an anonymous individual who gives him tips on elections, sporting events, etc. - all of which prove unerringly true. The attempts of a co-worker (Jack Klugman) to convince him it is a scam become more and more difficult with each correct prediction as Marshall’s character begins to make a tidy profit off his mysterious benefactor. Clever, intriguing story with a neat ending.

THE PERFECT CRIME:
One of the ones directed by Hitchcock, although I can’t remember it very well if at all. Despite the presence of Vincent Price, this is a pretty run of the mill revenge tale. Nothing very much special.

HEART OF GOLD
An ex-con finds a home with the family of a former cellmate, who welcome him with open arms which conceal ulterior motives. The ending to this one isn’t so much a surprise as it is a downer.

SILENT WITNESS
Don Taylor stars as a man who murders a troublesome lover - and the only witness is the small infant she was babysitting. That’s okay, he can’t be implicated by a little baby who can’t even talk . . . or can he? Good, suspenseful, story.

REWARD TO FINDER
A somewhat cliched storyline of a poor but honest couple who find a lost wallet full of money, only to have it predictably bring out the worst in them. The performances of Oscar Homolka and Jo Van Fleet are what makes this one worth watching.

ENOUGH ROPE FOR TWO
Another AHP episode which was originally done on radio shows such as Suspense and the Mysterious Traveler. This one concerns a rather routine tale of thieves falling out and trying to doublecross each other.

Nice start, Todd! Keep 'em up...

And now back to season one...

6. SALVAGE: A criminal gets released from jail and plots revenge on the woman he blames for his brother's death--he seems to be taking an odd way to do it, though. A fairly predictable episode, although the central perversity behind the plan is an interesting one.

7. BREAKDOWN: A businessman gets into a car accident and becomes paralyzed, unable to move at the scene. He desperately tries to get someone to notice he is still alive. One of the more remembered episodes--an utter corker of a script (with some nice literary flourishes, pay attention to the dialogue at the beginning), great direction by Hitch himself, and a great job by Joseph Cotten. Certainly one of the more uncomfortable episodes to watch.

"Breakdown" is another episode that was originally done on the Suspense radio show.

"Salvage" was written by none other than TV producer extrodinare Fred Freiberger. You may have heard of him.

I was all ready to post my disc two reviews the other night, but somehow I managed to lose them before I got them posted safely. I'll have to retype them again from scratch.

Season Three, Disc Two

Well, sorry to report that this disc contains the lull point of an otherwise excellent season. Simply put, almost none of these eight offerings are exceptional or even very memorable and nearly all are eminently predictable. Ah well, to the reviews anyway.

LAST REQUEST
A man is on death row for a crime he didn't commit, but plans to posthumously confess the crime he actually did commit to show up the authorities. You can see where this one's headed, can't you?

THE YOUNG ONE
A thrill-seeking young girl tries to enlist her boyfriend to murder her domineering aunt. When he refuses, she commits the murder herself and tries to frame a dashing stranger for it, only to predictably fall afoul of her own scheme.

THE DIPLOMATIC CORPSE
One of the more enjoyable offerings on disc two, this episode neatly demonstrates Hitchcock's brand of black humor. Shades of The Trouble With Harry, only in reverse!

THE DEADLY
A housewife is set up for blackmail by a wolfish plumber, only to turn the tables on him in an utterly predictable fashion.

MISS PAISLEY’S CAT
Dorothy Stickney’s performance is the key to this story of an old woman seeking to avenge the murder of her cat by a mobster neighbor in her apartment building.

NIGHT OF THE EXECUTION
Easily the best of the offerings on disc two. A young and ambitious prosecuting attorney suffers a moral dilemma when he wins a big case only to have another man confess to the crime to him. But since he’s a lawyer, it’s not a terribly perplexing moral dilemma and the only question remaining is how to silence the man. I should make some mention here that this season we are starting to get some early contributions from author Henry Slesar, who would go on to become one of AHP’s most prolific story providers. Slesar also provided a few stories for the Twilight Zone (both the original and eighties versions).

THE PERCENTAGE
Somewhat listless tale of a successful mobster who is convinced that a former partner in crime just released from prison wants to blackmail him. Experienced viewers of mystery programs won’t be very surprised by the ending.

TOGETHER
During a holiday celebration, a man accidentally locks himself in a room with the secretary he has just murdered. Not nearly as suspenseful or interesting as it sounds.

Veteran watchers of AHP may notice that every episode seems to end with one of three musical cues:

The horrifying surprise ending theme,

the mildly ironic surprise ending theme,

and the amusing surprise ending theme.

Obviously AHP didn't have the variety of music that the Twilight Zone had.

I've read the story of "Night of the Execution," and it is brilliant.

I know the horrifying theme and the amusing theme, but I'm not sure what the ironic surprise theme is.

Also, true AHP fans will appreciate the full version of the the theme played at the end in occasional episodes (that begins with the build-up to the march).

Hey, Todd, I seem to recall seeing a different version of "Breakdown" that ended with the guy who had been fired at the beginning coming in in to identify the body, seeing the tear, but doing nothing to save his despicable ex-boss. Was this on the new AHP or some other program?

That was on the version of Alfred Hitchcock Presents which aired during the mid-eighties and remade several of the old episodes as well as recycling colorized footage of Hitch's intros and outros.

"Mr. Blanchard's Secret" is one use of the "mild irony" theme I can think of off the top of my head.


Here’s the third disc reviews. I should have mentioned this earlier, and I would be remiss if I did not point out now that in terms of the series’ scripts, the great Stirling Silliphant has a hand in several of them (mostly based on the stories of other authors). SS this season contributes teleplays for “The Glass Eye”, “The Perfect Crime”, “The Return of the Hero”, “The Canary Sedan” and “Little White Frock”.

SYLVIA
Poor Sylvia has just had her marriage broken up by her father. Unaware that her husband was a cad, the distraught young woman purchases a gun. Will she use it on her husband, her father, or herself? The ending to this one is almost identical to the earlier “The Young One”.

THE MOTIVE
Skip Homeier portrays a crime buff who intends to conduct a little experiment in police psychology, unaware that he is being set up as a patsy.

MISS BRACEGIRDLE DOES HER DUTY
When an old maid decides to take a trip to Paris with her lifetime savings, she becomes embroiled in an embarrassing and rather dangerous situation. One of the attempts at a more light-hearted episode, but not without an edge.

THE EQUALIZER
Martin Balsam plays a milquetoast type who turns homicidal when his wife is stolen from him by a strapping young Leif Erikson. He demands that his rival accept his challenge of an old-fashioned gun duel. Fairly predictable outcome.

ON THE NOSE
One of the less inspired semicomic episodes of AHP features a housewife who can’t seem to shake her gambling addiction.

GUEST FOR BREAKFAST
A bickering couple is forced to lay their own differences aside for the moment when an escaped killer enters their house and holds them hostage.

THE RETURN OF THE HERO
A young soldier returning from the French-Algerian war contacts his upscale family, who express dismay at the thought of him bringing home a maimed comrade to their prim and proper estate. Good story with a mutedly ironic denounement.

THE RIGHT KIND OF HOUSE
Familiar guest star Robert Emhardt plays a man who is in the market for a house - and he isn’t fazed at the outrageous asking price demanded by the little old lady who owns the one he has his eye on. Another story which the performances of the leads make enjoyable despite its predictability.

8. OUR COOK'S A TREASURE: A man begins to suspect that the new family cook is actually a notorious poisoner. Good episode with strong performances by Everett Sloane and Beulah Bondi. The character actor geek like me will have fun spotting Doris Singleton and Olan Soule.

9. THE LONG SHOT: A gambler desperately needs money and may get it by getting wrapped up in an inheritance scheme. Nice, solid episode--not great, but definitely keeps your interest. I wonder if Peter Lawford requested that he get sole billing above the title.

Season three, disc four

THE FOGHORN
A standout from season three and one of the most haunting and chillingly effective episodes ever done by the series. Barbara Bel Geddes had some very memorable appearances on the show and this just may be the best of them. Here she plays a woman awakening in a hospital trying to recall via flashbacks how she got there. Similar to the first season’s “Never Again” in structure. Another stalwart character actor, Michael Rennie, lends his contributions to this one. Really plays on the viewer’s greatest fears of mortality and loss, this one will creep out and unsettle the viewer although there’s nothing really overtly horrific about the story - the terror is all of the subtle kind. One of the best, IMO.

FLIGHT TO THE EAST
Another flashback-oriented story concerning two strangers who meet on a plane; a famed war correspondent whose reputation has fallen into disfavor because of a personal crusade in attempting to prove a war criminal’s innocence, the other a former Army nurse who listens to his story. Clever tale with an effective twist at the end.

BULL IN A CHINA SHOP
Another “black comedy” epsiode, a tribute of sorts to Arsenic and Old Lace. Four eccentric old ladies befriend a homicide detective. Notable for it’s casting, including Estelle Winwood, who was typically excellent in the role of “is she senile or not” old woman.

DISAPPEARING TRICK
When a young male tennis player befriends a woman player, his curiosity about her husband’s mysterious disappearence almost proves his undoing. Nothing spectacular, although ending is notably humourous in the manner of season two’s “Malice Domsetic”. Robert Horton, an actor with classic handsome leading-man features and presence, is another of those familiar faces who made many appearances on AHP.

LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER
Probably the best-remembered AHP episode ever. Not too many people who cite this show realize that it was based on a story originally written by the author of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. While the end punchline probably isn’t all THAT terribly funny in retrospect, one can perhaps credit the performance of Barbara Bel Geddes to this episode’s becoming embedded into the popular consciousness. TV Guide voted this as one of the top 100 episodes of all time in a 1997 issue.

FATAL FIGURES
An enjoyable little farce in which actor John McGiver (a kind of a hard-bitten version of John Fiedler) plays a man who is obsessed with crime statistics, to the point that he begins to relish his own potential role in inflating them.

DEATH SENTENCE
A man who was involved in a past robbery has his idyllic life disturbed when a former accomplice returns from jail and begins to put the touch on him. Okay, I thought while watching this one, it’s “The Percentage” all over again. But the ending to this one did genuinely come as a surprise to me.

THE FESTIVE SEASON
The season isn’t too festive for a man and his sister who carry on a perpetual feud that threatens to become deadly. Another contribution by veteran mystery writer Stanley Ellin, an author whose style (like Roald Dahl and John Collier) perfectly fit the Hitchcock format.

Hey these intros and outros by Hitch are half the fun in watching this show. He’s certainly a much less pretentious host than Rod Serling, you gotta admit. Although Rod himself did occasionally indulge in some fun with the role, such as at the end of that Keenan Wynn Twilight Zone episode about the man who had everyone’s life on tape. Like one early critic said, “The best thing about Alfred Hitchcock Presents is Alfred Hitchcock presenting.”

10. THE CASE OF MR. PELHAM: Mr. Pelham becomes convinced that an exact double of him is taking over his life. A very odd, Twilight-Zone like episode (in fact, TZ did pretty much the exact same plot) which is very, very ambiguous in its ending. Very creepy at times--Tom Ewell seems to be overacting at first, but it's more to counterpoint his fine work as the "other" Mr. Pelham.

11. GUILTY WITNESS: A couple who operate a local grocery store become suspicious when the abusive husband disappears and the wife begins acting suspicious. Kind of ho-hum episode--great work by Joe Mantell and Judith Evelyn though (interesting that Evelyn appears in this take-off of "Rear Window"--she was in that movie). The ending revelation is more odd than anything else, although it does feature the "mildly ironic surprise ending" that Todd alluded to above.

12. SANTA CLAUS AND THE TWELFTH AVENUE KID: An ex-con gets a job as Santa, and the Christmas spirit begins to run off. An incredibly predictable episode, but hey, it's Christmas, and it's harmless. Nice work by Barry Fitzgerald and Virginia Gregg. The best part is Hitch's wonderful intro in which he lays a booby trap for Santa.

Could "The Case of Mr. Pelham" be television's very first-ever "evil twin" episode?

The Twilight Zone episode "Mirror Image", as Mike said, had the same story premise. But the two episodes approached the subject matter stylistically very different. While the Zone kept hitting you over the head with the idea ("Look! Vera Miles and Martin Milner have identical duplicates! Isn't that WEIRD!?!"), the AHP episode treated the idea with much more understated subtlelty, and I think that it has a slightly more chilling impact as a result.

13. THE CHENEY VASE: An unscrupulous museum curatorial assistant wheedles his way into the home of an invalid in order to obtain her priceless vase that she refuses to sell to the museum. Creepy work by Darren McGavin--one does perhaps expect a bigger "punch" in the ending, but it's definitely a great twist ending. Carolyn Jones appears.

14. A BULLET FOR BALDWIN: After being fired by his boss, a nerdy filing clerk shoots him...so why is he still alive the next day? A mystifying premise becomes fairly obvious as time goes on (especially the ending set-up). However, anything with Sebastian Cabot cannot be that bad.

I always thought "Baldwin" was the most ridiculous of the first season episodes, at least from a pure story perspective. But Qualen and Cabot are both superb in it.

Anyway, let's wrap up the season three reviews with disc five.

LISTEN, LISTEN
Funny thing about this one. I can remember seeing it back in the day and totally recalled the plot (about a timid man who has a theory about the latest in a rash of serial killings but who can't get the police to listen to him). But I couldn't remember exactly how this one came out, and you'd think I would have recalled an ending as memorably shocking as this one. One of the best of the season, which you reflect on afterwards and realize the subtle little hints that were spead along the way.

POST MORTEM
Yet another little black comedy with an edge. Joanna Moore plays a woman whose inheritance of a winning lottery ticket makes her a marked woman. Memorably amusing final scene.

THE CROCODILE CASE
Easily the weakest episode of the disc. A man's "perfect murder" is threatened by his ditzy mistress's attachment to her handbag. Uncompelling and predictable.

DIP IN THE POOL
A personal favorite and a classic on the order of "Lamb to the Slaughter". Stars the always-great Keenan Wynn. Roald Dahl apparently based this one on a scene in his friend Ian Fleming's James Bond asventure Diamonds are Forever. One of the series' all-time great snap endings. It has to be performed and executed just perfectly in order to work, and it is.

THE SAFE PLACE
Frequent guest Robert H. Harris is back yet again, this time as a bank executive who decides to embark on an elaborate embezzlement scheme. Nothing special here at all, except for a chance to again see Harris's patented look of open-mouthed shock at the denounement of the episode.

THE CANARY SEDAN
In this atmospheric tale, Jessica Tate stars as a phony medium who begins getting what appear to be actual spirit visions. You'll need to pay attention closely to "get" the ending to this one.

THE IMPROMPTU MURDER
Utterly routine tale of a small town's leading citizen murdering the woman who holds the keys to his skeleton closet. Ending you can see coming a mile away.

LITTLE WHITE FROCK
Season ends on a fairly strong note with this decent episode. Doesn't look like much on paper, in fact it's a downright cliched storyline, but dramatically the whole thing hinges on a soliloquy, and we've got the best in the biz writing the screenplay for this one.

Okay, there's the buzz on season three of AHP. Rent it yourself from your net DVD service today. And hey, Universal, let's not wait a whole 'nother year for year four, 'kay?

15. THE BIG SWITCH: In order to kill his ex-girlfriend, a crook turns to a professional alibi supplier. Surely nothing can go wrong, right (and if you answer yes, go back and watch the previous episodes)? A little broad (the confrontation sequence is particularly grating), but it has a funny little kick of an ending. Eh.

16. YOU GOT TO HAVE LUCK: A con on the run takes a woman hostage. John Cassavetes does his patented psycho act well, and there's a nice tinge of suspense to the proceedings. The ending is certainly surprising, but it seems pretty incredible (and I have no idea how the woman's mother reaches that conclusion so quickly). Sort of a weaker version of "None Are So Blind."

17. THE OLDER SISTER: A reporter ventures into the Lizzie Borden murder house one year later to find Lizzie and her nervous older sister. A really odd episode--more of a character piece than any sort of dramatic story.

18. SHOPPING FOR DEATH: Two ex-insurance salesmen try to warn people who are engaging in risky behavior--their first "client" is a real battleaxe. This is also something of a character piece--it doesn't quite work as a filmed story, but Jo Van Fleet is superb as the housewife.

19. THE DERELICTS: When a man kills his silent partner to get out of debt, a derelict witnesses it and blackmails his way into the man's house. A tidy, fine story, greatly enlivened by Robert Newton's typically enjoyable overacting as the derelict.

20. AND SO DIED RIABOUCHINSKA: After a man is killed at a stage show, a detective zeroes his investigation in on a ventriloquist who seems to be obsessed a little too much with his dummy. A really freaky episode--there's really nothing surprising about it, but the depth of the obsession on display is kind of kinky for the '50s. Claude Rains is, as always, terrific (doubtless the only time he shared the screen with Charles Bronson too).

21. SAFE CONDUCT: While on a reporting trip through East Germany, a reporter is approached and asked to smuggle a piece of jewelery across the border. Fairly predictable stuff, but the trivia hound will go crazy for the sight of Sgt. Schultz and Colonel Klink in the same episode!

22. PLACE OF SHADOWS: A man journeys to a monastery to find a guy who fleeced him, but finds the monks have given him sanctuary. Not a great episode, but the offbeat setting helps. It's a little goopy for AHP, but the ending did really surprise me for some reason.

23. BACK FOR CHRISTMAS: An Englishman plans to murder his wife and use a trip to America as a way of escaping discovery. I heard this on the "Escape" radio show--it plays to the sort of perverse humor AHP enjoyed, as we squirm along with the killer in his laborious efforts. It's a touch too slight for a half hour, but it has a good final kicker.

24. THE PERFECT MURDER: Two brothers (including Hurd Hatfield again) want to murder their rich aunt (again--geez, Hurd, give it a rest) to get their inheritance a little sooner. Pretty good episode--the kicker is a little obvious, but Hurd and Mildred Natwick are a lot of fun.

25. THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN: A husband and wife pair of fortune hunters enter an insane old woman's home to get her money. An odd little episode--the plot is a tad obvious, but Estelle Winwood is typically entertaining as the old woman, and the ending revelation is a nice bit of business. Charles Bronson's knife-wielding psycho character is sort of jarring though.

26. WHODUNNIT?: A murdered mystery writer (John Williams again!) gets the opportunity to go back to the day of the murder to find out who did it. A droll, fluffy work with Alan Napier quite good as the angel. Probably comes off better on paper. That's Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake) as Williams' wife.

27. HELP WANTED: A poor soul (John Qualen again!) who needs money for his wife takes a mysterious job which soon proves to have sinister implications. Pretty good episode with a wonderfully evil job by Lorne Greene, but the ending is sort of flat-fisted and lacks any real punch.

28. PORTRAIT OF JOCELYN: After his wife has disappeared, a man marries again, but soon finds signs that his wife could be very much alive. Way too Inter Sanctum-like and takes a long time to get to a predictable ending (which is spoiled in the summaries on the DVD--don't read any of these, folks). It IS fun seeing Mr. Drysdale solve the crime, though.

29. THE ORDERLY WORLD OF MR. APPLEBY: An antiques dealer obsessed with order and collecting murders his wife for her money and then begins wooing a spinster to get additional funds. Certainly keeps one interest--yes, the believability factor, as Todd pointed out, is quite low, but who could resist that final twist? Robert H. Harris' "patented look of open-mouthed shock," as Todd astutely notes, is on display all throughout this episode.

30. NEVER AGAIN: An alcoholic woman tries to kick the habit, but the pressure is getting to her. More of a Lifetime Alfred Hitchcock Presents (or a Very Special episode) that is a little (okay, a lot) obvious, but Phyllis Thaxter gives it everything she's got in a tour de force. Louise Allbritton is miscast as a predatory woman.

31. THE GENTLEMAN FROM AMERICA: An American takes a bet to stay in a haunted house. Quite a creepy episode what with the atmosphere and the well-done "ghost." One of those episodes where the general idea of the twist is obvious, it's just the specific implementation of it that might be a surprising.

32. THE BABY-SITTER: Thelma Ritter is a baby-sitter who gets embroiled in the death of one of her employers. An odd episode--seems like it's going to be a comedy at first and then it ultimately becomes very dark and one of the more depressing episodes. My DVD does not have a Hitch intro.

33. THE BELFRY: After a man kills his rival for his love's affections, he hides out in the belfry of the school where she works. A reasonable episode which would have more punch if the villain wasn't a moron. Pat Hitchcock, usually a good actress, turns in a lousy performance here by straining to do a Southern accent.

34. THE HIDDEN THING: A man's fiance is killed in a hit-and-run accident, so he engages in a "total recall" method of restoring his memory to remember the license plate. Old home week with Biff McGuire and Robert H. Harris--some interesting direction and ideas doesn't make up for a really lame ending.

35. THE LEGACY: A mysterious Indian prince begins romancing the plain wife of a businessman. A well-written, mature episode whose only flaw, I think, is a slightly rushed ending. Nick at Nite once pointed out that the episode was somewhat remade as an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (in a comic format) with Jacques Bergerac again as the playboy.

36. MINK: A woman's mink stole turns out to have been stolen and she can't trace where she obtained it from. An okay episode with an interesting point. Two debits: a real doofus of a villain and another rushed ending (most endings with the one theme Todd didn't mention--the bombastic all's-well-that-ends-well theme--are rushed).

37. DECOY: A man confronts the husband of the woman he's in love with only to be framed for the other man's murder. A really obvious ending (which at least the episode admits to us is obvious), but a good, tidy mystery. Jack Mullaney is fun in another of his gallery of hep weirdos, and that's a really young Frank Gorshin as the killer.

38. THE CREEPER: A killer is on the loose and a paranoid woman is convinced she is the next victim. An obvious twist, but a suspenseful episode anyway with good performances, especially from Harry Townes and Percy Helton as red herrings.

39. MOMENTUM: A man desperate for cash steals from his ex-boss and accidentally kills him, prompting a manhunt. I liked this quite a bit--Joanne Woodward appears as the wife, and it's a solid, fast-moving episode to finish the season. The ending twist I suppose is rather obvious in retrospect, but it completely blindsided me.

Todd has already nicely summarized the third season, so I'll make my comments succint. Also, is it just me, or is the extreme usage of the recurring cast dramatically cut down this season? I'm guessing that with a hit on his hands, Hitch could draw on a bigger pool of performers.

1. THE GLASS EYE: This is a really creepy show, although some might sneer that the ending is wheezy. Shat is on hand, managing to let loose his old ham nature for a few scenes, but this is mostly Jessica Tandy's show. The ending is very nicely directed.

2. MAIL ORDER PROPHET: Two of the twelve angry men! An interesting plot--I had heard of the scam before, but just didn't make the connection. Kind of TZ like, but I'm sure it would have been more moralizing there.

3. THE PERFECT MURDER: Hitch either made his episodes visually stunning or mundane. This is like his "Wet Saturday"--mundane. Now, anything with Vincent Prince in it can't be all bad, and there is some sharp dialogue, but this is merely a so-so episode. Why cast Price if you're not going to let him ham it up?

4. HEART OF GOLD: For those who've always wanted to see Dobie Gillis beaten up, here's your chance. Good episode--the ending revelation, as Todd pointed out, is depressing and, for me at least, surprising. The beginning of this episode is kinda trite, but it gets much better--Nehemiah Persoff is a little too old for his part, but is a lot of fun. That's Uncle Leo (Len Lesser) as one of the thugs.

5. SILENT WITNESS: This is a fine episode with the usual "cover up the murder" hijinks. My only quibble is that the ending isn't as defined as it should be--it seems that the killer gives up too easily. We really should have seen more to show us why he confessed (other than that, it's a very clever idea).

6. REWARD TO FINDER: Good episode with strong performances, but pretty unpleasant--the couple's battling is kind of tough to watch at times. I was actually expecting a different twist, but I think I was confusing this with a different episode I remember.

7. ENOUGH ROPE FOR TWO: Tidy episode that greatly benefits from its change of pace setting in the Mojave desert. Nothing blatantly wrong with it, but it does come off as a rep company version of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre."

Re - "Mail Order Prophet"
I thought this episode would have been more effective if they had not revealed that Marshall's stock had come through until the very, very end. That would have left a little ambiguity to Klugman's final line, and made the ending more of a kicker.

Believe it or not, the "amusing" ending musical theme of AHP can also be heard closing out episodes of Leave It to Beaver.

In "The Glass Eye", part of William Shatner's voiceover monolgue includes the line of dialogue: "The loneliness and desolation of her life were beyond belief, though she herself was unaware of just how lonely and desolate it really was." Stirling Silliphant would use this exact same line again, almost completely word for word, in the Route 66 first-season epsiode "Incident on a Bridge."

8. LAST REQUEST: Not a bad story, but man, the twist is so lame you think of it as soon as it starts and then decide that there's no way that they're going to make that the twist. What a maroon of a bad guy--although he does knock off two women in one episode.

9. THE YOUNG ONE: Kind of overheated. Carol Lynley's girl, who is apparently suffering from a heap of psychological ailments, is interesting, and it's nice t

Oops, got cut off there--should have said "nice to see Vince Edwards and that guy who always plays a bazillion cops on AHP and the ending is interesting, but it's just too soapy."

10. THE DIPLOMATIC CORPSE: A droll story, nice to see the contrast between blustery George Peppard and sly Peter Lorre (the Chris Walken of his day?). Not QUITE enough story to sustain the whole running time.

11. THE DEADLY: This episode starts off very well with its suggestion of looming rape and frivolous lawsuits (there is a great undercurrent of suspense in the bedroom scene). It then shows its period by completely chickening out and giving us Milquetoast Villain.

12. MISS PAISLEY'S CAT: Well, the rep company has started to appear again (Mary Scott in 10, Phyllis Thaxter in 11, now Dorothy Stickney here). This episode was incredibly irritating to begin with, but it got a nice edge to it at the halfway mark. The ending is kind of funny, actually.

13. NIGHT OF THE EXECUTION: Good episode with Pat Hingle in typically fine form (and Russell Collins again!). It unnecessarily pads the story, which helps to dilute some of its impact, and it makes Hingle's character more sympathetic than the story did, but it's still a fine piece of work.

14. THE PERCENTAGE: I'm not sure on your plot summary, Todd--there's no indication that Pete was a partner in crime or imprisoned at all. This is an okay episode--the pathetic Eddie and his slavish devotion to his friend is interesting (like Of Mice and Men in reverse), but the ending revelation is somewhat bonkers and not really in keeping with anything.

15. SYLVIA: Good performances by Ann Todd and John McIntyre--sort of like a less overheated version of "The Young One," as Todd pointed out. Still, it's a long way to go for not much payoff.

16. THE MOTIVE: Interesting episode with a nice suspenseful scene of murder. The ending is a somewhat predictable revelation but not enough to seriously dampen the proceedings--the first act with the bad drunk acting is a little tiresome I must admit.

17. MISS BRACEGIRDLE DOES HER DUTY: Really irritating at the beginning before it generates its plot. Mostly gets its juice from a fine performance by Mildred Natwick, but not one of my favorites.

18. THE EQUALIZER: Fairly predictable stuff (and a lame ending) but nice work by Martin Balsam and Leif Erickson. Erickson is especially good as someone who is not evil (well, not at the start), just amoral--he truly doesn't understand why Balsam is mad he slept with his wife!

19. ON THE NOSE: Nice work by Jan Sterling. The episode itself works for the most part, but some might quibble with the ending which seems wholly inappropriate with the previous contents--and if supposed to be dramatic irony, then it is done in a cutesy manner. The character of the faux cop/rapist is kind of heady stuff for the time.

20. GUEST FOR BREAKFAST: The dialogue in this one is through the roof--it's like the scripter imagined a home where George Sanders is the husband. While it's mildly predictable where things are going, the suspense factor is high and the central dilemma (couple taken hostage who don't like each other) is fascinating. One of the greatest zingers ever too: "Name some books you've published." "I don't think that would help you. We don't publish comic books."

21. THE RETURN OF THE HERO: Takes a little long to get going--it seems overly theatrical at first what with the one set, but as it turns out, the direction is very important. Good performances--the ending is predictable but not that predictable and a good one.

22. THE RIGHT KIND OF HOUSE: A little too predictable and contrived--the performances by Jeanette Nolan and Robert Emhardt are fine, but it just becomes a little too simple for my tastes.

23. THE FOGHORN: Very well performed by Barbara Bel Geddes and Michael Rennie, with a nice ominous atmosphere of the shadowy hospital room-driven flashbacks. The leitmotif of the foghorn is nice and the ending is rather surprising. This is sort of like a less self-destructive version of "Never Again," as Todd pointed out.

24. FLIGHT TO THE EAST: A flashback driven tale which nicely subverts the viewer by presenting two wildly disparate flashbacks which could both be true. While each of the potential endings could turn into fantastic melodrama, it is nice that the writers opt for the least fantastical.

25. BULL IN A CHINA SHOP: Kind of tedious, actually, although Estelle Winwood is always fun. Sort of indistinguishable from a host of "crazy old people committing murder" AHP episodes, although we at least have a sympathetic, enjoyable protagonist.

26. DISAPPEARING TRICK: An interesting episode--Horton is quite good as the not-quite good guy, and the final twist certainly is entertaining. Not quite as ominous as we may expect it to be.

27. LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER: Sadly, an over familiarity with the plot takes away the edge from a subversive little joke. A touch overrated episode--Barbara Bel Geddes is superb, but the episode feels like it's waiting around to get to the punchline.

28. FATAL FIGURES: An odd show, to say the least--John McGiver's accent makes his character unique. If one pays attention to the almanac when he opens it, one can easily dupe out where McGiver will likely go in his plan...the ending is kind of jarring today, using a suicide almost as a cheap joke (...but a funny one!)

29. DEATH SENTENCE: Steve Brodie as a real scumbag! I didn't really like this episode, although I had to admit it kept my interest. The ending was surprising, but I confess I really either didn't get the impact of the wife's reaction or the writer of the show didn't stress it out enough.

30. THE FESTIVE SEASON: A little theatrical, what with a few characters only seen in drama, but chock full of atmosphere. The ending makes an impact but (I think) is bonkers in light of earlier dialogue.

31. LISTEN, LISTEN!: Really full of atmosphere (and a neat twist in NOT having that guy who always plays cops play a cop). The ending certainly makes an impact--what a performance by the guest star (whose name is sadly escaping me).

32. POST MORTEM: Seems like a light comedy at first, but then it gets a little grimmer. Too predictable, although the final moments are certainly well directed and the ending is clever.

34. THE CROCODILE CASE: One of the first episodes I've seen, so it holds a place in my heart. Denholm Elliott is also very fine. I actually like this one quite a bit--yes, a lot of it is pointless and the mistress character is annoying, but the final twist is a nice example of good old fashioned mysteryness.

35. DIP IN THE POOL: Very entertaining episode, with Keenan Wynn perfectly cast. The ending, I suppose, could have been built up a little more, but I've complained enough about obvious endings.

36. THE SAFE PLACE: Robert H. Harris again! One can see where this episode is going a long ways away and one can be understandably confused as to why Harris thinks his teller's station is the "safest place of all" to hide his loot.

37. THE CANARY SEDAN: Did Jessica Tandy have a contract saying she would only be in episodes about tragic love affairs? This initially has a haunting, TZ-like nature about it, but it gradually straightens in scope. Excellent use of locations and a very surprising ending, although very slow-paced.

38. THE IMPROMPTU MURDER: Hume Cronyn's nefarious scheme is compelling enough that it really deserves a little better resolution than the muted one we get at the end. It's nice to have Cronyn playing a murderer and not a loony twit for once, but it's sort of lazy.

>what a performance by the guest star (whose name is sadly >escaping me).

I assume you mean Edgar Stehli? He also played the guy who discovered Walter Jameson's secret in the Twilight Zone.

>The ending, I suppose, could have been built up a little more, >but I've complained enough about obvious endings.

Actually, i thought "Dip in the Pool" had one of the least obvious, out of left field endings of the entire series.

I hope Universal does more of these sets. There's a lot of great episodes still to come.

Yes, Edgar Stehli. Thanks!

Sorry--I wasn't being clear about "Dip in the Pool." It's not an obvious ending...it's in fact quite surprising. But it really needs like a line of dialogue to clarify why the woman seems to so immediately doubt her own sanity. That's what I meant.

And yes, more sets. And no, I didn't forget the last episode.

Hulu.com appears to have the entire first season of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, which was what Alfred Hitchcock Presents was renamed when it switched from a half-hour to an hour beginning with the '62-63 season. It's been years since I've seen any of these, but I remember that the show was not as good in the hour format. The additional half-hour completely changed the makeup and complexion of the show - it became more of a physchological crime drama than tales of irony. Still worth a gander, though.

Hey, all three seasons of the Alfred Hitchcock Hour can now be seen online. I just got through watching a little bit of "Memo From Purgatory", starring Walter Koenig and written by Harlan Ellison.

Get this. The protagonist of the AHH first season episode "Black Curtain", potrayed by Richard Basehart, is a character named Pete Townshend. This conjures up images of Basehart smashing a guitar on stage and singing about "M-M-M-My Generation".

I did actually watch "The Little White Frock," guess I just forgot to post anything about it. It's a good episode, really, nice work by Herbert Marshall in what is a lighter version of "The Cream of the Jest." I have to admit the ending did surprise me.

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour does have some great episodes. "Anabel" is terrific, starring Dean Stockwell as a stalker (of Susan Oliver). Also outstanding is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "The Jar". Must see web TV.

In light of Universal's refusal to release any more AHP, I am currently in negotiations with a collector to purchase seasons 4-7 of the original AHP. My general policy is not to do this unless the show is unavailable on DVD (I bought or rented the previous seasons from the official Universal releases). If this comes through and it turns out to be decent enough quality, I will continue with my reviews.

I received the set, but I won't have any time to watch it until mid December after school is done. This will be a busy holiday because I also want to watch Law and Order: Season Six.

So I began watching the set. The quality is surprisingly good, although the discs occasionally skip. "Poison," the episode which led off season four, was also missing, although it may have just been incorrectly placed in order (I haven't viewed all the discs).

SEASON FOUR

1. DON'T INTERRUPT: A couple try to get their rambunctious son to be quiet aboard a stopped train. Kind of a chilling ending, although I don't know what the point of this storyline is. Chill Wills is fun as the cowboy stranger, and have some laughs by imagining Scatman Crothers is playing his same character from The Shining.

2. THE JOKESTER: A vicious practical joker makes a big mistake in pulling a prank on a morgue worker. I'm sure you can where this is going, can't you? That said, it's a fine ending, with a good job by Albert Salmi as the pathetic jokester. A young James Coburn is on hand.

It's been about twenty years or more since I've seen "Don't Interrupt", but I remember it well. I also remember "Poison" which considerably changes the ending of Roald Dahl's original story. It's possible I may have that one on an old VHS tape somewhere. I used to have more than a hundred AHP's on tape.

The fourth season also has another classic Bel Geddes episode, "The Morning of the Bride". This is one of the series' best, and can be seen as a sort of precursor to "Psycho". I hope your set isn't missing this one.

I can't complain about the set as it was ridiculously cheap. The quality of the episodes is, again, visually pitch-perfect (aside from a few jumps, which is probably due to scratches on the discs--there was sadly little packaging to speak of). The episodes appear to be recorded off of TV, so there may be syndication cuts. So far, each episode has been mislabeled by one, so "Poison" is actually the next episode, "Don't Interrupt." I wonder if this will eventually fix itself or if I will end up with a hour-long episode for the last ep on the set (I did not order any of the Hitchcock Hour episodes, which are all on Hulu.com).

3. THE CROOKED ROAD: A young couple find themselves in a nightmarish scam run by a small town "speed trap." Fairly unsubstantial stuff, but well done. Walter Matthau is great as the cop, basically playing an evil Andy Taylor.

Actually the Hulu collection of the "Alfred Hitchcock Hour" is missing five episodes, all from the second season.

"You'll Be the Death of Me"
"Blood Bargain"
"Goodbye, George"
"The Magic Shop"
"The Gentleman Caller"

Thanks for the info, Todd.

4. THE $2,000,000 DEFENSE: A lawyer comes up with an intriguing defense for his client (Leslie Nielsen). A compelling courtroom sequence can't save a basically ho-hum episode. The ending is sort of limp--was it supposed to be surprising?

The "$2,000,000 Defense" is one of those stories that is much, much better in print than on screen. I believe the original story was written by Harold Q. Masur. Ironically, I originally read Masur's story as a kid in one of those old hardback Alfred Hitchcock anthologies long before I ever saw the TV version. The last line of the original story was chilling enough to give me a sleepless night, as I recall.

Okay, I found "Poison."

5. POISON: In Malaya, a man swears that a snake has crawled into his bed and has fallen asleep on him. A little talky, but gives a good case of the squirms, especially to anyone watching this in bed. Wendell Corey is really good as the jackass onlooker--I always found Corey an interesting actor because his deep, powerful voice never seemed to match his small frame.

How does the original story end?

6. DESIGN FOR LOVING: A man decides to get away from his wife with the help of a marionette (or basically, a robot) version of himself. This Ray Bradbury story seems a mite padded out (what with the subplot about the friend), but the basic idea is good, Norman Lloyd is excellent in a dual role, and it resists obvious "gags."

7. MAN WITH A PROBLEM: After the destruction of his marriage, a man threatens to jump to his death from a hotel window. I gotta confess, the twist ending totally got me on this one--the dark humor ambience, the performances from the leads, and the straightforward telling completely suckered me. Others' mileage may vary. A very young Elizabeth Montgomery appears.

In Dahl's original story, the snake was not on the bed when the doctor and Woods finally managed to get the sheet off. However, unlike the TV version, the snake did not return, leaving it ambiguous in the story as to whether there was really a snake or if it was an alcoholic hallucination of Pope's. The ending of the story has Pope, under the strain of his recent experience and believing that the others think him a liar, hurls a racial epitaph at the native doctor who has just saved his life. Thus the "Poison" in the title refers to the virulent racism possessed by Pope, which was revealed in his moment of stress. The story is very much in the style of Somerset Maugham, like his close friend Ian Fleming Dahl was a Maugham admirer.

A recap and analysis of the story can be found here:

http://www.roalddahlfans.com/shortstories/pois.php

8. SAFETY OF THE WITNESS: After a meek gun store owner (Art Carney) witnesses a mob hit on another witness, he knows his time is about up unless he does something first. Carney, of course, is great, but the episode takes a long time to gel and doesn't really produce that great a resolution. I like the paper that printed the first witness' name and picture.

9. MURDER ME TWICE: A woman commits a murder under hypnosis, seemingly under the control of a spirit. An interesting idea, but really predictable stuff. AHP's oft-used players begin popping up again, with Mary Scott in 8 and Phyllis Thaxter here.

10. TEA TIME: Two women, a wife and the mistress, engage in a duel of wits over their mutual love. Fairly well written, but the ending is rather unsatisfying and there's a note of misogyny in the proceedings.

11. AND THE DESERT SHALL BLOSSOM: Two elderly prospectors face two problems--the city is ordering them off their property and a gangster shows up at their door. Well acted, especially by a restrained William Demarest, but a little self-congratulatory for a plot you can see coming a mile away.

12. MRS. HERMAN AND MRS. FENIMORE: A woman recruits one of her boarders to assist in murdering her wealthy uncle. Russell Collins again! A breezy, solid entry, with Mary Astor a pleasant guest star.

13. SIX PEOPLE, NO MUSIC: A funeral director is eager to plan the funeral of a wealthy citizen, only to discover that the guy is alive. Tough to describe this weird little tale, which is packed with dry humor. Not a whole lot happens, so it probably comes off better on paper, but it's undeniably entertaining. John McGiver, always good in these sort of oddball kook roles, is good here.

14. THE MORNING AFTER: A guy is having an affair, but his mistress' mother is determined to put the kibosh on the proceedings. Well acted, well written, with a good ending, but just not one of my favorites. Maybe it's the way it just seems to move from Point A to Point B in a plodding way.

15. A PERSONAL MATTER: A mine foreman suspects his new assistant of being a murderer. Solid entry for a while, coasting by on B-picture charm, but it never makes any sense and the ending revelation is just bonkers.

16. TOTAL LOSS: A desperate shop owner, eager to clear out her wares, considers extreme measures. Not a bad entry, but the ending revelation is telegraphed a mile long thanks to one of those PLOT POINT moments. Ralph Meeker, always good as smirking jackasses, is really good here.

17. THE LAST DARK STEP: A guy is stuck in that old bind of wife to be and mistress and decides to use that old standby of murder to resolve it. Robert Horton again! Some good ambience and a fairly nice twist ending. Solid entry.

18. THE MORNING OF THE BRIDE: A woman finally marries her boyfriend and is anxious to meet her mother-in-law. As Todd said, sort of a precursor to Psycho--amazing ambience throughout, although the story holds out from getting too explicit at times. Barbara Bel Geddes is great as usual and Don Dubbins has a really chilling reading of that final line.

19. THE DIAMOND NECKLACE: An about to be retired aged employee of a department store becomes embroiled in a robbery scheme. Pleasant if predictable stuff, with Claude Rains providing his usual reliable performance. His boss looks like James Gregory to me, but it's not.

20. OUT THERE--DARKNESS: After a woman turns down a request for money from her dog-walker, she is attacked. Bette Davis' performance is a little annoyingly mannered, but I guess that's the point. Kind of pointless episode, but moments of ambience and an interesting if rather muddled point.

21. RELATIVE VALUE: A man is eager to get his inheritance from his cousin, so he devises an ingenious murder plan. Starts off good, gets extremely talky at one point, but then we figure out why and it's a good stinger.

22. THE RIGHT PRICE: When a businessman's house is robbed by a burglar, things lead to an interesting business proposition. One of those familiar "man meets burglar" plots, but based on a good story by Henry Slesar. Eddie Foy Jr. makes odd but fine casting as the burglar.

23. I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU: A car dealer owner murders his wife, but must rely on his needy assistant for an alibi. Russell Collins and Ralph Meeker again. A good episode--we're sure something will go wrong, but probably not in that direction. The ending could be clarified a little better--I think I get it, but I'm not sure.

24. THE KIND WAITRESS: An elderly woman makes a kind waitress her sole beneficiary...surely nothing could go wrong here, right? I've read the original story--this one is slightly padded at the ending, but it still is a good episode. The only mystery is what the waitress sees in her jackass boyfriend.

From the All Movie Guide biographical article on actress Vera Miles:

"If she guest-starred in the pilot episode of a potential series, chances are that series would sell (among those sold were the aforementioned Alfred Hitchcock Presents . . ."

A couple of problems with this statement. In the first place, there technically was no real "pilot" episode per se for AHP. The series was pretty much green-lighted upon pitch and no pilot episode was required to sell it to the network.
In the second place, if any episode could have been said to be the pilot epsiode, it would be "Breakdown", which was actually the first episode filmed, and not "Revenge", Miles' episode.

Obviously I have a lot more episodes to go, but the horrors of grad school have intruded and I'm also wanting to get back on the Wild Wild West train again, so stand by.

This summer, in which I plan on doing nothing but possibly taking a foreign language course and some independent readings, should prove fertile TV-on-DVD watching grounds.

Oh, a few more.

25. CHEAP IS CHEAP: A very cheap husband decides it might be time to knock off his wife, who doesn't share his spendthrift habits. Pleasantly dark humor enlivens this episode, with a nice performance by Dennis Day in the lead.

26. THE WAXWORK: A reporter stays overnight in a wax museum of murderers. Some atmosphere here, but a wax museum practically creates its own atmosphere and the whole thing is a little cliched. Okay but not great.

Season four (1958-59) of AHP is up at hulu.com, although a couple of the episodes are missing. Also the first couple of episodes from the beginning of season five appear to be tacked onto the end of season four.

All right, back to work.

27. THE AVON EMERALDS: A detective attempts to prevent a woman from smuggling emeralds out of England. A little predictable, but a young and uncharacteristically bumbling Roger Moore makes it worth watching.

28. THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM: A washed-up actor is being blackmailed for his involvement in a young lover's death. Kinda feels like a series of conversations, and some overly familiar AHP actors make it a little uninteresting.

29. BANQUO'S CHAIR: In order to lay a trap for a murderer, a Scotland Yard investigator uses a fake ghost plan. Some admittedly creepy ambience and a fine cast make up for the fact that the twist becomes extremely obvious 3/4 of the way in, but it's the sort of twist that at least isn't insulting to one's intelligence.

30. A NIGHT WITH THE BOYS: After a young man loses his paycheck in a foolish poker game, he fakes being robbed to he doesn't have to tell his wife. Fine episode with good performances. The ending may be obvious to some, but it totally got me--I was expecting a far darker conclusion.

31. YOUR WITNESS: As an unscrupulous lawyer works on a hit and run case, his embittered wife wants a divorce. Very fine job by a very nasty Brian Keith, but this is fairly predictable stuff.

32. HUMAN INTEREST STORY: A reporter interviews a man claiming to be a Martian who has appeared on Earth. Steve McQueen is excellent as the reporter, and this is the one of the rare sci-fi episodes of AHP. While well written, it is quite predictable though and probably comes off better on paper.

33. THE DUSTY DRAWER: A man plots revenge against a bank teller using a hidden desk drawer. Kind of oddball to describe, using an interesting story with a threadbare premise. Dick York is terrific.

34. A TRUE ACCOUNT: A woman goes to a lawyer after believing her husband is attempting to kill her. This is one of the few episodes on my DVDs with really bad quality, but it's merely so-so anyway. The ending could have stood for better direction.

35. TOUCHE: A man uses a legal loophole to kill his wife's lover in a duel. Not a bad premise, but the ending can be seen coming a mile away and the revelation is clunkily handled.

36. INVITATION TO AN ACCIDENT: A man suspects his (female) friend's wife is trying to kill her by making it look like an accident. An okay episode with a decent ending, but Alan Hewitt's "1950's gay friend" performance doesn't work and Gary Merrill's look at the end of the episode is funny (it's more annoyance than shock).

Time for the fifth season.

1. ARTHUR: A chicken farmer tells us about how he murdered his ex-fiance. Laurence Harvey is ghoulishly effective in the lead role, and there's a nice amount of black humor here, although this is basically a more perverse version of "Lamb to the Slaughter." Patrick Macnee appears in this one and the next episode.

2. THE CRYSTAL TRENCH: A mountain climber becomes attracted to the widow of another climber who died in an accident. Sort of a slow moving episode, but a fine twist at the end. Perhaps more high-wattage star power may have helped. There's a big laugh when we see that it's Colonel Klink playing the guide of the ill-fated expedition.

3. APPOINTMENT AT ELEVEN: A messed-up kid seemingly plots murder against his father. Not the best move to lead off the fifth season with so many talky, psychological dramas, but this is a fine enough episode I guess even if it comes off as sort of pointless.

4. COYOTE MOON: A man finds his car commandeered by a crew of hitchhikers. A solid episode which lacks some of the histrionics of other entries. No big twist, but very compelling.

5. NO PAIN: A man confined to a respirator believes his wife is plotting to kill him. An interesting episode, although by its nature, it's quite talky and the ending doesn't quite have the required impact.

6. ANNIVERSARY GIFT: A man decides to murder his wife by preying on her love of animals. Funnier than it sounds with Harry Morgan drolly amusing as the would-be murderer.

7. DRY RUN: A gangster sends out a new recruit on a tryout mission to rub out a rival, but the rival has a sales pitch of his own. While the idea that Larry Tate is the head gangster is amusing, this is a good episode with a well-cast Robert Vaughn and Walter Matthau.

8. THE BLESSINGTON METHOD: In the not too distant future, with people living longer than before, a group decides to eliminate those elderly people who live just a bit too long. Weird episode, with the sci-fi setting sometimes threatening to muddle the issue, but Dick York and Henry Jones are both terrific.

9. DEAD WEIGHT: After managing to capture a mugger who accosted him and his mistress, a married man must decide what to do to avoid his affairs becoming public. Kind of creepy at the beginning with overtones of serial killers, but settles down into more traditional affairs. The ending lacks the impact one would like.

10. SPECIAL DELIVERY: A man's neighbor has mysteriously disappeared...what does this have to do with the local kids growing mushrooms? Truly weird episode that's a little too similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but the ending nicely straddles that line between ridiculous and chilling.

11. ROAD HOG: When his son dies as the result of a careless driver, the father plots an intricate revenge. Good episode with a young Richard Chamberlain and Robert Emhardt as possibly the worst of the many jerks he played on this show.

12. SPECIALTY OF THE HOUSE: A man introduces his friend to an elite club for gourmets, but just WHAT is in the "specialty of the house"? A little predictable as to the twist, but wonderfully ghoulish just the same. This season really snuck some stuff past the censors.

13. AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE: Ambrose Bierce's classic story of a Confederate spy set to be hung and his daring escape. While the story seems a little padded with some uncomfortable racial overtones, the actual twist is of course superb. A young James Coburn appears.

14. GRADUATING CLASS: A new teacher is alarmed when she sees her prize pupil hanging out at an apparently unsavory club. Excellent job by Wendy Hiller and a really sad episode actually.

15. MAN FROM THE SOUTH: A bet is made--if a man can get his lighter to flick on ten times in a row, he wins a car. If he doesn't, the other man gets to slice his little finger off. Steve McQueen and Peter Lorre are perfectly cast in this classic tale. While the ending seems annoying at first, it's worth it eventually.

16. THE IKON OF ELIJAH: An unscrupulous antiques dealer intends to steal a religious icon from a monastery. Not a bad tale, but with all the ghoulishness going on this year, one might expect a different resolution.

17. THE CURE: In the jungle, an oil driller's wife goes insane and tries to kill him. He ends her off to a doctor, but there's some scheming afoot. Takes way too long to get going, but some nice action and a wonderfully ghoulish pun. Note yet another accent by Nehemiah Persoff.

18. BACKWARDS, TURN BACKWARDS: A sheriff investigates the murder of a local man, with the prime suspect being the older man dating the deceased's daughter. Not bad, I suppose, but not overly interesting either. The sort of thing that one could see a bad TV movie made out of.

19. NOT THE RUNNING TYPE: A meek accountant has stolen a great deal of money. While he easily surrenders, he refuses to tell where the money is. Certainly keeps one's interest, but the ending revelation seems illogical and not worthy of story author Henry Slesar.

20. THE DAY OF THE BULLET: A man narrates a period piece of his childhood when he and his friend witnessed a gangster assaulting a victim. The '20s setting lends a certain cheesiness to the acting (especially the kids), but the actual psychological point is interesting.

21. HITCH HIKE: A politician and his niece pick up a hitchhiker who may be a dangerous ex-convict. A decent episode, but while the ending may be trying to tell us to not leap to conclusions, I can't blame anyone for wanting annoying beatnik hitchhiker Robert Morse out of their car (it's hard to believe he was in his late 20's when this was made).

22. ACROSS THE THRESHOLD: A man uses a phony seance to intice his controlling mother to kill herself. Again, not bad, but the ending is one you can both predict and recite the dialogue that will accompany it.

23. CRAIG's WILL: A dog has received an inheritance, and the actual heir and his girlfriend decide to bump it off. A funny tale with the peerless Dick Van Dyke and Stella Stevens. The actual revelation is kind of dumb, but this is a comedy.

24. MADAME MYSTERY: A PR man creates a big ad campaign about a recently slain star's upcoming film. But then she shows up alive. An okay episode, with an interesting twist. Joby Baker is a bit hard to take as usual as the PR man.

25. THE LITTLE MAN WHO WAS THERE: In a western town filled with brotherly love and the reforming spirit, a mysterious man shows up with apparently satanic powers. Truly weird for a while until we get the general idea. Norman Lloyd is always a suitably evil presence.

26. MOTHER, MAY I GO OUT TO SWIM?: A guy with a serious mother complex falls in love with a woman. Which leads to problems. Fairly predictable stuff, but William Shatner makes a nice mama's boy and Jessie Royce Landis is always good as an overbearing mother.

27. THE CUCKOO CLOCK: A woman is staying all alone in a cabin with a lunatic on the loose. Then a strange woman shows up...Nice atmosphere and good performances, but it strains credulity that both the real lunatic and the somewhat crazy woman are both wandering around the same area.

28. FORTY DETECTIVES LATER: A man hires another in a string of detectives to find his wife's killer. I've read the story and the ending has been slightly changed, which somewhat alters the impact, but it's fine. Jack Weston is always good as slimy folks.

29. THE HERO: On a ship, a man thinks he spots an old partner of his thought dead. Nice atmosphere for a while, but not much happens. The ending would be better if it wasn't so muddled (so the dude kills the other guy in the middle of his suicide attempt?!).

30. INSOMNIA: A man can't sleep--it might have something to do about the death of his wife in a fire. A little talky, but interesting, with a nice performance by Dennis Weaver. One expects a bigger twist.

31. I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF: When a singer spurns the attentions of a powerful gangster, it doesn't look good for her and her partner. Nothing really bad about this episode, but nothing happens. It has Point A and Point B, and the twist just seems dumb.

Man, you're way ahead of me Mike, I just got Season 4 today (courtesy of my brother).

Yeah, bootleg DVD's will do that for you. The fourth season is pretty good, but I think a stepdown from 3 and not quite as good as 5.

32. ONE GRAVE TOO MANY: A man really desperate for cash finds a dead guy and takes his wallet. But the guy may not be dead after all...Okay, it's nowhere near as ghoulish as this summary makes it seem, but it's still a very solid episode and the twist got me like a dummy.

33. PARTY LINE: An obnoxious woman hogs a party line, leading to a man's wife dying since he cannot call for a doctor. Later, he seeks murderous revenge. You can pretty much fill in the ending (the episode even plays fair and tips its hand near the end), but Judy Canova is great as the lead, and there's a really young Ted Knight. The main character's actions don't really make a lot of sense, mind you.

34. CELL 227: On death row, one convict quietly bides his time until his execution to get his revenge upon a guard. A little too slow for my tastes, and Brian Keith typically makes it hard to sympathize with or realy care about his characters.

35. THE SCHARTZ-METTERKLUME METHOD: A new governess has some wacky ways of teaching her charges. An amusing Saki story, a wonderful job by the always fine Hermione Gingold, but this is really light stuff that seems out of place on this show.

36. LETTER OF CREDIT: A writer investigating a bank robbery shows up to conduct a memorable interview with the bank president. An annoying giveaway twist at the beginning renders a surprise twist pretty obvious, but this is an okay episode.

37. ESCAPE TO SONOITA: Truckers are hijacked by some vicious kidnappers and left out in the desert. While fairly predictable stuff, this has a nice twist, a pre stardom Burt Reynolds, and a really despicable Murray Hamilton. I liked it.

38. HOOKED: A man married to a much older woman plots her murder after falling in love with the daughter of a fishing equipment store owner. Robert Horton again. Anne Francis is really hot in this episode too. Not a great show, but a twist I guess I didn't see coming.

Beginning the sixth season:

1. MRS. BIXBY AND THE COLONEL'S COAT: A woman having an affair tries to find some way to explain her gift of a mink coat. Pretty slight stuff, but Audrey Meadows is fine as is the twist ending.

2. THE DOUBTING DOCTOR: A man tells his doctor a strange story of going back in time into an alternate past where he never married. The sort of stuff that on the Twilight Zone would be played for pathos is treated as a throwaway joke in this episode. Not the type of material AHP handled well.

3. A VERY MORAL THEFT: A spinster steals some money to support her ner do well boyfriend's business venture. Sort of Point A to Point B in its telling, but fine performances by Betty Field and the boorish Walter Matthau.

4. THE CONTEST FOR AARON GOLD: At a summer camp, the ceramics counselor is interested in a young boy with great artistic skill who seems to be taking forever on one piece. An offbeat tale from a Philip Roth story--I guessed the ending right away, but I think it was probably a lucky guess. Sydney Pollack, the future director, is the lead here.

5. THE FIVE-FORTY-EIGHT: On a commuter train, a philandering businessman is held hostage by a mentally unhinged woman he had an affair with. Phyllis Thaxter again! A downbeat John Cheever adaptation that's a little more serious than I prefer my AHP, but well done.

6. PEN PAL: A woman is held hostage by the escaped convict pen pal of her niece. Another one that I pegged the ending to pretty quickly. Not that interesting, but good performances (although what's with the tuxedo-wearing police inspector?).

7. OUTLAW IN TOWN: A western tale about a notorious outlaw who shows up and auctions himself off to the highest bidder. Pretty slight stuff, but a tailor-made role for Ricardo Montalban to be sure.

8. O YOUTH AND BEAUTY!: An aging former champion hurdler can't quite adjust to age, leading to tragedy. An even darker Cheever story than the last one and kind of tough to watch at times.

9. THE MONEY: A man gets a job in an import business looking for a chance to make a big robbery. Robert Loggia is quite good, but the ending to this work lacks the impact one would prefer.

10. SYBILLA: A man's new wife is so annoyingly perfect he decides to murder her. Truly weird story that ends up being pretty darn goopy by the time it's done.

11. THE MAN WITH TWO FACES: After having her purse snatched, a woman thinks she sees her son-in-law's face in a mugshot. Another of those Point A to Point B stories, but Spring Byington is good.

12. THE BABY-BLUE EXPRESSION: A woman and her lover plan on murdering the woman's older husband, but will a moment of carelessness cost them? If you can swallow Sarah Marshall's irritating protagonist, this isn't that bad, but nothing really happens.

13. THE MAN WHO FOUND THE MONEY: A man finds a sum of money in Las Vegas, but his attempt at honesty leads to trouble. Arthur Hill is just right as the honest schnook in this really dark episode. My biggest criticism of episodes this year is that they range from slight to overly serious to Point A to Point B episodes where nothing happens.

14. THE CHANGING HEART: A man falls in love with a watchmaker's daughter, but the father tries to break up the romance. Not much happens until the end, which is truly ghoulish and insane...and much needed this year.

15. SUMMER SHADE: Parents in modern day Salem grow worried that their daughter's new "friend" might be a ghost. An interesting, if fairly slight, episode, but charming enough. That's Veronica Cartwright as the girl in the ending.

16. A CRIME FOR MOTHERS: The mother of a girl given up for adoption wants a payoff from the adoptive parents and even plans a kidnapping. It looks like it'll be more melodramatic than it turns out to be. I called the ending pretty early, but Claire Trevor does a nice job.

17. THE LAST ESCAPE: The wife of a boorish escape artist plots to kill him during his greatest stunt. A clever plot, although Keenan Wynn is a bit too much in his few scenes as the escape artist (although he certainly looks the part). The ending is nice if a bit oddly paced--I almost feel like some things should be reversed.

18. THE GREATEST MONSTER OF THEM ALL: An old horror actor is hired by some modern B-movie makers for their new potboiler. There's a lot of hammy performances here (including William Redfield's drunk act again), but there's definitely ambience and the ending surprised me a touch. It sounds like Mel Blanc's voice at the end.

19. THE LANDLADY: A young man stays at a boarding hosue where the landlady is a bit odd...and what's with these other tenants he never sees? You can kinda see the ending to this one creeping a mile away, but there's some nice, ghoulish touches, including the "parrot" and "dog."

20. THE THROWBACK: A younger man discovers that his girlfriend also has an older lover, who seems to have odd ideas about honor, like fighting for a woman's love. Kind of a weird episode that takes its sweet time to get going--it's hard to tell what the protagonist sees in the girl, so his dilemma at the end isn't that bad.

21. THE KISS-OFF: After spending time in prison, an ex-con pulls a robbery to apparently spite the D.A. and cop who hounded him last time. One is left waiting for a better revelation than what we get, but there are some interesting moments here, I suppose. Way too talky (a big problem this year!).

22. THE HORSEPLAYER: A priest desperate for money for the church succumbs to temptation and takes a parishioner's advice on a horse tip. Great casting (Claude Rains as the priest, Ed "Duffy's Tavern" Gardner as the parishioner) enliven an oddball episode, one of those periodic light comedies on AHP.

23. INCIDENT IN A SMALL JAIL: After getting thrown in jail for a minor traffic offense, a meek salesman is caught up in the town fury over a supposed mad killer locked up in the same jail. Fine casting with John Fiedler in good form. I called the ending pretty early, but I have no idea how much sense it is supposed to make. Maybe Fieldler is supposed to be playing his "Wolf in the Fold" character.

24. A WOMAN'S HELP: After falling for the nurse he has hired for his disagreeable, invalid wife, a husband plots murder. Simple little tale, enlivened by Geraldine Fitzgerald's despicable performance. The ending really surprised me for some reason.

25. MUSEUM PIECE: A private museum curator narrates the story of his son, who owned the items in the collection, and tragically died in prison. Pretty easy to peg the ending here, but the whys and hows might prove a little more confusing. That's Burt Convy as the son. The ending is sort of humorously ghoulish if nonsensical (how could he ever get away with it?).

26. COMING, MAMA: A woman decides to finally stop catering to her overly needy mother. Eileen Heckart is quite good in this episode--the ending twist has a nice kick to it, I guess.

27. DEATHMATE: A con man who swindles wealthy women gets embroiled in a murder scheme. Russell Collins again. Solid twist, nothing spectacular, uncharacteristically seedy performance by Les Tremayne.

28. GRATITUDE: In 1910's New York, an illegal casino owner's careless mistakes make him the target of his mob superiors. A small-scale character piece, with (at least until the end) surprisingly restrained work by Peter Falk.

29. THE PEARL NECKLACE: A woman is coerced into marrying a much older man in poor health as part of a plan to get his money. But then the guy keeps living...Really didn't go the way I thought it would, with a humorously perverse ending.

30. YOU CAN'T TRUST A MAN: A nightclub singer is confronted by her long forgotten first husband, who bears a grudge for a prison rap he took for her. There are episodes where criminals stage a masterful murder and are tripped up by a small thing. Here, the criminal stages a really dumb murder and is tripped up by the obvious thing: think about it--if you wanted information to disappear, why would you draw attenton to it?

31. THE GLOATING PLACE: A weird high school student fakes being attacked to get attention and then escalates it in order to keep it. Kind of creepy story, with Susan Harrison's oddly intense performance in the lead making it somewhat off-kilter.

32. SELF DEFENSE: A man kills a robber trying to hold up a liquor store and tries to make it up to the dead boy's mother. Odd little tale--the ending is pretty straightforward, it's just that I didn't punch all the dots together. George Nader is kind of annoying as the lead, but it makes sense.

33. A SECRET LIFE: Attempting to get a divorce, a man hires a private eye to watch his wife. Tidy, comedic little story. Arte Johnson plays the detective.

34. SERVANT PROBLEM: A successful writer's wife that he never bothered to divorce shows up at an inopportune time. Sort of a gender reversal of "You Can't Trust a Man," but with a much better twist ending.

35. COMING HOME: A man is released from prison and journeys back to his wife and old neighborhood, cash in hand. Not a bad episode, but it takes a while to get to its point (like a lot of Henry Slesar stories). You can tell how lame I am because I was excited for correctly identifying Susan Silo as the girl at the bar.

36. FINAL ARRANGEMENTS: A nebbish who is married to a disagreeable invalid wife begins plotting a mysterious funeral. Called the twist near the end, but Martin Balsam is pretty charming as the adventurous nebbish. Slim Pickens appears.

37. MAKE MY DEATH BED: Adultery and murder affect several couples in suburbia. Kind of lands with a thud, mainly because we don't care about any of the characters.

Season six ends with:

38. AMBITION: A district attorney is pressured into going after an old friend turned crime boss. My DVD froze up at the end, so I'm not 100% sure what the twist is--I think I figured it out, but if anyone could help that would be nice. Otherwise, solid if talky episode.

Season seven begins with:

1. THE HATBOX: Season seven has slightly different orchestrations of the theme music. It has different music play over the episode title and gives the writer/director before, not after the show, and has full credits with character names at the end. The plot of this show features students thinking their professor has murdered his wife. This episode has a fine cast, including Billy Gray from Father Knows Best (who talks about his unseen "father" a lot). Paul Ford is also good as the professor. Unfortunately, this episode is extremely literal and doesn't have much of a twist.

My DVD froze up at the end

Gotta love Universal DVDs, huh?

I can't understand how they can get away with releasing such shoddy DVDs time and time again.

Well, this was a bootleg DVD, not an Universal one, but yeah Universal does make shoddy DVDs.

2. BANG! YOU'RE DEAD: A child picks up a loaded gun, thinking it's a toy, and begins wandering around the neighborhood. A very simple premise, chillingly played out. There are really no twists and it's understandably preachy at times, but the sheer mundane setting leads to a lot of suspense. That's Billy Mumy obviously as the kid, but his future Lost in Space costar Marta Kristen appears in the supermarket.

3. MARIA: A circus performer wakes up from a drunken bender to discover he has purchased an artistic monkey...which happens to actually be a person. A seriously insane episode with a memorably crazy beginning settles down after its initial bonkers plot to become a fairly routine lover's revenge plot, although the monkey aspect makes it interesting. The ending doesn't hold up to great scrutiny, but works I guess.

4. COP FOR A DAY: A crook poses as a cop to rub out an eyewitness. Kind of takes a long time to get going, but compelling with the usual Walter Matthau performance. The twist is a good one, both obvious in retrospect but not gallumphingly obvious either.

5. KEEP ME COMPANY: A lonely newlywed desperately seeks company while her husband keeps working nights. Anne Francis does a good job, but episodes about bored characters typically translates into fidgetiness for the audience as well. The twist is an okay one, but one used several times before on the show.

6. BETA DELTA GAMMA: When a college student passes out after a drunken bender, his friends trick him into believing he murdered someone. You can see the twist ending to this one lurching a mile away, and to compound things, the ending is somewhat ineptly paced. Did people ever actually act like the students in this episode?

7. I SPY: A private detective hired to observe a wayward wife falls for her. Sweet in a sense, but terminally lacking in drama--the fact that both the husband and wife want a divorce means there is no real compelling conflict.

8. YOU CAN'T BE A LITTLE GIRL ALL YOUR LIFE: A woman tries to overcome the ordeal of being assaulted in her home. Kind of overheated for a while--the casting of Dick York as the husband makes the ending more interesting--it doesn't quite stand up to scrutiny, but it (sadly) makes a lot of sense.

9. THE OLD PRO: A retired hit man must try to deal with someone blackmailing him about his past. Starts off very well and then gets a little too talky. The ending is okay dramatically but doesn't really excite the viewer.

10. SERVICES RENDERED: A man gets hit on the head and has amnesia--his only clue is a thousand dollar bill and the name of a doctor in his pocket. Quite compelling and confounding for a while and then all of a sudden gallumphingly obvious (at least to me--the title doesn't help!). Steve Dunne makes a good lead.

11. THE RIGHT KIND OF MEDICINE: A crook has been wounded in a shootout with police and goes first to a doctor, then to a pharmacy to get help. Robert Redford is good as the lead and there are some wonderfully paced sequences (like the pharmacy), but it drags at the end. The ending twist is a good one, although perhaps my cynical viewership was beginning to kick in, as I called it.

12. A JURY OF HER PEERS: The death of a woman's husband in an isolated western town could be murder, but her neighbors try to determine what the possible motive could be. This adaptation of a Susan Glaspell work seems too much like a filmed play at times (and the conversations have that fake-y style to them), but the ending is nicely done and the storyline is interesting.

13. THE SILK PETTICOAT: As she prepares to get married, a woman becomes anxious about her husband's dead first wife and his mysterious study. There's neat atmosphere here and the ending is ghoulishly compelling, but this does have the feeling of being a bunch of cliches from English Gothic literature.

14. BAD ACTOR: A drunken, struggling actor murders a rival for a part, but what to do about the body? This episode takes a bizarrely ghoulish and entertaining turn at the halfway mark, but the ending is sadly a washout. Robert Duvall does his best in the lead, but he is saddled with some goofy characterizations.

15. THE DOOR WITHOUT A KEY: At a police station, a cop is confronted by a man claiming amnesia and a lost child. Weird tale that isn't the typical fare on this program--really more of a character piece (and pretty goopy at the end). That said, Claude Rains is really good as the amnesiac.

16. THE CASE OF M.J.H.: A man tries to take advantage of his girlfriend's access to confidential psychiatry records. Good performance by the sleazy Robert Loggia, but this episode sure takes its sweet time to get going and the twist is sort of weak.

17. THE FAITH OF AARON MENEFEE: A devout young man is "healed" by a faith healer and begins to take his faith a little too far. Nice atmosphere and setting and even the twist is pretty solid, but I feel like the ending could have been handled better.

18. THE WOMAN WHO WANTED TO LIVE: A criminal on the lam takes a woman driver as a hostage, but she seems incredibly obliging. Great performances by Charles Bronson and Lola Albright--I more or less called the twist, but not all the details. Funny scene where dumb kids try to mess with Bronson.

19. STRANGE MIRACLE: A man fakes being crippled to get an insurance payoff, and then decides to take advantage of a "religious miracle." Kind of like Twilight Zone-lite and it just doesn't move, but there are a lot of neat directorial touches.

20. THE TEST: A defense lawyer's client has a father who is devoutly sure of his boy's innocence--the lawyer is uncertain. Interesting episode with a solid performance by Brian Keith. The twist is both subtle and striking at the same time.

21. BURGLAR PROOF: To promote a burglar proof safe, an expert burglar is given one night to break into it and win a cash prize. A fine, fun episode, although the twist is galumphingly given away. Imagine that Robert Webber is playing his 12 Angry Men character.

22. THE BIG SCORE: Some young punks rob a wealthy man, but having to lay low for so long leads to internal tension. Not a bad plot, with actually a decent twist, but some truly horrendous performances make this pretty bad.

23. PROFIT-SHARING PLAN: On his last day of work, a man decides to rob his office, but he is actually playing two schemes. Good work by Henry Jones, decent episode, although it lacks that certain spark to become a classic.

24. APEX: A man is having an affair and the lovers plot the death of his wife, but when he gets cold feet, it is up to his mistress to take the lead. Fine performances and a really cool twist make this entertaining to watch.

25. THE LAST REMAINS: A funeral director discovers his latest body is a murder victim and blackmails the killer. Sort of slight, but very entertaining performances by John Fiedler and Ed Gardner (the ending shot is pretty priceless).

26. TEN O'CLOCK TIGER: An unscrupulous fight promoter uses drugs to turn his fighter into an unstoppable machine. You can see where this is going a long ways away, but the ending scene is still pretty striking.

27. ACT OF FAITH: A writer sponsors a young man who appears to be a promising writing talent, but is he actually a con man? Reasonably interesting, but I either didn't get the ending or didn't find it compelling enough.

28. THE KERRY BLUE: A man irrationally blames his wife for the death of his dog. Not a lot happens in this episode per se, but Gene Evans' creepily intense performance helps.

29. THE MATCHED PEARL: A jeweler attempts to satisfy the demands of a rich client for a matched set of pearls. Pretty slight and somewhat nonsensical, but entertaining, with a good role for John Ireland.

30. WHAT FRIGHTENED YOU, FRED?: A prisoner ends up right back in the slammer after being released, and the staff try to figure out what happened. A good cast and a good twist make this one pretty solid, but the original story is better (it doesn't have to drag out the ending, for instance).

31. MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED: A rich man hires on an old school chum as a butler. Pretty slight stuff, but Jack Carter and Howard Morris as the leads are pretty perfectly cast.

>19. STRANGE MIRACLE: A man fakes being crippled to >get an insurance payoff, and then decides to take >advantage of a "religious miracle." Kind of like >Twilight Zone-lite and it just doesn't move, but >there are a lot of neat directorial touches.

Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" later aired an episode called "Miracle at Camafeo" whose storyline was virtually identical to "Strange Miracle", although different authors were credited for each episode.

32. VICTIM FOUR: A woman's husband and her ex-boyfriend look for her when she never comes home, hoping she is not the victim of a slasher on the loose. Some genuinely creepy scenes on the rather obvious sound stage--you can probably see where the resolution is going, but still interesting.

33. THE OPPORTUNITY: A woman caught shoplifting is blackmailed into doing a favor for the boorish manager. Interesting episode with Richard Long in strong form as the odious manager. The twist is kind of a fun one.

34. THE TWELVE HOUR CAPER: A man plans a robbery of some bonds being delivered to his office, but how to get them out? Dick York was sort of the perfect leading man for this show, able to mix sympathy with occasional dark edges. This episode's twist totally caught me and it is a lot of fun.

35. THE CHILDREN OF ALDA NUOVA: An American expatriate in Italy runs into some dangerous youths when visiting a small town. While the basic plot has some creepy elements, the protagonist is so stupid that it's hard to get invested. The ending twist has little impact too.

36. FIRST CLASS HONEYMOON: A recently divorced man attempts to marry off his ex-wife to stop alimony. Fun work from Robert Webber, although a somewhat slight episode.

37. THE BIG KICK: A beatnik couple string along their square friend for cash. I hate most of the "beatnik" episodes of this show--while it's cool to see a very young Wayne Rogers, the ending twist seems pretty sloppy too.

38. WHERE BEAUTY LIES: A movie star's plain sister becomes jealous of his success. Excellent performance by Cloris Leachman and a striking twist, although the episode does take its sweet time to get going.

39. THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE: A mentally handicapped young man is manipulated by a magician's wife with tragic results. This controversially ghoulish episode has one heck of a twist, although Brandon de Wilde's role as the young man can get somewhat overbearing.