![]() “Any time the viewer might shut me off, and I am powerless to prevent it,” he says. The tense feeling is eventually diluted by Hitchcock In his epilogue, who goes on to compare Callew’s helplessness with his own. In a rather disturbing scene, the steering wheel is shown to be pressing hard against Callew’s neck. And as annoying as the victim is, it’s hard not to sympathize with them. Here, audiences witness the kind of car-crash-related gore that is present in one of Quentin Tarantino’s bloodiest films, Death Proof. ![]() As the attendant is about to cover him, he is left with no option but to cry in order to prove he is alive. He is presumed dead, so he is taken to a morgue. One day, he gets into an accident and becomes paralyzed from the neck down. No, this is not unblemished Hitchcock, but neither is it a wash-out.What you believe is foolish might actually save you and businessman William Callew learns this the hard way in “Breakdown.” The tyrannical and condescending boss believes crying is a sign of weakness, so he keeps chastising and hanging up on employees who shed tears after getting fired. Add to that the subversive note about the hidden potential of even the most dependent housewife, and you have an interesting allegory (not an essay, which would require filling in the gaps) on middle-class respectability, -a frequent Hitchcock target, especially appropriate to the conformist 1950's. But that misses the point, which is the insistent Hitchcockian one- that crime turns up in the unlikeliest places. Of course, subjecting the entire screenplay to logical analysis turns up gaps that admittedly could have been improved upon even in a 30-minute format. Couldn't a more plausible motivation for gardening have been concocted. The fourth season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents ran from 05/Oct/1958 to 21/Jun/1959, with Hitchcock directing the following episodes: Poison (05/Oct/1958) - based on a story by Roald Dahl. The Hitchcock stamp emerges in showing how larceny lurks beneath even the most ordinary looking people, and, of course, in the twist ending which strikes me, nonetheless, as not very plausible. Gregg's role is the demanding one since she has to carry the episode's irony, but then she was one of the great TV actresses of the day. The series wisely used Emhardt in key roles over the years, -even today that combination of baby-faced menace in a middle-aged man remains truly distinctive. One night, their home is broken into and the burglar goes about methodically looking for their valuables. ![]() Jocelyn and Mort Barnhardt are married but are also business partners who bicker constantly about who contributes more to the business. With Alfred Hitchcock, Eddie Foy Jr., Allyn Joslyn, Jane Dulo. The contest of wills between the wily Emhardt, who suspects murder, and the resolute Blackmer makes an interesting contrast. The Right Price: Directed by Arthur Hiller. What mastermind Blackmer hasn't counted on, however, is dogged insurance investigator Emhardt or his mousy wife. Gregg balks because she fears seven years of independence after decades as a dowdy housewife. They concoct an insurance scam, where she will disappear for seven years after which she will be declared legally dead, and then they can collect a fat insurance settlement. They're obviously respectable and deeply attached to one another. Blackmer and Gregg are a penniless middle-aged couple who can't come up with rent money. Blanche and Iris husband Oliver have been having an affair for some time and she now wants Iris to grant her husband a divorce. Blanche Herbert invites Iris Teleton to tea at a posh restaurant. ![]() Nothing remarkable here, just patented Hitchcock programming. With Alfred Hitchcock, Margaret Leighton, Marsha Hunt, Murray Matheson.
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