Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Triggers in Leash (1955)

 

Note: This review contains spoilers.

Though often called the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock worked in a wide variety of genres including suspense, horror, romantic comedy, dark comedy, melodrama, action, dramatic stage and literary adaptions and even a musical biopic. One genre Hitch will never be associated with is the western. He never directed a western in his long career. However, the third episode of his TV series was in fact a western.

In this episode a local man (Darren McGavin) challenges a cowboy (Gene Barry) to a shootout. Both agree to have this duel when the big mantel clock strikes a certain time. However, the clock mysteriously stops. 

This is an excellent episode. Though when many of us think of westerns, gunfights and action come to mind, the point of this episode is actually to avoid such action. Most of the episode is spent building up tension and the characters. Though there is little to any action, this is a very tense episode. With a small cast and one setting, there is a wonderful claustrophobic feel here that puts one on the edge of their seat. This old cabin in the rain and the dirty clothes on the characters help give this episode a real tense sense of atmosphere that keeps it from feeling as stage bound as it easily could have. Though this is a dialogue heavy episode, the dialogue is very well written, and perfects sets up the characters and the sense of tension. To not have an actual shoot out is a perfect twist. Though it could have felt anti-climactic, it actually fits the story very well.  

Once again, though the story is essentially serious, Hitch's introduction takes a very tongue and cheek sense of humor, even stating that there are no horses because they couldn't remember the lines. His line about Russian roulette cracked me up being the perfect example of Hitch's dark but silly sense of humor as is what he has to say about the ending of the episode. 

This is one of only two episodes directed by Dan Medford (the other was Into Thin Air (1955)), a very prolific TV director. Some of the other TV series he worked on include Climax!, The Riffleman, The Untouchables, The Twighlight Zone, The F.B.I., The Fall Guy and Dynasty.

 The writers are Richard Carr and Allan Vaughan Elston. Richard Carr co-wrote two more episodes of the show Salvage (1955) and The Big Switch (1956). His other TV credits include such TV series as Racket Squad, Rawhide, Batman, Peyton Place, The Legend of Jessie James, The Waltons, The Six Million Dollar Man and Charlie's Angels. Allan Vaughan Elston co-wrote one more episode of the show, The Belfry (1956). Neither of the writer nor the director ever worked on one of Alfred Hitchcock's movies. 

Gene Berry appeared in one more episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Salvage) and an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (Dear Uncle George (1963)). He is probably best known for his lead role in the classic sci-fi movie The War of the Worlds (1953) and his starring roles in the TV series Bat Masterson, Burke's Law and In the Name of the Game. Darren McGavin would appear in one more episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Cheney Vase (1955) and an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, A Matter of Murder (1964). He is probably best known his leading role in the TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Premonition (1955)

 

Premonition is the second episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and the first episode not directed by Hitch himself. This episode was directed by Robert Stevens, who directed more episodes of this series than anyone else. He was one of the best TV directors of his time and especially shined in anthology series like this one. Other anthology shows he worked on include Suspense (another show for which he was the most prominent director, directing a whopping 145 episodes), Climax, Suspicion, Playhouse 90 and the granddaddy of them all The Twilight Zone. Though he was mostly a TV director, he did occasionally direct movies as well including the film-noir The Great Caper (1957) and the Jane Fonda and Peter Finch romantic film, In the Cool of the Day (1963).  

In this episode a famous pianist (John Forsythe) returns to the hometown he grew up in. Finding out his father is dead he attempts to find the man he thinks killed his dad. 

This is truly excellent episode. Robert Stevens gives the whole episode a dark air of foreboding that draws us in before anything actually happens. There is a real atmosphere here that reminds one of Hitch's best movies, even if Hitch didn't direct it himself. This episode also impressively manages to fit a lot of moments that perfectly build up the characters, the mystery and the suspense. Managing to have very effective moments like these in a half-hour story is incredibly impressive. What is more impressive is that while doing this, the episode never once feels rushed but instead like it is the exact right length to tell the story. The writing here is also very smart and does a wonderful job of keeping you on the edge of your seat with each twist. The final twist is perfect. 

This is the only episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents to star John Forsythe. However, it is far from his only work with the master of suspense. He would later star in an episode of the show's follow-up series The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (I Saw the Whole Thing (1962)). He would also appear in two of Hitch's movies Trouble with Harry (1955) and Topaz (1969). His co-star Cloris Leachman appeared in two more episodes Don't Interrupt (1958) and Where Beauty Lies (1962). She would also appear in Mel Brooks' Hitchcock spoof High Anxiety (1977).  

This episode's writer was Harold Swanton, a very prolific TV writer. His other Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes would include The Long Shot (1955), Portrait of Joycelyn (1956), Coyote Moon (1959), Anniversary Gift (1959), An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1959), Summer Shade (1961), Museum Piece (1961), Bang Your Dead (1961) and The Twelve Hour Caper (1962) as well as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode Body in the Barn (1964). Other TV shows he worked on include The Whistler, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Wagon Train, Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie. He also occasionally worked on movies like Disney's Rascal (1969).   

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Revenge (1955)

 

Note: This post contains spoilers. 

One of the best TV shows of its time, Alfred Hitchcock Presents was an anthology series that played like shorter versions of Hitch's movies. The same themes that made his feature films so memorable were equally present in each episode of the show. Even though Hitch did not direct most episodes, each one had his personal stamp on it. Each episode opened with Hitch himself talking to the audience and introducing each week's story. These introductions feature Hitch not as a brilliant artist but rather as a great entertainer. This is the side of the master of suspense that is often overlooked but is just as worthy as study as the more artistic auteur side. These intros show his dark sense of humor and playfulness that helped make him just as popular with the average person as those who tend to intellectually dissect films. Even today Hitch's work remains just as popular with average audiences as well as intellectual cinephiles. 

To audiences at the time Hitch was just as well for this series as he was for his movies. Though never intended as a children's show, this series was very popular with kids and Hitch would receive many fan letters from kids who had never watched his movies about this show. One of these kids was Gus Van Sant, who would later direct the 1998 remake of Psycho (1960). As a child in the 1960's he and his sister were transfixed whenever Hitch's TV show appeared on screen. They also became addicted to the Alfred Hitchcock Magazine (which came during this series' popularity), which featured a series of written suspense stories. This magazine was so popular with kids that an official fan club which kids could join for sending only fifty cents. There was even a series of children's books entitled Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. Van Sant admitted despite this he never actually delved into Hitchcock's movies until adulthood.  

In this premiere episode (one of the few directed by Hitch himself), a couple moves to a trailer park after the wife (a ballerina) has a nervous breakdown. One evening the husband returns home and discovers his wife in an awful state. She tells him that she was attacked and almost killed. One day while out driving, she tells her husband she just saw the man who attacked her. He then follows the man and kills him. Later, they are stilling driving and she sees another man and claims that different man is the one that attacked her. Hitch then narrates the story's ending telling us, "Well, they were a pathetic couple. We had intended to call that one 'Death of a Salesman', but there were protests from certain quarters. Naturally, Elsa's husband was caught, indicted, tried, convicted, sentenced and paid his debt to society for taking the law into his own hands. You see, crime does not pay. Not even on television. You must have a sponsor. Here is ours, after which I'll return." These type of endings, where Hitch would briefly and dismissively tell us that a criminal was caught would be common in this series. The censors would not allow criminal behavior to go unpunished. Yet some stories simply worked better if the criminal didn’t get caught. This allowed Hitch to have it both ways, essentially having his cake and eating it too. 

This is a very simple little murder story. It is short, simple and to the point. It may not have the depth of Hitch's more complex work but that doesn't mean it isn't effective. Ralph Meeker (who would go on to star in three more episodes (Malice Domestic (1957), Total Loss (1959), I'll Take Care of You (1959)) and Vera Miles (who appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock movies The Wrong Man (1956) and Psycho as well as two episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Don't Look Behind You (1962) and Death Scene (1965)) are wonderful in their lead roles here and make you truly care about these characters. Vera Miles is especially wonderful here, showing a real vulnerability that adds to the suspense. Also, while the story is simple, the twist ending is very clever and effectively dark. Balancing out with this dark and serious story is the humor in the intro and outro is wonderfully funny. 

The writers for this episode are Francis M. Cockrell and Samuel Blas. Cockell would go to write seventeen episodes of this series and direct two.

The cinematographer is John L. Russell, who would be cinematographer on most episodes of this series and its follow-up The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as well as the Alfred Hitchcock movie, Psycho. 

In 1985, NBC would launch a revival of this series. The first episode of that new show would in fact be a remake of this episode. The remake would star Linda Purl and David Clennon and be directed by R. E. Young. 

Resources Used

The Twleve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock by Edward White

https://hitchcock.fandom.com/wiki/Revenge

https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock_Presents_-_Revenge