ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS Season 5. 38 more episodes of this endearing series hosted by the great Alfred Hitchcock. The best: "The Crystal Trench," a somewhat incredible but darkly amusing tale of romantic obsession; "No Pain," in which a man wants his wife murdered quickly and neatly and without her suffering; the bizarre "Specialty of the House" in which the blue plate special at an exclusive club's restaurant is quite unspeakable; "Day of the Bullet," in which a little boy [a wonderful Barry Gordon] feels so betrayed by his father that it influences his entire future life; "Madame Mystery," about a publicity man who wants to take advantage of an actress's death [the ending for this really packs a wallop]; "The Little Man Who was There," in which AHP producer Norman Lloyd seems to play the devil in the wild west; and "Graduating Class,": a very downbeat tale in which teacher Wendy Hiller tries to help a promising student to her ultimate regret. And there are many more memorable episodes as well.
Verdict: One of the series' best seasons. ***1/2.
Hello, when this season is comming to dvd? Thank you
ReplyDeleteI don't know if there are any immediate plans to bring further seasons of the show to DVD. The Alfred Hitchcock Hour is on European DVD. Since I've heard that it may be in public domain you can find collections on line. Some episodes of AHP can be viewed at archives.org in the TV section, and there are collections of the later seasons of the show on ioffer.com sold collector to collector.
ReplyDeleteI have the first 4 seasons on DVD and hunger for the next.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the best seasons of the show. Don't know when or if it will be released on retail DVD though.
ReplyDeleteThe reviewer is simply NUTS. I just finished watching this and it is, thus far, the weakest of the series. Too many episodes are predictable, loquacious, and just plain dull. Some lack any twist whatsoever. And the eps mentioned as "the best" are among the worst. True, Barry Gordon was a gifted child actor, but his episode is so poorly paced and out of sync with what the series was about, it's absurd. And, again, no twist. Yes, there are gems ("Man From the South"), but an ueven tonality (due to the changig of the times, and Hitch's struggle to keep up with the Beatnik generation), hurt this season.
ReplyDeleteJust because you disagree with me doesn't make me "NUTS" (you, I don't know). Twists may have been a trademark of the show and we all loved them, but there were episodes without twists that were still memorable for other reasons. Besides, it's all a question of personal taste, not mental health.
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