When the hugely popular anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents came to the end of its eighth series, it was time for a change. Although there wasn’t much difference in the format, the title reflected the expansion from stories presented under 30 minutes to those that run under the hour – 50 minutes when you take out the constant commercial breaks. The signature theme tune – Funeral March of a Marionette – in place as always. In fact, it’s still hard to picture the portly director without hearing that tune in your head. From Season Two, the opening credits were updated to boast a creepy illustrated piece as opposed to the regular Hitch outline drawing.
The show debuted in September 1962 and ran for three seasons, running up 93 episodes. ViaVision’s exhaustive box set includes all three series across 24 discs. The venerable rotund host displays his usual sardonic style in the introductions, which could have very easily have been the best thing about the show, were it not for the fact that many of the stories were cracking little thrillers in their own right. Like all the big anthology series, there are some tales that work better than others, but generally, they are all entertaining.
There are star names a-plenty playing in the teleplays, including a young Robert Redford in the opening story. Other familiar faces include Christopher Lee (as a horror actor in a stand-out in the second season’s eerie The Sign of Satan), James Mason, Jayne Mansfield, and Leslie Nielsen. While Hitchcock directed a number of episodes of Presents, he only helms one here, and it’s in the first season. The story, I Saw the Whole Thing is a courtroom drama in which a hit-and-run driver defends himself when faced with five witnesses who claim he didn’t stop at a junction. It’s a small entry from the master of suspense but is full of twists.
ViaVision’s box set presents all the episodes in perfect quality, and features a bonus episode from the Ford Startime series, a story called Incident at a Corner, which was directed by Hitchcock and featuring Vera Miles and George Peppard. This colour episode was filmed soon after Psycho and featured much of the same crew. The story has an old man losing his job as a school crossing warden when a letter is found accusing him of improper conduct. It features plenty of shots that you wouldn’t normally see in a TV drama and the subject matter is nearer the knuckle than anything you’d expect too.
If you’re a fan of the Master of Suspense, the series is a must-buy if only for the brilliantly pithy intros. The addition of the rare colour story is a nice bonus.
