GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #18

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Hitchcock.  The single name is enough to tell you what type of film to expect.  Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense.  The only director whose name alone could sell a film.  Few directors ever achieve the status of a superstar with their name above the title.  Born in London on August 13, 1899, he was educated by the Jesuits at Saint Ignatius College.  From the age of 16 he was fascinated by cinema and impressed by the works of Griffith, Murnau, and Fritz Lang.  Paramount - Famous Players - Lasky opened a studio in England and in 1920 young Alfred went to work for them as a title artist (this was the days of silent film when title cards revealed dialogue and plotlines).  From this rose to become an art director, scenarist, editor, and assistant director, learning all phases of the movie production business, and then began directing his own films.  In the moral universe of Alfred Hitchcock nobody is safe and nobody is blameless.  He explained his style of movie, "I don't want to film a 'slice of life' because people can get that at home, in the street, or even in front of the movie theatre.  They don't have to pay money to see a slice of life...It must be dramatic and human.  What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out."

His exalted status in the hierarchy of film directors has never been questioned.  His name is synonymous with terror and suspense.  For a time some critics viewed him not only as a brilliant filmmaker but also as one of the great artists of the century.  More recently Hitchcock's private life has come under intense scrutiny and the tide of adulation has turned.  Hitchcock the artist has been replaced by Hitchcock the dirty old man.  He had a lifelong fear of authority, especially the police.  This stemmed from an incident as a child when he had done something of which his father disapproved.  Alfred was given a note to take to the police chief, a friend of Alfred's father.  The officer read the note and placed Alfred in a jail cell over night, admonishing him with "That's what we do to boys who are naughty."  The event left a psychological wound for the rest of his life.  He had ugly, fearful hang-ups and obsessions, a taste for sadomasochism, an ambiguous and contradictory attitude toward women.  He had a fondness for brutal practical jokes.  Inevitably, somewhere between the genius and the ogre lies the truth.

His best films never fail to dazzle us with their technical virtuosity, their deft and sometimes audacious handling of plot and character, and the mesmerizing suspense, all mixed with a generous amount of astringent wit and gallows humor.  His principal themes were the evil in ordinary life, the loss of identity, shared guilt, and reality versus the appearance of reality.  "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943) is Hitchcock's purest embodiment of lurking evil in everyday surroundings.  In the sunlit streets and orderly houses of a California town, sweet young Charlie (Teresa Wright) finds herself linked with her beloved but homicidal uncle (Joseph Cotten) in disturbing ways.  Her shattered serenity can only be mended when, in their last desperate struggle on the platform of a moving train, he topples into the path of an oncoming locomotive.  With a screenplay by Thornton Wilder and filmed on location, it is the most "American" of all of his films, and one of Hitchcock's favorites.

The protagonists of "Rear Window" (1954) become deeply tangled in events that threaten their lives - a favorite plotline of the ordinary man caught up in an unfathomable nightmare.  "Rear Window" is a cautionary tale of the dire consequences of voyeurism, of prying too deeply into the lives of others.  Most viewers blithely ignored this subtext to enjoy the film as a great thriller with a terrifying climax, as well as an intriguing cinematic experiment by Hitchcock - using one large set, he photographed almost the entire film from the viewpoint of one man.  "Vertigo" (1958) warrants special mention as one of Hitchcock's strangest, most argued-over films.  Considered by many to be the greatest movie ever made, it has been called a seminal work of art, as well as the film that reveals Hitchcock's private predilections.  A somber and disturbing tale of sexual obsession, it certainly qualifies as Hitchcock's darkest movie.  He permits nothing to relieve the pall.  We watch acrophobic James Stewart move to despair and near-madness as he twice precipitates the death of the woman he loves (Kim Novak).  There is no doubt of the film's morbid fascination as the viewer is turned into the ultimate voyeur, watching uncomfortably as Stewart and Novak become intimately entwined in a disturbing sexual fantasy.

"The Birds" (1963) was his last great film.  For the rest of his career he failed to match the artistry of his earlier films.  Inadequate casting, a muddled screenplay that lacked sufficient suspense, and a suggestion of weariness and lassitude in Hitchcock's direction permeated the last films.  The best of them was probably "Frenzy" (1972) with its explicit violence.  All of the later films were disappointing.  Alfred Hitchcock died of kidney failure on April 29, 1980 in his Bel Air home.  As a director of psychological thrillers Hitchcock used the popular thriller as a means of probing deep into the fears, foibles, and neuroses of modern man.  Many of his best films are cautionary morality tales.  His films generated 46 Oscar nominations and 6 wins.  He himself was nominated 5 times as Best Director and (shamefully) never won.  "Rebecca" (1940) was the only film to win Best Picture of the Year.  Towards the end of his career the Academy bestowed the Irving Thalberg Award upon him as recognition of his achievements.

Over the years other directors have tried to match the wit, dexterity, and assurance of Alfred Hitchcock.  Some have mistakenly believed that technical ingenuity alone can compensate for a dull or nonexistent story or feeble acting.  Many have probed the outer layer of Hitchcock's movies without getting far below the surface.  But the image of Hitchcock continues to loom the largest.  We may never know what truly lurked behind that inexpressive, implacable countenance, but we can always return to the images on the screen and the fearful, troublesome, deliciously chilling shadows they have cast across our minds forever.

FILMS

"The Lodger" Gainsborough, 1926.  Ivor Novello.  Based on the 1913 novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes.  An elderly English couple rents an upstairs room to an eccentric stranger; meanwhile, Jack-the-Ripper stalks the London streets.

"Blackmail" British International, 1929.  John Longdon, Anny Ondra, Cyril Ritchard.  A detective's girl commits murder; blackmail follows in Hitchcock's (and England's) first sound film.

"Murder" British International, 1930.  Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring, Phyllis Konstam, Miles Mander.  Based on the 1929 novel "Enter Sir John" by Helen Simpson and Clemence Dane.  This is Hitchcock's first "whodunit" and a rare film. 

"Number Seventeen" British International, 1932.  Leon M. Lion, John Stuart, Anne Grey, Donald Calthrop, Barry Jones.  Based on the play by Jefferson Farjeon.  A detective pursues, across the English countryside, a gang of thieves who have stolen a valuable necklace.

"The Man Who Knew Too Much" Gaumont-British, 1934.  Leslie Banks, Peter Lorre, Edna Best, Nova Pilbeam.  An ordinary couple become involved in international intrigue and an assassination attempt at Albert Hall; their daughter is kidnapped to ensure their silence.  The climax is a re-creation of the Sydney Street siege (a true crime event).

"The Thirty-nine Steps" Gaumont-British, 1935.  Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucy Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle.  Based on the 1915 novel by John Buchan.  At a music hall a former officer is contacted by a mysterious woman who is later stabbed in his rooms; he soon finds himself pursued by both spies and the police - a favorite Hitchcock device.

"The Secret Agent" Gaumont-British, 1936.  Robert Young, Madeleine Carroll, John Gielgud, Peter Lorre.  From W. Somerset Maugham's Ashenden stories.  A British agent is assigned to kill a German spy.

"Sabotage" Gaumont-British, 1936.  Sylvia Sidney, Oscar Homolka, John Loder.  From John Conrad's "The Secret Agent" (1907).  A London housewife realizes that her immigrant husband is an anarchist and that he has sent her young brother to deliver a parcel containing a bomb.

"Young and Innocent" Gainsborough-Gaumont-British, 1937.  Nova Pilbeam, Derrick De Marney, Percy Marmont.  From Josephine Tey's "A Shilling for Candles" (1936).  A young woman pursues a murderer - a blinking man - on her own.

"The Lady Vanishes" Gainsborough, 1938.  Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, Paul Lukas, Dame May Whitty.  From the Ethel Lina White novel "The Wheel Spins" (1936).  On a train speeding through Central Europe, a young English girl is worried about a new acquaintance, an older woman.  Her friend has disappeared and no one on the train remembers having seen her.

"Jamaica Inn" Mayflower - Associated British, 1939.  Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, Robert Newton, Emlyn Williams, Leslie Banks.  From Daphne du Maurier's novel of 1936.  In this period melodrama, an English girl staying at a coastal inn suspects the local squire of being the head of a murderous band of cutthroats and shipwreckers.

"Rebecca" United Artists, 1940.  Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson, Nigel Bruce.  Hitchcock's first American film, based on Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel.  A nameless heroine marries a brooding widower and is taken to his great estate, Manderley, filled with ghostly reminders of Rebecca, his dead first wife.

"Foreign Correspondent" United Artists, 1940.  Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Albert Basserman, Robert Benchley, Edmund Gwenn.  Very loosely based on a real-life journalist's experiences.  A young, aggressive American reporter, newly assigned to a European post, finds himself thrust into a world of spies and political assassinations, in the last days before the start of World War II.

"Suspicion" RKO, 1941.  Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty.  Based on "Before the Fact", 1932 novel by Francis Iles.  The ending was revised.  A plain, retiring English girl marries a charming scoundrel, aware of his faults and sure of his love, but gradually suspects that circumstances are forcing him to plot her murder.  Joan Fontaine won the Best Actress Oscar for this role.

"Saboteur" Universal, 1942.  Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane, Otto Kruger, Norman Lloyd, Alan Baxter.  A factory worker avenges the death of his friend by tracking down - cross-country - the spy ring that was responsible.  The climax is atop the Statue of Liberty.

"Shadow of a Doubt" Universal, 1943.  Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, MacDonald Carey, Henry Travers, Hume Cronyn.  A young California girl begins to suspect that her visiting Uncle Charlie is a lonely-hearts killer.

"Lifeboat" 20th Century Fox, 1944.  Tallulah Bankhead, John Hodiak, William Bendix, Walter Slezak.  Based on an original story by John Steinbeck.  The survivors of a torpedoed ship huddle in a lifeboat (the film's only setting), dominated by a Nazi submarine commander whom they have rescued.

"Spellbound" United Artists, 1945.  Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll.  Based on "The House of Dr. Edwardes" (1927) by Francis Beeding.  An amnesia victim is suspected of having murdered the man he is impersonating, a famous psychiatrist who was in charge of an asylum.  His disordered subconscious, haunted by clues to the real killer, is illustrated by abstract dream sequences created by Salvador Dali.

"Notorious" RKO, 1946.  Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern, Madame Leopoldine Konstantin.  The notorious daughter of a convicted spy is asked by the United States government, to which she is loyal, to infiltrate a Nazi spy colony in Rio and marry its mother-dominated chief.

"The Paradine Case" RKO, 1947.  Gregory Peck, Charles Laughton, Alida Valli, Ann Todd, Louis Jourdan, Charles Coburn, Ethel Barrymore.  Based on the Robert Hitchens novel of 1933.  A famous young barrister is asked to defend a mysterious, seductive widow accused of murdering her husband - and finds himself falling in love with her.

"Rope" Warner Brothers, 1948.  James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Joan Chandler, Sir Cedric Hardwicke.  Based on the play "Rope's End" (1929) by Patrick Hamilton.  Two college youths kill a fellow student for thrills and engage in a cat-and-mouse game with a former professor as they host a party while the corpse is still concealed in their apartment.  Hitchcock unfolds the drama in what appears to be one continuous camera take.

"Stage Fright" WB, 1950.  Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Alastair Sim, Dame Sybil Thorndike, Kay Walsh, Joyce Grenfell, Patricia Hitchcock (the director's daughter).  Based on Selwyn Jepson's novel "Man Running" (1948).  A young girl, a drama student at the Royal Academy, joins the efforts being made to keep a desperate friend from being charged with the murder of the husband of a famous but arrogant musical comedy actress.

"Strangers on a Train" WB, 1951.  Robert Walker, Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Patricia Hitchcock, Leo G. Carroll.  Raymond Chandler wrote the screenplay based on the 1950 novel by Patricia Highsmith.  An unhappily married tennis pro is approached by an unstable young man who offers an easy solution: he will murder the pro's spouse if, in return, the athlete will do away with the father the young man detests.

"I Confess" WB, 1953.  Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Brian Aherne, O. E. Hasse, Dolly Haas.  Based on the Paul Anthelme play "Our Two Consciences" (1902).  Under the seal of the confessional, a killer reveals his deed to a priest who is later accused of the murder but can say nothing to clear himself.

"Dial M for Murder" WB, 1954.  Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams, Anthony Dawson.  Based on the play by Frederick M. P. Knott that appeared on Broadway in 1952.  A husband hires a seedy former classmate to kill his wife, but the plot misfires when the woman, in self-defense, turns on her attacker - and finds herself imprisoned for murder.

"Rear Window" Paramount, 1954.  James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr.  Based on the Cornell Woolrich short story "It Had to Be Murder" (1942).  A news photographer, confined to a wheelchair because of a broken leg, amuses himself by sitting at his window and, from across a courtyard, spying on the people living in the apartment building that faces his.  Gradually he suspects that he has uncovered a murder.

"To Catch a Thief" Paramount, 1955.  Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, John Williams.  From the 1952 novel by David Dodge.  A headstrong American heiress visiting the Riviera begins a romance with a dashing reformed cat burglar, even though the resort area is rocked by a series of spectacular jewel thefts.

"The Trouble with Harry" Paramount, 1955.  John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Edmund Gwenn, Mildred Natwick, Mildred Dunnock.  Based on a 1950 John Trevor Story novel.  In this bizarre black comedy, several residents of a Vermont community attempt to hide a body.

"The Man Who Knew Too Much" Paramount, 1956.  James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie, Bernard Miles, Daniel Gelin.  A remake of his own 1934 film.  More elaborately done.

"The Wrong Man" WB, 1957.  Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle.  Based on a true crime story.  The film is an almost documentary-style account of a New York musician falsely accused and arrested for armed robbery.

"Vertigo" Paramount, 1958.  James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones.  Based on the 1956 novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac.  A detective's fear of heights keeps him from preventing the suicide of a friend's neurotic wife, and she hurls herself from a mission tower.  Later he sees a girl on a San Francisco street and becomes convinced the suicide victim has returned from the dead.

"North by Northwest" MGM, 1959.  Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau.  This is the ultimate chase film - across country, from the United Nations in Manhattan to the President's carved faces on Mount Rushmore.  An urbane New York advertising executive is bewildered to learn that he has been mistaken by an enemy spy ring for a counterespionage agent - who, in fact, does not exist.  Fleeing killers who are intent upon eliminating him, the hero finds both danger and romance on the run.

"Psycho" Paramount, 1960.  Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam.  Based on the 1959 novel by Robert Bloch.  A secretary who has absconded with $40,000 to aid her lover stops in her flight - and is stabbed to death - at a lonely motel run by a psychotic young man dominated by the shadowy figure of his knife-wielding mother.  A cinematic milestone, this film inspired psychopathic terror films ever since.

"The Birds" Universal, 1963.  Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, Ethel Griffies.  Based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier.  In this cryptic nonmystery, for unknown, apocalyptic reasons, numerous flocks of birds attack the population of a small coastal town in California.

"Marnie" Universal, 1964.  Sean Connery, Tippi Hedren, Diane Baker, Louise Latham, Martin Gabel, Mariette Hartley.  Based on the 1961 novel by Winston Graham.  A rich young man falls in love with a girl who he realizes is a neurotic and a compulsive thief who is afraid of sex.  Not until after his marriage to her does he - in a dramatic encounter with her slattern mother - discover the cause of Marnie's problem.

"Torn Curtain" Universal, 1966.  Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, Lila Kedrova, Tamara Toumanova.  A young American scientist pretends to defect to East Berlin in order to contact an antimissile expert and return with his secrets to the United States.

"Topaz" Universal, 1969.  Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, John Vernon, Karin Dor, John Forsythe.  Based on the 1967 novel by Leon Uris.  A spy scandal rocks Washington; against an international setting (Copenhagen, Harlem, Havana, and Paris) a diplomat tries to ferret out a spy ring whose code name is Topaz, which has been passing secrets to the Russians.

"Frenzy" Universal, 1972.  Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster, Anna Massey, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Vivien Merchant.  From the 1966 book "Goodbye Picadilly, Farewell Leicester Square" by Arthur La Bern.  A down-on-his-luck former RAF pilot is accused of a series of London sex murders - the victims are raped and strangled - when first his former wife and then his girlfriend are killed.  The murderer is actually a friend of the suspect.

"Family Plot" Universal, 1976.  Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, William Devane.  Based on "The Rainbird Pattern" by Victor Canning.  Two couples - one a fake psychic and her cab-driving boyfriend, the other a pair of professional thieves and kidnappers - come into conflict because of a search for a missing heir.

PUBLICATIONS

The first book attached to Alfred Hitchcock's name was "The Pocket Book of Great Detectives" published in 1941 by Pocketbook paperbacks with Hitchcock selecting and editing the stories.  A long and profitable series of anthology volumes began in 1945 with Random House and then reissued in paperback by Dell.  The books were endorsed with Hitchcock's name as editor.  The first volume was titled "Suspense Stories: Collected by Alfred Hitchcock".  The last book in this long-running series was in 2011 and the total books published (so far) are 166 volumes.

In the post-pulp days of magazines digest-sized anthologies were popular.  Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine was launched in 1956 with his daughter Patricia as associate editor.  The selection of stories for the magazine reflected her father's concept of suspense and the macabre.  During the run of his TV series he was given first rights to the selected stories for TV adaptation.  The magazine is still being published today by Dell.

TELEVISION

Beginning on October 2, 1955 "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" came into American homes and would continue to do so, on CBS and NBC, for the next ten years, resulting in 361 episodes.  Each week his famous line and shadow profile would merge to the musical accompaniment of "Funeral March of a Marionette", and Alfred would act as the master of ceremonies with his marvelously droll introductions and closings to each show.  It was a half-hour show running on CBS until September 1960, then moved to NBC for two years.  It came back to CBS as an hour-long show and retitled "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" until September 1964, when it shifted back to NBC for its final season.  The last show aired on May 10, 1965.  Of the 361 episodes, Hitchcock directed 17 of them.  These are the shows and air dates.

"Revenge" CBS, October 2, 1955.  Ralph Meeker, Vera Miles.  Based on a short story by Samuel Blas (Colliers, 1947).  The story was used on radio anthology series like "Light's Out" and "Suspense", and was adapted by EC Comics for the first issue of "Crime SuspeStories" in October 1950.  Meeker arrives home from work to find his wife unconscious and learns that she was attacked by a man who broke into their home.  Meeker is taking his wife out of town to recuperate when she spots a man and hollers "That's the man, that's the man!"  Meeker beats the man to death, exacting revenge, but once they continue their journey she spies another individual and proclaims "That's the man, that's the man!"

"Breakdown" CBS, November 13, 1955.  Joseph Cotten is involved in a car crash, pinned in the wreckage, paralyzed and left for dead.  He is robbed of his possessions and taken to a mortuary where he is about to be pronounced dead (and presumably autopsied) when a single tear emitted from his eyes saves his life.

"The Case of Mr. Pelham" CBS, December 4, 1955.  Tom Ewell finds a double of himself duplicating his daily routine.  To outsmart his double he begins to dress outrageously and act erratic.  His double takes over his life as Ewell is hauled off to the "funny Farm".

"Back for Christmas" CBS, March 4, 1956.  John Williams, Isobel Elsom.  A man murders his wife and buries her in the cellar of their home.  He leaves on a planned vacation and discovers that she was going to surprise him with a wine cellar to be excavated while they were on vacation.

"Wet Saturday" CBS, September 30, 1956.  Sir Cedric Hardwicke, John Williams.  Hardwicke plays the wealthy father of a daughter who kills her boyfriend with a shovel.  Daddy tries to protect her by attempting to frame a neighbor for the murder.

"Mr. Blanchard's Secret" CBS, December 23, 1956.  Mary Scott, Robert Horton.  A busybody housewife-cum-mystery writer thinks that Mr. Blanchard has murdered his wife.  Just as the audience believes she's correct, she and we learn that she is wrong.  The secret is that there is no secret.  A half-hour practical joke by Hitchcock.

"One More to Go" CBS, April 7, 1957.  David Wayne kills his wife with an andiron and sticks her body in the trunk of his car, driving down what he thinks is a deserted country road.  A cop stops him because one of his tail lights isn't working and insists that they open the trunk to fix it.

"The Perfect Crime" CBS, October 20, 1957.  Based on a short story by Ben Ray Redman.  Concerns criminologist-sleuth Vincent Price who, upon learning from James Gregory that he was responsible for sending an innocent man to the gallows, successfully bakes Gregory in a pottery kiln.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" CBS, April 13, 1958.  Based on a short story by Roald Dahl.  When her police chief husband says he wants to leave her, wife Barbara Bel Geddes bludgeons him to death with a frozen leg of lamb.  She puts the lamb in the oven.  When the investigating police come over the wife graciously invites them to a lamb dinner.  As they are eating they complain about not being able to find the murder weapon.  "For all we know, it could be right under our very noses."  Barbara smiles.

"Dip in the Pool" CBS, September 14, 1958.  Keenan Wynn is a conniving chiseler-tourist on vacation with his wife, Fay Wray, and "Aunt Jenny's $4000".  He sees an opportunity to fix a bet to win a big payday, but things go horribly wrong.

"Poison" CBS, 1958.  James Donald, Wendell Corey.  An alcoholic tells his doctor and anyone who'll listen that he's being attacked by a snake.  No one believes him because "he's only a rummy".

"Banquo's Chair" CBS, May 3, 1959.  John Williams, Reginald Gardiner.  Based on a short story by Rupert Croft-Cooke.  Police inspector Williams is investigating the murder of a woman and decides to trick the murderer into confessing.  He hires an actress to play the dead woman's ghost.  The "ghost" appears and the killer confesses, half frightened to death.  Just then the hired actress rushes in, apologizing for being late.

"Arthur" CBS, September 27, 1959.  Based on a short story by Arthur Williams.  Laurence Harvey is a farmer who is annoyed by Hazel Court who is constantly after him to marry her.  He's the unmarrying kind and kills the nagging woman.  To cover up the crime and get rid of the evidence, he chops her up and feeds her to the chickens.

"The Crystal Trench" CBS, October 4, 1959.  Based on a short story by Alfred Edward Woodley Mason.  James Donald and Patricia Owens are a newly married couple.  He falls down a cliff while climbing a deep glacier and 40 years later Owens finds her husband's frozen body and a secret.

"Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat" NBC, September 27, 1960.  Audrey Meadows, Les Tremayne.  Based on a short story by Roald Dahl.  Mrs. Bixby (Meadows) is a wife cheating on her husband.  She tells her boring husband that she's going to visit an aunt overnight as a cover for her affair.  Her lover, the Colonel, gives her a luxurious mink as a gift.  To get the coat past her husband she pawns it then tells her husband that she found the ticket.  He goes to redeem the hocked item and returns with a raggedy fur instead.  When Mrs. Bixby goes to her husband's office afterwards she finds his secretary wearing the Colonel's coat.

"The Horseplayer" NBC, March 14, 1961.  Claude Rains is a priest who finds that a gambler is giving large donations to the church each Sunday.  He claims it helps him win at the horse races.  To get more money for the needy church, Rains gives the gambler $300 from the building fund to bet.  Rains is plagued with guilt about what he's done and prays for the horse not to "win".  As it turns out, the gambler put the church's money on "place" and his own on "win".  Rains prayers are answered.

"Bang! You're Dead!" NBC, October 17, 1961.  Billy Mumy.  A little boy comes upon his visiting uncle's gun, and everyone who sees him with it assumes it's a toy.  Loaded with two bullets little Jackie goes around town and his house, pointing the gun at people and saying "Bang!"

"I Saw the Whole Thing" CBS, October 11, 1962.  John Forsythe, Kent Smith.  A man, accused of a hit-and-run accident, proves in court how unreliable witnesses can be.  The switch here is that the man's wife is the actual culprit.

In addition to the episodes of his own series, Hitchcock directed two other television shows for other anthology series.  

"Four O'Clock" NBC's "Suspicion" September 30, 1957.  E. G. Marshall, Nancy Kelly, Richard Long.  Based on the short story by Cornell Woolrich.  Marshall, a watchmaker, suspects that his wife is cheating on him.  He manufactures a bomb that he plants in the basement of their home while she is gone, intending to blow her up while he's back at work.  Some burglars break-in to rob the place, thinking that no one is home, and tie Marshall up in the basement with the bomb - which is set to go off at 4:00.  And the suspense begins.

"Incident at a Corner" NBC's "Ford Star Time" April 5, 1960.  Vera Miles, Paul Hartman, George Peppard.  The one-hour drama is about an incident repeated from different people's viewpoints.  It involves a school crossing guard, the president of the PTA, and an anonymous letter claiming that the guard is "too chummy" with the little schoolgirls.