I am sure many of you here are fans of the old "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" series (if you are old enough, that is!). I was visiting out-of-state this past week, and they have satellite TV. I came upon a network I had never heard of before, called "Chiller." It apparently runs old TV spook shows like "Rod Serling's Night Gallery" (I wish they ran "Boris Karloff's Thriller"--I lost a lot of sleep over that one when I was a kid!--and those wonderful old black-and-white "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." I was wondering if any of you remember one of these that I still remember, it made such an impression on me. A murderer is on the loose, and a group of nurses is in an old spooky house (caring for a patient?). There is a storm going on outside, with thunder and lightning and wind (great atmosphere). The house is securely locked up, the nurses think, but the camera keeps going to the cellar where a window is hanging open. At the end, the large, heavy nurse is revealed to be a man, so the killer was in the house all along! Apparently this particular episode made quite an impression on a lot of viewers, not just myself, because I was totally shocked at the outcome--I had no idea! Does anyone remember this shocker, and could you tell me the name of it so I can look it up on the IMDB?
Thank you for the information. I knew this episode had nothing to do with RB (but that he did with others), and a lot of us who enjoy Mr. Bradbury's work like the horror genre also--
Agreed! That episode, based on a short story, is absolutely unforgettable! The actor was T. C. Jones, who made a specialty of cross gender roles. He also appeared on an episode of "The Wild, Wild West."
Posts: 7305 | Location: Dayton, Washington, USA | Registered: 03 December 2001
dandelion, I remember seeing T.C. Jones on one of those nighttime talk shows shortly after the Hitchcock episode aired. To show how things have changed, the host (Merv Griffin? but I'm not sure) asked Mr. Jones if he was homosexual (just because he specialized in cross-dressing roles?), and he replied that he had a child, which is not an adequate answer, either, because being homosexual doesn't mean he couldn't father a child, also. In any case, he had me totally fooled in the Hitchcock piece--
Hitchcock was the host, but he only directed a very few of the shows. I believe less than ten of them. Here's one:
One of my favorites was 'The Pool' with Keenan Wynn as a jerk husband who spends all their money on the cruise to Europe...before they get to Europe. So, he bets on the ship's pool (when they will make port) and jumps overboard in front of a lady, to make the ship turn around and go back for him. This will ensure he has picked the correct time of docking. Unfortunately...no one believes the woman when she reports he went overboard. She was on the cruise for a nervous breakdown...and is in the care of a psychiatric nurse! (lol)
"Come on dear...let's go back to your cabin, now." "But, he was such a NICE young man...REALLY he was..." "Now, now. If you insist on telling such stories, I won't be able to let you out on deck, dear."This message has been edited. Last edited by: Robert M Blevins,
Posts: 349 | Location: Seattle, Washington State, USA | Registered: 20 July 2005
Hey, all you fellow Hitchcock fans should get over to the Hitchcock fans website and start posting to the forums over there. It's always deathly quiet over there...
Viktoria, your mention of the Boris Karloff-hosted THRILLER immediately brought back memories of a 1962 episode called the "The Incredible Dr. Markesan", which actually starred Karloff in the lead role and co-starred Dick York of BEWITCHED fame. Karloff played a mad scientist experimenting with bringing the dead back to life (sound familiar?), York played his nephew, and Carolyn Kearney played York's wife. The latter two are unfortunate enough to have to live with Boris, due to financial problems. The last scene of the show gave me nightmares as a kid. I recently saw the episode again on video, and it still packs a punch!
Richard, my absolute favorites in this series were "The Grim Reaper," "The Hollow Watcher," and "Pigeons from Hell." (William Shatner was in that first one, and he was hamming it up even then!) I wish the Sci Fi channel would run these again!
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