ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: INCIDENT IN A SMALL JAIL / MAN FROM THE SOUTH / BANG! YOU'RE DEAD / AN UNLOCKED WINDOW {FOUR EPISODES REMADE FOR 1985 PILOT} (TV)
Summary
The first of four programs on this asset, which features "contemporized renderings" of the classic dramatic anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock repackaged into one pilot film.
In this segment, a remake of the March 21, 1961 episode of the original series, mysterious "vagrant" Curt Venner stumbles across the murdered body of a teen girl in a forest and flees in terror to a nearby road, where he is picked up by affable traveling salesman Larry Broome. Curt runs off when they stop for gas, and Larry is soon picked up by the police for reckless driving. Though he assures them that he's never been arrested, they discover a warrant for a drunk-driving arrest, and Larry protests that it must belong to his car's previous owner.
Just then, an enraged Curt is violently dragged into the station on suspicion of having murdered the young woman, due to his proximity to the spot and the blood on his clothes. Curt and Larry are thrown into adjoining cells, and despite Larry's protests that he's simply the victim of a "computer error," Curt forces him to switch clothes and take his place, leaving him to the mercy of an angry lynch mob in search of justice for the girl's death. Larry is nearly hanged before backup arrives and rescues him. Once the DUI confusion is cleared up, the cops release him with sheepish apologies. Larry, noting that he somehow "knew" that a bizarre misunderstanding would soon befall him, heads back out onto the road – and is pleased to encounter a stranded young woman, revealing that he was actually the true killer all along.
In the second segment, a remake of the original Jan. 3, 1960 episode (see T85:0990), in Las Vegas, a dapper older gentleman begins chatting with an unlucky gambler and his female companion. He inquires about the gambler's cigarette lighter and, after recruiting a fourth individual as a "referee," suggests a "little bet" on the gambler's ability to successfully ignite the lighter ten times in a row. The man presents an elegant convertible automobile as his wager – but when the gambler admits he has nothing to offer, the man declares that he'll take the gambler's left small finger if he loses. The woman is horrified, but the gambler agrees.
The man bribes a bellhop to bring him the necessary props, including a chopping knife, and he sets up the scene with an all-too-practiced adeptness. As the woman and the "referee" watch nervously, the gambler begins flicking the lighter and successfully lights it nine times – but on the tenth, the flame is extinguished when a well-dressed woman, Rosa, barges into the room and causes a draft. The stranger brings down the blade but spares his finger, and Rosa furiously scolds the man, Carlos, for playing his sadistic game yet again, revealing that he has done so, and won, many times in other countries. She adds that the convertible is actually hers and that Carlos has nothing of his own to offer, as she herself has "won it all" from him – at the drastic price of four digits on her left hand.
In the third segment, a remake of the original October 17, 1961 episode (see T83:0178), tomboyish young Amanda is frustrated when young neighbor Billy yet again refuses to let her join the local boys' war games, telling her to come back once she's secured a "good gun." Later, Amanda's beloved Uncle Jack returns from a harrowing work trip to a war-torn area of Central America, and Amanda peeks through his luggage and finds his revolver, which she assumes to be a present for her. She takes the gun and heads out to "play," and Jack and the parents panic when they realize that she is roaming around town with a very dangerous weapon and live ammunition.
Amanda has several near-misses as she encounters a variety of adults and kids who mistake her gun for a harmless toy. Her parents and uncle finally catch up to her at the supermarket, though she leaves moments before her mom's desperate loudspeaker announcement. Amanda finds Billy and demands to be accepted into the game, but when he dismissively tells her that "girls don't fight wars," she angrily takes aim with her "toy" and fires, missing him by mere inches.
In the final segment, a remake of the original Feb. 15, 1965 episode, a young nurse is fatally strangled by an unseen assailant as she departs her hospital job, making her the fourth such victim in a recent string of murders. Elsewhere, newly qualified nurse Stella is unnerved by the news report as she attends to her first terminally ill patient, Mr. Glendon Baker. Their associate Sam is forced to venture out into the stormy night to fetch an additional oxygen tank, sternly reminding Stella and her superior, Nurse Betty Ames, to lock the doors and windows. Betty consoles the nervous Stella about the "depressing" experience of watching a patient die, and a seemingly confused Glendon warns Stella that "someone's here" and urges her to leave his house.
Sam calls to say that his car has broken down, and high-strung housekeeper Miss Kyprianov, impatiently awaiting a cab, flies into a panic upon hearing an eerie male voice taunting her from the shadows. Stella gives her a sedative, but she too becomes fearful upon receiving a creepy phone call from the same voice. The phone soon goes dead, and Stella is horrified to find a single window open in the basement. She grabs a knife and frantically stabs the intruder – only to find that it is Sam, and she is now alone with "Betty" – revealed to be the villainous strangler, a man who adopted the real Betty's appearance and identity after murdering her earlier in the evening.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: May 12, 1985 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:35:19
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:48535
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Murder
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1985-1986; USA - 1987-1989
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Christopher Crowe … Executive Producer
- Andrew Mirisch … Supervising Producer
- Stephen Cragg … Producer
- Alan Barnette … Producer
- Alfred Hitchcock … Host
- For "Incident in a Small Jail":
- Joel Oliansky … Director, Writer
- Henry Slesar … Based on a teleplay by
- John Goux … Music by
- Ned Beatty … Cast, Larry Broome
- Lee Ving … Cast, Curt Venner
- Tony Frank … Cast, Noakes
- John Shearin … Cast, Roker
- Arthur Taxier … Cast, Skelly
- Walter Klenhard … Cast, Gas Station Attendant
- Richard Lineback … Cast, Billy
- Gene Ross … Cast, Max Spaulding
- Jerry Curtin … Cast, Mob Member
- Cynthia Hartley … Cast, Young Girl
- For "Man From the South":
- Steve DeJarnatt … Director, Writer
- William Fay … Based on a teleplay by
- Roald Dahl … Based on a story by
- Basil Poledouris … Music by
- John Huston … Cast, Carlos / Narrator
- Melanie Griffith … Cast, Girl
- Steven Bauer … Cast, Gambler
- Tippi Hedren … Cast, Waitress
- Kim Novak … Cast, Rosa
- Jack Thibeau … Cast, Bronson
- Danny De La Paz … Cast, Bellhop
- For "Bang! You're Dead":
- Randa Haines … Director
- Harold Swanton … Writer
- Christopher Crowe … Writer
- Margery Vosper … Based on a story by
- Craig Safan … Music by
- Gail Youngs … Cast, Amanda's Mother
- Lyman Ward … Cast, Uncle Jack
- Bill Mumy … Cast, Supermarket Clerk
- Bianca Rose … Cast, Amanda
- Jonathan Goldsmith … Cast, Manager
- Kale Browne … Cast, Amanda's Dad
- Mark L. Taylor … Cast, Darlene's Dad
- Linda Hoy … Cast, Big Brownie
- David Held … Cast, Billy
- Gregory Levinson … Cast, Stevie
- Douglas Emerson … Cast, Kid Soldier
- Christina Lange … Cast, Darlene
- Gail Barle … Cast, Jiffy Snack Girl
- Gigi Vorgan … Cast, Cashier
- For "An Unlocked Window":
- Fred Walton … Director, Writer
- Ethel Lina White … Based on a story by
- James Bridges … Based on a teleplay by
- Craig Safan … Music by
- Annette O'Toole … Cast, Stella
- Bruce Davison … Cast, Betty / The Strangler
- Owen Bush … Cast, Sam
- Helena Kallianiotes … Cast, Miss Kyprianov
- Ross Elliott … Cast, Glendon Baker
- Nancy Burnett … Cast, Nurse