A Good Samaritan helps a newlywed couple with a flat tire. But when the groom accidentally dirties the man's suit, the stranger reveals himself to be a dangerous crackpot.A Good Samaritan helps a newlywed couple with a flat tire. But when the groom accidentally dirties the man's suit, the stranger reveals himself to be a dangerous crackpot.A Good Samaritan helps a newlywed couple with a flat tire. But when the groom accidentally dirties the man's suit, the stranger reveals himself to be a dangerous crackpot.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMeg and Ray's car is a 1956 Mercury Montclair coupe. This was the 'top of the line' series for that year.
- Quotes
[introduction]
Alfred Hitchcock: [Hitchcock is pacing around a small room with just a small bench in it] Good evening.
Echo: Good evening.
[Hitchcock looks up in annoyance]
Alfred Hitchcock: [whispering] Good evening.
[gestures to the camera to come closer, which it does]
Alfred Hitchcock: Certain parties have been objecting to my candid remarks. So, I'm doing tonight's show from this sealed chamber. It's as quiet as a tomb. Which is not surprising...
Echo: Good evening.
Alfred Hitchcock: ...since it was the only type of structure available to switch it out...
[stops in annoyance]
Echo: Certain parties have been objecting to my candid remarks. So, I am doing tonight's show from this sealed chamber.
[there is a slight pause and Hitchcock tries to speak again but the echo continues]
Echo: Which is not surprising.
Alfred Hitchcock: [Hitchcock in annoyance at the echo] Are you quite finished?... Here, in a moment, is tonight's play. It is entitled "Crackpot."
Echo: Are you quite finished?
[Hitchcock shrugs and sits down, defeated]
- SoundtracksFuneral March of a Marionette
Written by Charles Gounod
"Crackpot", the second of the three, was a disappointment. It has one truly great performance and a fascinating character, but is wrecked by how weakly done the story is. A case of a performance to be much better than the episode itself, another example of this from the series being "The Better Bargain". Personally do not agree with it being rated higher than "Jonathan", it is the only one of Lucas' episodes to not do much for me and it's a lesser entry for Season 2.
The best thing about "Crackpot" is the excellent performance of Robert Emhardt, he has such a riveting presence whether benevolent or dangerous. And he is helped by that his character is psychologically fascinating and the only one to have any development or growth. There are moments of tension in the latter stages, largely down to Emhardt's performance.
It's slickly made with some nice atmospheric shots. The audio is suitably ominous and will never stop raving about the haunting use of "Funeral March of a Marionette" for the series' main theme. Hitchcock's bookending is typically droll in writing and delivery.
However, there are too many drawbacks. The biggest problem is the story, which is truly preposterous and on the most part suspense free, especially when things become not what they seem. Lucas proved with "Jonathan" that he could do creepy atmosphere well, but here he seemed at sea with the material and there is nothing distinguished here.
Did think it took a little too long to get going and that the scripting could have been a good deal tighter. Biff McGuire (series regular and always reliable) and Mary Scott do what they can with what they have but their characters are nowhere near as interesting, actually found Scott's bland and close to neurotic and the limited material stopped them from giving much meat to them.
Concluding, rather mixed on this episode. 5/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- May 24, 2022
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1