Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series)

De Mortuis (1956)

Alfred Hitchcock: Self - Host

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : [Hitchcock is wearing a dean's academic robe and mortarboard]  Good evening, students of the macabre. This evening's lecture has as its text the short story "De Mortuis" translated from the Latin. This means "about the dead." At the risk of being facetious, I would like to point out that Latin is a dead language. Thank you.

  [bows slightly] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : It is rewarding to know that there are still a few students interested in achieving high marks. If you can't hear me in the back of the room, please raise your hand and adjust the volume control. Regrettably, the author wrote only his title in Latin, and did the story in English. Writers are always compromising to attain commercial success. I shall leave it to your judgment as to whether or not it would have sounded better in Latin.

• [last lines] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : And so, just like many a Hollywood movie star, Irene Rankin was immortalized in concrete. But Professor Rankin was not so fortunate. He remarried. His crime was later discovered and he paid the supreme penalty. I have asked one of the actors to come out after the show, for I want to congratulate him on a splendid performance, and I'm sure you do, too.

  [Hitchcock walks over to a table which has a glass of water, some books, and a rat cage with a white lab rat in it] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : He played the most ferocious of the rats, a characterization that was quite a departure for him. Offstage, he's entirely different, as you can see. He's a family man, never seen in the nightclubs. He's just like the fellow who lives next door to you.

  [the rat squeaks] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : Thank you. We have another story.

  [Hitchcock searches through all his pockets and takes a piece of paper out] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : Oh, here it is. But, um, I'm afraid there isn't time enough to present it. We'll have to do it next time. Until then, good night.