Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Beta Delta Gamma (11/14/1961)

"We're not the lost generation, we're the stupid generation."

Why I'm Watching

I have been patiently waiting nearly 5 years for Season 7 of Alfred Hitchcock Presents to be released on Region 1 DVD. I don't understand why people in other parts of the world are getting to enjoy hassle free AHP episodes while those of us in Canada, the US and Puerto Rico are left in the lurch. It's just wrong, people! We've suffered enough! Give us our AHP and AHH to soothe our souls in these troubling times! Apparently, Universal Studios is unaware of the meaning of the word universal! I'm going to stop writing exclamatory sentences now!

Not long ago, I was gifted copies of S7 AHP episodes that appear to have been recorded from a late night broadcast on a cathode-ray tube TV by someone's beat up VCR in the 80s. It is not a fitting presentation of the Master's work, and I've been unmotivated to see them in such shabby condition, which is quite silly, because it's better than nothing.

So, I've decided to dip my toe in the water and relive the inferior broadcast conditions of the 1980s to explore an episode with our boy wonder from Dark Shadows, Joel Crothers, in his only appearance on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and the first time I've seen him outside DS.

Hitch Intro

Good evening brothers and sisters. This evening's story is concerned with high education. Specifically with members of Greek letter fraternities. I presume there are fraternities for other nationalities as well. This is a fra... [notices fraternity paddle is upside down and turns it right side up] 

 ...is a fraternity paddle. Apparently they have very small canoes. In keeping with tonight's theme, we shall first see a short educational film, and then a story. As the story opens, you will find the students hard at work, wrestling with the complex problems which face man in his never-ending quest for truth.

The Gist

Some frat guys and gals are preparing for finals by consuming copious amounts of alcohol. When Alan accepts a challenge to slam a pitcher of beer and his challenger subsequently forfeits, he gets predictably belligerent and takes a swing at him before passing out. The gang decides it will be good fun to set up a scene to make Alan believe that he killed the guy when he regains consciousness. The prank goes off without a hitch and they have a good laugh, but in the end, the joke's on them.

Memorable Moments

Mark: Get drunk, stay drunk, forget about finals!

Alan is just not into Barbara Steele.

It's not a real college party if you don't have wannabe Allen Ginsberg beatniks reciting prose.

Mark: Prove your manhood.

The Battle of the Beer begins. Will Alan be able to slam a pitcher of beer without stopping?

Burt Brinckerhoff looks like an old pro. No stunt doubles used here!

Mark wimps out on the beer challenge, but Alan is seeing too many of him to make his fist connect.

 

After encouraging Alan to poison himself with alcohol, the gang decides to play a joke on him. They first plan to make him up to look like he's dead, then decide it will be funnier to make him believe that Mark is dead, and that he killed him. Robert decides to play doctor, injecting a drug from his daddy's doctor kit that will make Mark's respiration and pulse rate barely perceptible.

Robert: Ah, c'mon now, Mark, as a future member of the medical profession, I can assure you there's almost nothing to worry about.
Mark: Almost nothing to worry about! I hear you loud and clear!

Robert: I'm joking, Mark. No really, it's perfectly harmless stuff. As a matter of fact, you'll wake up later feeling like a new man. Okay. Alright? Now, don't...don't move your arm, we don't want to break the needle now!
Mark: How much of that stuff are you putting in me?

Phyllis puts the finishing touches on the prank and the gang heads out to chill at Robert's dad's house down the beach.

It's a scene worthy of a Hitchcock picture.

Alan is beginning to get the picture.

Alan thinks Mark is dead and I'm not completely sure that pre-med Robert didn't actually kill him with the injection.

Alan finds the gang playing it cool at Robert's dad's house, and Robert tells him they left the frat house because it wasn't fun partying with him while he argued with Mark.

Alan doesn't tell them he found Mark unconscious with a bloody head, and they burst out laughing after he leaves to return to the frat house. This was probably the point where they should have let him in on the joke.

At sunrise, he heads back to where the gang is and tells them Mark is dead, that he didn't know how it happened or why, but assumes he was responsible. Phyllis tells him he should call the police, but Robert stops him before he can, letting him in on their funny joke.

Alan confesses that he tried to conceal the crime by wrapping Mark in a blanket and burying him in the sand on the beach.

The gang rushes out to the beach to dig up Mark, believing there's a chance he's still alive.

Unfortunately, Alan can't remember where he buried him, as the incoming tide has washed away the area where he dug.

If Mark was lucky, he died from the injection, otherwise he was buried alive. How horrible! On the plus side, he gets to forget about finals.

Hitch Outro

Yes, poor Alan left more than footprints in the sands of time. If you think college students don't learn anything, you are sadly mistaken. These people certainly learned something that night. They've never done anything like that again. They were assisted in their resolve by the police, for justice was meted out to the pranksters. I have more to say, but it can wait sixty seconds while our dear sponsor speaks to you on his favorite topic.

How he does go on. By the way, we would like it known that the foregoing story does not constitute a condemnation of fraternities or sororities or Greeks or universities or young people or the seashore or saltwater or sand. I yield to no man in my firm adherence to an uncompromising policy of offending no one. So, until next time, good night.

Thoughts

Sadly, Hitchcock was wrong. College students haven't learned anything, and the topic of this episode has remained relevant to this day. While Mark's burial was predictable, I think that may have been to show that these co-eds weren't able to anticipate the foreseeable disaster because they had their beer goggles on. Giving viewers the chance to hope that Mark might be saved makes the ending cruel and truly horrifying, which makes it an enjoyable episode.

As far as the dismal presentation, it was watchable, and takes me back to the days when this was the norm for watching classic TV shows. We are all so spoiled nowadays. And like a spoiled child, I am stomping my feet and screaming for my AHP! AHP! Give me my AHP on DVD!

Joel Crothers plays well as the privileged, foolhardy prankster, just as he thrived as the villain, Nathan Forbes, on Dark Shadows. He's good when he's bad. Though I enjoy his portrayal of good, old reliable Joe Haskell, he doesn't really flourish in that role as he does with Forbes.

I learned that he started acting when he was a young kid, and appeared on more than a dozen TV series before landing a regular gig on Dark Shadows. He would go on to make regular appearances on The Edge of Night and Santa Barbara.

A fresh faced youth in 1959.

Crothers in "The Old Goat" episode from The Many Loves of Doby Gillis.

A short clip of an appearance on The Edge of Night.

What I'm Watching: Torn Curtain (1966)

There are only a few Hitchcock films I've not yet seen. Tonight, I'm ticking Torn Curtain off the list. Hitch makes a cute cameo with baby on the knee, which he switches to the other knee when apparently realizing the tyke has soiled his nappy.

This is a beautifully filmed movie, which would benefit from a sharper image. It's a tale of espionage and intrigue that drags in some parts, though Gromek's murder is worth the price of admission.

Paul Newman and Julie Andrews make quite the odd couple, but are still enjoyable to watch.

It may not be my favorite Hitchcock film, but I look forward to seeing it again someday. It's not hard for me to find something to enjoy about any Hitchcock movie. The only movies of his I've yet to watch are Topaz, Frenzy, and Waltzes from Vienna. While I enjoy many of his celebrated films, I also have a particular fondness for Murder!, Rich and Strange, Stage Fright, and Strangers on a Train.

Movies Every Day 7: The Wrong Man (1956)

"An innocent man has nothing to fear, remember that."

Why I'm Watching

• This is one of a few Hitchcock pictures I've not yet seen and am especially interested in it since it's a true story.

The Gist

Manny is mistakenly identified by clerks at an insurance office as a man responsible for an armed robbery there, and finds it difficult to prove his innocence. He is subsequently forced to endure the nightmare of being arrested, incarcerated, and sent to trial, the stress of which causes unintended consequences for his family.

Things I Like

• Great use of shadows. 
• Great build up of tension, enhanced by the music.
• The idea of being wrongly charged with a crime is truly horrifying.

Things I Don't Like

• I can never find anything I don't like about Hitchcock. 

Interesting Moments

• Cops happen to be walking by but appear to be following Manny as he leaves the club. Sirens can be heard as he's walking home. 
• When Manny is waiting at the insurance company, he appears to be behind bars.
• The cops hold Manny without charging him or allowing him a phone call and then drive him around to various stores that have been hit and ask him to walk up and down the store aisle so the victims can identify him. Lesson learned. Know your rights, and say nothing without your lawyer present. That's what Perry Mason taught me.
• Inside his cell, Manny clenches his fists and the camera swirls around his head as the music grows even more frantic. 
• In the paddy wagon on his way to jail, Manny focuses on the handcuffs on his wrist and the shoes of all the other prisoners, while nobody speaks. 

Notable Quotes

Hitchcock's prologue: This is Alfred Hitchcock speaking. In the past, I have given you many kinds of suspense pictures. But this time, I would like you to see a different one. The difference lies in the fact that this is a true story, every word of it. And yet it contains elements that are stranger than all the fiction that has gone into many of the thrillers that I've made before.

Rose: Oh, I didn't know you liked horses.
Manny: It's the arithmetic I like, honey. I guess it's the musician in me. You know, musicians are always fascinated by mathematics. They can't read, but they can figure.


Manny (to Rose): In my experience, I always pay for what I get.


Manny: I'm completely innocent.
Lt. Bowers: Well, we can't take anybody's word for that, you know. We have to clear you before we can send you home.
Manny: How do you clear me?
Lt. Bowers: Well, it's purely a routine matter. But I'll tell you something. It's nothing for an innocent man to worry about. It's the fella that's done something wrong that has to worry.


Lt. Bowers: If you haven't done anything you have nothing to fear.


Lt. Bowers: An innocent man has nothing to fear, remember that.


Manny: Mother tell you what happened to me?
Bob: No, she didn't.
Manny: I got arrested for something I didn't do.
Bob: You don't have to tell me. I heard what they said on the phone. Dad, you're the best dad in the world.
Manny: I do the best I can, Bob. Thanks for telling me.
Bob: You're the best.
Manny: Hope you never have to go through anything like I did. If you ever do, I hope you've got a son just like mine to come back to. I never knew what my boys meant to me till right now.


Manny: I can't believe that Rose...I can't let her go.
Dr. Bannay: She's living in another world from ours, a frightening landscape that could be on the dark side of the moon.
Manny: And I'm not there?
Dr. Bannay: You're there, and the children are there, but not the way you are. Monstrous shadows that say hateful things. Now, she knows she's in a nightmare, but it doesn't help her to know. She can't get out.

Memorable Moments

Love It or Leave It

Love it for making me feel a range of negative emotions before ending with a positive outcome. This was an intense movie that had me empathizing with Manny as events spiral out of his control. It's a touching moment when he has to tell his son he was arrested for something he didn't do, and the little boy tells him he's the best dad. When he finally gets a break, it's bittersweet, since he's not able to share it with Rose. Eventually, there is somewhat of a happy ending to the story, and it's one of those times I'm glad for that. It's a powerful film that leads one to consider how many other people have had the same experience of being wrongly convicted, perhaps without ever being vindicated. Hitchcock did a fine job of keeping it real and not embellishing for melodrama's sake.