REVIEW: Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Season One DVD
I'm a rather big Hitchcock fan so I was pretty jazzed to get this for Christmas. Of course Hitchcock only directed a handful of episodes himself but those he didn't are just as entertaining. This DVD box contains the 39 half-hour episodes that aired in the first season of the show in 1955-56.
Alfred Hitchcock was quite often ridiculed for having anything to do with this TV series. A lot of people saw it as him selling out in a way. But, this was the mid-fifties and it was television that mattered when it came to getting the widest possible audience. Ironically, the theme song and title sequence with the famous profile (drawn by Hitchcock himself) are probably his most famous trademarks.
In total there were 266 episodes spanning 7 seasons. A number of actors that would later become famous show up on the program like Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen and Robert Redford to name but a few. As well as famous authors like Roald Dahl and Ray Bradbury getting story credits.
I had only seen a couple of these episodes before, and that was so long ago I couldn't even be sure of which ones they were. The show hasn't been rerun on television in ages as far as I know. It has since gotten a bit more attention upon being released for download on the iTunes Music Store, where the shows are offered at $1.99 a piece or $54.99 for the season. You can check out the page for the show in iTunes here. Obviously it's not worth $55 to download the season when you can buy the box set of DVD's for $30. But, I guess $2 is worth an episode if you want to check it out.
I should probably stress the fact that unless you are an ardent fan of Hitchcock you probably aren't going to get a lot out of these shows. Part of the fun of watching of them is seeing him introduce and end each show in a rather macabre yet comical way, and seeing him take quite obvious pokes at the sponsors. Almost all of the shows echo the traditional themes that Hitchcock sets forth in his films; the wrong man, the play-acting traitor, the sudden plot twist, and the ever present surprise ending. There is also quite a bit of subtle humor, the type that keeps the show going but doesn't draw from the plot.
The fact that each episode is only about 30 minutes long (it was later made into an hour long show), amazingly, doesn't harm the series. Most episodes actually seem longer because they encompass so much information. Another plus is the fact that the show does not stick with the present. It's not always 1950's America. Occasionally the episode is set in foreign countries and different decades. A lot can also be said about the varying themes and stories, sometimes it's gangsters, sometimes it's old women, and sometimes it's aristocrats. You never quite know what the next story is going to contain.
Now not every episode is great, but that's the case with all TV series. The thing about Alfred Hitchcock Presents is that it's, well, Hitchcock. So all of the shows are at the least interesting and involve some sort of intrigue and of course suspense. Some more than others. Which means that it's hard to review this initial offering based on it's content. More so it should be based on what you are getting for what price. At 30 dollars for 16+ hours of entertainment you can't really go wrong. Most likely it will take you at least a month to get through the entire box. (Unless you are sick and on Christmas break, in which case it will take you 4 days...) Look at it as a very long movie, instead of a lot of short TV shows.
Price: $30 on Amazon, 379 SEK at Badlands (Imported)
Number of discs: 3
Episodes: 39
Hours: 16+
Bonus Material: Exposé about the show.
Full Screen (Hey, it's television)
Positives: Lots of entertainment, low price. A young Charles Bronson.
Negatives: For some reason they made it so that once you've selected an episode before it starts playing it gives you the plot summary. Make sure you ignore reading it otherwise there are no surprises.
Mindra Panda Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I await Season Two anxiously.
K. Panda
