''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965, it was renamed ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour''. Hitchcock himself directed only 17 episodes during its run. By the time the show premiered on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades. In the 21st century, ''

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'' magazine named ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' as one of "The 100 Best TV Shows of All Time". The Writers Guild of America ranked it #79 on their list of the 101 Best-Written TV Series, tying it with '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. In 2021, '' Rolling Stone'' ranked it 18th on its list of 30 Best Horror TV Shows of All Time.

History

''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is well known for its title sequence. The camera fades in on a simple line-drawing caricature of Hitchcock's rotund profile (which Hitchcock drew), to the theme music of Charles Gounod's " Funeral March of a Marionette" (suggested by Hitchcock's long-time musical collaborator Bernard Herrmann). Hitchcock appears in silhouette from the right edge of the screen, and then walks to center screen to eclipse the caricature. The caricature drawing and Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette" have become indelibly associated with Hitchcock in popular culture. Alfred Hitchcock Presents

After the title sequence, Hitchcock almost always greets his audience with, "Good evening," before drolly introducing the story from an empty studio or from the set of the current episode; his usually comical monologues were written by James B. Allardice. At least two versions of the opening were shot for every episode. A version intended for the American audience would often spoof a recent popular commercial or poke fun at the sponsor, leading into the commercial. Hitchcock closed the show in much the same way as it opened, but mainly to tie up loose ends rather than joke. Frequently, a leading character in the story would have seemingly gotten away with a criminal activity. In the postscript, Hitchcock would briefly detail, usually unconvincingly, how fate (or the authorities) eventually brought the character to justice. Hitchcock told '' TV Guide'' that his reassurances that the criminal had been apprehended were "a necessary gesture to morality." ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' finished at number 6 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1956–57 season, number 12 in 1957–58, number 24 in 1958–59, and number 25 in 1959–60. The series was originally 25 minutes per episode, but it was expanded to 50 minutes in 1962 and retitled ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour''. Hitchcock directed 17 of the 267 filmed episodes of ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' — four during the first season and one or two per season thereafter. He directed only the fourth of the 93 50-minute episodes, entitled "I Saw the Whole Thing" with John Forsythe. The last new episode aired on June 26, 1965, but the series has continued to be popular in television syndication for decades, including in the UK, where it is currently being shown on Sky Arts.

Guest stars and other actors

Actors appearing in the most episodes include Patricia Hitchcock (Hitchcock's daughter), Dick York, Robert Horton, James Gleason, John Williams, Robert H. Harris, Russell Collins, Barbara Baxley, Ray Teal, Percy Helton, Phyllis Thaxter, Carmen Mathews, Mildred Dunnock, Alan Napier, Robert Vaughn and Vincent Price. Such notables as Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Inger Stevens, Cedric Hardwicke, Steve McQueen, Audrey Meadows, Bruce Dern, Robert Duvall, Walter Matthau, Robert Loggia, George Segal, Laurence Harvey, Claude Rains, Joan Fontaine, Thelma Ritter, Dennis Morgan, Joseph Cotten, Burt Reynolds, Vera Miles, Tom Ewell, Peter Lorre, Bette Davis, Dean Stockwell, Jessica Tandy, John Gavin, Charles Bronson, Michael Rennie, Phyllis Thaxter, Roger Moore, John Cassavetes, Peter Falk, Teresa Wright, Leslie Nielsen, Ricardo Montalbán, Harry Dean Stanton, and Barbara Bel Geddes, among many others, appeared on the series.

Directors

The directors who helmed the most episodes included Robert Stevens (44 episodes), Paul Henreid (28 episodes), Herschel Daugherty (24 episodes), Norman Lloyd (19 episodes), Alfred Hitchcock (17 episodes), Arthur Hiller (17 episodes), James Neilson (12 episodes), Justus Addiss (10 episodes), and John Brahm (10 episodes). Other notable directors included Robert Altman, Ida Lupino, Stuart Rosenberg, Robert Stevenson, David Swift and

William Friedkin William David Friedkin (; August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023) was an American film, television and opera director, producer, and screenwriter who was closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in doc ...

, who directed the last episode of the show.

Broadcast history

The broadcast history was as follows: * Sunday at 9:30–10 p.m. on CBS: October 2, 1955 – September 1960 * Tuesday at 8:30–9 p.m. on NBC: September 1960 – September 1962 * Thursday at 10–11 p.m. on CBS: September 1962 — December 1962 * Friday at 9:30–10:30 p.m.on CBS: January 1963 — September 1963 * Friday at 10–11 p.m. on CBS: September 1963 – September 1964 * Monday at 10–11 p.m. on NBC: October 1964 – September 1965

Episodes

''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', 25 minutes long, aired weekly at 9:30 on CBS on Sunday nights from 1955 to 1960, and then at 8:30 on NBC on Tuesday nights from 1960 to 1962. It was followed by ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'', which lasted for three seasons, September 1962 to June 1965, adding another 93 episodes to the 268 already produced for ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''. Two episodes that were directed by Hitchcock were nominated for

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s. The first episode was " The Case of Mr. Pelham" in 1955 that starred Tom Ewell while the second was " Lamb to the Slaughter" in 1958 that starred Barbara Bel Geddes and Harold J. Stone. In 2009 ''TV Guide''s list of "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time" ranked "Lamb to the Slaughter" at #59. The third season opener "The Glass Eye" (1957) won an

for director Robert Stevens. An episode of ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' titled "An Unlocked Window" (1965) earned an Edgar Award for writer James Bridges in 1966. Among the most famous episodes remains writer

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

's " Man from the South" (1960) starring Steve McQueen and Peter Lorre, in which a man bets his finger that he can start his lighter 10 times in a row. This episode was ranked #41 on ''TV Guide''s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. The episode was later referenced and remade in the film '' Four Rooms'', with Quentin Tarantino directing a segment called "The Man from Hollywood". The 1962 episode " The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was not aired by NBC because the sponsor felt that the ending was too gruesome. The plot has a magician's helper performing a " sawing a woman in half" trick. Not knowing that the performance is meant to be an illusion, the helper actually cuts an unconscious woman in half. The episode was included in the syndication package for the series and is now considered to be in the public domain.

Home media

Universal Studios released the first five seasons of ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' on DVD in Region 1. Season 6 was released on November 12, 2013 via Amazon.com's CreateSpace program. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release on DVD-R, available exclusively through Amazon.com. In Region 2, Universal Pictures UK has released the first three seasons on DVD, and Fabulous Films has released all seven seasons on DVD, including all three seasons of ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour''. In Region 4, Madman Entertainment has released all seven seasons on DVD in Australia. They have also released all three seasons of ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour''.

1985 revival

In 1985, NBC aired a new TV movie pilot based upon the series, combining four newly filmed stories with colorized footage of Hitchcock from the original series to introduce each segment. The movie was a huge ratings success. The '' Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' revival series debuted in the fall of 1985 and retained the same format as the pilot: newly filmed stories (a mixture of original works and updated remakes of original series episodes) with colorized introductions by Hitchcock. The new series lasted only one season before NBC cancelled it, but it was then produced for three more years by the USA Network.

In other media

''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' used Charles Gounod's " Funeral March of a Marionette" (1872) as its theme song. Hitchcock heard it first in F. W. Murnau's 1927 film '' Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans''. When he was choosing music for his TV show, he remembered the effect Gounod's piece had on him. It was through Hitchcock's program that the music achieved its widest audience.

Books

A series of literary anthologies with the running title ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' were issued to capitalize on the success of the television series. One volume, devoted to stories that censors would not allow to be adapted for broadcast, was entitled ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV''—though eventually several of the stories collected therein ''were'' adapted. *
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV
'. Dell, 1958. *
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: My Favorites in Suspense
'. Random House, 1959. *
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Baker's Dozen of Suspense Stories
'. Dell, 1963. *
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories Not for the Nervous
'. Random House, 1965. * ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 12 Stories for Late at Night''. Dell, 1966. *
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories That Scared Even Me
'. Random House, 1967. *
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Month of Mysteries
'. Random House, 1969. *
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: More Stories Not for the Nervous
'. Dell, 1970.

Board Game

*
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Why
'. Milton Bradley, 1958.

LPs

In 1958, Imperial Records released ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Music to Be Murdered By''. In 1962, Golden Records released a record album of six ghost stories for children titled ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Ghost Stories for Young People''. The album opens with Charles Gounod's theme music and is hosted by Hitchcock himself. He begins, "How do you do, boys and girls? I'm delighted to find that you believe in ghosts, too. After all, they believe in you, so it is only common courtesy to return the favor." Maltin, Leonard
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories For Young People/Famous Monsters Speak,"
IndieWire (December 13, 2009). Hitchcock introduces each of the stories, all the while recounting a droll story of his own failed attempts to deal with a leaky faucet (which at the conclusion of the album leads to Hitchcock "drowning" in his flooded home). The ghost stories are read by actor John Allen with minimal sound effects and music. Allen wrote four of the stories: # "The Haunted and the Haunters (The Pirate's Curse)" # "The Magician ('Til Death Do Us Part)" # "Johnny Takes a Dare (The More the Merrier)" # Saki's "The Open Window" (special adaptation) # "The Helpful Hitchhiker" # Walter R. Brooks' "Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons"

Stage musical adaptation

On 1 August 2024, it was announced that a stage musical adaptation of the series would have its world premiere at the Theatre Royal, Bath in March 2025, featuring music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak, book by Jay Dyer and directed by John Doyle.

Legacy

American rapper

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used the theme song in his song "Alfred's Theme" from his album '' Music to Be Murdered By – Side B'' (2020), which itself is one of two albums inspired by Hitchcock's 1958 spoken-word record of the same name.

References

External links

* *
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' at CVTA with episode list

Universal Studios' ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' DVD site
archived at the Wayback Machine {{Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock 1950s American anthology television series 1960s American anthology television series 1950s American mystery television series 1960s American mystery television series 1950s American horror television series 1960s American horror television series 1955 American television series debuts 1965 American television series endings American thriller television series Black-and-white American television shows CBS television dramas Edgar Award–winning works American English-language television shows NBC television dramas Television series by Universal Television Alfred Hitchcock Presents