The Alfred Hitchcock Hour The Complete Collection   Introduced by: Alfred Hitchcock Distributor: Fabulous Films Ltd / Fremantle Media Enterprises RRP: £99.99 Certificate: 15 Release Date: 11 January 2016

For the first time, the entire collection of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour is available on DVD - all 93 stories presented by the ‘Master of Suspense’ himself...

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ran for three seasons, from 1962-1965. Its format was similar to Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but that show's 25 minute running time was lengthened to 50 mins for the new series.

On the whole the stories presented in this series work better than the format used for Alfred Hitchcock Presents. While the episodes take on a similar approach, the longer running time per story helps to flesh out the characters and the situations a lot more. In fact I was pleasantly surprised by this, as I was half expecting to see stories that had been written with the earlier format in mind and then being stretched for the new series. This was not the case, and at no point did I even think that a story was being dragged out or pumped full of filler material.

Like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour opens with a humorous (but mostly annoying silly) introduction from Hitch himself. There's also an advertising break in the middle, where Hitch pops up again and finally he appears at the end of each episode to give us a follow up to what happened to the characters in the show. This is usually done to clear up that anyone who appears to have gotten away with a crime was actually caught and punished.

Notable actors include James Mason, Robert Redford, Vera Miles, Peter Falk, Jayne Mansfield, Diana Dors, Christopher Lee, Martin Landau, Leslie Nielsen, Telly Savalas, Roddy McDowall, George Segal, Peter Fonda, David Carradine, Lee Majors and James Caan.

There are too many quality episodes to run through, but a handful of notable episodes include:

Night Owl, in which a man, posing as a vicar, blackmails a couple. If they don't pay him, he threatens to tell their daughter that she is adopted and that one of her natural parents was a cold blooded killer. Normally this would be something that could be smoothed over by slowly breaking the information to the girl, but she appears to have a cold, distant personality and there is a real concern that she is very much like her father. What's enjoyable about this episode is not only the great acting from the criminals of the piece as well as the young girl, but that the ending to the story has a couple of neat twists.

Off Season: A criminal is injured during a robbery, which left a police officer dead. The criminal is recovering in hospital, but as soon as he is fit and well he will go before the courts and most likely be given the death sentence. His only hope is a plain looking nurse who he starts to flirt with, hoping she will help him escape. But is he lying to her or has he really fallen for her? Another enjoyable episode which builds the suspense neatly. The conclusion is also satisfying and not only are there a handful of surprises, but we se the nurse in a whole new light.

Terror in Northfield: Dick York stars as the sheriff of a small town where very little happens. When the son of a local farmer goes missing, it isn't long before his body is found at the bottom of a ravine. But that's just the start of the killing as someone starts knocking off the locals. As the Sheriff investigates, he soon starts to piece together a pattern. There's real suspense here, as the murderer (whose identity the audience knows) targets the sheriff's wife.

This box set makes for an interesting collection and the prints appear to have been spruced up for this DVD release.

While some of the acting maybe a little old fashioned, and the sexism is reflective of the times, this is still an enjoyable collection of suspense at its finest.

9

Darren Rea