This well-known episode from Hitchcock's half-hour TV series was pulled from the U. S. schedules of the day because the ending was considered too grisly, but is now widely available for viewing after years when it was considered lost.
I was particularly interested to see British actress Diana Dors in a prominent part when I guess she must have been hopeful of a Hollywood career after breaking through in her home country as a so-called "blonde bombshell" in the considerable wake of Marilyn Monroe, but sadly it didn't come to pass, although she eventually settled into British character parts as she grew older. Of course, there was a much sadder future outcome for her young co-star Brandon De Wilde who'd come to fame as a child actor years before, as the hero-worshipping youngster in "Shane", but who sadly perished in a car crash less than ten years after completing this role.
De Wilde plays the slow-witted youngster who's kindly taken in by carnival magic act The Great Sadini and his less enthusiastic glamorous assistant and wife Dors. She's not too keen on her husband either who couldn't have been too gifted with the old magic as he doesn't see her having an affair behind his back with the handsome young trapeze artist. However she sees an opportunity to use the newly-arrived doting young man to her advantage as she plots hubby's demise but she doesn't count on the boy's fixation with the old sawing-a-woman-in-half trick...
Written by Robert Bloch who wrote "Psycho", it's a pity that Hitchcock couldn't spare the time to direct this shorter, equally horrific tale of another emotionally disturbed young man. I somehow think he'd have wrung a few more shocks out of the scenario than episode director Joseph Lejtes manages here.
Still, it's an entertaining episode, suitably macabre and soaked in black humour as it is. I guess she wasn't half glad to encounter her adoring young fan after all.
I was particularly interested to see British actress Diana Dors in a prominent part when I guess she must have been hopeful of a Hollywood career after breaking through in her home country as a so-called "blonde bombshell" in the considerable wake of Marilyn Monroe, but sadly it didn't come to pass, although she eventually settled into British character parts as she grew older. Of course, there was a much sadder future outcome for her young co-star Brandon De Wilde who'd come to fame as a child actor years before, as the hero-worshipping youngster in "Shane", but who sadly perished in a car crash less than ten years after completing this role.
De Wilde plays the slow-witted youngster who's kindly taken in by carnival magic act The Great Sadini and his less enthusiastic glamorous assistant and wife Dors. She's not too keen on her husband either who couldn't have been too gifted with the old magic as he doesn't see her having an affair behind his back with the handsome young trapeze artist. However she sees an opportunity to use the newly-arrived doting young man to her advantage as she plots hubby's demise but she doesn't count on the boy's fixation with the old sawing-a-woman-in-half trick...
Written by Robert Bloch who wrote "Psycho", it's a pity that Hitchcock couldn't spare the time to direct this shorter, equally horrific tale of another emotionally disturbed young man. I somehow think he'd have wrung a few more shocks out of the scenario than episode director Joseph Lejtes manages here.
Still, it's an entertaining episode, suitably macabre and soaked in black humour as it is. I guess she wasn't half glad to encounter her adoring young fan after all.