Reviews & Ratings for
"The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" Beyond the Sea of Death (1964)

8 out of 9 people found the following review useful:

"Beyond the Sea of Death" is one of Hitchcock's best

Author: (chuck-reilly) from Los Angeles
11 April 2008

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Diana Hyland stars as a lonely young and very wealthy woman searching desperately for love in 1964's "Beyond the Sea of Death." She finds just what's she looking for in handsome adventurous Jeremy Slate. He's working his way up through the ranks as a coal mining engineer, and the two fall madly in love. He even recites poems to her about how their love will last forever and "beyond the sea of death." Mildred Dunnock, Ms. Hyland's suspicious aunt, senses that slick Jeremy may be a con-man after her niece's money and is wary of the relationship. She becomes even more distressed when she finds out that the two have married in secret. When the poor fellow is killed in a Bolivian mining accident, however, she sympathizes with the totally bereaved Ms. Hyland. But that's only half of the story.

Inconsolable from her loss, the distraught Ms. Hyland turns to a swami called Doctor Shankara (Abraham Sofaer) who convinces her that he can communicate with her dead husband. Soon he's reading her poems from the beyond, and wouldn't you know it, they're the same exact ones that Jeremy was reciting when he was alive and well. In no time at all, Doctor Shankara has another message for her from Jeremy; he wants her to give huge chunks of money to the good doctor's "foundation." After finding out her niece is signing some gigantic checks over to this charlatan, Ms. Dunnock decides to do some investigating. She discovers that there are a slew of widows who are similarly signing over cash and property to Dr. Shankara at the behest of their late husbands. Likewise, these "beyond the sea of death" husbands were all killed in Bolivian mining accidents. Yes, it's all been a big con job and Ms. Dunnock now has to tell her niece to save what's left of her rapidly dwindling fortune. Mr. Slate isn't even dead, but instead he's in seclusion counting his money and courting new potential "widows." He and the phony doctor have been partners-in-crime from the beginning. When finally confronted with the truth about the whole conniving scenario from her aunt, Ms. Hyland just can't accept it---and displays her displeasure with reality.

"Beyond the Sea of Death" is well-acted by the entire cast and the story serves as a warning to all viewers regarding scam artists and their ilk. Of particular note is the performance of Diana Hyland. As always, she's excellent in this episode and watching her here makes one acutely aware of how tragic her early death was.

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