"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" And So Died Riabouchinska (1956)

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Mel Dinelli (teleplay)
Ray Bradbury (story)

TV Series:

"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955)

Original Air Date:

12 February 1956 (Season 1, Episode 20)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

While investigating a murder in a theater, a detective uncovers a strange web of tensions revolving around a ventriloquist and his female dummy.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Dummy | Theater | Ventriloquist | Murder

Cast

Alfred Hitchcock	...	Himself - Host
Claude Rains	...	John Fabian
Charles Bronson	...	Det. Krovitch
Claire Carleton	...	Alice Fabian
Lowell Gilmore	...	Mel Douglas
Charles Cantor	...	Zander
Harry Tyler	...	Dan Sill
Iris Adrian	...	Macey
William Haade	...	Stagehand (as Bill Haade)
Virginia Gregg	...	Riabouchinska (voice)

Runtime:

USA:30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Filming Locations:

Republic Studios - 4024 Radford Avenue, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Shamley Productions

Quotes:

Himself - Host: Good evening. This misty bit of ectoplasm forming on the inside of your television screen is one Alfred Hitchcock, coming to you tonight from across that great barrier that divides the quick from the dead: the Atlantic Ocean. I have materialized tonight for the express purpose of warning you; that during tonight's seance, you will witness a playlet entitled "And So Died Riabouchinska". But first, I would like to make an announcement to those of you who can't stay until the end...

Movie Connections:

Version of "The Ray Bradbury Theater: And So Died Riabouchinska (#2.12)" (1988)

Interesting Ray Bradbury Story Highlighted By Claude Rains's Fine Performance

This episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" features an interesting Ray Bradbury story of murder and psychology, plus a fine performance by Claude Rains. The theater setting and the troubled main character make it a very good fit for the series, and the story is adapted efficiently into the show's format.

The story starts with a murder at a theater, with the investigation centering around Fabian, a ventriloquist played by Rains. Fabian displays an excessive attachment to his female dummy ('Riabouchinska'), and it quickly becomes obvious that he has something verging on a split personality, speaking truthfully only through the dummy. It's a weird and intriguing situation, and it is also interesting to see a young Charles Bronson as the detective who has to make sense of it all.

Bradbury's imaginative and thought-provoking stories do not necessarily lend themselves easily to screen adaptations, but this one overcomes the challenges pretty well. Rains has just the right approach and screen persona to make the challenging character work convincingly, and in particular it is worth watching him closely during the scenes when the dummy 'talks'. The somber story and the disturbed central character fit together well.