Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) Back for Christmas (1956) User Reviews

He's not good husband material.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 18 February 2021]

John Williams is one of the actors who was a frequent guest on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" as well as in Hitchcock's movies. Here in "Back for Christmas", Williams plays a seemingly dull middle-aged Englishman who is about to go on holiday to America with his wife. But he has other plans and begins digging in the basement. As for the wife, she's totally clueless and doesn't seem to notice that the hole is about her size! It's not at all surprising what comes next! But what about after he does the vile deed?

This episode is very good...especially when the twist arrives at the end. But apparently the episode wasn't unique and was based on an earlier radio program....which I assume is no longer available. Well worth seeing.

It's All About Herbert!!

[kidboots · 9/10 · 17 April 2012]

Many of the actors Alfred Hitchcock used in his movies had a way of turning up in his series (Vera Miles, Patricia Collinge, Joseph Cotton) but John Williams had a good reason to be thankful to Hitchcock. Forever the stuffy police inspector (he was terrific in "Dial M for Murder") Hitchcock also gave him the chance to play a wealth of character roles in his superb series. In "The Long Shot" (season 1, ep. 9) he was a con man masquerading as an English gentleman but in "Back For Christmas" he played the part of a henpecked husband - something I would never have associated with him!!!

He plays Herbert Carpenter who is battled scarred and weary after a life spent with dominating and fussy wife, Hermione. But he is not down and out, he has plans afoot for a new life in America and a new job which, unfortunately, don't include his wife. I thought this was one of the better episodes of Season One, not whimsical or allegorical, just plain "malice domestic". Yes, Hermione was controlling but in Hitchcock's capable directorial hands it was all about Herbert with some striking camera angles.

Herbert has already dug his wife's grave, noting her measurements carefully but his wife thinks he is digging a wine cellar. Once in sunny California ready to start a new job he hopes will keep him away from England forever, he gets a bill for 75 pounds - a secret Christmas present from his wife and realises he will be back for Christmas!!!

How to murder your wife

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 9 March 2022]

"Back for Christmas" is the fourth episode of the series to be directed by the "master of suspense" himself. Expectations were high, seeing as Hiitchcock is one of my all time favourite directors and because of his previous episodes "Revenge", "Breakdown" and "The Case of Mr Pelham" are among the best episodes of Season 1, "Breakdown" in fact being one of my favourite episodes of the whole series. Great to see John Williams in another one of his ten appearances on the series.

Despite not being one of my favourite 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' outings and despite it not being in the same ballpark as "The Case of Mr Pelham" and especially "Breakdown", "Back for Christmas" to me is still one of the better episodes of Season 1. Which was pretty mixed on the whole, with some fine episodes but also with a few lacklustre ones. While not a unique episode, "Back for Christmas" is well executed in almost every way and is very good.

Will agree that there is a little too much talk, which does bog down the momentum at points in the middle.

Also felt that it was a little lacking in the suspense and chills factors that made "The Case of Mr Pelham" and especially "Breakdown" so memorable.

It is though a well made episode, with better production values than the previous couple of episodes. The photography particularly has a good deal of atmosphere and style, as does the eerie lighting. The use of sound is ominous and the main theme (Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette") is memorably haunting. Hitchcock directs pretty impeccably and his bookending continues to entertain.

Script isn't perfect, but it provokes thought and doesn't take itself too seriously, while also not treating it as too much of a joke. The story on the most part absorbs and has some nice tension. The ending is entertaining and didn't come over as too predictable. Really liked the character complexity, the characterisation of the wife is interesting and the over-bearing-ness is not overdone. Williams is excellent in a different type of role to usual, very different from his role in 'Dial M for Murder'.

Overall, very good if not amazing. 8/10.

Perfect Hitchcock Episode

[pap2348 · 10/10 · 1 February 2019]

When I first saw this episode and the wonderful performance by John Williams, I decided to track down John Collier's original story. Collier also wrote "Wet Saturday" which was also directed by Hitchcock himself and also featured John Williams. Both stories appeared in THE NEW YORKER, and both were faithfully adapted for the screen, but I would like to comment on some of the changes which were made to this story for the small screen--presumably at Hitchcock's insistence. The prime change lies in the means of killing and disposing of the wife. In the short story, the husband is an MD--an anatomist. He lures his wife to the bathroom, bludgeons her, and dismembers and fillets her in the bath tub, disposing of the body parts in a considerably smaller hole in his cellar. Considering that Hitchcock added Dr Crippen elements to REAR WINDOW which made it harder to believe, I find it interesting that he decided against the explicit reference to Crippen found in the source material. Perhaps he felt that he wanted the husband to be particularly likeable and relatable to his audience.

10, and probably slightly misunderstood

[lachrymologist · 10/10 · 15 December 2008]

The first comment on this seems to miss the point. Its not that the woman is so overbearing that makes this episode so great - rather, the complexity of characters and the humorous delivery of the "final solution" that really makes this episode stand out.

Of course she's not fully overbearing, nor is he fully evil. He's rather ordinary, just like her. Hitchcock always succeeds most when making the trivial and boring very lurid and shocking. "Back for Christmas" is great. Best episode in the first season.

If you're looking for archetypal characters, there are plenty of areas of viewing with which to explore them. This director doesn't deal in archetypes but in eccentric individuals.

Ahh! Sunny California!

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 10 October 2008]

You know, sometimes it just doesn't pay to murder your wife. We've got this guy who puts up with his wife controlling virtually every aspect of his life. He sees his youth slipping away as she fusses and controls everything. Actually, if one were to step back, she's not all that overbearing. He never tries to simply say, "Enough!" already. We are always suspicious when some guy starts digging in the basement. She does respect his need to build a wine cellar. Of course, he checks his notebook from time to time to see what her dimensions are. She is not a shrew nor does she really smother him. She has a streak of real kindness, so it's hard to be very sympathetic toward him. Well, I won't give the ending away, but suffice it to say that it is her kindness that ultimately comes back to bite him. I think this could have really been improved with a few modifications in her character.

A memorable and mostly solid episode from Hitchcock.

[b_kite · 8/10 · 21 November 2019]

Alfred Hitchcock returns to the directors chair in this tale which features a older couple both of which are about to leave from England to Los Angeles for both business and vacation. The husband (played by John Williams) is notably irritant towards his wife who while isn't horrible towards him, never stops talking nor telling him what to do. He's also doing work in there basement and you can pretty much figure what happens from there. Pretty good effort from Hitchcock witch features the usual twist of irony at the end. John William's shines as usual in what would be his second of ten episodes he would be in in the series, other then a goofy city montage towards the end and the shows signature music sting being used when William's just goes to turn the water on, it's pretty solid.

"You know, few men have wives like you."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 23 July 2021]

My main problem with this story was that it never reasonably established the reason for Herbert Carpenter (John Williams) to murder his wife (Isobel Elsom). One can point to her fastidious, first things first and everything in order nature, but those weren't necessarily bad things, and to me, she didn't seem to be all that pushy about it. With friends over to wish them the best on their trip to America, she was a perfect hostess and didn't really come across as overbearing throughout the program, even if she did want to tend to her priority before going down into the cellar at Herbert's request. She certainly wasn't anywhere near as obnoxious as that Mrs. Shrike in a prior Hitchcock episode titled 'Shopping For Death', or a gold digging shrew like Herta Crowell in 'The Derelicts'. You could make a case that those two witches deserved it. But Hermione Carpenter got the old shovel treatment nevertheless, while Herbert made his way to Los Angeles by way of New York, taking a new job with no intention of ever returning to England. Only thing is, he should have thought about how his wife always planned ahead, in this case, making arrangements for a construction crew to finish digging out the wine cellar back home. That closing shot of Herbert was the most precious thing about the whole episode.

SWIMMING POOLS, MOVIE STARS!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 5 May 2022]

This is a beloved "family episode", directed by Hitch himself, and featuring one of his good pals, John Williams. John was a natural in such roles, either as a dogged police inspector or a distinguished chap who had something up his sleeve.

10 stars.

Williams plays your atypical bored husband who wants to get rid of his equally boring wife. So what to do about it? He also just happens to be working in the basement, get it? The mechanics here are fascinating to watch, the acting spot on. There's a good bit with popular character actress Irene Tedrow, just to complicate matters more for our dashing killer. Tedrow was perfect in these type of roles.

Best bit, the knock at the door, at precisely the wrong time. Hitch's favorite gag.

We also get to see some classic shots of sunny southern California in the 50s, Williams moving to a plush hotel in Hollywood... and his past seemingly following him. Truly, as Hitchcock may have intended, you kind of feel sorry for the old guy, at least for a few seconds. Hmmm? You be the judge.

Just love this one. SEASON 1 remastered Universal dvd box set (with 4 dvds) released 2005. Running time; 16 hrs. A terrific gift for buffs.

A labor of love

[kapelusznik18 · 6/10 · 26 April 2015]

***SPOILERS*** Sick & tired of putting up with his nagging and overbearing wife Herimoe, Isobel Elsom, Herbert Carpenter, John Williams, plans to get her out of his life permanently before he checks out of the UK to America. That's by burying her in the house basement, after murdering Herimoe, that he claims to be building a wine cellar in. With the grizzly job done in finishing the "Wine Cellar" and knocking off Herimoe and burying her there Herbert now takes of to sunny Bevery Hills California to start a new life and finally enjoy the fruits, the money he plans to get for his cheap dime novels, of his labor.

With what he thinks his old home and everything there, including his murdered wife, back in Great Britain now a thing of the past he get a letter addressed to Herimoe for a Christmas present that she secretly bought for him her loving husband. The poor schmuck in claiming he was building a wine cellar in the basement had Herimoe plan to secretly help him out with it. That help in the end will not only expose him as his wife's murderer but reveal where he ended up burying her!

The guy, Herbert Carpenter, got exactly what he deserved a one way trip to the gallows. But the irony of all that is that the very person whom her planned and in fact did murder in a strange twist of fate while she was still alive by rewarding him for his labor of digging up room in his basement for a wine cellar ended up unknowingly exposing him as her killer!

Lots of talking, but little said

[stevenfallonnyc77 · 2/10 · 1 June 2021]

"Back for Christmas" is definitely among the most boring and dull tales in the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" series. The plot sounds promising, as we see a gentleman who is tired of his nagging wife, so he plans to kill her in a hole he's dug in the basement.

Only thing is, there is so much chatter in this episode that is not important to the plot, it can lose your attention very quickly as you wait for something, anything, to advance the plot a bit. Finally, in the last quarter of the show, things start to move a little bit, but then slow up again.

There really is nothing here that will make you care about anything, except finally getting finished with the show. And the ending - no I won't give it away, but the "hook" at the end is embarrassingly not only highlighted on screen, but gets even more condescending as the camera zooms in for a close-up, just to make you understand it, as anyone over the age of seven should.

Fast-forward through the first fifteen minutes at least to give yourself a break if you really have to watch this one.

Back for Christmas

[bombersflyup · 1/10 · 4 March 2020]

The ending warrants a slight chuckle, but it's hardly worth the everyday minutiae in getting there. The entire reason Herbert's killing her, is why the the episode doesn't work. Why must the viewer endure it.