Banquo's Chair (3 May 1959)

John Bedford is suspected of being the murderer of his wealthy aunt, Miss Ferguson, but the police are unable to break his alibi. Now, exactly two years after the crime, a retired Scotland ... See full summary »

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Francis M. Cockrell (teleplay), Rupert Croft-Cooke (short story)

Stars:

Alfred Hitchcock, John Williams, Hilda Plowright

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Himself - Host
John Williams	...	Inspector Brent
Hilda Plowright	...	Mae Thorpe / Miss Ferguson's ghost
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Max Adrian	...	Robert Stone
George Dillon
Tom Dillon	...	(as Thomas P. Dillon)
Reginald Gardiner	...	Major Cook-Finch
Kenneth Haigh	...	John Bedford
George Pelling

Storyline

John Bedford is suspected of being the murderer of his wealthy aunt, Miss Ferguson, but the police are unable to break his alibi. Now, exactly two years after the crime, a retired Scotland Yard investigator named William Brent, puts together a plan that he hopes will make the nephew confess. Brent invites the young man to a dinner in the home that once belonged to the late aunt, and secretly hires an actress to pretend to be the ghost of the dead woman. Everyone at the dinner is in on the scheme, and when the apparition appears, no one claims to see anything - but Bedford, that is.

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Plot Keywords:

ghost | year 1903 | pekingese dog | candelabra | sherry | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 May 1959 (USA)

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shamley Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Season 4, Episode 29

I was going to say that the mindset behind this featherweight bathroom break-long Hitchcock TV episode was, "Ha! I'm so clever because I churned this one out real fast and efficient like!" But that would not be fair. Hitchcock, who himself directed this particular episode, has not only done vastly superior work, to say the least, he has also done better episodes, including the very first one, Revenge, which is deeply implicit within its seemingly simplistic story, but Banquo's Chair could easily have been a mere exercise, like the determined Solitaire game the office manager plays in his free time, having gone so impressively far already that he can afford to take such part in such frivolities.

It's a, well, fast and efficient storyline weaved by Rupert Croft-Cooke and adapted by workhorse Alfred Hitchcock Presents telewriter Francis M. Cockrell, and while it has that fun campfire ghost story kind of feel in the world of Victorian-era British detectives, it is a little disappointing once you find that the hand that fashioned such showpieces of allusion, aurally and visually figurative inferences, plays on cinematic language like Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, Lifeboat, Psycho and Vertigo is letting the wheel spin while he's off in the corner looking at blue pictures.