Lamb to the Slaughter (13 Apr. 1958)

When Mary Maloney's police chief husband is found murdered, the police investigate and have a hard time trying to find the murder weapon.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Roald Dahl (teleplay), Roald Dahl (story)

Stars:

Alfred Hitchcock, Barbara Bel Geddes, Harold J. Stone

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Himself - Host
Barbara Bel Geddes	...	Mary Maloney
Harold J. Stone	...	Lieutenant Jack Noonan
Allan Lane	...	Patrick Maloney
Ken Clark	...	Mike - Policeman assistant
Robert C. Ross	...	Forensic doctor
William Keene	...	Fingerprint policeman
Thomas Wilde	...	Photographer policeman (as Thomas Wild)
Otto Waldis	...	Sam

Storyline

Mary Maloney is a devoted wife and an exceptional housekeeper. One day, her husband, the police chief, announces that he wants a divorce because he has met another woman. Mary is quite angry and kills him with a blow from a frozen leg of lamb. She calls the police and provides an alibi for herself with the story that she'd been out to the store when the murder took place. The investigating officer, Lieutenant Noonan, is further frustrated when he cannot find the murder weapon. Knowing of the long and hard hours spent looking into the case, Mary invites Noonan and the other investigators for a bite to eat. They dig into Mary's leg of lamb and Noonan, still thinking about the missing murder weapon, says "For all we know, it might be right under our very noses."

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Plot Keywords:

leg of lamb | hit on head | killing husband | general store | deep freezer

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 April 1958 (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 (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the following season's offering Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Cheap Is Cheap, a hit man describes having seen this TV program, and thinks it was a good way to bump someone off.

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Connections

Referenced in Home Fries (1998)

User Reviews

TV Dinners Are Not As Dangerous

One of the most talked-about of all the Hitchcock half-hours. I'm not sure why since there's none of the suspense, mystery, atmosphere or other qualities that made the series such an enduring hit. There is, however, a rather delicious irony (no pun intended) that comes to a humorous climax in a slow forward dollying shot ending with a big close-up of Bel Geddes. Hitchcock himself directed the show and that same dollying technique is repeated to great effect in the final shot of Tony Perkins in Psycho.

Anyway, my favorite part is where Allan (Rocky) Lane tells wife Bel Geddes that he's leaving her. Her face suddenly registers a complete blank as she goes into denial that this could be happening. It's a rather inspired little moment and a tribute to Bel Geddes's acting skill. Notable also for presence of hawk-nosed Harold J. Stone as a senior cop and ex-cowboy star Lane as the faithless husband. Otherwise, it's a routine episode, at best.