The Canary Sedan (15 Jun. 1958)

Laura Bowlby is a psychic who wants to visit her husband in Hong Kong. She is picked up by a chauffeur in a black sedan. Laura Bowlby says she does not like the color and would prefer a ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Stevens

Writers:

Stirling Silliphant (teleplay), Ann Bridge (story)

Stars:

Alfred Hitchcock, Jessica Tandy, Murray Matheson

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Himself - Host
Jessica Tandy	...	Laura Bowlby
Murray Matheson	...	James St. George Bernard Bowlby
Gavin Muir	...	Thompson
Patrick Westwood	...	Mr. Nixon
Weaver Levy	...	Chang
Barry Harvey	...	Steward
Barry Bernard	...	Bartender
Leonard Strong	...	Man using Ouija Board
Owen Cunningham	...	Mr. Adams
Tetsu Komai	...	Old Bearded Man
James B. Leong

Storyline

Laura Bowlby is a psychic who wants to visit her husband in Hong Kong. She is picked up by a chauffeur in a black sedan. Laura Bowlby says she does not like the color and would prefer a canary yellow one instead. This remark shocks the driver since the car was once canary yellow before a recent paint job. Inside the car, Laura begins to hear a woman's voice. The voice tells Laura about a passionate affair. Laura longs for such passion in her life because her husband James is quite unromantic and cold. After some research, Laura find the grave of the woman who has been talking to her. She looks at the gravestone and is unpleasantly surprised to see the initials of the dead woman and the initials of her own husband, James.

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Plot Keywords:

hong kong | cleaning window | fortune teller | baggage claim | hearing voices | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 June 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

User Reviews

Where's Avis When You Need It

Rather slender episode that really serves as a showcase for Tandy. Laura (Tandy) is the gentile wife of an Englishman (Matheson), traveling to meet him at his post in Hong Kong. Nothing unusual here except she's also gifted with psychic powers made clear in a good setup scene aboard ship.

Once in the Orient, she begins to hear a woman's voice inside a rented car formerly owned by the mysterious woman. The woman speaks of a passionate affair that soon arouses Laura's envy since her own marriage is relatively loveless. But who is this mystery woman and what does her disembodied voice portend.

The entry makes good use of exotic Hong Kong locales to frame the strange occurrences. However, I wish director Stevens had aimed at creepier visuals in place of a more conventional style. To create an appropriate atmosphere, the weird sound of a theramin is used instead. But to me, that woo-woo is just too cheesy and obvious, especially for a quality series like Hitchcock.

Anyway, the 30-minutes ends in a strongly ironical payoff, and is also a good chance to catch one of the most respected actresses of the period.