"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" The Gentleman from America (1956)

Director:

Robert Stevens

Writers:

Francis M. Cockrell (teleplay)
Michael Arlen (story)

TV Series:

"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955)

Original Air Date:

29 April 1956 (Season 1, Episode 31)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A rich American visits London, and bets 1000 pounds that he can spend the night in a room that is said to be haunted.

Plot Keywords:

Bet | England | Gambler | Club | Suspicion Of A Trick

Cast

Alfred Hitchcock	...	Himself - Host
Biff McGuire	...	Howard Latimer
Ralph Clanton	...	Sir Stephen Hurstwood
John Irving	...	Derek
Eric Snowden	...	Hanson (as Eric Snowdon)
Geoffrey Steele	...	Man
John Alderson	...	Attendant
John Dodsworth	...	Calender
Sonia Torgeson	...	Geraldine
Jan Chaney	...	Julia

Runtime:

Finland:25 min | 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

bad choice

This is not one of the examples of the series. In fact, the failure of this episode probably highlights how thin is, in this kind of story, the difference between a pleasant awkward episode, and just a cheesy goofy nonsense.

What i do notice as a dominant fact to much of the episodes is that we are always allowed to define the degree of human manipulation or super natural unexplained events that take place (or that is revealed to us). So, in this case, we suspect the American is being manipulated, but we also wonder whether we are being manipulated as well. The plot is predictable, but it leaves some shadows, which might be enough for us to wonder enough to feel in doubt. Is there a real ghost? Would the manipulators fall in their own trap and be caught in the middle of something they didn't understand? Would the American over top his deceivers and come out with something more clever? Well, apparently they chose the dullest solution. The American does exactly what is intended by the money chasers, everything is according to the book (not the one he reads, i wish it was according to that). We have a minor twist, of finding out what happened to the American after the night in the mansion, but instead of fun irony, they moralize. Bad choice, to me.

So it fails in the plot, and to me it fails in the building of the tension in the ghost house. That has to do with direction, but also probably due to the ghost itself, which is laughable by today's production standards, so it is badly dated.

My opinion: 1/5

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