The Paragon

The summary for "The Paragon" is very vague, though Joan Fontaine must have enjoyed playing Alice. Alice is a know-it-all who has an amazing capacity to annoy everyone around her. She thinks she knows better than everyone and has an opinion about EVERYTHING...and she's completely insufferable. Her beleaguered husband, John (Gary Merrill), loves her but he's losing patience with her, as she drives folks away...which harms his business and has lost all their friends. He tries to help her to change, but STILL she is awful to be around and will not accept any criticism. Eventually, John jokes that he may kill her if she doesn't learn to control herself and her opinions. Or, is it a joke?

This episode really holds your interest...due to Fontaine's amazing character! Plus, you really are rooting for something horrible to happen to her and for the person who kills her to get a medal...much like in the great film "The Suspect" (1944). However, it's not perfect as the ending just seemed unsatisfying and weak....without a real twist. Good acting...okay story...and with the unnecessary epilogue by Hitchcock to say that the crime was punished.

There's no real plot, instead the entry's more like a character study. That's likely why heavy- duty actress Fontaine was hired. Her wealthy wife Alice Pemberton means well, and in that sense she's a paragon. But her constant "I know better than you do and it's for your own good" attitude is alienating everyone, including husband John (Merrill). And she's so blithely confident about it, there's no getting through to her. Naturally, something has to give.

Note the spooky hook at the outset that grabs viewers before all the talk starts. The hook's meaning also pays off in the final scene. It's a larger than usual cast, as Alice goes from one family member to the next, in her quest to improve lives by finding fault. Merrill's quite good as her patiently exasperated husband who can't get through to her. Plus, it's a tribute to Fontaine's acting skills that she's more exasperating than dislikable. Were it the latter, the episode might be off-putting. One more thing, catch Hitch's brief closing remark. I think it amounts to a quip on the series' special, ground-breaking appeal. All in all, it's an unusual entry that makes a good, if often overlooked, point.

I'm dumbfounded at the criticism of this episode. I think it gets better and better with each viewing. There is enough about the plot on other posts, so I won't go into it other than to say it is compelling and not absent.

Joan Fontaine's performance is exceptional and she embodies in a short span of time the type of person that would truly drive the most gentle of souls to murder. The character is so tone deaf to anything but her own whims that it makes your skin crawl and has a cringe factor that I've only experienced with a handful of Hitchcocks or Suspense episodes.

It's brilliant and certainly a top performance -- not only by Fontaine, but her husband in the show also. I highly recommend it.

"The Paragon" benefits from its two stars, with Joan Fontaine as Alice Pemberton, a snooty woman of great wealth, who thinks she knows best about what to do and how to do it, and never hesitates to let family and friends aware of it. Gary Merrill is a good match as her husband John, who dearly loves his wife, but fears that her bossiness is alienating all those closest to them, patiently trying to explain to Alice how hurtful her never ending put downs are becoming. When she learns certain dangerous information that would mean devastating scandal, refusing to listen to John's pleas, he must resort to drastic measures to prevent her from hurting people anymore. One of those hour long shows that might have worked better in a half hour format.

As always, Alfred Hitchcock Presents "Paragon" is a casting and production Triumph!Gary Merrill as always is magnificent and Joan Fontaine is truly perfection as always!