The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series) Wally the Beard (1965) User Reviews

Two faces

[ctomvelu1 · 7/10 · 4 January 2013]

Larry Blyden, a 1960s TV actor mostly appearing in comedy shows, here gives an outstanding dramatic performance as a bald, bland computer nerd named Walter who yearns for a better life. He transforms himself with a wig and false beard into Philip, a devil-may-care mystery man who soon attracts a gorgeous blonde (Kathie Browne). He eventually gets himself into a world of trouble when his bearded, bewigged alter ego is accused of having done away with Walter. This is both a comedy and drama, with a fine twist ending. The whole episode falls on Blydwn's shoulders, and he is superb in his Jekyll-Hyde role. It's also nice to see a 1960s sow deal with adult subjects, one of which is that the gorgeous blonde is very much married!

A generally good episode with one glaring flaw.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 27 June 2021]

Walter Mills (Larry Blydon) is a boring looking bald middle-aged man. His heart is broken when his young and pretty fiancee calls off their wedding....telling him that he's boring! So, on a lark, Walter goes to a wig store and buys not only a wig but a goatee. And, with this new, younger and more sophisticated look he creates a new persona....one that really confuses people who know Walter, as they think the two are not one in the same person. What sorts of adventures await this new and improved man?

The story's plot involves two land ladies who think Walter is NOT the same man as Philip (his alter ego)....and this is a bit silly. While he definitely looks different, how could the women NOT see they are the same guy? Probably the same guys who think Clark Kent and Superman are not the same guy! It's sad, but if the alter ego had been more believable, it was an enjoyable and wholly unique episode. Still, as it is, it's well worth seeing.

"You look like a man with hair on his head."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 16 January 2023]

If you can change your personality by altering your appearance, why not just change your personality and avoid the duplicity and the kind of consequences suffered by Walter Mills (Larry Blyden) in this story. After buying a three-thousand-dollar boat to impress his new girlfriend, Noreen Kimberly (Kathie Browne), Walter is approached by her ex-boyfriend Curly (Berkeley Harris) with the weirdest of propositions. Unless Walter, now in his guise of Philip Marshall, helps Curly hide a fifty-thousand-dollar stash of stolen jewelry, he'll expose Walter as a fraud to break up the new romance. Logically, couldn't Curly have found a way to conceal his loot without involving a potential witness? But that's not what was going on here. The deceit cut both ways, with the classically beautiful Noreen using Walter to dispose of the husband she was still married to. The poor sap Walter should have heeded advice that says when you're in too deep, you need to stop digging. For once though, I didn't mind Hitchcock intervening with his post show comments by stating that Noreen and Curly were found out and had to face justice in the end. As for Walter, you think he kept the boat?

A really good episode with Blyden's best ever performance

[rixrex · 21 February 2007]

This episode is not particularly outstanding for the story, though it is perfectly fine as a melodrama and in good stead for a Hitchcock episode.

It is Larry Blyden's performance as a sort of Jeckyll and Hyde character, or a pre-Buddy Love type, that sets it above the average episode.

It has to be the best performance of his career, at least the best I've seen, and it shows that this fine actor had quite a range that could extend far beyond the TV comedy show guest parts he typically played. See it for this reason and you will enjoy it.

Another One Bites the Dust

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 30 May 2023]

Poor Wally. He becomes another victim of an AH twist. The guy is a clueless nerd. Not only is he relatively unattractive, his demeanor is bland and tiresome. The fact that he had hooked up with that pretty brunette at the beginning is pretty hard to fathom. And it has nothing to do with his looks. Enter the sublime wigmaker who changes the guy's life. The problem is that even though he looks handsome, he lacks the life experiences to pull off his new being. Once you've had a dose of Hitchcock, you know that somewhere along the line the guy isn't going to get what he wants--actually he will pay a dear price. Blyden is quite good, but he ain't goin' nowhere.

Wally From Squaresville

[sneedsnood · 2/10 · 10 April 2015]

Wally is plain, dull and balding. His fiancée, who looks like Jacqueline Suzanne, thinks she's hip and he's from Squaresville, so she dumps him. Wally realizes he is, in fact, dull, balding and from Squaresville. Walking home, he passes and elaborate wig and hair shop (the kind found in every small town?), wanders in and is encouraged to try on a wig and fake beard. He does, and voila! He is a changed man, with a pompous new personality that seems to attract women. After boasting about his imagined yacht, he even picks up a materialistic blond right in front of her boyfriend. Instead of simply adopting his new look and the confident new personality that seems to go with it, and for no reason whatsoever, he develops two persona, one as pompous Philip with the beard and the other as Wally from Squaresville. As with Superman and Clark Kent in glasses, nobody seems to recognize Wally with the beard. This adds to all sorts of complications, including confusing his suspicious landlady, who demands more rent if two men are living there. This being 1965, the nature of the two men's relationship is never questioned, but that landlady sure wants her extra rent and goes to great length to get it. Philip, courting the blond, furthers his yachtsman fraud by attempting to purchase a boat, at which point the blond's original boyfriend reenters the picture. Here, the plot deviates into something else entirely, with every character acting in complete opposition to normal human behavior. Even after the police become involved, Wally/Philip carries on the charade and further complicates the plot, which at this point has become ridiculous. Unless your characters behave with some shred of a believable motive, your story falls apart. This is very poor writing and a stupid episode, right to the last, unbelievable shot.

Lesser Hitch

[dougdoepke · 26 May 2015]

The main reason to catch this otherwise lesser Hitch is actor Blyden's gutsy turn as two distinct personality types. As Walter, he's a balding nobody with personality to match; with a fake wig and beard, however, he's transformed into Phillip, an attractive sophisticate and pseudo-yachtsman. Now he can get the girl of his dreams, instead of getting dumped by a fickle co-worker. Trouble is the gorgeous blonde (Browne) he now hooks up with could be a load of trouble, what with her jealous ex (Harris) who's on Phillip's tail. Plus Walter-Phillip is leaving a batch of unpaid rent in his wake that the two old crones are not going to forgive.

The screenplay's more of a stretch than usual. Plus there's no real suspense, just curiosity about where the story's going. Add some padding with the stiffed landladies, and the result is pretty forgettable. Nonetheless, The kittenish Browne is enough to trap any guy, while Blyden makes his tricky role almost believable. Frankly, though, I think producer Lloyd should have sent the script back for a re-write.

What?

[Ripshin · 18 April 2024]

OK, Blyden's performance is good. He pretty much is the only thing that makes this watchable. Thus, three stars.

But seriously, nobody recognizes him with a wig, and fake beard? For years, I had really long hair, and a goatee. Recently, I chopped it all off, and nobody had any trouble knowing who I am. As another commenter stated (paraphrased), "What is this? Clark Kent?"

The whole landlady stuff is pointless. All this guy has to do, is admit his disguise. Sooner than he did.

Frankly, this episode feels awkward. This guy is making an absolute fool of himself. WHO would do this?

The final act just gets weird, and stupid. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What a hot mess "twist." Just lame, bad writing.