Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) The Percentage (1958) User Reviews

Nice guys don't always finish last

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 26 May 2012]

***SPOILERS*** Tracking down his army buddy Pete Williams,Dan Keefer, big time gangster Eddie Slovak, Alex Nicol, finds him working as a TV repairman in Queens NY. It was five years ago, in 1953, that it was Sgt. Williams who covered up Let. Slovak's cowardice under fire in the Korean War that almost had his entire infantry company wiped out by the Communist North Korean troops. What Slovak wants to do if pay back Williams for what he did for him in covering up his mistake that could well have had him thrown in the brig or even shot for is cowardly actions. What troubled Slovak more then anything else is that Williams wanted no money from him for what he did. that has Slovak think that he may well use the fact he was a coward to blackmail him in the future.

Were really in for a big surprise in this "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episode in that the honest as the day's long Williams isn't really all that honest! We start to realize that when Williams' glamorous old lady or wife Louise, Nita Talbot the former Miss Chicago of 1938, starts to make a play for the handsome Eddie Slovak while her husband is hard at work fixing TV sets to pay the bills in the Williams household. In seeing that Slovak is loaded with cash as him being a major NYC mob bookie Louise is more then ready to dump her poor hard working husband for him.

***SPOILERS*** For his part Slovak want's nothing at all to do with Louise. All he want is to pay back a debt that he owes her husband. It's Louise's non stop aggressiveness that finally flips Slovak out who ends up in a fit of anger strangling her! You would think that after all this with the police and Williams coming on the scene of the murder that Williams would cover up for him like he did back in Korea but he doesn't. Williams knew all long that his wife was cheating on him and in fact set her up to get murdered by the unstable Slovak by acting like he didn't. As for Williams being out all day and night fixing TV sets that turned out to be just a cover for what he was really doing: Which was his good friend Slovak's cheating wife Fay!

P.S I don't know if it was a coincident or on purpose but in having the cowardly under fire hood given the name of Eddie Slovak in this "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episode had anything to do with associating him with the real Pvt Eddie Slovik. It was Pvt Slovik who was the only US serviceman executed for cowardice in WWII for deserting his US infantry unit in France in order to save himself form getting killed or wounded in the fighting.

Where's the beef?

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 30 April 2012]

A rich gangster, Alec Nicol, meets his old friend from the Korean war and is convinced he owes his friend a lot of money because the friend knocked Nicol out when he "turned chicken" during a patrol, then the friend covered the incident up.

The friend, a man of principle, refuses any payoff but Nicol enlists the aid of the friend's wife, the succulent and vulgar Nita Talbot, who says she will try to convince her husband to take the money.

But when Talbot invites Nicol over on a night when the friend is away, Nicol finds out she's done nothing. Instead she puts moves on Nicol. He strangles her, the fool, and is taken in by the police.

I couldn't figure out where this was going, the ending seemed without any drama, and I don't like Alex Nicol much anyway. Nita Talbot, on the other hand, was enticingly slutty. Except for that, it's largely tedious.

Hmmmm

[searchanddestroy-1 · 6/10 · 25 July 2019]

This story is rather not that good. How the hell the Tv repairman could have guessed that his old time war Buddy will kill his - the repairman's - wife in the first place, to get his pal's one? Very improbable for me.

Correction

[CherCee · 10/10 · 16 December 2022]

This is a correction: A previous poster wrote that Nita Talbot (who played Louise Williams in this episode, The Percentage), was Miss Chicago 1938. Although Ms. Talbot is a lovely lady (as well as a good actress!), it was, in fact, Carole Mathews (also a lovely lady, who played Faye Slovak), who was Miss Chicago 1938. This is a good and interesting episode with double-timing, suspense, and intrigue in the 30 minute show. Ms. Talbot gets very aggressive with Mr. Slovak (she likes his money), and pays dearly for it. The ending came out of nowhere, but it was still a good Hitchcockian twist! 10/10.

The disappointing percentage

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 28 October 2022]

James Neilson always struck me as a very competent director, who was responsible for some very solid work, if not a distinguished one. His episodes for 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' (twelve altogether) were all watchable, and a vast majority of them above average and in the case of "Crack of Doom" and "Reward to Finder" great. None of his episodes were 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' high points or classics, but none were series low points as well. One though up to this point did nearly come very close.

That being "The Percentage", an episode that had a good premise and even greater potential but didn't fullfill them enough. The episode actually started off so well and had all the makings for a potentially good at least episode, but frustratingly crashed to a big thud towards and at the end. So instead it was one of the worst episodes of a mostly very solid Season 3 and was nowhere near close to the incredibly high standard of the season when it first started. This is being said with regret.

As said, "The Percentage" starts off incredibly well, with lots of intrigue in the thought provoking, tight scripting and characterisation. The episode is very well acted, Alex Nichol doing a great job at making Eddie as difficult to trust without going overboard.

Hitchcock's bookending entertains in an ironic sense, there is some slickness in the filming and the theme music is suitably macabre.

Unfortunately, the second half is nowhere near as strong as the first and is pretty much a mess. Far too convoluted and implausible, with too many vague motivations and it would have benefitted from not trying to do too much and slowing the action well. Neilson's direction is routine and the writing loses its tautness and becomes too talky and confused.

What jars badly to the extent that it brings down the episode significantly is the ending, which is tacked on, too suddenly introduced and anti-climactic. The sets are perfunctory and cheap looking.

Overall, wanted to like it but a waste of potential. A contender for Neilson's weakest episode for 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'. 4/10.

Don't Think About It

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 25 June 2013]

This is, to me, one of the most convoluted and unbelievable episodes ever. The whole thing is supposedly a contrivance, a plot to get rid of someone, and yet it depends on the wildest happenstance. We have a gangster type who is at the top of his game as a bag man. He carries around with him an act of cowardice committed in Korea. He decides to call the man who lied for him and made him a hero. He is rich; the other guy is a TV repairman who barely makes ends meet. The percentage, which I guess is how this guy sees his financial dealings, is uneven. He is obsessed with paying this old friend back, but the guy will have none of it. Hence, he develops a relationship with the guy and his wife with the goal of finding a way to get him to accept his charity, thereby evening out the percentage. This is an interesting premise, but the results depend so much on chance and a series of events falling into place that it should fail miserably. A good story relies on moves and counter moves, cover ups and more cover ups and lies. This is just way too slick and cheap.

A simple thank you would have sufficed.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 9 March 2021]

Eddie is not a particularly nice guy. But he has an odd quirk about him...he cannot live with himself because of how cowardly he became back during the Korean War. It seemed he lost his nerve and one of the men serving under him knocked him out to prevent him from making a fool of himself. This has weighed heavily on Eddie's mind and now, years later, he meets Pete and insists Pete let him help him financially. If Pete wants a house, he'll buy it for him. If Pete wants to own his own business, he'll buy it for him. But Pete is a guy with simple needs and wants....and he seems to want nothing from Eddie. And, the more Pete refuses, the harder Eddie tries...to the point of being rather nutty. So how can Eddie help Pete if Pete simply refuses??

This is an okay episode, though the twist at the end seemed to come from out of no where. I wonder if you have seen it and feel the same...but the ending seems to be about the most random I can recall for this series. Interesting but hard to believe.

A good setup with a lousy payoff

[LCShackley · 4/10 · 27 November 2008]

There are many AHP episodes that have twists and turns which are plausible and engaging.

This one has an interesting setup, about a rich man trying to pay back an Army buddy who covered for his act of cowardice. The buddy isn't interested, and is contented with his $110/week job and pretty young wife.

Later in the episode, when we find out what the rich man's source of income is, it's a bit of a disconnect. Then, in the final scene, which (judging by the clownish music) is supposed to be a funny payoff, we're in a set we've never seen before, with no inkling of how the situation came to pass. They could have cut the final 30 seconds and left a grim ending, which would have wrapped up the main plot quite adequately. Not one of the best of the bunch.

"I got to pay you back."

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 9 September 2021]

I'm glad I'm not the only one confused somewhat by this episode; a few other reviewers here voice their reservations as well. The whole thing seemed convoluted to me right from the start, with mob bagman Eddie Slovak (Alex Nicol), feeling guilty over an act of cowardice during the Korean War, attempting to make it up by paying off a former soldier in his squad. It would have made sense to me if buddy Pete (Don Keefer) simply relented at some point and accepted some form of payment from Slovak, given the guy's persistence to the point of being a royal pain in the butt. Pete's wife (Nita Talbot) on the other hand, is attracted to Eddie's money and power, and makes a play for him, even though he doesn't show interest. They tussle, Eddie strangles her, Pete busts in to see what happened, and calls the police like any normal witness to a homicide might do. But then, Pete winds up with Eddie's wife (Carole Mathews) to close out the story. I've got to be missing something here because the dots do not get connected in any coherent way. I'd give this another shot if I felt there would be a better payoff, but that half hour will be better spent watching another episode I haven't seen yet.