Robert Bloch on TV Part Eighteen: Alfred Hitchcock Presents/The Alfred Hitchcock Hour-Overview, Episode Guide, Rankings

by Jack Seabrook

"The Gloating Place"

Robert Bloch had a hand in ten episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and seven episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. In the fifth season of the half-hour series he had two stories adapted by other writers (“The Cure” and “Madame Mystery”) and adapted another writer’s story himself (“The Cuckoo Clock”). In season six, he adapted two of his own stories (“The Changing Heart” and “The Gloating Place”) and he adapted two stories by other writers (“The Greatest Monster of Them All” and “The Landlady”). In season seven, he adapted two of his own stories (“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and “The Big Kick”) and one story by another (“Bad Actor”).

The show expanded to an hour with season eight and Bloch adapted a novel by another writer (“Annabel”). In season nine, he adapted one of his own stories (“A Home Away From Home”) and had another adapted by someone else (“The Sign of Satan”). For the final season, two of Bloch’s stories were adapted by other writers (“Water’s Edge” and  “Final Performance”) and he adapted two stories by others (“The Second Wife” and “Off Season”).

Episodes based on stories by Robert Bloch but with teleplays by other writers:

“The Cure”
“Madame Mystery”
“The Sign of Satan”
“Water’s Edge”
“Final Performance”

Episodes with teleplays by Robert Bloch based on stories by other writers:

“The Cuckoo Clock”
“The Greatest Monster of Them All”
“The Landlady”
“Bad Actor”
“Annabel”
“The Second Wife”
“Off Season”

Episodes where Bloch adapted his own stories:

“The Changing Heart”
“The Gloating Place”
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”
“The Big Kick”
“A Home Away From Home”

All were aired on CBS or NBC except for “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” which was only shown in syndication.

"The Greatest Monster of Them All"

Episode Guide:

Episode title-“The Cure”
Series-Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Broadcast date- 24 January 1960
Teleplay by- Michael Pertwee
Based on-“The Cure” by Robert Bloch
First print appearance-Playboy October 1957
Notes
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Available on DVD?-Yes

Episode title-“Madame Mystery”
Series-Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Broadcast date- 27 March 1960
Teleplay by- William Fay
Based on-“Is Betsey Blake Still Alive?” by Robert Bloch
First print appearance-Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine April 1958
Notes
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Available on DVD?-Yes

Episode title-“The Cuckoo Clock”
Series-Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Broadcast date- 17 April 1960
Teleplay by- Robert Bloch
Based on-“The Man in the Raincoat” by Frank Mace
First print appearance-London Mystery Magazine December 1958
Notes
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Available on DVD?-Yes

Episode title-“The Changing Heart”
Series-Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Broadcast date- 3 January 1961
Teleplay by- Robert Bloch
Based on-“Change of Heart” by Robert Bloch
First print appearance-The Arkham Sampler Winter 1948
Notes
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Available on DVD?-No

Episode title-“The Greatest Monster of Them All”
Series-Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Broadcast date- 14 February 1961
Teleplay by- Robert Bloch
Based on-“The Greatest Monster of Them All” by Bryce Walton
First print appearance-Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine May 1959
Notes
Watch episode
Available on DVD?-No

"The Changing Heart"

Episode title-“The Landlady”
Series-Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Broadcast date- 21 February 1961
Teleplay by- Robert Bloch
Based on-“The Landlady” by Roald Dahl
First print appearance-The New Yorker 28 November 1959
Notes
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Available on DVD?-No

Episode title-“The Gloating Place”
Series-Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Broadcast date- 16 May 1961
Teleplay by- Robert Bloch
Based on-“The Gloating Place” by Robert Bloch
First print appearance-Rogue June 1959
Notes
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Available on DVD?-No

Episode title-“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”
Series-Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Broadcast date- syndication only
Teleplay by- Robert Bloch
Based on-“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Robert Bloch
First print appearance-Weird Tales January 1949
Notes
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Available on DVD?-Yes

Episode title-“Bad Actor”
Series-Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Broadcast date- 9 January 1962
Teleplay by- Robert Bloch
Based on-“The Geniuses” by Max Franklin (Richard Deming)
First print appearance-Manhunt June 1957
Notes
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Available on DVD?-No

Episode title-“The Big Kick”
Series-Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Broadcast date- 19 June 1962
Teleplay by- Robert Bloch
Based on-“The Big Kick” by Robert Bloch
First print appearance-Rogue July 1959
Notes
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Available on DVD?-No

"Bad Actor"

Episode title-“Annabel”
Series-The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Broadcast date- 1 November 1962
Teleplay by- Robert Bloch
Based on-This Sweet Sickness by Patricia Highsmith
First print appearance-1960 (novel)
Notes
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Available on DVD?-No

Episode title-“A Home Away From Home”
Series-The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Broadcast date- 27 September 1963
Teleplay by- Robert Bloch
Based on-“A Home Away From Home” by Robert Bloch
First print appearance-Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine June 1961
Notes
Watch episode-unavailable online
Available on DVD?-No

Episode title-“The Sign of Satan”
Series-The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Broadcast date- 8 May 1964
Teleplay by- Barre Lyndon
Based on-“Return to the Sabbath” by Robert Bloch
First print appearance-Weird Tales July 1938
Notes
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Available on DVD?-No

Episode title-“Water’s Edge”
Series-The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Broadcast date-19 October 1964
Teleplay by- Alfred Hayes
Based on-“Water’s Edge” by Robert Bloch
First print appearance-Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine September 1956
Notes
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Available on DVD?-No

"Annabel"

Episode title-“Final Performance”
Series-The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Broadcast date- 18 January 1965
Teleplay by-Clyde Ware and Lee Kalcheim
Based on-“The Final Performance” by Robert Bloch
First print appearance-Shock September 1960
Notes
Watch episode-unavailable online
Available on DVD?-No

Episode title-“The Second Wife”
Series-The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Broadcast date- 26 April 1965
Teleplay by-Robert Bloch
Based on-“The Lonely Heart” by Richard Deming
First print appearance-Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine December 1964
Notes
Watch episode
Available on DVD?-No

Episode title-“Off Season”
Series-The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Broadcast date- 10 May 1965
Teleplay by-Robert Bloch
Based on-“Winter Run” by Edward D. Hoch
First print appearance-Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine January 1965
Notes
Watch episode-unavailable online
Available on DVD?-No

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice"

And finally, rankings (from best to worst):

Alfred Hitchcock Presents:

“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”
“The Landlady”
“The Greatest Monster of Them All”
“The Cure”
“The Cuckoo Clock”
“Madame Mystery”
“The Changing Heart”
“The Big Kick”
“Bad Actor”
“The Gloating Place”

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour:

“Water’s Edge”
“A Home Away From Home”
“Annabel”
“The Second Wife”
“Final Performance”
“Off Season”
“The Sign of Satan”

COMING IN TWO WEEKS: SHATNER MEETS HITCHCOCK!

"The Sign of Satan"

Batman in the 1970s Part 24: March and April 1973

by Peter Enfantino &

Jack Seabrook

Detective Comics 433 (March 1973)

“Killer in the Smog!”
Story: Frank Robbins
Art: Dick Dillin & Dick Giordano

Socialite Patti Dalton is murdered, strangled with an ascot, and Batman and Commissioner Gordon assume it's a one-off until they read the inscription on the murder weapon: "This is the second." They don't have long to wait before two other victims turn up in the Gotham "smog." This corpse, a man named Ben Milgrim, comes with an ascot reading "This is the third." The only clue they have is that the murderer has a hacking cough. After a bit of detection, however, The Dark Knight surfaces with the usual amount of suspects: Dalton's jilted lover, Rick Manton; Clyde Wilson, major league umpire; and James Corwin, addicted gambler. In the end, Batman discovers all three men are involved as each had motives for the crimes.

PE: Only in the DC Universe are umpires treated like celebrities. Go ahead, baseball expert, name me MLB's "top ump!" Gordon refers to the dead folk as victims of "the smog killer." This goes back to my complaint last installment with Jason Bard labeling his files with inane case names. Is this mysterious "smog" confined to only one area of Gotham? Seriously, is it so thick that a killer can "hide" in it? I've spent a good deal of time in the warmth and glow of Los Angeles smog and I daresay nothing outside of a helicopter is going to get lost in it. I doubt if the Dodgers ever had to cancel a game because of a "smog out" like this issue's Gotham Mets. When Bats approaches Rick Manton for an alibi, the man attacks him with a steady diet of powerful punches while offering up his alibi. When the dust clears, Batman's thought balloon says: "Rick's attack on me sure wasn't the reaction of a guilty man." Say what? How can you be sure of that? Like most of Frank Robbins' whodunits, this one is a boring and uninvolving dog. We never even find out which killer has the silly outfit and the smoker's cough.

Jack: Dick Giordano continues his quest to be the most prolific Batman artist by turning in a nice, evocative cover and some story inks that overpower Dick Dillin’s pencils. This is the first time I can recall a Batman story where both cover and splash page are cheats—nowhere in the story does Batman get strangled by a mysterious figure in the smog. In fact, we never see anyone get strangled, only the aftermath. That makes the cool character in the hat basically nonexistent, except for a couple of panels early on where he wears a much duller hat. The story is not bad (for Frank Robbins) though it has been done before in Strangers on a Train. Here, I guess it would be called “Strangers in a Steambath.”

“The Case of the Forged Face!”

Story: Frank Robbins
Art: Don Heck & Murphy Anderson

Commissioner Gordon accuses Jason Bard of planning the assassination of a senator.

Jack: Once again, Anderson makes Heck’s pencils a little more bearable, but another Jason Bard story by that Dean of detection himself, Frank Robbins? Enough already! And if that’s not enough, the editor promises that the next Bard story will also be illustrated by Mr. R. I may have to consult the thesaurus for some vituperative adjectives.

PE: Where's the obligatory "conversation with Babs' photo" at the climax of this exciting story? Should we take it that there might be rainclouds on the horizon of Jason and Barbara, or is just me looking for something to write about this dreary series? Since there's nothing either new or interesting to say about this latest installment, I'll focus our attention on the letters page. You don't have to be eagle-eyed to notice that the letters page of the Batman titles are dominated by the same half-dozen or so letter hacks. You'll see the names of Mike W. Barr, Bob Rozakis, Gerard Triano, and Jim Balko constantly. Was there a little treehouse group that Julius Schwartz initiated or were there really only a handful of readers who could put sentences together in a semi-intelligent manner among the 180,000+ readers?

Jason should also wonder why the girl to his
front/left went from blond to redhead!

Batman 248 (April 1973)

“Death-Knell for a Traitor!”
Story: Denny O’Neil
Art: Bob Brown & Dick Giordano

Lt. Friss is released from prison after serving 30 years for treason during WWII. He is immediately captured and taken away despite Batman’s best efforts to protect him. The Caped Crusader quickly figures out that Colonel Sulphur (last seen in Batman 241) is after the valuable diamond Friss received for betraying his ship’s position to the Japanese. At the Gotham Navy Yard, Batman dispatches Col. Sulphur, but Friss has a flashback to the war and dives overboard to his death.

Jack: It’s been 11 months and 7 issues since Batman last knocked out Col. Sulfur, who is not much of a foe this time around. The story is not very interesting, with the overused WWII flashbacks not adding much. Bob Brown is my least favorite of the artists who rotated on Batman stories in this period, except for Frank Robbins, of course. 


PE: Silly question, I know, but why would Batman keep in his files the mystery of a diamond that had gone missing in World War II? I'd like to see the "Unsolved Purse Snatching" file cabinet. Another of those O'Neil stories that introduces a supernatural element at the last moment but doesn't necessarily validate that element. This angle worked a couple times but it's getting really old really fast. Both the art and story are uninspired this time out. With so many pedestrian scripts thus far, I'm wondering if the stories that made Denny O'Neil the "greatest comics writer of the 1970s" are still to come or if his name is built on just a couple of issues punched up by Neal Adams graphics.

“The Immortals of Usen Castle”
Story: Elliot Maggin
Art: Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin

Robin takes some kids from the housing project on a tour of Usen Castle, only to find that there are some surprising scares in store.

Jack: Do you think any hardened criminal ever really called Robin the “Devil-Child with the Laughing Eyes?” That seems awfully eloquent for a Gotham hood. And as for the kids in the housing project near Hudson U, they look pretty healthy to me. It seems DC’s brief experiment with black people appearing in comics was not in effect for this issue. The ending is bizarre—the castle’s caretaker tries to scare people away because he has his 200+ year old ancestors locked in a cell in the dungeon because they are . . . senile! Call the ombudsman! This is elder abuse!


PE: The intro had me believing this might be one of those two-page social commentary ads that comics used to run about the bad things in the world that can happen to youngsters who stray down the wrong path: V.D., juvenile delinquency, and voting for democrats. From there it quickly devolves into an adventure fit for Shaggy and Scoob and ultimately wraps up with one of the most abrupt and out of left field climaxes I've ever witnessed. "The Immortals of Usen Castle" is the four-colored equivalent of a joke told with the wrong punchline. 

Detective Comics 434 (April 1973) 

“The Spook That Stalked Batman”
Story: Frank Robbins
Art: Irv Novick & Dick Giordano

"Big Turk" Ramis escapes from Gotham's brand new high-rise maximum-security facility with a little help from The Spook. When Batman goes on the trail of the two bad guys, he finds The Spook to be a formidable foe, one of the "greatest challenges" ever faced by Batman or Commissioner Gordon. The Dark Knight is able to nab "Big Turk" and then, in an elaborate undercover operation, disguises himself as Ramis and waits for The Spook to come spring him again.

Jack: Although I have a feeling we’re in for a Scooby-Doo conclusion next time, I thought this was a good story. The most surprising thing was that it ended on a cliffhanger and will be continued next issue. There have not been too many multi-part stories in the first 3+ years of Batman stories that we’ve been reading. I also like the little Spook dolls that get left at the scene.

PE: The biggest surprise to me this issue was not that it ended on a cliffhanger but that this was actually a decent story. My interest was grabbed and held right up to the final panel. I was waiting for Shaggy and Scooby to show up and offer our hero some assistance since this is more like the kind of adventure they'd solve. Even though this is the first appearance of The Spook, Frank Robbins' dialogue had me convinced this was a foe that Bats had encountered pre-1970. A quick check through various sources proved my theory wrong. 

You said it, Dark Knight!

”Riddle of the Red-Handed Robber!”

Story: E. Nelson Bridwell
Art: Rich Buckler & Dick Giordano

Magician Sandor Peale enjoys stealing priceless gems and mocking the police by making the evidence disappear into thin air. Despite disapproval from the cops, Hawkman feels the need to get involved.

PE: "Wheet!" Hawkman's bird friends sure talk like squares. If it was Robin who had the power to converse with the winged world, they'd be like "Yo, Robin daddy-o! Why the need for speed?" I love how Hawk flies his suspect right into the office of the sergeant. Did he hover outside while opening the precinct door? Carter Hall (Hawkman's aka) wears the worst suit jacket in comics.

Jack: His art on this short story may not be quite as unusual as it was when he inked his own pencils last year on a few Robin back up stories, but it sure is great to see Rich Buckler again! He draws Hawkman very well and his panels and page layouts are creative and energetic. The story is fine, without much new going on, but the art makes it worth reading. Here’s hoping Buckler turns up again in Detective!

PE: Buckler won't be back for another installment of Hawkman until Detective #448. In the meantime, he'll jump ship and spend a very productive several years over at Marvel, relieving John Buscema on Fantastic Four and creating Deathlok the Demolisher for Astonishing Tales. In 1983, Buckler sued The Comics Journal (who didn't in those days?) for claiming that the artist had been "swiping" from Jack Kirby. The lawsuit was dropped the following year.

Did we really dress like this in '73?

Batman in the 1970s Part 23: January & February 1973

by Jack Seabrook 

& Peter Enfantino 

Detective Comics 431 (January 1973)

"This Murder Has Been Censored"
Story: Denny O'Neil
Art: Irv Novick & Murphy Anderson

Trying to get away from the "fearful" crime-rate of Gotham City, a vacationing Bruce Wayne is witness to a bizarre incident: it appears a man named Mickey Ryan commits suicide by leaping from the roof of Maidstone Manor, the resort that Wayne is residing at. Once he has a look at the body, however, Bruce detects a minuscule drop of blood behind the man's ear, a telltale sign that a pin has been stabbed into the victim's brain. The man's forehead is stamped with the word "censored" as well. The suicide is clearly anything but, in the eyes of Batman. The Dark Knight soon finds there isn't a dearth of suspects. Could it be the murdered man's partner, Bernie Wilson, for the obvious reasons? Or Dr. Cheever Ballard, whose reputation was destroyed by Ryan? Or Ryan's secretary, Dorry Pitkin, whose father's name was similarly smeared by the dead man? Or perhaps it's the local sheriff, who seems a tad bit too eager to jail Dr. Ballard for the homicide, despite Batman's belief that the doc is innocent? In the end, Batman gets his killer after a dangerous car chase.

PE: I had to keep looking at the credits to make sure this loser wasn't written by Frank Robbins. It doesn't get much more pedestrian than this. The art is dreadful as well, with Hawkman artist Murphy Anderson filling in for Novick's usual partner, Dick Giordano. Dick, you're very much missed here, my friend. While Batman is his usual muscular self, Bruce Wayne seems almost shrunken, with no meat on his bones. Good trick, that. How does a man lose his muscle as well as his cowl when he's altered his ego?

Jack: The Kaluta cover is the best thing about this weak story. Apparently, someone stamped the word “censored” on the dead man’s forehead, but the artist neglected to show us and the writer forgot to tell us until Batman mentions it offhandedly later in the story. Novick’s pencils must have been pretty tight, because I see very little evidence of Anderson’s smooth lines here.

"Crime on My Hands!"
Story: Frank Robbins
Art: Don Heck & Murphy Anderson

Jason Bard is contacted by a potential client but, soon after, that client ends up at the P.I.'s feet, bullet hole in the head.

PE: Can you just see Jason Bard's file cabinet folders? One is labeled the "I Wake Up Dying" case. Not the name of the protagonist, but the title of the story. How lame is that? "Hmmm, what's a good name for this case? I got it... the 'One Day it Rained All Week' case" Should be easy, if Jason has a great memory, to find the folder in twenty years if he really needs it. As in the main Batman story, this short is riddled with "Of course, now I know the real identity of the killer" dialogue and captions asking us if we figured it out from what little we've been given. The obligatory final panel where Jason tells all to the pic of Barbara Gordon (which could very well rival Dorian Gray's for increasing ugliness) gets dopier with each installment. If Babs is smart, she's already arranged with her pop the restraining order on this loser. The only mystery to me is why I continue to read Jason Bard.

Jack: I was all set to hate this story, since the prior Jason Bard files have been so boring, but it was not bad. Anderson’s inks polished up Heck’s usual sketchy pencils and made the art more bearable than usual, and the story at least kept my interest, which is more than I can say for the last Bard tale.

Batman 247 (February 1973)

"Merry Christmas"

Story: Denny O'Neil

Art: Irv Novick & Dick Giordano

It’s Christmas Eve, but crime takes no holiday as Chimp Manners has stolen a vial of the Army’s top-secret nerve gas. Batman tracks him to a remote cottage where he threatens several people. The Dark Knight is able to disarm Manners when a bright star suddenly blinds him.

PE: A pleasant enough Christmas story, but if that climax hasn't been done before, it sure feels like it. Nice to see Novick reunited with Giordano. Thanks for coming back, Dick. Where did they get the names for these thugs? How could any respectable bio-terrorist go through life with the name Chimp Manners?

Jack: I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again—I am an easy mark when it comes to Christmas stories. I like the mysterious Christmas Eve star that helps Batman early on, and I like the way the problem resolves on New Year’s Eve. I didn’t even mind the return of Batman’s new alter-ego, Matches Malone!

"...And a Deadly New Year!"

Story: Denny O'Neil

Art: Dick Giordano

On Christmas Day, Manners escapes as Batman is taking him to justice. Back in Gotham, Commissioner Gordon shows Batman a note that promises that the nerve gas will be released if Boss Halstrom is not let out of jail by midnight Saturday. Unfortunately, Halstrom died of a heart attack, so Batman must find the criminal who has the nerve gas before the deadline passes. With the aid of Robin, Batman narrows it down to one of three men, exposing the culprit during a New Year’s Eve party and finding the vial in the nick of time.

PE: This one's a lot better than the stories we've gotten lately. I liked the fact that Batman was investigating a big-time threat rather than some inconsequential prison break or stolen painting. We know The Dark Knight will put everything right but there's still a sense of danger right up to the climax. I'd still like some continuity but evidently that's not coming anytime soon.

Jack: It’s odd that Novick penciled the first part of the story but Giordano did the second. Their styles are similar but they are different enough to make it noticeable. For those of you looking ahead, Julius Schwartz notes in the letters column that Neal Adams has completed one page of “The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge!”

Detective Comics 432 (February 1973)

"The Great Rip-Off Mystery!"
Story: Frank Robbins
Art: Bob Brown & Murphy Anderson

Batman investigates the murder of one of the members of a crew that robbed an armored car. When Bats opens up the attache the thug was carrying, he finds half of $1,000,000... literally. The gang has ripped the stacks of bills in half. Batman's mission is to find the other half.

PE: The stories that ran in Detective at the time followed a basic formula: introduce a mystery, add some background characters, and have Batman solve the crime through detection and clues that, ostensibly, the reader could sift through in the panels provided. 90% of the time these clues are inane or just not very evident. As a result of editor Schwartz's "hands off the rogue's gallery" rule with his writers, we're still being subjected to forgettable "villains" and supporting characters. The bad guys here will be forgotten by the next installment. The story itself isn't bad for a Frank Robbins script. Don't misunderstand me, it's not very good. It's a time-waster, nothing more. How we'll go from the bottom-of-the-barrel we're experiencing in this run to the iconic high we'll be witnessing very soon, all while under the same editor, is beyond me.

Jack: Another mediocre story. The “clues” are not very interesting, though I did like the blonde chick on the motorcycle catching the briefcase as it fell from the sky after the car blew up! Judging from the letters column, though, we must be a couple of old cranks, because fan after fan praises Frank Robbins to the sky.

"Suddenly... the Witness Vanished!"
Story: Elliot Maggin
Art: Murphy Anderson

Ray Palmer (aka The Atom) happens to be in a courtroom one day when Henry Norton disappears from the witness stand. Since his fiance, attorney Jean Loring, is defending Norton on a small time theft charge, Palmer feels the need to get involved. He swiftly transforms into The Atom and retraces Norton's steps up to his disappearance. Turns out Norton has traveled back through time to Chicago the day before the big fire of 1871.

PE: I was going to try to avoid any cracks about Marvel's Ant-Man but that's a tough row to hoe. It's hard to imagine two more worthless superheroes. Ant-Man uses his little insect friends for travel and back-up, The Atom hitches rides on leaves that happen to be floating on the wind and wears a costume which is "woven of fabric from a dwarf star."  I have not one clue what the hell that means but writer Maggin must have taken it for granted that Detective readers were aware of The Atom's mythos because there aren't many clue-in captions along the way. Palmer's goofy scientist buddy, Professor Alpheus V. Hyatt, has created something called "The Time Pool" ("a spectrum of colors blending into a tiny area of pure white light... a tiny pool through which the oceans of the past are a moment away from one such as The Atom..."), a time travel portal that allows Norton to beam himself back to Chicago of 1871. From there, the story's a jumbled mess. Norton gets to Chicago, ostensibly to view microfilm and bet on horses (?), finds out he's to become a fatality of The Big Fire and freaks out. In trying to save Norton, The Atom, who has followed the goofball through time, accidentally starts the fire in Mrs. O'Leary's barn. Palmer can't save Norton from perishing but he puts a good effort into saving the microfilm of old newspapers! Please... Jack, describe it better than I did!

Jack: Jeepers, Mr. Kent, I thought this was a pretty cool story! Murphy Anderson was one of the classic DC artists and the Atom was one of the classic Silver Age characters. I could paraphrase what I just read on Wikipedia but you could look it up just as easily. Of interest is that the Atom's alter-ego, Ray Palmer, was named after the science fiction writer/editor, and the Golden Age Atom was actually Al Pratt, a 5'1" college student who was a good boxer and all-around tough guy, but who did not have the ability to shrink to tiny sizes like his Silver Age namesake.

PE: Um... you didn't explain the story. Do I need to go to Wikipedia for that?

Jack: There was a story?

100-Page Super-Spectacular DC-14 (February 1973)

Jack: This 100-page collection of reprints says “Batman” on the cover but was not numbered in the Batman series. It was released on Dec. 26, 1972, with a cover date of February 1973 and included no new stories. There were three Batman stories reprinted, as well as stories featuring other heroes. The wonderful wraparound cover is by Nick Cardy, who seems to have been taking the place of Neal Adams as the go-to cover artist. I remember this cover fondly and seeing it immediately brings back memories!

Robert Bloch on TV Part Seventeen-The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Off Season

“Off Season” was both the final episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour to be broadcast and the final episode to be written by Robert Bloch. It was based on “Winter Run,” a story by Edward D. Hoch that was first published in the January 1965 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.

The story begins as Johnny Kendell, a policeman on duty, accidentally shoots and kills a wino in a dark alley, thinking that the bottle the man held was a gun. Filled with remorse and certain he will be suspended from the police force, Johnny resigns and heads west with Sandy Brown, the woman he plans to marry.

Johnny and Sandy settle in Wagon Lake, a Midwestern town that was once a place for summer cottages but is now a fashionable suburb. They take adjoining rooms in a motel and Johnny gets a job patrolling the lake and keeping an eye on the cottages, which sit empty in winter. As part of the job, he is given a .38 revolver to carry.

Sandy is cold to Johnny, thinking it is too soon after the shooting of the bum for him to resume carrying a gun. She takes a job at a local supermarket while he makes a trial run with Sheriff Dade. Later, on patrol by himself, he meets Milt Woodman in a bar and learns that Woodman was fired recently from the job Johnny now has. As the days wear on, Johnny encounters Milt again and sees him flirting with Sandy while she is at work.

Johnny and Sandy’s relationship deteriorates as jealousy begins to overcome him. While having dinner with the sheriff and his wife, Johnny learns that Milt was fired for taking girls to the cottages while on duty. Johnny begins to suspect Sandy of dating Milt while Johnny is on patrol at night. He searches a cottage and finds evidence that Sandy had been there with Milt.

Late that night, Johnny telephones the motel and learns that Sandy has gone out. He goes to the cottage and sees Milt’s car outside. He sneaks in and walks to the bedroom; he calls Woodman’s name and shoots six times at the figures on the bed. When he lifts the sheet, he sees that Woodman’s companion was not Sandy, but rather Sheriff Dade’s wife. He knows that “he had to keep going. Running.”

Indus Arthur as Sandy

“Winter Run” was Edward Hoch’s first story to be adapted for television. Hoch said that he spoke to Bloch about it later and Bloch claimed that his teleplay had been faithful to the story but that director William Friedkin had made last-minute changes to the script, especially in the final scene. A close comparison of the story with the show as filmed reveals that the changes are more significant than Bloch admitted.

The show opens with shots of neon-lit city streets filmed from a moving car. The mobile camera follows a bum as he breaks the window of a liquor store and steals a bottle, carefully replacing the full bottle he pilfers with an empty one he has just drained. This small act gives a measure of humanity to the man, who is quickly gunned down in an alley by trigger-happy Johnny.

Johnny, played by John Gavin, looks scared, and we see no evidence that the bum represents any danger. Unlike the story, where Johnny and his partner were pursuing a criminal on foot and the shooting is a case of mistaken identity, in the TV show the police arrive by car and Johnny’s only excuse for shooting the man is to say that he was trying to get away.

Richard Jaeckel as Milt Woodman

One of the problems with “Off Season” is the performance of John Gavin as Johnny. Gavin was tall, muscular and handsome; he had featured roles in Psycho (1960) and Spartacus (1960), but Hitchcock referred to him as “the Stiff” and his attempts to demonstrate Johnny’s emotional instability do not succeed.

As the show unfolds, we meet Sandy, played by Indus Arthur, an attractive blond actress who continues the pattern of having female characters appear more glamorous than their corresponding descriptions in the source stories (think of Susan Harrison in The Gloating Place, for example). Bloch (and presumably director Friedkin) made sure to set up the show’s climax by also casting actress Dody Heath as Sheriff Dade’s wife; she bears a strong resemblance to Indus Arthur, and both look like Anne Francis.

Bloch’s teleplay is much more focused on Johnny’s relationship with his gun than was Hoch’s story. In the story, when Johnny takes the job patrolling the summer cottages around Wagon Lake, he is given a gun to carry as part of the job. It is this gun that he uses to kill Woodman and Mrs. Dade at the conclusion. In the show, the gun and Johnny’s need for it present a more complex psychological picture.

Tom Drake as Sheriff Dade

When Johnny talks to Sandy, soon after the initial shooting, he is callous and unremorseful, remarking that “the only thing a cop has between him and extinction is his gun.” In Bloch’s script, Johnny does not resign from the police force voluntarily, as he does in Hoch’s story; instead, a police psychiatrist recommends an honorable discharge, telling Johnny that “this sort of thing could happen again” and implying that a gun carries too much responsibility for Johnny.

Johnny also has a personal gun, which he packs in his suitcase when he and Sandy decide to move west. For Johnny, the gun represents his masculinity: he is big, strong and handsome, but he needs the gun to be a man. After he and Sandy settle in Wagon Lake and he begins to doubt his fiance's faithfulness, he looks for the gun in his suitcase and finds it gone. As his fear and doubt continue to mount, he asks the motel clerk to let him into Sandy’s room (on TV in 1965, unmarried lovers took  adjoining motel rooms—this time, on the same set as the motel in Psycho), where he searches her belongings until he finds the gun. Oddly, he leaves it there, suggesting an inner struggle over whether he can live without it.

John Gavin as Johnny

The lack of a gun as part of the patrolman’s job in Wagon Lake is a key difference between “Winter Run” and “Off Season,” and it is here that Bloch changes the focus of the tale from one of jealousy to one of uncertainty regarding male power. Even Bloch’s subtle humor is on display as he plays with the gun theme: when Johnny confesses his past to Sheriff Dade and says that he has something to tell his new boss, Dade replies: “Well, shoot!” encouraging Johnny to tell him but also punning on the central problem. Bloch adds another humorous touch when the short order cook at the greasy spoon where Sandy takes a job as a waitress laments his own inability to get a real, home-cooked meal.

The show moves inexorably toward its violent conclusion, though there are loose ends that never get tied. When Johnny finds what appears to be evidence that Sandy has been in a cabin with Milt, is it true? Has Sandy been two-timing him? More important is the question of whether Sheriff Dade knew that Woodman had been seeing his wife. Dade tells Johnny that he fired Woodman from the job as patrolman because he used to take “some gal” into one of the cottages. At other points in the show, he asks Johnny to tell him if Woodman gives him any trouble. Tom Drake gives an excellent performance as the sheriff, and it is never clear how much he knows of what is really going on. The imbalance in acting skill in his scenes with John Gavin is noticeable and does not do Gavin any favors.

Dody Heath as Mrs. Dade

The final scene, when Johnny discovers Woodman in a cabin engaging in a tryst, was supposedly changed by director Friedkin, but it is hard to tell exactly what changes were made. As filmed, Johnny enters the darkened living room, sees a man and a woman embracing on a couch, and calls out Woodman’s name. Woodman springs up, pulls a gun, and shoots at Johnny. Johnny then pounces on him and they fight, causing Woodman to drop the gun. Johnny picks it up and shoots Woodman, then shoots the woman as she runs for the door. He walks to her body, turns it over, and exclaims “Mrs. Dade!” before breaking down in tears.

Whoever is responsible for this scene, it doesn’t work. There is no motivation for Woodman to shoot at Johnny, nor is it easy to understand why Johnny picks up the gun and kills both Woodman and his companion. For all of the careful work done to establish the resemblance between Sandy and Mrs. Dade, when her face is revealed it is not clear who she is, causing the need for the voiceover exclamation that provides positive identification.

“Winter Run” is a good story, and Bloch’s adaptation of it is clever, but the show is hampered by a wooden lead performance by John Gavin and by some questionable decisions by William Friedkin, the director.

Harry Hines as the bum

Edward D. Hoch, who wrote “Winter Run,” was a well-known writer of mystery short stories who had over 900 of them published in his lifetime (1930-2008). He won an Edgar Award in 1968 for “The Oblong Room” and was first published in 1955. Very little of his work has been adapted for film or television. On a personal note, he kindly provided me with some rare documents when I was researching my first book at least twenty years ago.

William Friedkin was born in 1935 and won the Academy Award as best director for The French Connection (1971). He also directed The Exorcist (1973). “Off Season” is the first fictional work credited to him as a director; he is also credited with TV documentaries that same year (1965). More recently, Friedkin has claimed that Hitchcock criticized him for not wearing a tie while directing “Off Season.”

In addition to appearing in the films mentioned above, John Gavin (1931- ) was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1971 to 1973 and the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from 1981 to 1986. He appeared in two episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

William O'Connell

Richard Jaeckel (1926-1997) played Milt Woodman, the doomed gigolo. He was in movies from 1943, and appeared in numerous films and TV episodes, including one of The Outer Limits, one of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and three of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He was a regular on Spenser: for Hire from 1985 to 1987, playing police captain Martin Quirk.

Tom Drake (1918-1982), who played Sheriff Dade, had a role in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) as well as in an episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

Harry Hines (1889-1967), who plays the bum who is shot by Johnny, is most recognizable as the man who crawls under the out of control carousel at the conclusion of Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1950).

Finally, William O’Connell (1933- ) played the motel clerk. O’Connell is instantly recognizable, having appeared on Thriller, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Odd Couple, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Star Trek, and in a few Clint Eastwood movies, including The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Every Which Way But Loose (1978), and Any Which Way You Can (1980).

“Winter Run” was reprinted in Alfred Hitchcock: The Best of Mystery (1980) as well as in The Night My Friend (1992), a collection of Hoch’s stories.

“Off Season is not currently available online or on DVD.

Sources:

"Galactic Central." Galactic Central. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 June 2012. <http://philsp.com/>.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. Churchville, MD: OTR Pub., 2001. Print.

Hoch, Edward D. "Winter Run." Alfred Hitchcock: The Best of Mystery. New York: Galahad, 1986. 11-20. Print.

IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 9 June 2012. <http://www.imdb.com/>.

McGilligan, Patrick. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light. New York: Regan, 2003. Print.

"Off Season." The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. NBC. 10 May 1965. Television.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 9 June 2012. <http://www.wikipedia.org/>.

Batman in the 1970s Part 22: 1972 wrapup

by Peter Enfantino &

Jack Seabrook

Batman and Detective Comics with cover dates in 1972 showed that DC was going through changes in its attempt to combat lagging sales and tough competition from Marvel. As the year began, the standard size of a comic book at DC was 52 pages and the price was 25 cents. This experiment failed, so page count was decreased to 36 and price was lowered to 20 cents as of July (Detective) and August (Batman, because there was no July issue).

The Giant Batman issues of prior years were gone, replaced in January with a 100-Page Super Spectacular for 50 cents. It featured an entire lineup of reprints and no ads except those for other DC comics, as well as a beautiful wraparound cover by Neal Adams. Adams drew 7 covers for Batman and 4 for Detective. Other cover artists were Mike Kaluta (6), Berni Wrightson, Frank Robbins, Jim Aparo, and Dave Cockrum (1 each). One Adams cover was inked by Dick Giordano, one by Alan Kupperberg, and one is credited to both.

In addition to the all-reprint, 100-page issue, there were eight issues of Batman that featured new content; the 52 page issues also had reprints of old Batman stories. Detective continued to publish 12 monthly issues this year, each with a lead story featuring Batman. In Batman, there were new backup stories starring Robin (6); writers were Mike Friedrich (4) and Elliot Maggin (2). The Robin stories were pencilled by Rich Buckler (4) or Irv Novick (2) with inks by Buckler (2, over his own pencils) or Dick Giordano (4).

Batman lead stories were written by Denny O'Neil (7) or Frank Robbins (1); pencils were by Irv Novick (5), Neal Adams (3), or Dick Dillin (part of 1); all inks were by Dick Giordano. The letters column in the 100-page issue was called Giant Batmail and ran one page; the other issues included Letters to the Batman of either one or two pages.

All twelve issues of Detective featured a Batman lead story. Writers were Frank Robbins (9) and Denny O'Neil (3). Pencils were by Bob Brown (5), Frank Robbins (4), and Irv Novick (3); inks were by Dick Giordano (7), Frank Robbins (4), or Nick Cardy (1). The Batman stories ran 14 to 17 pages each. Each issue featured a letters column called Batman's Hot Line, running one or two pages.

The new backup stories began to vary. For the first six months, Batgirl was featured, written by Frank Robbins and drawn by Don Heck. Batgirl's detective boyfriend Jason Bard then appeared in three stories by the same team of Robbins and Heck (with inks by Joe Giella in the third). Elongated Man appeared in two stories, one written by Len Wein and the other by E. Nelson Bridwell. Both were drawn by Dick Giordano. Finally, Hawkman appeared in one story, written by Bridwell, with pencils by Dillin and inks by Giella.

Circulation in the March Detective was said to have been based on the issue prior to October 1, 1971; 184,281 copies were sold and 164,960 returned.

Highlights of the year's stories included an appearance by Man-Bat in Detective 429 (Nov.) and a four-issue story arc with Ra's Al Ghul in Batman  240, 242, 243, and 244 (Mar., June, Aug., and Sept.).

It was clear that DC and Batman were going through a difficult period in 1972, trying out the 100-page format, sticking with the 52-page format until it could no longer be tolerated, and going to a 36-page format with a price that matched Marvel's price beginning at mid-year.

The quality of the stories and art was clearly superior in Batman; Detective suffered from inferior stories and art, especially in the issues where Frank Robbins wrote and drew the Batman leads. The Batgirl backup series petered out and was replaced with three rotating series. The Robin backup series briefly shone with art by Rich Buckler but this did not even last six months. While Neal Adams drew three stories for Batman and a total of 11 covers, the real excitement in the art came from new names like Mike Kaluta, Berni Wrightson, and Jim Aparo. Kaluta and Aparo, especially, would become more important in defining the look of Batman in the ensuing years of the 1970s.

The next year, 1973, would see even more significant changes.

Note: The covers reproduced here are all by Neal Adams, showing his Batman work on other series in 1972.