Jack Ritchie's short story, "Ten Minutes from Now," is an exciting tale of a series of bomb threats with an ending that is wholly unexpected. First published in the October 1963 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, it was quickly purchased for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and adapted by Arthur A. Ross into a show that was broadcast on CBS on Friday, May 1, 1964. Unfortunately, in expanding the story for television, Ross's script lost much of what makes the story entertaining.
Told in first-person narration by a man named James Bellington, the short story begins with the narrator entering City Hall, carrying a 9" x 9" x 9" package wrapped in brown paper and demanding to see Mayor Pettibone. Police Lieutenant Wymar confronts Bellington and grabs the package, immersing it in a sink filled with water and summoning the bomb squad. Wymar shows Bellington a threatening note that had been sent to the mayor by someone who signed his name as the Avenger; in the note, the writer vows to blow Mayor Pettibone to kingdom come due to his actions regarding the Veterans Memorial development.
"Ten Minutes from Now" was first published here |
Taking a taxi back to City Hall, Bellington visits the mayor's office, again carrying a box. Lt. Wymar intercepts him and the box is x-rayed and thought to be a bomb; Bellington spends four hours in jail before Wymar returns to admit that what was thought to be a powder charge was just the bag of sugar that Bellington had purchased earlier that day.
Donnelly Rhodes as James Bellington |
Bellington takes a cab to City Hall, where he finds the street roped off and cleared of people. He begins to walk toward the building but changes direction and is chased by Lt. Wymar, Dr. Burton, and other police until he runs into the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Racing to the gallery of modern art, he announces that in ten minutes he will release the push button on the box he carries, blowing up the entire building. The minutes tick by and Bellington advances toward the others, driving them out of the building. After a few minutes, he emerges from the front door and removes his finger from the button, to no effect. He displays the alarm clock and wire that were the only contents of the box and discards it all before telling Lt. Wymar that he plans to sue the city. Bellington finally meets the mayor face to face and complains about noise outside his hotel room window.
Lonny Chapman as Lt. Wymar |
"Ten Minutes from Now" is a clever tale of misdirection, with plenty of humor and excitement. It seems tailor-made for filming, and the light, comic tone appears perfect for Arthur A. Ross, whose prior teleplay for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour had been a successful adaptation of Ritchie's "Anyone for Murder?" Ross takes a different approach this time, one that removes almost all of the humor from the story and adds an element of protest that was timely in 1964 but which has dated badly today.
Lou Jacobi as Dr. Glover |
In the story, Bellington is made to seem like a crank when he complains about the adult magazines at the newsstand and the modern art paintings in the museum. In the TV show, he speaks in an affected, educated manner that makes him seem pompous and arrogant; his dialogue is almost a parody of the sort of dialogue Rod Serling would often write to much better effect. Ross rearranges some of the events of the story: Bellington is sent to see Dr. Glover, the psychiatrist, after the first bomb threat, and the two engage in verbal fencing that serves as exposition.
Neile Adams as Sgt. Marklen |
On his first visit to the museum, Bellington strikes up a conversation with a shy, mousy woman and explains to her that the box he carries contains paint supplies, items that he would like to use to paint copies of the masterworks displayed on the walls if only the authorities would let him. The scene, like the search of his hotel room, feels like padding but does foreshadow the show's surprise ending by introducing the idea of Bellington painting copies of what his confederates will later steal.
Ed Peck |
Sandra Gould |
David Carradine |
Donnelly Rhodes (1937-2018) was born in Canada as Donnelly Rhodes Henry and had a long career onscreen from 1956 to 2016, appearing more often on TV than in film. This was one of his two appearances on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Tommy Kirk |
Lonny Chapman (1920-2007) played numerous roles on TV from 1951 to 2000 and also appeared in many films, including Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). This was his only role on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Going undercover as Sgt. Marklen came naturally for Neile Adams (1932- ), who was born Ruby Neilam Salvador Adams in the Philippines and who served as a young spy for the resistance during World War Two. She was on screen from 1952 to 1991 and appeared in three episodes of the Hitchcock series, including "Man from the South" with her husband, Steve McQueen.
In smaller roles:
- Ed Peck (1917-1992) as (of course) a policeman; he played many such roles in a screen career from 1950 to 1983, including a recurring role as a policeman on Happy Days and three memorable appearances on The Odd Couple.
- Sandra Gould (1916-1999) as the secretary to the Commissioner of Recreation and Parks; she was on screen from 1942 to 1999 and is best remembered as Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched from 1966 to 1971.
- David Carradine (1936-2009) as Bellington's partner in crime who is removing paintings from their frames; this uncredited role was one of his earliest and he went on to a long and successful career in such TV shows as Kung Fu (1972-1975) and such films as Death Race 2000 (1975) and Kill Bill (2003-04).
- Tommy Kirk (1941- ) as the other art thief with David Carradine; also uncredited here, he was a child star for Disney who had major roles in films like Old Yeller (1957) and The Shaggy Dog (1959) but few roles after the end of the 1960s.
Jack Ritchie (1922-1983) was profiled in the last post, "Anyone for Murder?" Born John George Reitci, he wrote over 500 published short stories and three of them were adapted for the Hitchcock TV show.
Director Alf Kjellin (1920-1988) was born in Sweden and worked mainly as a TV director and actor. He appeared in one episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and directed one Hitchcock half-hour and eleven hours, including "Where the Woodbine Twineth."
Like most episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, "Ten Minutes from Now" is not currently available on DVD in the U.S. or online.
Sources:
Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub., 2001.
IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/.
Ritchie, Jack. “Ten Minutes from Now.” Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories to Stay Awake By. Random House, 1971, pp. 355–371.
Stephensen-Payne, Phil. Galactic Central, philsp.com/.
“Ten Minutes from Now” The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, season 9, episode 26, CBS, 1 May 1964.
“Ten Minutes from Now” The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, season 9, episode 26, CBS, 1 May 1964.
The FictionMags Index, www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/0start.htm.
Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, www.wikipedia.org/.
In two weeks:
Triumph, starring Ed Begley and Jeanette Nolan!
Triumph, starring Ed Begley and Jeanette Nolan!
I can't really disagree with a lot of this review, but I also can't help liking this episode better than you do (though it's a little hard to pinpoint the reasons).
ReplyDeleteOne thing that would have "dated" the scene with the policewoman even more (though I wouldn't mind) would be if she'd used a lot of all-out beatnik language to go with her anti-authority talk, since I guess it's an early enough TV show to still use it. Again, I'm just a little sorry it DIDN'T have her do that.
Obviously seeing David Carradine in the final scene really surprised me. Even though a lot of people (including me) aren't all that fond of the whole episode, do you plan to review "Thou Still Unravished Bride" with him and Sally Kellerman?
I will get to that one eventually! I recently passed my 200th episode, so I'm on the downhill side of 365 (or however many there are). I'm glad you like this episode. I watched it a few times and it did not get better. Sometimes they improve on repeat watchings.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've reached 200.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's a lot of fun to research these old shows.
ReplyDeleteHi Jack: I enjoyed your review of Ten Minutes From Now, remember it from its first and maybe even second run. It played way better for me than it did for you, although having seen it again recently for the first time since,--eek!--LBJ was in the White House, it doesn't impress me so much now.
ReplyDeleteFirst time, Donnelly Rhodes just plain sold it. Yes, he, or rather his character, comes across as somewhat pompous today, yet I remember when, a long time ago, his type was one of the many (potential) New Men ready to emerge in the America of the 1960s, pre-hippie, post-Beat, his character was like a JFK era Olympian; too smart to be a "mere hipster", too intelligent to morph into a hippie. I've often wondered what happened to guys like him, as I remember having teachers, later on, in high school, cut from the same or very similar cloth.
Okay, I admit I've gone far afield from the AHH episode itself, as I scarcely remember its details, as I recall its tone as somewhere between maybe Dr. Strangelove and Topkapi, as reimagined by Nabakov. It was that far out; and my sense is that was perhaps in its way, just as ambitious (as Nabakov, I mean) as well as playful (a Kubrick touch maybe). But no, while entertaining for what it is, this one didn't crash through, and of the Hitchcock hours, a good try, a "respectable" effort, with the writing talent just not there to take it to a higher level.
Thanks, John. I see what you mean about the main character--he's the cool cat who's not quite a hipster but definitely anti-establishment. I'm not familiar with Rhodes from other shows so I don't know if he was better elsewhere. I thought the short story worked much better.
ReplyDelete