The Hitchcock Project-Six People, No Music by Richard Berg [4.13]

by Jack Seabrook

Arthur Roos, undertaker, comes home from work one evening and drinks two glasses of whiskey while his wife, Rhoda, makes dinner. As they eat, he tells her about an unusual thing that happened at work. Department store owner Stanton C. Baravale died the night before and was brought to Roos's mortuary in the morning. Arthur's apprentice, Thor, left to get a bite to eat and, while Roos was alone with the corpse, Baravale suddenly cleared his throat and sat up, having come back from the dead to provide instructions for his funeral. Not wanting his kids to spend more than was necessary, he told Roos that he wanted "'Six people, one car, no music, cheapest box you carry,'" wrote his instructions on a sheet of paper, and lied back down, dead. Arthur tells Rhoda that an elaborate funeral was ordered and, since he told no one about Baravale's temporary resurrection, Rhoda burns the paper with the instructions for the small funeral, and she and Arthur go out to the movies.

"The Damnedest Thing"
was first published here 

"The Damnedest Thing," a short story by Garson Kanin, was published in the February 1956 issue of Esquire. Only two pages long, it is a humorous anecdote where a greedy couple suppresses news of a miracle for financial gain. The story is a fantasy grounded in reality, and it was adapted for Alfred Hitchcock Presents by Richard Berg. The show aired on CBS on Sunday, January 4, 1959, and it was directed by Norman Lloyd.

The TV adaptation follows the short story closely but makes some changes in how it is told in order to take advantage of the visual medium. When Arthur, whose surname has been changed to Motherwell, begins to tell Rhoda what happened, the screen dissolves to a flashback, allowing events to unfold in real time rather than be related in conversation. The day's events are expanded to fill the half-hour time slot. Baravale's lawyer, Fulton Agnew, is waiting for Arthur when he arrives at the funeral home and they discuss having Arthur handle the large funeral. Humorous musical cues underscore the light touch.

John McGiver as Arthur Motherwell

A conversation with Thor, the apprentice, follows, in which the young man reminds his boss of a promise from five years ago to give Thor "'a piece of the business;'" as with anything involving money, the discussion is painful for Arthur. The tale is given a location, which was absent in the story, and is said to take place in Poughkeepsie, New York, a small city less than two hours north of New York City. The contrast between this small city and the overly serious approach to the funeral of the department store owner adds to the amusement in this episode.

Arthur takes a telephone call from Agnew, who lays out the elements of a large funeral and, after Arthur hangs up, Baravale clears his throat and props himself up on an elbow. At this point, the flashback is interrupted by a scene in Arthur's kitchen that reminds us that what we are seeing is the story that Arthur is telling Rhoda. Another dissolve leads back into the flashback, where Baravale is brusque and officious, used to bossing people around. He tells Arthur: "'Never push goods on people that they can't use. Secret of the department store business. But what they can use, load 'em up to the gills.'" This bit of economic advice is not in the short story and it guides what the revived corpse does next; his sense of thrift was so strong that it worked a miracle and brought Baravale back from the dead.

Peggy Cass as Rhoda Motherwell

"'Six people, no music, one car, and an unpainted pine box,'" he orders, and lies back down, dead, leaving Arthur to wander around the funeral home, despondently looking at the note Baravale wrote. Thor returns and reads Agnew's elaborate order out loud as Arthur winces, thinking of all of the money he will lose if he follows Baravale's post-mortem instructions. Arthur dismisses Thor without telling him what happened and, back at home, the flashback over, Arthur (not Rhoda, as in the short story) burns the paper and washes the ashes down the sink drain. They exit, arm in arm, to go to the movies, secure in their impending financial windfall.

Howard Smith as Stanton C. Baravale

"Six People, No Music" is an understated black comedy in which Arthur Motherwell's greed causes him to act dishonestly and cover up a miraculous resurrection. The show succeeds due to its casting; John McGiver is perfect as Arthur and Howard Smith is appropriately gruff as Baravale; their scene together is the show's high point. Director Norman Lloyd uses a light tough without allowing the episode to veer into broad comedy. McGiver has a slight resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock, with his slow, precise speech, round face, jowls, and bald head with wisps of hair; had Hitchcock been an actor, the role would have been a perfect fit.

Joby Baker as Thor

Richard Berg (1922-2009), who wrote the teleplay, went to Hollywood in 1942 to work as a dialogue coach but returned to the East Coast, where he ran an art supply store in Connecticut and wrote TV scripts in the evening. In 1957 he went back to Hollywood and, in the decades that followed, he became a prolific producer of TV movies and miniseries. He wrote for TV from 1955 to 1986 and was a producer from 1961 to 2000. This was the only episode of the Hitchcock series that he wrote.

The short story's author, Garson Kanin (1912-1999), made his debut on Broadway in 1933 as an actor and began directing Broadway plays in 1936. He also wrote plays from 1946 to 1974; his most famous was Born Yesterday (1946), which was also filmed. He wrote and directed films from 1938 to 1969, with a break to serve in the Army in WWII; he also wrote novels and short stories, as well as non-fiction. He was married to the actress Ruth Gordon from 1942 to 1985 and this is the only episode of the Hitchcock series to be based on one of his works.

Wilton Graff as Fulton Agnew

Norman Lloyd (1914-2021), the director, was one of the people most responsible for the success and quality of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Born Norman Perlmutter and active in the theater in the 1930s, he had a long career as a film and television actor, from 1939 to 2015, and appeared in Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) and Spellbound (1945). He also directed for television from 1951 to 1984. He acted in five episodes of the Hitchcock series and directed 22, including "Man from the South."

Joseph Hamilton

Arthur is played by John McGiver (1913-1975), an actor with a face and voice like no other, except perhaps Alfred Hitchcock. Funny in a deadpan way, he was born in New York City and began his acting career in Irish Repertory Theater. He served in WWII and then worked as teacher, appearing in plays Off-Broadway before becoming a full-time actor in 1955. He had ten children and was on screen from 1955 to his death in 1975. He was seen on Alfred Hitchcock Presents twice (see ("Fatal Figures") and also appeared on The Twilight Zone twice.

Peggy Cass (1924-1999) plays Arthur's wife, Rhoda. She acted on Broadway from 1949 to 1985 and won a Tony Award in 1957. She was on screen from 1950 to 1997 and was a regular on the soap opera, The Doctors, from 1978 to 1979, but she is best remembered today for her appearances on TV game shows, especially To Tell the Truth, where she was a regular panelist from 1960 to 1978.

In smaller roles:

• Howard Smith (1893-1968) as Stanton C. Baravale; he was on Broadway from 1917 to 1964, on screen from 1918 to 1967, and on radio beginning in 1928; he was a member of Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre and had a role in The War of the Worlds. He served in the infantry in WWI and appeared on The Twilight Zone twice (he was the boss in "A Stop at Willoughby"), but this was his only role on the Hitchcock series.
• Joby Baker (1934- ) as Thor; he was born in Montreal and had a career on TV and in film from 1952 to 1984. He was on the Hitchcock show four times, including "Madame Mystery,"  had a regular role on the series Good Morning, World (1967-1968), and later had a career as a painter, as shown here.
• Wilton Graff (1903-1969) as the lawyer, Fulton Agnew; he was on Broadway from 1933 to 1941 and on screen from 1939 to 1964. He also appeared in two other episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "Death of a Cop."
• Joseph Hamilton (1899-1965) has a brief appearance as a funeral home worker; he started in vaudeville as a teenager and then appeared in local theater for decades before embarking on a career on the big and small screens that lasted from 1954 to 1965. He appeared on The Twilight Zone and in five episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "The Five-Forty Eight."

Read "The Damnedest Thing" online here, watch the TV version here, or order the DVD here. Read the GenreSnaps review here.

Sources:

The FICTIONMAGS Index, www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/0start.htm.

Galactic Central, www.philsp.com/.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub., 2001.

IBDB, www.ibdb.com.

IMDb, www.imdb.com.

Kanin, Garson. "The Damnedest Thing." Esquire, Feb. 1956, pp. 63-64.

"Six People, No Music." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 4, episode 13, CBS, 4 January 1959.

Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "One More Mile to Go" here!

In two weeks: "The Waxwork," starring Barry Nelson!

Batman in the 1960s Issue 27: May/June 1964

 

The Caped Crusader in the 1960s
by Jack Seabrook
& Peter Enfantino

Moldoff

Batman #163

"Bat-Girl--Batwoman II!"

Story by Bill Finger

Art by Chic Stone & Charles Paris

"The Joker Jury!"

Story by Bill Finger

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Charles Paris

Alfred takes a break from dusting the Bat-Phone and types out his latest imaginary adventure, "Bat-Girl--Batwoman II!" In the future, the second Batman and Robin team have been fighting crime for a while when Kathy Kane's niece Betty returns from spending several years in Europe, where her father was sent on business. Betty sees Kathy looking at her old Batwoman costume and decides to take over for her aunt.

That evening, while Dick Grayson (Batman II) and Bruce Wayne Jr. (Robin II) are out of town, Bruce Wayne Sr. dons his Bat-Suit and responds to the Bat-Signal for old times' sake. Commissioner Gordon informs him that Milo, the underworld inventor, is out of prison "'and planning to sell gangland bosses some sensational machines for crime!'" Batman tracks down Milo, who captures the Caped Crusader with a flying mechanical hand. Batwoman II appears and helps free Batman, but his cowl gets caught on a roof shingle and he is unmasked before her.

Meanwhile, Batman II and Robin II get back and start searching for Bruce and Betty, who are at an old baseball stadium, observing Milo's sales pitch to the gathered bosses. Batman and Batwoman II are quickly captured and it takes some help from Batman II and Robin II to set things right again. Back at the Batcave, Betty plants a big kiss on the lips of Dick Grayson, now that she knows he used to be Robin and is now Batman II.

I like Alfred's imaginary tales and I like Batwoman and Bat-Girl, but this story is less entertaining than some of the ones we've read previously. There's not as much sighing and romance-comic silliness, for one thing. Chic Stone's pencils don't look much different than those of Sheldon Moldoff, perhaps because they're both inked by Charles Paris.

Out of prison yet again, the Joker successfully eludes the police, after committing a crime, by dumping a load of bricks from a public works department truck in their path. This inspires him to use Gotham City departments as the basis for future misdeeds. First comes the theft of jewels from the Gotham City International Fair by means of a giant vacuum cleaner stolen from the sanitation department; Robin is sucked into the bag and Batman must rescue him, allowing the Joker to escape.

Next comes a payroll robbery at the site where a new highway is being constructed; Batman and Robin manage to foil this one but the Joker escapes. Following a clue, Batman and Robin find the Joker's hideout at a castle outside Gotham City. The Joker catches them and puts Batman on trial before "The Joker Jury!" He's found guilty of interfering with the commission of crimes, but he and Robin quickly escape the Joker's prison.

The Joker tries to rob a charity benefit being held in honor of Batman, but the Dynamic Duo quickly put an end to his plans and soon he's back in jail.

I prefer the old version of the Joker that we see here to the more recent, homicidal version. This Joker is in it for the cash and he's not trying to kill everyone in sight. He also does a lot less philosophizing.-Jack

Peter-While the content of 'tec #327 (discussed below) semi-sorta reflects Julius Schwartz's "New Look" policy, this issue decidedly does not. I was hoping this "New Look" would include the banning of the inane series of "Imaginary Alfred Tales" but, alas, that was not to be. Truthfully, there are so many pairs of heroes and imagi-heroes running around in this strip, I couldn't keep track of whose cousin was whose son. The Joker story, while equally juvenile, at least tickled my funny bone. The highlight had to be when the insane clown promised Batman he could be heard in court and then banged his gavel after four words, insisting that "the jury heard you!" Classic Joker.

Infantino/Giella

Detective Comics #327

"The Mystery of the Menacing Mask!"

Story by John Broome

Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

What's the problem with Gotham Village that half of the city's politicians want the borough razed? Well, it might be the fact that most of Gotham's tenth-tier villains (the guys who have lame monikers) are hiding out somewhere within the village. 

Batman and Robin are interested in the controversy for two reasons: one, Bruce Wayne is on a committee to explore alternatives to destroying this atmospheric section of Gotham, and two, the two are tracking a deadly new criminal, Frank Fenton, who has tagged the Duo's foreheads with a red "X" that allows the evil mastermind to flip a switch and render them paralyzed. Their search for Fenton led them to the village.

In the end, they discover that Fenton is part of a gang of thieves who have taken advantage of an underground hideaway, built by a baddie known only as "Smiler." This perpetually grinning businessman rents sub-street space as a semi-resort for hoods on the lam. There they can take advantage of pool tables, a movie theater (showing only crime classics!), and an assortment of illegal paraphernalia. Batman and Robin burst into the country club to bust Fenton, wearing lead-lined headgear to ward off the paralyzer ray, and arrest the hideout's manager as well. When unmasked, Smiler is revealed to be politician Roland Meacham, Gotham's most outspoken defender of Gotham Village. Well, now we all know why he didn't want it torn down!

"Mystery of the Menacing Mask" is the first story to fall under the "New Look" label, but don't expect many startling changes. Outside of the art, that is. Infantino/Giella will never give Neal Adams a run for his money, but it sure beats the hell out of Moldy and Paris. I'll admit the script is a tad more sophisticated (it certainly is more wordy) than the inanity we've become used to in the 1960s, but it's not, by any stretch, groundbreaking. It doesn't include aliens or other-dimensional bat-dwarves, but it does have the usual outlandish gizmos and nattily-dressed hoods. But, hey, it's a start. This issue also kicks off the Gardner Fox/Infantino Elongated Man back-up that will run through #383 (January 1969). We've decided to avoid covering the back-ups here, but I will say that the first installment is certainly more entertaining, well-written, and more eye-pleasing than any of the abysmal Martian Manhunter episodes we covered. Ralph Dibny's continuing search for respect (or at least someone on Earth who recognizes him) is a hilarious change of pace.-Peter

Jack-From the banner on the cover announcing the "New Look" to the last page of the Elongated Man story, this issue is a feast for the eyes and a breath of fresh air. A true landmark, it seems like Batman and Robin have suddenly jumped from the kiddie land of the 1950s right into the fast-changing world of the 1960s; in the background of one panel depicting Gotham Village, a sign advertises "Cafe Weird," where I imagine beatniks are snapping their fingers in time to spoken poetry. Infantino uses the same dynamic layouts he had been using for several years in Flash comics, with long, skinny panels and floating heads accompanying captions. It may not be at the level of O'Neill and Adams quite yet, but it's a great leap forward from what we've been reading. This issue includes a letters page, something missing from prior issues of Detective; perhaps the influence of Marvel can be felt in the new attention to the fans.

Moldoff/Giella

Batman #164

"Two-Way Gem Caper!"

Story by Ed Herron

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

"Batman's Great Face-Saving Feat!"

Story by Ed Herron

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

A folk-singing group called the Hootenanny Hotshots is coming to Gotham, and Dick Grayson is practicing his guitar playing and singing in hopes of joining them onstage! Bruce shows off the new elevator to the Batcave, the new sports car-like Batmobile, and the new tunnel out of the Batcave. Elsewhere, the bus carrying the Hotshots into town is detoured by a crook who has planned a big job near where they are scheduled to appear; he doesn't want a folk-music-loving crowd to spoil his plans.

A strip of nails in the road stops the bus by causing four flat tires. Batman and Robin arrive but are prevented from following the crook when their hands get trapped in a network of wires painted to look like brush in a thicket. That evening, the crook, calling himself Dabblo, visits the Gotham Square Museum, and uses distraction to make off with a million-dollar pearl. He escapes in a bullet-proof car.

Batman shows Robin the Batmobile's new telephone and Commissioner Gordon calls to report Dabblo's last known whereabouts. The Dynamic Duo locate the hood and Batman is nearly killed in a fall. They discover the crook's secret hideout and some quick fisticuffs end the menace and rescue the pearl. In the end, the Hootenanny Hotshots sing a song in honor of Batman and Robin.

Joe Giella's inks sure make a difference with Moldoff's pencils, but the underlying layouts and the characters' faces haven't changed much from when Paris was the inker. Still, "Two-Way Gem Caper!" does continue the New Look in that it introduces various new gizmos and a sleek, sporty Batmobile. Little by little, the comics are getting closer to the world that will be depicted in the TV show, just two years away.

The Mystery Analysts of Gotham City is a club of experts who solve mysteries, including Batman. P.I. Hugh Rankin applies for membership based on his success in uncovering what Batman looks like under his mask! He brings in a dummy in a Batman costume and whips off its mask to reveal a balding man who looks nothing like Bruce Wayne. Batman then removes his own mask to show that he looks just like the dummy! Rankin's admission to the club seems certain, until an anonymous member blackballs him.

Back at Stately Wayne Manor, Bruce tells Dick that he voted no on Rankin's application, since he was wrong about what Batman looked like under his mask. Bruce then tells a long, wordy tale about "Batman's Great Face-Saving Feat!" Batman had been working with Rankin to foil a gang called the Trapeze Ten and he realized that Rankin was doing various sneaky things to try to figure out what the Caped Crusader looked like under his mask. Batman misled Rankin, whose dummy's face looked nothing like Bruce.

Giella can do only so much with another badly-penciled story, and there's very little of the New Look in evidence here. The story itself is terrible and goes on much too long.-Jack

Peter-That Bruce Wayne is a genius, using Dick's caterwauling (folk singing) to mask the sound of construction. Seriously though, how smart can your teen partner be if he never heard any of the drilling, digging, and blasting it took to make the new Batcave exit? And, while we're on the subject, who did Bruce hire to help dig? Superman? The Hootenannys were probably out of a job just a couple months later when the British Invasion overtook the States. "Batman's Great Face-Shaver!" taught me a serious lesson: do not read Ed Herron-scripted Bat adventures when you're tired. I had to start this one several times before I could finish it and I still can't figure out why Bats went to so much trouble to help Rankin.

Infantino/Giella

Detective Comics #328

"Gotham Gang Line-Up!"

Story by Bill Finger

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

While the Dynamic Duo are elsewhere, on another mission with Superman, Butler Supreme Alfred takes a call from Commissioner Gordon, notifying him that the Tri-State Gang is holding a meeting somewhere in Gotham. Knowing that this signals a very big event on the horizon, Alfred combs the Bat-Computer for clues and up pops the name of Paul Pardee. Alfred hops on the Butler-Bike and heads to Pardee's home, arriving just in time to see the crook pulling out of his driveway. The manservant gives chase on his moped.

Later that day, with another Earth-saving episode behind them, Batman and Robin arrive home at Stately Wayne Manor to discover both Gordon's urgent plea and Alfred's detailed case notes. They hop in the Batmobile and arrive swiftly at Pardee's swanky pad, only to find it empty, with no butler in sight. Knowing Alfred is possibly the second-best detective in the world, Batman puts on his infra-red headlights and picks up Alfred's trail (his moped's tires are treated with a special "infra-red chemical"). That trail leads them to the deserted Gotham Prison.

Inside, the hoods are watching the approach of the Batmobile and the Caped Crusaders walk right into their trap. Later, our wobbly heroes stand in a line-up while each of the gang's decorated hoods explains why he should be the party responsible for the execution of Batman and Robin. Nattily-dressed Duke wins the contest by explaining how his own brother was sent up the river by the Caped Creep and Dunder-Boy. Duke rubs his hands together, tells his friends how much he'll enjoy this, and gets ready to kill DC's cash cows.

One of his colleagues reminds Duke that their big heist is about to go down and they're on a time schedule. The costumed clowns will have to wait until later. As the gang is heading for the exit, Batman reminds them that a condemned man is always granted a final wish. His would be to learn what the big heist is all about. "Sure! No way you can stop us now!" exclaims the world's stupidest criminal, as he relates the details of the plot: the gang has discovered a secret pirate map that leads its owner to a buried treasure on the outskirts of Colonial City. 

Batman and Robin are then locked in a cell and told they're not the first prisoners taken today (hint, hint: that must be Alfred he's talking about!) and, once the gang gets back, all three will die a slow death. Using Houdini's "famous handcuff-escape trick," Batman frees himself and Robin and they ponder how to get out of the cell. Robin looks to the sky and fondly remembers a previous adventure where Batman turned one of his socks into a kite and flew it out their prison window until help came along. Lacking a window, the Dark Knight decides to run a variation on that great escape.

Unraveling one of his (obviously sturdy) wool socks, he fashions a lasso and throws it over a radiator on the other side of the room. When their guard comes in to check his prisoners, the dope trips over the thread and cracks his head open. Batman grabs the cell keys from the man's pockets and opens the door. Meanwhile, in another room, Alfred manages to overpower his guard with a snazzy flick of his boot. Both parties head to each other's cells to find the doors open. Holy jump to conclusion! Alfred, Batman, and Robin all believe the worst and head out to Colonial City to avenge the death of their friend(s).

This has got to be real, no?

The boys meet up and are so happy to see each other that they almost forget they're there on a mission! While fighting the gang, Alfred has a boulder dropped on him and is seemingly killed! A frenzied and emotional Dynamic Duo kick gangster ass and then carry their deceased butler to the Batmobile. The next day, Dick and Bruce plan Alfred's funeral when the doorbell rings. Dick opens the door to find his Aunt Harriet, here to move in and take care of the boys after hearing of Alfred's death. Harriet gets to work on the dishes Alfred left in the sink while our heroes ponder how they'll keep their side job a secret from the new intruder.

After a semi-serious adventure last issue, Julius Schwartz obviously said "Screw it!" and tried to reach the same levels of idiocy as that of his predecessor. Everything about "Gotham Gang Line-Up!" screams camp, from the line-up scene to the prison escapes. There's actually a panel detailing how Alfred just missed seeing the Batmobile heading right by him, on its way to Colonial City. I mean, it's a simple mistake, right? Batmobiles were like VWs in 1964; everybody had one. Only time will tell how long Al will remain buried, but I can't wait to see how Julie and the boys write themselves out of this corner.

According to this site, Aunt Harriet was added by Schwartz because he felt there were "too many men living in Wayne Manor." One way to take that is that the editor didn't want another Wertham swooping in and crying "homosexual!" at the top of his voice; the other is that there simply needed to be a female point of view. Knowing comic book brass in the 1960s, I know which way I lean in this theory.-Peter

Jack-So much for the New Look! The only thing new about the people responsible for this dud is Joe Giella, and his inks can't make this worthwhile. I was happy to see Alfred get more involved but sad to see him seemingly killed. Most surprising of all was the appearance of Aunt Harriet, another piece of the puzzle being put together in anticipation of the TV show.

Next Week...
Any Hidden Gems Among
These 24 Fables?

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 116: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Horror Comics

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 101

April 1956 Part I

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Astonishing #48

Cover by Carl Burgos (?) & Bill Everett (?)

"It Happened at Midnight!" (a: Bill Benulis) ★1/2

"One of Our Ships is Missing!" (a: Bill Everett) ★★1/2

"The Man Behind the Mask!" (a: John Forte) ★

"The Thing in the Box!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"There's No Tomorrow" (a: Bob Powell) ★★

(r: Tomb of Darkness #17)

"When Ends the Dream!" (a: Jay Scott Pike) ★

Fantasy writer Randy Clarke types up a fanciful tale of a man assaulted and kidnapped by aliens, but he doesn't quite know how to put a bow on the climax (sounds like Randy Clarke might have been one of Stephen King's pseudonyms!). Allowing the outcome to be murky and deciding the reader can supply the details, Clarke heads out to mail the manuscript and is kidnapped by... you guessed it, aliens. Now Randy has a better climax! 

With the decision by the powers-that-be to cut the script pages to three or four from here on out (at least until the big purge hits, two years down the road), the onus settles even more firmly on Atlas's stable of artists. Ideas were hard enough to gel within five or six pages of story length; try hatching something in three pages. "It Happened at Midnight!" suffers due to that malady, but even more so from a dearth of fresh ideas. There's only so much excitement Bill Benulis can illustrate when the story is a bunch of talking heads.

All across the globe, vehicles of transportation disappear into thin air. What's the story? Turns out the King of Mars had the cars, boats, trains, and a bicycle teleported to the Red Planet for the amusement of his son. The Prince selects the bike and all the other vehicles are returned to Earth. The previous owner of the bike is happy to find a bag of gold on his porch the next morning. A cute little fantasy, "One of Our Ships is Missing!" also benefits from three pages of gorgeous Everett penciling.

In "The Man Behind the Mask," the poor people of a small village are gifted blankets, food, and money to buy essentials by a mysterious man in a scary mask. Good fortune comes to the hidden gift-giver when the shoe is on the other foot and morals are taught to the tiny audience who still buy Astonishing. A double dose of dull as John Forte's scratchy pencils are just as unsatisfying as the maudlin script. Equally awful is "The Thing in the Box!" A small treasure chest makes its way from sea to shining sea, picked up by all manner of despicable characters. Whenever the box is opened, the man holding it gasps in fear and tosses it right back into the water. When a kindly boy finds it washed up on the beach, he opens it and finds... a mirror. More phony morality.

Captain Blackheart's crew are the victims of a very predictable disaster in "There's No Tomorrow." Blackheart's pirates hijack a ship and kidnap an old fortune teller. The captain asks for his fortune and receives news he's not happy with. There's a decent twist in the tail and Bob Powell's old hags are always fun to look at. "When Ends the Dream!" is an overly complicated fantasy about three sailors who find themselves shipwrecked on an island that is actually a multi-dimensional portal. A mediocre climax to a mediocre issue.-Peter

Journey Into Mystery #33

Cover by Sol Brodsky & Carl Burgos

"The Flame That Burned a Thousand Years!"

(a: Manny Stallman) ★★

"There'll Be Some Changes Made" (a: Steve Ditko) ★★★

"The Fabulous Traveler!" (a: Chuck Miller) ★★

"The Meddler!" (a: Bill Benulis) ★

"The Man Who Had No Friends!" 

(a: Al Williamson & Gray Morrow[?]) ★★

"Footprints From Nowhere!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★★1/2

Flint Wentworth finds a unique relic in an antique shop, a small incense burner that glows brightly; the shop owner explains that it is "The Flame That Burned a Thousand Years!" Flint pays a steep price for the item, but the shop owner explains that Flint must keep the fire burning as long as he owns the bowl or else he will have bad luck.

Flint being Flint, he decides he's not going to feed the flame and, as the fire dims, bad luck arrives in many forms. Realizing he'd better get with the program, Flint reignites the flame and good luck arrives at his door! There's not much sense to a man paying two hundred bucks (in terms a comic fan might understand, that would be about how much Marvel paid its artists in a calendar year) for a burning bowl and then making it a point to extinguish the flame. This guy isn't just lazy; he makes it his goal to watch the fire go out! Well, I guess without his inane stance, there would be no story. But guess what, there is no story.

Warped genius Paul Haines creates a giant TV screen that can telecast events from the past. The best thing about it (besides the low cable bill) is that Paul can change the events occurring before him. So, he does what any dopey genius would do: he sets the way-back machine to when his great-great-great-etc.-grandfather, Cedric Haines, decided to blow his millions on trivial pursuits. As Cedric heads to the chest that holds his cash, Paul zaps the container and teleports it to the present day, only to discover it contains Continental currency, as worthless as the paper it's printed on. "Oh well," sighs Paul, "at least I learned a good moral lesson about the value of love vs. money (or something like that)."

"There'll Be Some Changes Made" is a very apt title for what became the first story Steve Ditko illustrated for Atlas/Marvel. Right from the get-go, you can see this guy had something extra. Every detail of every panel screams "weird and eerie!" If only the CCA had not popped up to rein in what Steve could have wrought in these titles. In all, Ditko would illustrate 271 fantasy/horror stories for the Atlas titles.

"The Fabulous Traveler!" has an intriguing set-up: Bill Fleming finds a book in the library detailing the flora and fauna of Mars and takes it to a scientist friend, who claims it could only have been written by someone who actually had visited the red planet. Turns out the book accidentally found its way from a Jupiter-Venus library system. It's not really supposed to be on Earth! There's no explanation of how the book actually turned up at the library (UFO lands in the parking lot and drops off one book?) or why Bill's scientist buddy is so convinced only a space traveler could have detailed the plant life and canals on Mars when no one from Earth has actually landed there. Couldn't it just be someone writing a fanciful tale? 

In "The Meddler," a scientist perfects a pill that puts its user into suspended animation but makes a fatal mistake when he stores the bottle of pills in his medicine cabinet next to his sleeping tablets. Yep, the dolt swallows some pills and wakes up hundreds of years in the future to an aggressive scientific community that wants no part of him or the past. But, good news, it was all a dream! Yeesh! 

"The Man Who Had No Friends!" is a bit better, thanks to atmospheric art by Williamson and Morrow. A pirate ship takes on a new crew member who doesn't cotton to raping and pillaging and lets his captain know of his growing disdain. This was Morrow's first work for Atlas (he'd do a total of 22 stories through 1957), and the first of three he'd collaborate with Williamson on. Williamson, fresh off a stellar stint with EC, would appear 33 times, usually inked by Roy Krenkel or Ralph Mayo. In the sendoff story this issue, "Footprints from Nowhere," the first men to land on the moon find footprints leading to... a wrecked spaceship! Despite the weak graphics from Winiarski, this science fiction tale is not bad at all and has a good shock ending.-Peter

Journey Into Unknown Worlds #44

Cover by Sol Brodsky

"Someone is Waiting!" (a: Bob Forgione) ★★1/2

"Where the Dinosaurs Roam" (a: Bob Powell) ★★

"The Blue Men!" (a: John Forte) ★1/2

"The Wrong World!" (a: Carl Burgos) ★

"Enchanted Town!" (a: Joe Orlando) ★★

"They Come By Night" (a: Paul Reinman) ★1/2

A pair of scientists named Lanner and Dunbar make contact with intelligent life on another planet and build a rocket ship to make the one-way trip from Earth. Lanner kills Dunbar and travels alone, only to discover that the planet is inhabited by robots, leaving him the sole human there, unable to return home.

The sudden murder is a surprise and doesn't make a lot of sense, other than to make Lanner a less sympathetic character. Forgione's art on "Someone is Waiting!" is not bad and has a '60s DC look to it.

Having never read any fiction by Ray Bradbury, Mr. Pruw signs on with Time Safari, Inc., to go back to a time "Where the Dinosaurs Roam" and hunt a T-Rex. He kills the giant beast but objects when his guide spots two other dinos and feels like he's supposed to kill them. When the duo return to the present, they discover that the failure to kill the last two dinosaurs meant that dinosaurs did not become extinct and still roam the planet.

The uncredited writer adds insult to injury by plagiarizing the setup of "A Sense of Wonder" and then tacking a dumb ending onto it. The last panel shows the dinos wandering around amidst futuristic buildings, so humans must have evolved alongside the dinos. It doesn't make much sense.

Morgan is a test pilot who takes a new super jet for a ride and seems to land on the moon, where he encounters "The Blue Men!" After a tussle, he sees that he's on a movie set and returns to base. He goes to every space movie for months but never sees the blue men; he does not realize that he was really on the moon and stumbled into a movie being filmed there by its inhabitants.

Haven't we seen this plot before? John Forte's art can get pretty stiff at times.

Uod and his wife, a Martian couple, land on Earth in disguise and befriend an Earth couple at a charity bridge game. The Martians invite their new friends over to their home for another game and abduct them, but on the way to Mars, the ship's controls get stuck and they head straight for Pluto, where the Earthlings turn out to be Plutonians who thought that they were abducting an Earth couple.

I was intrigued to see a story drawn by Carl Burgos, but text and art are awful. Fortunately, "The Wrong World!" is only three pages long.

Arbor Haven truly is an "Enchanted Town!" Each man who approaches it sees something different. Clive, a composer, sees castles and palaces, while David perceives it as an Arabian Market Place, with danger lurking in every street. Those who are turned off leave, but Clive stays, marries Linda, and lives happily in a castle.

As Peter noted, now that the stories are three or four pages long, the quality of the art is key. Joe Orlando makes this slight tale as enjoyable as it can be, despite the lack of any semblance of plot or suspense.

Harsh words promising conquest are broadcast over the airwaves, but no one knows where they're coming from. A TV receiver is built and the speaker turns out to be Julius Caesar, preaching domination from the distant past. Everyone is calm, thinking the receiver picked up events that happened long ago. That's just what the people of Mars wanted to happen--Earthmen will be lulled into complacency prior to the invasion!

"They Come By Night" is another example of Carl Wessler rehashing old plot points he's used before. Fortunately, Paul Reinman's art bounces back after last month's dreadful "Take a Giant Step."-Jack

Marvel Tales #145

Cover by Sol Brodsky

"Run All the Way" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★

"Philander's Last Performance" (a: Al Hartley) ★★1/2

"No Turning Back" (a: John Forte) ★★

"This Never-Ending Dream" (a: Dick Ayers) ★1/2

"The Last of Angus Merriwell" (a: Jim Mooney) ★★

"The Machine That Ruled!" (a: Bob Powell) ★★1/2

Greg reads in a 1930 newspaper that Pharaoh Amon Hatok was buried in a pyramid with a fortune in gold and gems. Greg loves Helene Bixby, but her father won't let her wed a man who is not rich, so Greg heads to Egypt to find the hidden wealth. Entering the pyramid, he finds a secret passageway that leads to a surprise: the pharaoh is very much alive and living in a chamber where he has found the secret of eternal life! Greg escapes, ignoring the pharaoh's warning that it will take him 25 years to find his way out of the pyramid. He emerges, thinking it's only been 24 hours, but when he gets home, he discovers that his girlfriend Helene now has a grown daughter and 25 years have passed!

"Run All the Way" may only be four pages long, but it contains enough confusion for a story of at least, oh, five pages. If 25 years have passed, why didn't Greg age? What did he eat and drink while he was stuck in the maze for 25 years? Where did he relieve himself? And most puzzling of all, why does the final panel tell us it's 1953 which, if my math is correct, is not 25 years after 1930, the date given in the first panel? Paul Reinman's art is  shaky again; not as good as in "They Come By Night" but not as bad as in "Take a Giant Step."

The great magician Phil Philander disappoints his public by retiring. They dog his every step until he agrees to give "Philander's Last Performance." Before the eyes of the crowd gathered in a hotel lobby, Phil fades away into nothingness.

Philander's Last Performance may be anti-climactic, but Al Hartley's art is impressive, especially his work on the magician's face. The panel reproduced here may be a photo swipe, but it looks good.

Joe Simpson is a shy, lonely guy who wishes he'd find a shy girl. On Mars, Ogu is a shy, beautiful blonde who has no one to love. One day, Joe volunteers to take a one-way trip to Mars, hoping to find the girl of his dreams. Sadly, Ogu volunteered for a one-way trip to Earth, and the two will keep pining away and never meet.

I was kind of hoping that Joe and Ogu would find each other. Curse you, uncredited writer! My heart is broken again.

Steve Marlin, sailor, has "The Never-Ending Dream" while working on a ship. He keeps seeing men dressed in green togas, welcoming him. When he's swept overboard by a wave, Steve plummets to the ocean floor, where he meets a bearded patriarch who explains that Steve is descended from the people of...wait for it...Atlantis.

Raise your hand if you didn't guess Atlantis right away. Is this your first post-code Atlas comic? All is forgiven. Reading Atlas post-code comics is like "This Never-Ending Dream" in a way, except there are no men in green togas to welcome us at the end.

Angus Merriwell is a lonely man who wishes he had friends. One day, picnicking in the mountains, he meets a group of wee folk who call themselves Hokies and welcome him. After whiling away the afternoon bowling with them, Angus says he must head back to town, and the Hokies offer him a choice: stay with them or take a bag of gold. Angus chooses the gold and, when he gets back to town, he discovers that everyone is suddenly his friend. Realizing they're only after his newfound wealth, Angus flees to the mountains and rejoins the Hokies.

Jim Mooney is a reliable, if unexciting, artist, and "The Last of Angus Merriwell" contains no surprises, except for the last panel, where Angus rejoins the Hokies and is suddenly their size. The story may be set in either the Blue Ridge or Allegheny Mountains in Virginia, where Virginia Tech students are known as Hokies.

Fred plans to fire employees at his factory and replace them with machines, but when he is suddenly catapulted into a future world where a computer is in charge and no one can think for themselves, he has a change of heart.

Bob Powell elevates this issue of Marvel Tales with four pages of above-average art in "The Machine That Ruled," a story that, once again, contains little to surprise. The big computer that runs the future society is referred to as a "giant calculator."

I really like Brodsky's cover and wish some of the exciting scenes pictured were as interesting in the interior stories.-Jack

Next Week...
Will the "New Look"
Save Batman?

The Hitchcock Project-Completely Foolproof by Anthony Terpiloff [10.23]

by Jack Seabrook

In the short story, "Completely Foolproof," which was first published in the March 1958 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Joe Brisson receives a telephone call from the bank and imagines strangling his wife Lisa after he approves a request to allow her to cash a check for $5000. Twenty years ago, Joe led "a goon squad against striking workers," but now he is a rich, respected factory owner, married to a beautiful woman whose grandfather was a junk dealer. She is responsible for their social success and for "some of the more elaborate doublecrosses" in his business career.

That morning, Lisa told Joe that she would not be sailing with him on the Queen Mary the next night; instead, she is flying to Reno for a divorce. She insists on half of the business and threatens to make public a series of letters Joe wrote to his lover, Anna, letters that Lisa's private detective procured for her. Joe grows enraged and throws a cup of coffee at Lisa.

"Completely Foolproof"
was first published here

On his way to the office, Joe stops off to see Anna, who confirms that the letters are gone. Deciding he will have to pay Lisa off, Joe goes to his office and receives a visit from Howard Duncombe, whose plant Joe bought and now plans to close. Duncombe pulls out a gun and threatens Joe, who calmly talks the man out of killing him and instead makes "'a very interesting proposition.'"

That evening, Joe is in his cabin on the Queen Mary, waiting for Duncombe to murder Lisa in exchange for keeping his plant open. Out of curiosity, Joe telephones Lisa and hears her get shot. He hangs up the phone only to find Lisa's private detective in his cabin, aiming a gun at him. Joe now understands why Lisa withdrew $5000 from the bank, as the man quietly shoots and kills him. Joe's body is thrown overboard and he will be listed as "lost at sea." Regarding his late wife, "as he had often thought, they were well matched."

J.D. Cannon as Joe Brisson

Anthony Terpiloff adapted the story for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and it first aired on NBC on Monday, March 29, 1965. While the short story begins with Joe Brisson getting a phone call from the bank, the TV version opens in a dark, rainy parking lot at night, where Joe meets a man named Baines in order to give him a briefcase of cash to resolve a "'zoning difficulty.'" Brisson sees a third man watching them and grabs back his briefcase, telling Baines to "'get lost.'" Brisson confronts the watcher and a fistfight ensures; Brisson forces the man to admit that Lisa hired him, and the man later turns out to be the private detective. This initial scene establishes that Brisson is crooked, tough, and not afraid of physical confrontation.

Patricia Barry as Lisa Brisson

There is a cut from the darkness of the parking lot to the brightness of Brisson's home, where his beautiful wife, Lisa, hands a glass of champagne to her guest, Walter Dunham, and asks where Joe is. Her husband then walks in the front door, and immediately he and Lisa begin to argue. Joe speaks to Dunham, who asks how the payoff of Baines went and is thus shown to be part of Joe's crooked circle; Dunham's companion is a younger woman named Betty Lawrence, whom Joe does not even pretend to be cordial to. Joe and Lisa argue and she mentions Anna and asks for a divorce. In the story, Lisa demands half of the company, but in the TV show she wants three-quarters. She mentions his past as a goon and her social skills, details that are conveyed through narrative in the story and through dialogue in the show.

Geoffrey Horne as Bobby Davenport

During the argument, Joe mentions Bobby Davenport, a young lover of Lisa's who comes from a well-known family. Davenport replaces Howard Duncombe from the short story. Instead of coffee, Joe throws champagne in Lisa's face and the glass smashes against a door as it closes behind her after she leaves the room.

The following scene is new to the show, as Lisa visits Bobby Davenport at home. He is her younger lover, just as Anna plays that role in Joe's life. Having each of the Brissons have a younger lover makes them more equal than they are in the story. Despite his position in society, Bobby owes Joe money and Joe holds a promissory note on Bobby's land.

Myron Healey as George Foyle

The next scene dramatizes Joe's visit to Anna in the story, where she cannot find his letters. She is young and pretty and speaks in the same, breathy voice that Lisa uses, yet Joe tosses an envelope of money at her and tells her that he never wants to see her again. Beauty and subservience are not enough for Joe; he is drawn to Lisa's mind and her calculating ways. Director Alf Kjellin cuts back and forth between these parallel scenes, as both Brissons deal with their troublesome, younger lovers.

Back at home, the Brissons are ready for bed and continue to spar. Joe agrees to Lisa's demands and attempts to seduce her, but she maintains the upper hand, avoiding his attempt at a kiss. The cat and mouse game turns into a business negotiation, as Lisa gets Joe to agree to give her Bobby Davenport's promissory note in exchange for ten percent of the business. In the end, they do kiss, but it seems more like a confirmation of a business deal than a passionate embrace. Lisa predicts her own fate when she tells Joe that "'you don't want me to live.'"

Joyce Meadows as Anna

Another new scene follows as Brisson visits the office of Foyle, the private detective Lisa hired and the man with whom Joe fought in the parking lot in the first scene. Brisson offers to pay Foyle for the letters to Anna, but the detective says that he no longer has them. Brisson then offers to pay Foyle to kill Lisa, but this offer is flatly refused and Foyle pulls a gun on Joe, telling him to leave the office. Joe has lunch with Bobby Davenport and his table manners and speech are contrasted with Bobby's more refined behavior. Bobby visits Lisa and asks her to marry him, but she sees right through his transparent attempt to manipulate her for his own benefit and makes it clear that, from now on, their relationship will be strictly business. After Lisa leaves, Bobby takes a revolver out of a hidden place on a bookshelf and examines it.

Lester Matthews as Walter Dunham

The following scene parallels the one in the short story where Howard Duncombe visits Joe at his office, pulls a gun on him, and is talked into agreeing to murder Lisa. In the TV show, Duncombe is replaced by Bobby Davenport. The final scene plays out much as it does in the short story, with Joe on the cruise ship telephoning Lisa at home. Bobby enters her bedroom, where he shoots and kills her. Joe hangs up and Foyle enters his stateroom, holding a gun; he shoots and kills Joe who, like Lisa, collapses to the floor. The show ends there, omitting the short story's detail of Joe's body being tossed overboard.

Robert Lieb as Baines

The TV adaptation of "Completely Foolproof" improves on its source by giving additional time to the main characters so that their personalities can be more fully developed. Joe and Lisa Brisson are indeed well-matched; she is a strong, ruthless woman who knows how to use her beauty to make men do her bidding. Joe Brisson is never far from his roots as a goon; though he has made a killing in real estate, violence always lurks near the surface. Replacing Howard Duncombe with Bobby Davenport also improves the tale by presenting a contrast between new money and old money and setting up a lover for Lisa to parallel Joe's lover, Anna. The end of the story is the same, but getting to know the characters better and having Bobby Davenport act as Lisa's murderer is more satisfying than having the deed done by a stranger.

Jo de Winter as
Betty Lawrence

Anthony Terpiloff (1929-1978), who wrote the teleplay, was born in New York and died in Wales. He wrote for television from 1963 to 1978 and this is one of his two scripts for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in its final season; the other was "The Monkey's Paw--A Retelling." He also wrote two episodes of The Avengers and five of Space: 1999.

The show is directed by Alf Kjellin (1920-1988), who was born in Sweden and started out in the movies in 1937 as an actor. He began acting on TV in 1952 and continued until 1979. He started directing films in 1955 and worked as a director on American television from 1961 to 1985, concurrent with his work as an actor. As an actor, he appeared in the 1966 film adaptation of Jack Finney's Assault on a Queen and in one episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. As a director, he was at the helm for one episode of the half-hour Hitchcock series ("Coming Home") and eleven episodes of the hour series.

Janet MacLachlan as
Brisson's secretary

J.D. Cannon (1922-2005) plays Joe Brisson. After serving in the Army in WWII, Cannon was a founding member of the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1954 and appeared on screen from 1958 to 1991, mostly on TV. His best-known role was as a regular on McCloud (1970-1977); he also appeared in Cool Hand Luke (1967). "Completely Foolproof" was his only role on the Hitchcock TV show.

Patricia Barry (1920-2013) plays Lisa Brisson. She was born Patricia White and she came to Hollywood in 1946 after winning a Rita Hayworth look-alike contest. She began appearing on screen in 1946 but most of her roles over the next 60 years were on TV, including starring on First Love (1954-1955), co-starring with Jack Klugman on Harris Against the World (1964-1965), and playing another role on a soap opera called Loving (1992-1994). Fans of televised fantasy know her for her two roles on The Twilight Zone and her three roles on Thriller; she also appeared in one other episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, "Good-Bye, George."

In smaller roles:

• Geoffrey Horne (1933- ) as Bobby Davenport; he trained at the Actors Studio and appeared on screen from 1955 to 1999. This was his only role on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; he was also seen on The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.
• Myron Healey (1923-2005) as George Foyle, the private detective; he has countless credits on film and TV from 1943 to 1994 and appeared in five episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "Incident in a Small Jail."
• Joyce Meadows as Anna; she was born in 1933 as Joyce Burger and was still performing as of 2022. Meadows started in movies and on TV in 1956 and appeared four times on the Hitchcock series, including "A Night with the Boys." She was kind enough to comment for this blog in 2013.
• Lester Matthews (1900-1975) as Walter Dunham, who is visiting the Brisson home in the second scene; a British actor, he was on screen from 1931 to 1974 and he appeared in such classic horror films as The Raven and Werewolf of London (both 1935), as well as in Assault on a Queen. This was his only role on the Hitchcock show.
• Robert Lieb (1914-2002) as Baines, who meets Brisson in the parking lot in the first scene to trade briefcases; on screen from 1946 to 1999, he appeared on The Twilight Zone and in two other episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, including "Hangover."
• Jo de Winter (1921-2016) as Betty Lawrence, who visits the Brisson home with Walter Dunham; born Juanita Maria-Johana Daussat, she was on screen from 1965 to 2016 and this was her only appearance on the Hitchcock TV show.
• Janet MacLachlan (1933-2010) as Brisson's secretary; this was her first credit in a screen career that lasted until 2003. She was also seen in "The Monkey's Paw--A Retelling."

Robert Arthur (1909-1969), who wrote the short story, was born in the Philippines, where his father was stationed in the Army. He earned an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Michigan before moving to New York City in the early 1930s and becoming a prolific writer of short stories. He later was an editor at Dell and Fawcett but is best known as the ghost editor of many of the Alfred Hitchcock anthologies. He also wrote a beloved series of books about Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators for young adult readers. In 1959, he moved to Hollywood to write for television and edit screenplays. Before that, he won two Edgar Awards as a writer for radio. Many of his stories were adapted for TV; five episodes of the Hitchcock series were based on his stories and he wrote one additional teleplay himself. There is a website devoted to him here. Oddly enough, the onscreen credit for this episode says that the short story was by Andrew Benedict, one of Arthur's pseudonyms, even though Arthur's name is on the story in the magazine.

Telly Savalas as Joe Brisson

"Completely Foolproof" was remade as an episode of the TV series Tales of the Unexpected that aired on June 21, 1981. The half-hour show was produced on videotape and is in color. Robin Chapman adapted Arthur's story this time, and the teleplay follows the short story closely for the most part. The writer or director made the odd choice to set the events in late 1930s New York City, which allows for the use of art deco furniture and sets. Telly Savalas plays Joe Brisson and the only notable change is the addition of a short scene near the end where Anna visits Lisa to beg for her letters in exchange for promising not to see Joe again. The final scenes, where Lisa and Joe are both shot and killed, are longer than in the 1965 version but, overall, the show is dull and underlines the comparative high quality of the earlier adaptation. Watch it online here.

Thanks to Peter Enfantino for providing a copy of the short story!

Sources:

Arthur, Robert. "Completely Foolproof." Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, May 1958, pp. 84-93.

"Completely Foolproof." The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, season 3, episode 23, NBC, 29 March 1965.

The FICTIONMAGS Index, www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/0start.htm.

Galactic Central, www.philsp.com/.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub., 2001.

IBDB, www.ibdb.com.

IMDb, www.imdb.com.

Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "One More Mile to Go" here!

In two weeks: "Six People, No Music," starring John McGiver!