Norman Lloyd Movies

The seventh season of the suspense anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents rather surprisingly did not open with an episode directed by Alfred Hitchcock himself, but instead with "The Hat Box," directed by frequent series contributor Alan Crosland Jr. In fact, Hitch helmed only one episode this season -- but it was a knockout. "Bang, You're Dead," starring child actor Billy Mumy as a lonely youngster who gets hold of a loaded gun, is one of the few series episodes in which host Alfred Hitchcock eschews his traditional humorous epilogue, instead delivering a solemn plea for better and more efficient gun control. The bulk of the season's episodes are directed by such "regulars" as Norman Lloyd and Paul Henreid. New additions to the directorial docket include John Newland, fresh from three seasons on the paranormal anthology One Step Beyond, whose best season-seven effort is "Bad Actor," starring a young Robert Duvall as the homicidal title character. Also showing up in the Hitchcock director's chair this season is former Broadway leading man Richard Whorf, a year away from his long directorial association on the popular sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. One of the seventh-season episodes was deemed too gruesome for network play, and was never shown on NBC; however, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," depicting a fateful three-way confrontation between a retarded youth (Brandon de Wilde), a cheating wife (Diana Dors), and an electric buzz saw, was subsequently included in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents syndicated package, and has since popped up frequently on the public-domain home-video market. In its second year on NBC's Tuesday-night schedule, Alfred Hitchcock Presents continued to languish in the ratings, a dilemma attributed to its powerhouse competition on CBS (Dobie Gillis) and the fact that the half-hour anthology format was on its last legs. Thus, when the series returned for its eighth season, it had returned to its original network, CBS, and expanded to a full 60 minutes per week. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The wife of Captain Morgan (William Kendall) is missing, and private detective Henry Frute (Eric Barker) is hired to find her. Morgan suspects that his wife has been unfaithful, and that she has run off with her lover. Actually, he turns out to be half right; finally catching up with Mrs. Morgan (Kay Walsh), Frute falls in love with her himself. How the two lovers extricate themselves from this delicate situation provides a suitably ironic coda for the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While traveling through the tiny community of Bugletown, traveling salesman Leon Gorwald (John Fiedler) is arrested for jaywalking. A little later, Leon finds himself with a cellmate: a local mechanic (Richard Jaeckel) who is suspected of murdering a young girl. As a lynch mob gathers outside the jail, the desperate mechanic coldcocks Leon and changes clothes with him -- hoping that it will be Leon and not himself who is dragged outside and "strung up!" Graced with a deliciously nasty climactic twist, this episode earned an Emmy nomination for film editor Edward W. Williams. "Incident in a Small Jail" was remade as a segment of the pilot film for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents revival of 1985, with Ned Beatty as the hapless salesman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the best-remembered of all the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes, "Man From the South" is a typically twisted tale from the pen of Roald Dahl. The scene is Las Vegas, where a middle-aged gent named Carlos (Peter Lorre) approaches a brash young gambler (Steve McQueen) with a peculiar wager. If the young man is able to ignite a cigarette lighter ten times in a row, Carlos will give him a new convertible. But if the lighter fails, the young man will have to sacrifice something of his own -- namely, the little finger of his right hand. "Man From the South" was later redone with José Ferrer as an episode of the syndicated anthology Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, and still later with John Huston as a segment in the multipart pilot film for the 1985 Alfred Hitchcock Presents revival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In love with Harry Wade (Walter Matthau), the impressionable Helen (Betty Field) is willing to do anything to protect her man from harm. Thus, when Harry tells her that his lumber business is in deep financial trouble, she dutifully embezzles 8,000 dollars from her realtor employer to help Harry square his debts -- after all, he's promised to give the money back within 48 hours. What Helen doesn't know is that Harry is a crook...and like most crooks, he has some powerful enemies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A short story by best-selling novelist Philip Roth (Goodbye Columbus, Portnoy's Complaint) is the basis for this sensitive -- and remarkably non-lethal! -- episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Unlike his fellow kids at summer camp, Aaron Gold (Barry J. Gordon) wants nothing to do with athletics, but does enjoy attending the ceramics class taught by frustrated artist Bernie Samuelson (played by future film director Sydney Pollack). Despite efforts from the camp's swimming instructor Lefty James (William Thourlby) to "toughen up" the spindly Aaron, Bernie encourages the boy's artistic gifts. Even so, Bernie cannot hide his disappointment when Aaron makes a clay figure of a knight with only one arm. Convinced that the neurotic Aaron simply doesn't want to finish the figure, Bernie secretly adds a second arm himself -- which proves to be a major blunder! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A formerly rough-and-tumble Western mining town has lived in peace and tranquility ever since the arrival of gentle giants Jamie and Ben McMahon (Arch Johnson, Read Morgan). All this changes when an odd-looking little man (Norman Lloyd) shows up in town, promptly challenging the McMahon brothers' authority. Despite their combined brawn, Jamie and Ben prove utterly incapable of standing up to the Little Man -- who seems to possess demonic powers! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Just at a point when he has everything to live for, wealthy Dave Ramey (Brian Keith) is stricken down with polio. Now confined to an iron lung, Ramey obsesses over the possibility that his wife, Cindy (Joanna Moore), plans to kill him. When Cindy falls for a handsome stranger named Arnold Barrett (Yale Wexler), it would appear that Ramey's fears are about to be realized -- but as we all know, appearances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents have a habit of being deceiving. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Suburbanites Bill and Cynthia Fortnam (Steve Dunne, Beatrice Straight) are a tad surprised when their 11-year-old son, Tom (Peter Lazer), receives a special-delivery package. The package turns out to contain mushroom seeds, which the industrious Tom plants and cultivates in the cellar. Although Bill is nervous about the quality of the mushrooms, they turn out to be addictively delicious; in fact, it would not be inaccurate to say that the mushrooms are "out of this world." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steve McQueen was already well into the first season of his own TV Western, Wanted: Dead or Alive, when he appeared in this memorable episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. McQueen is cast as newspaper reporter Bill Everett, who at the behest of his editor (Tyler McVey) heads to a corner bar to interview a curious fellow named Howard Wilcox (Arthur Hill). It seems that Wilcox has been telling anyone who will listen that he is actually a Martian, and that the planet Mars is planning a full-scale invasion of Earth. Alas, Wilcox's wild story proves to be his undoing, thanks to some "inside-the-beltway" information already in Bill Everett's possession. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Prosperous Poughkeepsie undertaker Arthur Motherwell (John McGiver) is looking forward to handling the funeral for Stanton C. Barryvale (Howard Smith), the richest man in town. Barryvale's family members have insisted upon a huge and ostentatious funeral -- and, of course, the cost is no object. But as he prepares to embalm Barryvale, Motherwell is shocked when the dead man suddenly arises from the dead...and then demands that his own personal funeral arrangements be carried out. This episode is based on a story by writer/director Garson Kanin, of Born Yesterday and Adam's Rib fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Art Carney guest stars as Cyril T. Jones, a timid gunsmith who is caught in the crossfire of a gangland killing. Though his wound is minor, Cyril is afraid to leave the hospital for fear he has been targeted for death because he witnessed the earlier "hit." Finally, Cyril hits upon a brilliant idea that will ensure him round-the-clock police protection: he will commit a murder himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide