A Home Away from Home

Episode aired Sep 27, 1963
TV-PG
51m

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

587

YOUR RATING

Ray Milland in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)

Crime Drama Horror Mystery Thriller

A patient at a mental hospital kills the head doctor and takes over, replacing the staff with fellow patients. Things get complicated when the niece of the real doctor makes an unexpected vi... Read allA patient at a mental hospital kills the head doctor and takes over, replacing the staff with fellow patients. Things get complicated when the niece of the real doctor makes an unexpected visit.A patient at a mental hospital kills the head doctor and takes over, replacing the staff with fellow patients. Things get complicated when the niece of the real doctor makes an unexpected visit.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

587

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The writer, Robert Bloch, re-used the basic premise of this story as the wraparound segment of his 1972 anthology horror film 'Asylum'

Goofs
In his closing segment, Hitchcock pronounces the the name of the Ray Milland character "Dr. Fenwick" rather than "Fennick." The other characters use the correct pronunciation during the story itself. "Fenwick" would be pronounced with a silent "W," as in "Greenwich." The actors in the story were all on the same page, so to speak, but Hitchcock, who would have recorded his opening and closing segments apart from the main production, was on another.

Quotes
[introduction - Hitchcock is on a desert island]
Self - Host: I thought Friday would never come. I'm not here, by the way, as the result of a shipwreck. It was a misunderstanding. Something to do with our ship being overweight. I understand that pirates once buried their treasure on this island. I've been digging and, if this is true, they spent most of their time burying water. Actually, it's rather nice here. We have sports, particularly swimming when the tide comes in. I may not have said that correctly. To be truthful, it's touch and go as to whether the tide comes in or the island goes out. This evening's drama is appropriately entitled "A Home Away from Home". In it, a young lady finds herself in a world she never made nor quite understands. It follows the following.

User reviews13

Review

Featured review

8/10

While IMDB only credits Robert Bloch, it clearly was adapted from the famous Poe story.

Back in the 19th century, Edgar Allen Poe wrote "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether". It's a story where the inmates from a mental institution take over and lock up the staff...and telling the difference between the staff and patients is very difficult!

The plot to this episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" is pretty much that of the Poe story. While the credited author, Robert Bloch, was very talented and wrote the script for "Psycho", the story clearly is the Poe story set in modern times. When the inmates take over, 'Dr. Howard Fenwick' (Ray Milland), is most convincing. So convincing, in fact, that when the REAL Dr. Fenwick's niece arrives, she thinks the fake one is the real thing! Is there any way this bizarre nightmare can come to a successful ending?

Claire Griswold (the future Mrs. Sidney Pollack) plays the niece of the real doctor very well, and, not surprisingly, Ray Milland is excellent and menacing. Overall, a very exciting episode...but one which should have credited the original source material as well.