Don't Interrupt

This is certainly a weak episode. The characters are so unlikeable that everything they do is annoying. Start with the snotty little kid in the 1950's cowboy outfit. He pretends to shoot old ladies and sneaks into people's compartments. He has apparently been thrown out of a private school because he won't stop talking. The parents are a couple gems. The mother, played by a very young Cloris Leachman, is so intolerant and unkind. The father is a feckless dinglejolly who sounds so weak when he tries to handle his son. Along comes Chill Wills, who has played a cowboy or two in his time. He fascinates the boy and gets him to listen. The question the kid asks are quite natural, but the mother wants to sit in her fox wrap and file her nail, only piping in to keep the kid quiet. Throw into this the announced threat of an escaped mental patient that occupies the kid's mind and you have the whole thing. The problem is, the kid has been given a silver dollar that he can keep if he doesn't talk. Well, of course, he knows something, but the problem is he can't say a word. It could have been OK but is just so dull.

"Don't Interrupt" did actually sound quite intriguing. Robert Stevens did do some very good and more episodes for 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', there were disappointments such as "Toby", "Shopping for Death" and particularly "The Hidden Thing" as far as previous episodes. But they were far outweighed by excellence such as "Our Cook's a Treasure", "One for the Road", "The Glass Eye", "Heart of Gold" and "The Motive". Have also loved Cloris Leachman since her magnificent performance in 'The Last Picture Show'.

Unfortunately "Don't Interrupt" was a big disappointment in nearly every area. Very sad to see Season 4 go so quickly from one of its best episodes (and one of my favourite 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes) "Poison" to a very strong contender for its worst in "Don't Interrupt". It is Stevens' worst along with "The Hidden Thing" (not entirely sure which is worse of the two), the worst 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episode since "Sylvia" and one of my least favourite outings of the entire series.

There are a few good things. Leachman does valiant work in her role and does perform with the right amount of intensity. Hitchcock's bookending is typically droll and where the episode is easily at its most interesting.

It looks quite nice and moody in the photography and the theme music is classic.

However, so many things are poorly done. The pacing is very dull with no tautness at all, which made the episode feel very dragged out and flimsy. The very thin story badly suffers from a complete lack of suspense or any kind of atmosphere and even more so from next to nothing not making sense. The ending leaves more perplexed questions than answers, with a very anti-climactic feel too.

Stevens' heart to me was clearly not in it, even "The Hidden Thing" didn't have direction this leaden and going through the motions-like. The production values are on the whole cheap, while the rest of the cast overact to overwrought melodrama level. "Don't Interrupt's" very close second biggest failure, first being everything in the story, is the excessive unlikeability of all the very one dimensional characters that are absolutely impossible to root for. A big problem for a story where one is clearly supposed to. The boy agreed is especially true to this, truly irritating.

Overall, very weak. 3/10.

I came here hoping to find some sort of explanation for this story line. I can't imagine what Hitchcock was thinking. Nothing makes sense.

A Facebook friend, Janie, recommended this particular episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and so I decided to try watching it. I haven't seen any of the episodes in decades...so we'll see what I think of the series.

When "Don't Interrupt Me" begins, you see a mother (Cloris Leachman), a father and a boy on a train trip. The child clearly is a little brat and he sure has a lot of energy. But the mother is a joyless thing who only seems to make the problem worse. Both needed to be sent to bed without their supper or put in time out! As for the dad, he has his hands full trying to make everyone happy.

In the midst of the family imploding, a stranger named Kilmer (Chill Wills) introduces himself and they sit and have drinks together. During the course of talking, he decides to tell them a story about the coldest night he endured...inspired by the raging snowstorm outside the train. And soon, the train comes to a halt...and they receive word that an escaped mental patient has escaped from a nearby hospital.

You can only assume really bad things will happen next...and, for the most part, they don't! I kept waiting for the payoff...and waiting...and waiting. Now I am not saying the show was bad...but it was a bit disappointing and the episode left me feeling just okay about it...nothing special. But I'll watch a few other episodes and see what I think, as no anthology show hits a homerun every episode. Heck, even "The Twilight Zone" had a few duds.

By the way, the very best thing about this episode, and in a few others, is Hitchcock's funny introduction and epilogue. It's worth seeing for that alone.

Horrible episode with no sense of suspense. The whole premise is disjointed. He must've been busy with his movies that week and threw this debacle together in about 10 minutes. He is so much better than that. I'm surprise he or the network let that air.