Don't Interrupt

"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.

***SPOILERS*** Very weak Alfred Hitchcock episode involving this escaped lunatic from a mental asylum that takes place during a blinding show-storm that in watching it the story has nothing at all to do with what your watching!

We do have this very annoying youngster Johnny Tempelton, Peter Lazar,who's always interrupting everyone by not letting them finish a sentence. This all takes place on a train with Johnny's parents Larry & Mary Templeton,Biff Mcguire & Carol Leachman, and this mysterious stranger Mr. Kilmer, Chill Wills, who seemed to have materialize out of thin air!

Johnny who's just nuts about the old Wild West gets hooked on Klimer's stories about his past as a sheep and cow header back in the turn of the century. Told by his dad that if he can keep his big mouth shut for only ten minutes as Klimer recalls a near death experience he experience back in 1905 that he'll end up getting a silver dollar for his Herculean effort. Johnny for his part does his very best to zip his yap but that seems to be asking far too much of him. That in Johnny trying to keep quite he suddenly notices this person outside the train window trying to get out of the blizzard or else end up freezing to death! It's now up to Johnny to decide if the silver dollar is worth keeping his mouth shut and thus leaving the stranger outside the train to parish in the snow.

***SPOILERS*** In the end there's no winners in this crazy story about life and death and a boy, Johnny Tempelton, who has the power by either opening or closing his mouth in manipulating both! For his part in him shutting up, even though he really didn't, for some 10 minutes Johnny did win the sliver dollar. As well as letting the somewhat nutty Mr. Kilmer finally be able to finish his boring hair brained and mindless story that no one, but Johnny, seemed to be really interested in.

***MAJOR SPOILER ALERT*** But the kicker to all this entire mishugus, craziness in Yiddish, was that the absent minded Johnny lost the silver dollar by him brainlessly sticking it into his open belt buckle instead of his pants pocket! I guess he got so caught up and blinded with Mr. Kilmer's story about his near death experience in the snow that he himself lost his ability to think clearly!

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.

This story over the years has fascinated as many viewers as it has annoyed them. Lay most of the blame on young Johnny Templeton (Peter Lazer), a kid travelling with his parents (Biff McGuire and Cloris Leachman) on a train trip in the southwest and never giving up. He makes lots of noise, getting on everyone's nerves.

There's also a blizzard going on as the train passes through New Mexico and the news bulletin of an escaped mental patient? Enter Chill Wills (the star here) playing Mr. Kilmer who has lead an adventurous life, obviously attracting Johnny. Both characters love to talk the talk, however Johnny is told by mom and dad to pipe down, and there's a handsome sillver dollar in it for him if he keeps quiet... OK?

The turning point is seeing a man clawing at the window, helpless in the snowstorm, about to die -- and Johnny NOT saying a word.

Two observations; We never get to know who the man was. Could he have been the patient? Or Kilmer's victim? A valid point. One thing is the money meant more to Johnny than life itself, and having much in common (psychologically) with Kilmer if he was the killer.

Lots of take-aways here, though I give it 8 Stars for the Stars. An early and very good role for Cloris Leachman (who passed in 2021) and western side-kick Chill Wills, who at the time was the famous voice of Francis, the Talking Mule, forerunner of MISTER ED. Child actor Peter Lazer did a second episode for Hitch, turning up in many tv dramas.

Look for Jack Mulhall as the conductor, a star in silent films, and comedian, singer and musican Scatman (Benjamin) Crothers, in an early role.

FYI; In a few years author Sidney Carroll would write THE HUSTLER for Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason.

SEASON 4 EPISODE 2 remastered dvd box set. All seven seasons are now on dvd in a single box set. Released 2022. The perfect gift for Hitch buffs.