Into Thin Air
- Episode aired Oct 30, 1955
- TV-14
- 30m
When a young woman leaves her ill mother in a Paris hotel room and comes back later, she finds her mother is missing, and all the hotel's employees deny she and her mother were ever there.When a young woman leaves her ill mother in a Paris hotel room and comes back later, she finds her mother is missing, and all the hotel's employees deny she and her mother were ever there.When a young woman leaves her ill mother in a Paris hotel room and comes back later, she finds her mother is missing, and all the hotel's employees deny she and her mother were ever there.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Diana Winthrop
- (as Pat Hitchcock)
- Bellhop
- (as Albert d'Arno)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Pat Hitchcock plays a young woman traveling in Paris with her mother, and experiencing a series of disorienting and frightening events when her mother becomes ill and then disappears. Everyone around her insists on denying facts that she knows to be true, and indeed they always have convincing ways of proving her wrong. If you look at the story from a coldly clinical perspective, there are perhaps a couple of holes in it, and the resolution is perhaps not completely satisfying, but while it lasts, it succeeds quite well in establishing a convincing atmosphere of baffled fear.
In his closing appearance, Alfred Hitchcock plays the proud father, at least to the degree that his dry nature allows him to. Pat Hitchcock was never going to be a star, but she obviously shared her parents' enthusiasm for making good movies, and she always gave solid, believable, sympathetic performances in the various character roles in which she appeared. For Hitchcock fans, it's very nice to see her get this chance to take the spotlight herself for a little while.
Two British women arrive in Paris from India in order to see and experience the 1889 World's Exposition....the same international expo that debuted the Eiffel Tower. Soon after checking in to the hotel, the mother begins feeling sick. A doctor arrives and sends the daughter to get medicine. When she returns with the medicine, the hotel employees behave a if they've never seen her and they say that a her mother NEVER was in the hotel. And, the more the woman digs, the more it appears that either the daughter is insane OR there's some conspiracy afoot. What's really going on here?
As I mentioned above, this is based on a good story...it's just that if you've seen the movie, then none of this will be worth seeing. If you haven't, by all means see it...it's very interesting and the basic story is quite sound. So, a 4 if you've seen the film and an 8 if you haven't. I'll just split the difference and give this one a 6 overall.
By the way, I also really love Alfred Hitchcock's comment at the end...considering the leading lady in the episode is his daughter, Patricia.
Did you know
- TriviaThe story is based on a late 19th Century legend known as the Vanishing Hotel Room. It previously served as the basis for one of the segments of Eerie Tales (1919) and So Long at the Fair (1950).
- Quotes
[first lines]
Himself - Host: Tonight we are going to tell the story of a woman who disappears into thin air. By the way, have you noticed that thin air seems to be the type of air most conducive to disappearances? There, certainly, is a fact well worth knowing. Now, in case you seem to recognize parts of the story, don't be alarmed. It is familiar because it is a classic of its kind. Many, many people have borrowed this legend, quite profitably, too. Two novels have been written about it, and it has been made into a motion picture called "The Lady Vanishes." Once by no less a personage than, uh, Alfred Hitchcock. It was also related by Alexander Woollcott in his book, "While Rome Burns." Here, following our sponsor's all too brief message, is our version of that famous old tale. Now I had better get out of the way to enable you to see better. May I have a bit of thin air, please?
- ConnectionsReferences The Lady Vanishes (1938)
- SoundtracksFuneral March of a Marionette
Written by Charles Gounod
Details
- Runtime
- 30m
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1