Little White Frock

This isn't your typical episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and it's all the better for it.

I'm not at all familiar with any of Herbert Marshall's other work, but this episode makes me want to find and watch it all. He's truly a captivating actor, carrying this episode entirely with his performance. I could watch this man do a dramatic reading of a phonebook!

It's appropriate that the episode ends up being a love letter to actors (which I'm sure Hitchcock just loved /s). Usually, an AHP episode with a lot of monologuing and flashbacks is a dull, dragging affair. In this case, it didn't last long enough.

Well, I am not that convinced by this story, intelligent tale, but it could have been far better, even for such a short period of running time. Much talk, not suspense and a twist ending to fill the policy line of the series. Flawless cast, no problem, flawless acting, but I was a bit bored by this slow burning script. The atmosphere could be compared to a Warner Bros movie, starring Bette Davis.

Personally, I believe the art of storytelling is one of the great arts. In this episode two things are at issue, age and talent. Even in the 1950's age discrimination had reared its ugly head. Not much has changed. Here an old actor with great credentials attempts to re-enter the acting fray, but has no means to do it because of hot shot directors and agents who wear their prejudice on their sleeves. The tale of the sad little girl in the frock tears at our hearts. This is a tale of loss and betrayal and the destruction of a man. But, it's also a tale grabbed onto by the master and presented so beautifully. Things haven't changed much in sixty years. Perhaps this episode could teach us something.

Pleasure to watch this episode with the excellent and accomplished actor Herbert Marshall. I was mesmerised by the story told by him but then I could listen to his voice ad infinium. Indeed the quality of his voice is referred to by the sparkling Julie Adams.

I was also genuinely caught out by the twist usually I see them coming or it's easy to guess.

Well acted, interesting, emotionally moving, uplifting and relevant today.

Season 3 was a season that started off absolutely wonderfully and it started off a lot more settled and more consistent than the previous two seasons. It was also another solid enough season, there were disappointments sure which was true of all 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' seasons. Such as "Silent Witness", "Dip in the Pool", "The Percentage" and especially "Sylvia". But also some absolute gems, like "The Glass Eye", "Reward to Finder", "The Right Kind of House" and particularly "Lamb to the Slaughter".

"Little White Frock" is a wonderful last episode to Season 3 and one of the season's best. Most of Herschel Daugherty's episodes were solid and more, and "Little White Frock" is one of the best of them and his best since "The Creeper" and perhaps surpassed only by that. It is a very different episode in that it is not about a crime strictly speaking and is more a character study with the themes of loss and betrayal, which is all done brilliantly in an episode that haunts the mind and tugs at the heart.

Playing a huge part in "Little White Frock's" success is the very powerful performance of Herbert Marshall, one that really hits skin deep emotionally and is really one of those performance of a lifetime performances. One of the best leading performances of the season along with Barbara Bel Geddes in "Lamb to the Slaughter". Tom Helmore and Julie Adams are also splendid and the dynamic between the three throughout is dynamite.

Furthermore, the episode is well made visually, especially the photography which has a lot of style and atmosphere. Simple but not simplistic. The main theme in the music, "Funeral March for a Marionette" has never been utilised better in film or television, is still haunting and has always fitted perfectly with the tone of the series. The script is incredibly thought provoking and not too rambling or wordy (despite there being a lot of talk, appropriate considering the story being told) or soapy, with some typically ironic bookending from Hitchcock.

The storytelling is pretty much spot on too, didn't mind at all that it was not the suspenseful or macabre kind and was more reflective, more personal and more emotional. The story that is told really tugged at my heart strings and is poignantly melancholic without wallowing in sentiment, rounded off beautifully by a very unexpected and clever ending.

Concluding, absolutely wonderful end to a solid enough season and a season high point. 10/10.