A Bullet for Baldwin

When an office worker is fired from his job, he shoots his boss to death, but when he returns to the office his boss is alive, and has no recollection of the incident. A lesser but cleverly-written entry with some good characterisations. However, it's not too remarkable.

Meekly submissive Stepp (Qualen) is fired by overbearing boss Baldwin (Cabot) after 20 years of loyal service. In an uncharacteristic rage, he shoots Baldwin, only to discover the next day that Baldwin is back at his desk as if nothing happened. So what's going on— was it all a dream.

What's interesting in this entry is a strategic decision the screen writers (the Cockrells) choose to make as to the story's direction. On one hand, they can play up the suspense by withholding the mystery's solution until the end; on the other, they can play up the irony of that solution by tipping us off early so that we watch the irony unfold.

Whichever option, it's a clever premise that rivets audience interest from the get-go. Qualen is so good at playing these long-suffering little-guy characters-- no wonder, he was an early series favorite. Nothing special here, just a good solid reputation-building entry.

(In passing—come to think of it, you can figure out which direction the screenplay takes if you reflect on Hitchcock's direction in his classic Vertigo {1958}.)

When the episode begins, a very meek man, Mr. Stepp (John Qualen), is fired from his nasty boss, Mr. Baldwin (Sebastian Cabot). Stepp's response is surprising for such a mousy man, as he soon enters his now ex-boss's office and makes him an ex-living person...shooting him at point blank range.

Stepp goes home and expects to be arrested any moment. Surprisingly, no police arrive and Stepp's job calls him in the morning to ask him why he didn't come in to work! What about the dead boss? What about the blood and bullet? Here's the kicker...the boss IS there and things seem normal!! What is happening? And, what's Stepp going to do next?

Hiring John Qualen for this role was brilliant, as he as among the meekest looking actors of his age, apart, perhaps, with the exception of Donald Meek (his real name), who died a decade before this episode was filmed. After all, it wouldn't have been nearly as interesting nor surprising if John Wayne or Robert Mitchum had played such a part!

Overall, a very strange episode and one that you won't soon forget.

This episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" features a cleverly written story that makes it pretty interesting to watch. It also gives character actor John Qualen a chance to play a starring role, in a part that fits his talents well. This is a good example of the kind of story that works by putting you in the position of the main character as he tries to figure out a baffling situation.

The story starts with Qualen, as a timid office worker, impulsively gunning down his boss after getting fired. But when he returns to his office, the boss seems to be alive and well, with no recollection of any part of their confrontation. Things get even more inexplicable from there, and the story is written carefully so that the viewer knows only what Qualen's character himself knows.

Qualen is a good choice for the part, since he often played this kind of downtrodden but sympathetic character, here adding a believable dose of bewilderment as things get stranger. Sebastian Cabot and Philip Reed head up the supporting cast.

The story is resolved neatly, and there is a morbidly witty parallel between the beginning and the ending that certainly would have pleased Hitchcock himself. A fair amount of exposition is needed at times, but the script (which two of the show's regular writers adapted from a story by Joseph Ruscoll) handles it rather well, keeping things from bogging down as they can do in such scenes. While this episode may not have quite as much depth to it as the best episodes of the series had, it's an entertaining mystery that also represents a skillful adaptation of its story to the anthology show's format.

Alfred Hitchcock introduces several bullets exposing about to came, the clever Master of mystery already prepares the audience for the fine story about an old man called Mr. Stepp (John Qualen) who is a kind of gentle and humble office worker, when he is inadvertently fired by his haughty Boss Mr. Baldwin (Sebastian Cabot) after twenty years of exhausting labor, due he already wasn't the same, losing papers, archiving at wrong places, just little mistakes, then Mr. Stepps pained slowly goes back to your desk, takes his gun and seems willing to commit suicide, suddenly he changes his mind, returns at Boss's office and shoots Baldwin, after that he goes back to his room, just waiting for the news, on the late morning he was wake up by her louder woman neighbor asking for to answer a phone call, his Boss's partner claims him presence at once on the office, arriving there he realizes that Mr. Baldwin is still alive usually at his office room, what a great story coming up, the fine actor John Qualen has a priceless performance as startled desk man, who suspicious is getting mad, fantastic ending!!

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / DVD / Rating: 8