A Man Greatly Beloved

This episode of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' benefits from good casting here with Cedric Hardwicke, Robert Culp, Edith Barrett, and Evelyn Rudie as the narrator, a small girl with a lot of cheek and curiosity.

Hardwicke is a stranger in town - but is he who Rudie thinks he is? The tone of this episode is quite light and having the little girl narrating gives it some interest. This is an amusing and engaging episode with its tongue firmly in cheek, and is all the better for it.

So with secrets, séances, and dotty character actors, 'A Man Greatly Beloved' tackles the way we sometimes see what we want to see, and accept appearances as they are. It's a decent episode, well filmed and well cast.

The style of "A Man Greatly Beloved" is most unusual for "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". It begins with little Hildegard Fell (Evelyn Rudie) talking directly to the audience and introducing her family! This makes sense, as she's supposed to be extraordinarily precocious and bright! And, through the course of the episode, she demonstrates a most unusual personality...and a very charming one!

In the show, tiny Hildegard has set her sights on her misanthropic neighbor, Mr. Anderson (Cedric Hardwicke). He loves to be alone and dislikes folks....but that doesn't stop Hildegard from introducing herself and insinuating herself into his life. She simply won't take NO for an answer and is able to bring Anderson out of his crusty shell. As far as what's next....well....I don't want to ruin it and you should just see this cute episode for yourself. Well written and terribly likable due to the marvelous character, Hildegard Fell!

By the way, little Evelyn Rudie was actually this precocious in real life! According to IMDB, "In 1959, at age 9, she disappeared from her Los Angeles home and was feared kidnapped. But it turned out she had booked a flight to Washington, D.C., herself, and boarded the airplane unaccompanied. When she was taken off the plane at Baltimore, she said she'd wanted to visit First Lady Mamie Eisenhower, whom she had met previously, at the White House to ask her help to "get me a part in a TV series"."

A Hitch showcase for two stars; Sir Cedric Hardwicke, an old friend, and Evelyn Rudie, an up and coming child actress.

Hardwicke is perfect as a new, though reclusive neighbor (Mr. Anderson) in a small New England town who catches the eye of the daughter of the local reverend, Hildegarde (Rudie). Playful yes, a bit annoying, that too, slowly getting on the old gentleman's nerves, who wants to be left alone. Thank you, and Get Lost.

The inevitable Hitch question as this riddle unfolds; Does it all come down to secrets? Murder, perhaps? You wouldn't think of anything else, right? Of course, kids jump to all kind of conclusions, however Hildegarde may be onto something, and at the same time attempting to win him over. Watching the two stars work together is marvelous, and how could you fault Sir Cedric Hardwick, who appeared in ROPE for Hitch. Fondly remembered to all us kids as Dr. Frankenstein.

Nominated for an Emmy award at the age of nine, Rudie appeared in many films and tv shows, even turning up in a BOWERY BOYS comedy. Her career peaked a few years after this episode, but for the wrong reasons, when she briefly disappeared from her parents and flew to Washington, D. C. to visit first lady Mamie Eisenhower. By the early 60s, she gave up acting, returning to school and college.

Hugh Marlowe plays her father, and to spice things up, dramatic actress Edith Barrett (known for classics like JANE EYRE), plays a spiritualist.

Written by Sarrett Tobias, one of the few female writers on tv at the time, and well received.

The fun part is guessing, and even if you've seen this episode, worth a return visit for the acting. SEASON 2 EPISODE 33 remastered CBS dvd box set. All seven seasons are now on dvd in a single box set. Released 2022.

My main reasons for watching "A Man Greatly Beloved" were me watching all the episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and for Cedric Hardwicke (so unforgettable as Frollo in 1939's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'). James Neilson's previous 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' outings were mostly good and more, though none of his episodes are season or series high points, though he is not one of my favourites of the series' recurring directors. Did like the idea for the episode.

Just wish that the execution was better and lived up to this idea. As far as Season 2 goes, "A Man Greatly Beloved" is not one of the best ("One More Mile to Go", "Conversation over a Corpse", "The Manacled") but also not one of the worst ("Wet Saturday", "Nightmare in 4D", "Mr Blanchard's Secret"). After being so impressed by the previous 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episode "The Hands of Mr Ottermole", another one of the season's best, it was disappointing to see an episode with the potential it had be one of the season's lesser outings.

By all means, "A Man Greatly Beloved" has things that are good. The best thing about it is Hardwicke, who is excellent. Without him actually, the episode would have been close to a series low point. Hitchcock's bookending is deliciously ironic as usual.

There is some nice atmospheric filming and lighting and the theme music is as inspired and haunting as ever.

"A Man Greatly Beloved" has a lot of things that let it down. For me Evelyn Rudie was hard to take due to her badly overdoing her character's precociousness, to the point where the character becomes irritating. With so much of her as well that alone brought down the episode quite significantly. The narration is overused and has a really annoying tendency to over explain and tell too much rather than showing, this would have benefitted without any narrating.

Plot wise, there is nothing noteworthy. The story is very slight and over-stretched to the point where the episodes drags badly at points. What there is is predictable, especially the can be seen from miles off ending, is suspense-free. The dialogue is too talky and the flow is not always natural.

Concluding, very mixed feelings here. One of Neilson's weaker episodes. 5/10.

This was not the usual Alfred Hitchcock show story, it was different and unusual but interesting, especially the ending. This was aired in May 1957, so likely filmed in late 1956 obviously several years before Robert Culp had his teeth fixed. Hugh Marlow is very good as the Minister and Rebecca Wells as his wife and parents of precocious Hildegard. By the way, Robert Culp does a very good job in his part also