A Night with the Boys

Having briefly worked at Universal Studios, one thing we were taught is to ALWAYS mention Alfred Hitchcock to tourists. Never to be forgotten. Hitch dressing up as a beatnik to intro this story is the reason. A showman, and as many of us would suspect, a part-time ham actor who loved being a ham.

Point #2. I would bet this story was taken from real events; the young husband who loses his dough and gets a heck of a surprise. Murphys Law 101. Cowboy tv star John Smith (LARAMIE) is appropriately cast as a handsome gent with a problem. He gambles, also having a wife (Joyce Meadows) to support and a baby on the way.

What to do? To make up an excuse for his little habit, Irving (Smith) invents the wild story about being mugged -- replete with phony baloney scratches. And is that lipstick on his head? He files a report to the police (to make it all look good), and low and behold, the coppers find the mugger? How can that be? Wait and see, and Irving has lots of splainin' to do.

Real life, possibly, with a chuckle. Had Irving actually been beat up and robbed, the cops would have found NO ONE. Welcome to the real world, however this is Hitch's world.

Wonderful direction by John Brahm, lead director for TWILIGHT ZONE, adding a little TZ touch here. Thank you.

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Nice young husband (Smith) loses week's paycheck to bullying boss in a poker game. Embarrassed, he fakes a robbery so his pregnant wife (Meadows) won't know his foolish actions. But then the cops (De Santis) bring in a kid they say did it. So what's nice young husband to do now that he's lied to everyone.

It's a slender story with a mildly ironic payoff. The good thing is we can't tell where the story's going. Smith is excellent as the hesitant young guy, and we sympathize, though his sudden misgivings seem a stretch. Buffington's also persuasive as the obnoxious boss. But make-up should have done a better job with the cut that looks like a plastic paste-on. All in all, an average entry, at best.

(In passing— Catch hipster Hitch doing a jive-talking, bearded beatnik, circa 1959. It's a gas, daddy-o.)

A guy sneaks off to play poker with the boys and is the big loser. But instead of telling the wife what happened, he concocts a tale about being mugged in order to explain away losing his paycheck. But when the wife insists he report this to the police, all sorts of unexpected things happen. And, fortunately, it also has a nice twist that I am pretty sure you'll appreciate.

In addition to the nice story, I really enjoyed Alfred Hitchcock's introduction...even more than usual. In this case, he's dressed like a beatnik and you just have to see it to appreciate it!

As a previous reviewer put it, "At least we don't know where it's going." This is the simple story of an elaborate cover-up by a young man who has been taken to the cleaners by his boss on poker night. The young couple is living hand to mouth and this is a devastating situation. Traveling through a tough part of the city, the young guy pretends he is mugged, hoping to convince his wife that this was how he lost his money. He tears up a really nice suit (another expense in the offing) and dirties himself up. Of course, eventually the police get involved as well as a young delinquent who, obviously, has no inkling why he is being brought in, other than his history. The story is about guilt and life lessons. It's also about love and forgiveness and second chances.

'Alfred Hitchcock Hitchcock Presents' "Night with the Boys" (1959)

Opening thoughts: "A Night with the Boys" was the first episode of the series directed by John Brahm, who went on to do another nine episodes. While not one of the best 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes or one of the best of Season 4, "A Night with the Boys" is a good start for Brahm and makes one intrigued enough in seeing his succeeding 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes. While his outings for the series did vary and his work wasn't as distinguished as the best work of the series' regular directors, Brahm was hardly a slouch and his best episodes were at least quite good. Quite good sums up "A Night with the Boys".

Bad things: It is not a perfect episode and may be easy to criticise for some, for me so much is done really well and while the not so good things were quite major they were also not that many luckily. Some of the production values are on the cheap side, indicative of lower budget than some other Season 4 episodes, obvious in the sparse settings and some less than fluid editing transitions.

More problematic was the final act, which was on the whole very rushed and far too coincidence heavy, too many of them unbelievable, which contributed to how far fetched the ending felt.

Good things: On the plus side, "A Night with the Boys" is very well acted all round, with an unsettling lead performance from John Smith dominating and carrying the episode beautifully. While Brahm's direction is not the most distinguished, he still keeps things moving along very well and doesn't let the atmosphere slip. Hitchcock's bookending doesn't disappoint, with the epilogue being priceless and one of the series' more memorable ones (namely seeing Hitchcock in a way one has never seen him before).

While not being one of the series' best looking episodes, it is photographed atmospherically. The theme tune continues to haunt, while the script has enough tautness and edge and the story grips and intrigues on the whole with some nice suspense.

Closing thoughts: Concluding, quite good if not great.

7/10.