Place of Shadows

Alfred Hitchcock pleads for Christian forgiveness in this short story.

Ray Clements (Mark Damon) is an angry young man. He arrives at a monastery claiming to be Floyd Unser. A man who was a friend of Dave Rocco. A criminal who stole a lot of money from Clements.

Clements wants more than his money back, he plans to kill Rocco for ruining his life which also caused the death of his father.

The monk tries to talk Clements out of murder. Turn to his inner religion. The monk even gives the money back that Rocco too from him.

Other monks tell Clements about the consequences of taking a life. Something Clements realises when the real Unser turns up.

It is a case of no honour among thieves but also about redemption and forgiveness. It is all a bit hokey.

Religiously themed show, featuring pretty boy Mark Damon, an unusual appearance for the series. Damon's youthful Clements travels to a monastery to wreak revenge on a man housed there who stole money from him. Father Vincente, the authoritative Everett Sloane, tries to talk him out of it through their shared religious background. Clements wavers, but will he give it up.

It's not a very riveting entry. Only a little suspense builds as we wonder what the lad will do. But the casting of an innocent-looking Damon pretty much telegraphs the outcome. Still, the ending is subtly ironic if you think about it. Note too, that Brother Jared's appeal to Clements is made on humanitarian grounds, not explicitly religious as might be expected. That way the episode avoids sectarian entanglements with its audience. And I agree with the reviewer who observes that these early episodes appear very cheaply produced. My guess is the money went into casting as it does here with movie vet Sloane. Fortunately, story and acting were uppermost in this superior dramatic series.

Mr. Clements has traveled through a snow storm in order to make his way to some monastery. He claims to be Mr. Unser, a friend of Rocco. As for Rocco, he was injured in some accident and the monks were taking care of him. So why does Clements come to this place using a phony name? It's because Rocco robbed him and helped destroy his life...and he plans on killing the man! But the monks see through this and don't give him this opportunity for revenge. So what's next? See the show.

This is a fair episode about revenge...not bad but no especially memorable. Which, for most anthology programs, is the norm.

Although not an original idea, the story sounded very interesting nonetheless and done right it had real potential to be very suspenseful. It was great to have series regular Robert Stevens back in the director's chair and with a premise that seemed like it would be right up its alley. While not liking every episode he did, Stevens also directed some fine episodes and among the best were in Season 1. Everett Sloane was always more than capable and was very intrigued by his role.

"Place of Shadows" by all means is not one of the best 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes or among the best of Stevens' entries. It is also not one of the worst of the series. Putting it in any category, it's in the solid middle one, with a good deal done presently and correctly but there was something missing. Most things here were done better in other episodes and there are things that are in those episodes that aren't there quite so much here in "Place of Shadows".

Beginning with what could have been better, the pace could have been tighter and the story did need more suspense than what was given. It's capably told, but it could have been much more.

There have been much better resolutions in the series. Do agree that a major decision is made far too fast and too conveniently, which is not easy to swallow, and the twist is more tepid and doesn't have the shock or surprise factor.

Will agree too that "Place of Shadows" is not one of the best looking episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'. Did get the sense that the budget was low and that it was made in a hurry, the sparse sets give it away in particular.

Having said all of that, a lot is good. Mark Damon is a character worth identifying with and he plays him with enough edge to stop him from being bland. All the cast are solid, but the best performance does come from Sloane who does have a great commanding presence and has the most interesting character. The human psychology is very intriguing and doesn't feel under-explored while it doesn't feel heavy handed.

Despite the story being lacking a bit, it still grabs the attention enough and doesn't feel too simplistic while also being easy to follow. Some of the photography is stylish and Stevens directs assuredly. Hitchcock's bookending entertains in its drollness while the use of the main theme still haunts. The script intrigues, even if in need of more spark.

Overall, decent if somewhat middling. 6/10.

Our episode starts with a man visiting a monastery, claiming to the main priest Father Vincente (Everett Sloane) to be Floyd Unser and that he is there to see a man named Rocco who is in the churches care. Vincente however identifies the man as Ray Clements (Mark Damon) instead and we discover that Clements is here to kill Rocco for presumably ruining his life, including may having to due something with the death of his father. Vincente tries to convince Clements to drop his quest for revenge even giving him back his $13,000 stolen from him. Clements still makes his intentions known, but, when a third party becomes involved, in this case the real Floyd Unser (Joe Downing) things become even more complicated. A pretty standard crime thriller from this show with the usual good twist even though it didn't hit me as hard as most have. The story is pretty strait forward and other then a unbelieveably quick resolution from a cop played by Claude Akins at the end is pretty good. Was nice to see a young Mark Damon who would spend the second half of his career in Italian westerns and European cinema.