Burglar Proof

Paul "Emmet" Hartmann is hired to crack a safe. It is legit because it's the safe company asking the best in the business to prove how good their product is. Most of episode involves every method he can think of to crack a conventional safe: from sensitive fingers to explosives. The whole thing was given away when he trips and bumps into one of the cops observing the event. All in all, it was OK.

Harrison(played enthusiastically by Webber) Fell(someone really should help him back up), an ad exec, has not had a good idea for a campaign for months(personally, I think it's because all his time is spent thinking up more or less fitting metaphors for seemingly every situation he's in that relates to his job being done successfully... most of them are about space travel, which, to be fair, was on everybody's mind at the time... still, they can get to be grating). He's sure he has it now, however: having the best safe-cracker see if he can open the most recent box, in front of a crowd including policemen and reporters. His boss Stark apparently agreed(presumably after his Mark II came to a safe landing), so now he has to convince Morrisey(Hartman, who does well with the comedic material, physical and verbal alike), and then it's a wash! Because... he couldn't... really open it... could he? This is one of the humor-oriented episodes, as the wacky music will reveal... there are a few gags(such as the long running one of different methods and tools being used against the sturdy container) and jokes, but more than being outright funny(and if you aren't into the way they went for laughs in the period this was made, you're outta luck for even those), it's just an overall less serious approach(and mercifully doesn't get as goofy as it at times threatens to). The ending is clever and surprising. I recommend this to fans of this type of more family-friendly crime-mysteries. 7/10

Next to playing Emmett on the ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, Paul Hartman is fondly remembered for this camp episode. Must See TV. In fact, the final season of half hour AH episodes had some fascinating tales, and this is one.

Henry Slesar, behind nearly 3000 episodes of the EDGE OF NIGHT, wrote the script, possibly based on fact. There are many documented cases where the "best and brightest" criminals are (legally) recruited by companies to test their products.

Case in point, Hartman plays Sammy, an easy-going former safe cracker, hired by Harrison Fell (Robert Webber) and Mr. Bliss (Whit Bissell) -- note their names -- to attempt to open a new, revolutionary safe. IF Sammy succeeds, he can have the $50,000 dollars inside.

This is fun, over the top stuff for Hitch, directed by John Newland. He directed four episodes for the series, famous for ONE STEP BEYOND. Also episodes for Boris Karloff's tv show, THRILLER. He and Hitchcock had to have some laughs here.

FYI: Sammy uses a small box of explosive nitroglycerin?

See how it all ends... it's addictive. Hitch's best closing line, "I was not defrocked."

From SEASON 7 EPISODE 21 remastered Universal dvd box set. Some sets were produced in Europe, and may not play on American made dvd players. All seven seasons are now on dvd in a single box. Released 2022.

Pretty obvious twist at the end, but I still enjoyed it. The acting and obfuscation at the beginning was well done. I would have liked a little more on what happened to the ad exec with regards to the safe company at the ending, but I can guess. Don't read the rest of this review unless you want to read spoilers.

SPOILER: Sammy alludes to the fact several times he is in a new business now, but we never find out what business it is until the end of the episode.

When he stumbles into the guard putting the $50,000 into the safe it becomes quite clear what business he is now in. This begs the question, does he fake some of his efforts to open the safe? Because opening the safe would have given everything away!

Paul Hartman was a very boring actor...or, at least when he was on the later seasons of "The Andy Griffith Show" as well as "Mayberry RFD". However, in his younger years he and his wife did a dandy stage dancing act and he made a variety of episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" which were quite good....meaning his boring acting seemed to be because he was given a dull character.

The episode begins with a couple of executives (Robert Webber and Whit Bissell) for a safe company talking about a publicity stunt one of them has created. Their new safe is supposedly impossible to crack...and they'll arrange to have the world's best safe cracker try his hand at it (Paul Hartman). If he can open it, he can have the $50,000 locked inside of it.

When the event takes place, there are a lot of folks from the press there to witness the three hour challenge. And, while the safe cracker isn't able to crack the safe, he is successful! What does this mean? See the show.

This is well written and fun. I did predict the outcome during one scene but it still worked well and it sure is worth seeing.