The Belfry

I'm not sure why this episode has stayed with me for, lo, near 60-years. But it has. I think it's because the loopy Clint (Mullaney) does something I'd never seen an adult do—suck his thumb! To me that was scarier than one of those dripping ax murderers. Poor Clint. He looks twenty but his mind is a delusional three. Then too, he looks enough like Tony Perkins to be Norman Bates' country cousin. Plus, it's a toss-up which is wackier. So what does loopy Clint do after axing his supposed girlfriend's fiancé. He hides in a belfry, of course-- talk about getting your bell rung! Clearly, He should have given that hideout a serious second thought. Some fine production touches. Check out those dirty coveralls the guys wear, like they just came in from the fields; and was sweet-faced Pat Hitchcock ever more aptly cast than as a country school marm. Good to see familiar utility actor Dabbs Greer pick up a payday as the sheriff. All in all, the entry's a real curiosity, with enough novelty to keep you glued. As it did me, even sixty years later.

I just couldn't get into this one. It is really over the top with the Southern hick mentality. The guy murders a man right in front of his fiancée. He then takes off, telling her that they will be together in his little love nest. The guy, of course, is a psychotic moron. He ends up hiding in the belfry of the one room school where she is a schoolmarm. He has a tough time when someone rings the bell, but, otherwise, seems perfectly comfortable. Can you say "bathroom"? Of course, people didn't think of this much. There is a place where a softball ends up in the belfry and he is about to ax a young boy. Anyway, we know that at some point he is going to screw. I guess the voice over of his deranged mind got on my nerves. Quasimodo makes a fatal mistake which is what we knew he would do.

"The Belfry" is notable for having Hitchcock's own daughter Patricia Hitchcock play her second 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' lead role. The first one being "Into Thin Air", which she was very good in despite having a mixed view on that episode overall. It also is the first episode of the series for the series' third most prolific director Herschel Daugherty (after Robert Stevens and Paul Henreid). Almost every episode has an interest point, and "The Belfry" has two.

Absolutely do think that the rating here is too low. To me, "The Belfry" is a very good episode, while not one of the 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' classics it is one of the better Season 1 episodes in my view and a lot better than most episodes rated higher. Sure "The Belfry" is not for everybody, with a wackiness that some may find on the over the top side, but there are a lot of good things that far outweigh what is not quite so good.

Which is really not much, in terms of what could have been done better. More could have been done with the ending, which felt rushed and anaemic and is actually quite forgettable and anti-climactic as well.

So much is good though. Patricia Hitchcock is alluring and easy to root for, while an increasingly chillingly deranged Jack Mullaney is even better. The master of suspense's wonderfully ironic delivery of the dry-humoured and intriguing bookending never fails to shine. Daugherty does a more than solid job directing and one would never know that this was only his first episode for the series.

Moreover, the production values have a good deal of style and atmosphere, with only the sparse sets (at times) showing any signs of cheapness. Still love the series' main theme. The script is lean and thought provoking, without being melodramatic, the main character is very interesting psychologically the more he unravels and the story while slight has a creepiness and unease that were not there enough in the previous two episodes.

Concluding, very good. 8/10.

Patricia Hitchcock was a very popular actress on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"....appearing ten times over the course of the series. While being the famous director's daughter sure must have helped, she was generally quite good in her various mostly supporting roles. Here in "The Belfry", however, she does play the female lead, the local school teacher.

When the sociopathic Clint (Jack Mullaney) learns that Miss Ellie (Hitchcock) is going to marry another man, he becomes unhinged and viciously kills her suitor right before her eyes...with a hatchet!! He then runs away to try to avoid being captured...eventually settling into the belfry above the school. Can he remain there indefinitely? No...but can he at least manage to stay there long enough for the heat to die down so he can make his escape? Perhaps. And, crazily enough, he plans on kidnapping and taking Ellie with him!

This was a well made episode BUT there just wasn't any sort of strange or ironic twist at the end....none. I thought the acting was very good but story simply fizzled at the end for me....and could have been better with a much better ending.



By the way, Miss Hitchcock is in her 90s and living in California last I heard...and I only wish her the best.

This episode features Hitchcock's DAUGHTER, not his WIFE (as the previous review mistakenly states). Hitch's wife was Alma, not Patricia. One of the better episodes, as stated by several other reviewers.