The Case of Mr. Pelham

This is one of only about a dozen and a half episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" where the famous director actually directed the episode. While this is good, the ending really left me cold as I kept expected a neat payoff...but got nothing.

Mr. Pelham (Tom Ewell) is a businessman who seems to be losing is mind. Because of this, he tells a psychiatrist (Raymond Bailey) about his problem. It seemed that some time ago, it started to feel as if someone was taking over his life. For example, when he would go out, his duplicate would be home. And, when he was at work, it seems his double wasn't. Ultimately, you see him confront the double...and he looks exactly like him.

All through the episode I kept thinking how neat the set-up was for this show and it really sucked me into the episode. But there was no payoff....no explanation for any of this. And, because of this, it was so frustrating to watch. Technically well made but the script needed work.

I have been feeding on these small adventures. Even though i had obviously heard about this show, i had never tried it. Right now i have seen a handful of episodes, and incidentally i've been hitting many directed by Hitchcock. This is such one. After having seen these episodes, i consider that they deserve individual commentary, even though it sounds reasonable to consider this a "show". I mean, quite beyond the immortal generic, the Hitchcock sketch that Alfred himself drew, and the by now inseparable soundtrack, we have a feel to every episode (at least those i've seen so far) that binds them together. I'm still not able to properly define what that is, but apparently, and generally speaking, every episode tries to play with the basic notions of the mystery genre (Hitch's cinematic home), mixed with nonsense and the bizarre. It doesn't press so hard on these two aspects as Twilight Zone, but it so far i reckon in it higher visual interest, or wasn't the patron of this show AH. In any case, the episodes are uneven among them, and quite different in their conception, different writers, different directors, different actors. So i look at them as short films, part of a larger universe where they exist together.

This Mr Pelham is a very good and balanced example of the different genres they use. Maybe that's why i'm starting my comments here. Hitch's direction is quite low-key. It's competent, of course, fully detached from any ordinary television values - which 50 years ago probably didn't exist so rooted on people's minds as they do today - but apart from some dolly shots, exquisitely executed, the camera work is normal. Those dolly shots are actually remarkable, so check them, they usually start a scene, with a certain framing, that indicates a certain environment, and that framing is corrected through camera movement to make us find something that matters, like when Ewell gets the first time in the club, the camera adjusts our focus to Ewell, and puts us in the action. This subtlety is remarkable.

But the interest is in the narrative, the story itself. I have the feeling the idea here was deceiving us into believing we were watching a criminal identity swap case, only to make us fall into the awkwardness of the inexplicable. In the end, we really don't know what that was all about, and may be led to mistrust what we see. Who was the real Pelham? Who was the real Hitchcock, in the end? Like this is a kind of short "being malkovich".

It works, it's not fascinating beyond the taste of the mood, but it's good. Ewell... i don't know how could he be the man peaking under Monroe's skirt. His acting is so noisy and denounced it aches. Hitch's interventions are priceless.

My opinion: 3/5

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Hitch took some time out of his busy schedule to direct this intriguing episode, and yes, I agree with the last reviewer --this could be confused as a TWILIGHT ZONE story. More over, Hitchcock received an Emmy nomination for Best TV Director, but lost! How can that be? A super trivia question.

Tom Ewell (THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH) is the perfect choice to play everyday guy Mr. Pelham who has a problem. Hitch always had a preoccupation with gentlemen with baggage, only this time it's not murder. It's all about somebody slowly taking over Pelham's life, an exact double, and having a very good time of it.

One of Hitchcock's favorite actors, Raymond Bailey, looking like Mr. Drysdale on the BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, plays the poor man's psychiatrist who has his doubts about the bizarre story. Perhaps the best thing about this tale is Ewell narrating what happens next and next .... and how long before he loses his mind!

By the way, the TWILIGHT ZONE did, in fact, come out with a very similar type story, called "Mirror Image" (1960), starring Vera Miles who is waiting in a lonely bus station and spots her mischievous double. Don't miss it. It would be cool if METV ran that episode back to back with this one on their late night schedule.

Wait for the closing with Mr. H and his own double! SEASON 1 EPISODE 10 remastered CBS dvd box set.

Albert Pelham (Tom Ewell) discovers that someone has been impersonating him. Fearing his life is being taken away from him, Pelham confronts his double, only to begin doubting his own sanity.

Hitchcock returns again for his 3rd directing credit, taking on another familiar story that much like "Breakdown" has been done about a zillion times since this. The tale of a man who discovers he has a double trying to take over his life and slowly push him out or is he slowly going mad. The out come is usual always the same conclusion and the one here is no different, that's maybe why the impact of this one really didn't hit me to hard because I pretty much knew where this was going after the two Pelham's finally meet. As said before Hitch does his usual great job behind the camera and the cast is excellent here, I could defiantly see how in 1956 this was damn good television as Hitch was apparently nominated for a prime time Emmy for best directing. Not to sound harsh on this episode as it seems to be a favorite among fans of the series, and it is a very fine episode, but, I guess the fact that the story being done to death and seeing this a hundred times on other movies and series since really hurt the out come for me, and personally I believe Hitch should have got the Emmy nod for either "Revenge" or "Breakdown" as I believe those two episodes to be superior to this one. Closing note: Hitchcock's closing narration is the greatest!.

Absolutely loved the idea of the story, which was a different one for the series at that time. There were episodes where one is immediately sucked in even reading the synopsis and having a feeling that it would be good, and "The Case of Mr Pelham" is one of them. It also has the advantage of being directed by the master of suspense himself, whose previous episode was the brilliant "Breakdown" (a season and series high point). So expectations were high.

Those expectations were absolutely filled and very nearly exceeded with "The Case of Mr Pelham". While not quite as brilliant as Hitchcock's previous entry, it has all of the things that made that episode so good and executes them just as well. "Breakdown" gets the slight edge for the atmosphere being a little more chilling and for having a more satisfying ending. "The Case of Mr Pelham" is still an excellent episode and one of Season 1's best overall, and certainly up to this point.

Some people might like that the ending is open to interpretation and ambiguous, while that was intriguing to me there was too much of an abrupt and incompletely inconclusive feel in a case where a well rounded off conclusion was needed.

Everything else is fantastic. It is stylishly and atmospherically made and Hitchcock's direction is typically exemplary. His bookending is also wonderfully droll and interesting. The music adds well to the ominous unease and have said a lot in reviews for the previous episodes about the theme tune being such a perfect pick for the series and can't get enough of it.

Furthermore, the script is lean and thoughtful and the story is laden with uneasy suspense and a truly scary atmosphere that is enough to give the chills. A good deal goes on but it doesn't feel over-stuffed and it is neither too simple or over-complicated. Flashbacks have the dangers of bogging down the momentum or distracting from the story without adding much, "The Case of Mr Pelham" does neither.

The titular character is one worth rooting for, while not being too passive, and played with absolute conviction by Tom Ewell, here playing it straight in an atypical dramatic role that could easily have been played blandly but isn't. Raymond Bailey is perfectly cast as well.

In summary, excellent. 9/10.