The Crooked Road

Don't worry. No spoilers.

Many "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episodes have surprise or twist endings -- the very first of them (S1E1) being a classic example.

This is another one, with Richard Kiley and his wife abused and extorted by slimy yokels. Paul Henreid's tense direction induces an incredible amount of hatred in the viewer. When the mechanic threatens Kiley with a wrench, you hope he'll grab the wrench and beat him to death.

He doesn't. What does happen is -- there's no other word for it -- delicious. You'll be grinning from ear to ear.

This "AHP" episode from 1958 called "Crooked Road" is one that's entertaining and it twist and the plot and themes of locations and timing are interesting. Harry Adams and his wife are a classy and sophisticated couple who are traveling along the highways from up north thru the south. Then all of a sudden a trap an apparent road block they are pulled over for an apparent road violation only soon they find out that this small place and little town in the south is much different as corruption and money draining is the norm! Walter Matthau hams it up as Chandler a small town county deputy who's crooked. Only in the end and all thru it this couple has a plan that will show the cat and mouse game played by the crooked town!

"The Crooked Road" was one of those episodes where this reviewer had a really strong feeling it would be at least very good. The premise is so deliciously dark sounding and suspenseful, and anybody who has read my reviews for other 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes will know of good premises being a big factor in seeing any film, show etc. Paul Henreid's output of the series has wildly varied, with almost all ranging between average and very good with few exceptional and no real misfires.

One of the few exceptional episodes is "The Crooked Road". It is every bit as delicious as the premise promises and some and sees the whole cast at the top of their game in either roles that played to their strengths or against type. Season 4 was mostly very high quality up to this very early point, with only "Don't Interrupt" (badly) misfiring, and even after the season ended "The Crooked Road" is one of the season's finest. Of Henreid's output, it is easily somewhere around top 5 and one of not many truly exceptional episodes of his.

Everything works here. It is very well made, not lavish but very rich in atmosphere (especially some suitably moody shots) and slick. Henreid's direction ensures that the tension does not slip and it is some of his most assured and most inspired, after seeing episodes of his where his direction was undistinguished. There are no faults with the acting, with Walter Matthau clearly having a whale of a time without being too out of kilter hammy.

Richard Kiley beautifully portrays a character who is easy to root for. Patricia Breslin is alluring and her chemistry with Kiley helps make their couple rootable yet also unsettling the more the helplessness increases. Hitchcock's bookending is still wildly entertaining and full of his usual droll humour. The main theme has never gotten old and fits the tone of the series beautifully.

Furthermore, the script s intelligent and as lean as beautifully cooked steak. The story is darkly suspenseful and unsettlingly really makes the blood boil in a situation that was relevant back then and not out of date unfortunately today. What is also shocking about it is how easily it happens and it is truly frightening. The ending is absolutely deliciously wicked and didn't see it coming in any way, actually it left me floored.

Summing up, absolutely brilliant. 10/10.

This is the story of a personal nightmare. It has been done before but this is a pretty good effort.. It involves the fragile world entered by people who suddenly find themselves at the mercy of some bad cops in their personal world. From the evil Walter Matthau, a corrupt highway cop and extortionist, to a tow truck driver who his part of an organized ring, to a judge who finishes things off, our main character and his wife are subjected to brutality and fear, over which they have no control. The tension in this episode is all brought on by the helplessness they feel as the expenses mount up, from fixing a wheel bearing that is not damaged, to being beaten for "resisting arrest." The characters try to keep that pose of respectability throughout, but when push comes to shove, they are brutal. This is one of the most frightening of the episodes because it deals in a human situation which could very easily take place. A bad cop has tremendous power because people, for the most part, start with trust. This is a very good offering.

Kiley and Breslin star as a couple on a road trip who are waylaid in a rural Southern town by a brutal, corrupt cop (Matthau). They end up being fleeced by a tow truck mechanic who is in cahoots with the cop and a justice of the peace who serves as the town's judge and jury. Plenty of movies would later use this plot, with considerably more graphic results (especially when it involved comely young females). The discerning viewer will notice something odd about Breslin's character and the way she holds her rather bulky purse. I thought perhaps the seemingly honest couple would turn out to be bank robbers, which would be revealed once they got out of town. The actual revelation of who they are was far more interesting. Matthau puts on a suitable redneck accent for his role.