No Pain

This is a great episode that has exactly what I want out of the series: a twist ending I DIDN'T see coming within the first 5 minutes, and actual suspense filling the 22-minute runtime! It falls slightly short of a perfect 10 only because it doesn't do enough with the first half of the episode.

The long scene where Brian Keith is out of the iron lung is extremely uncomfortable and kept me guessing just how it would end. It reminded me of season one's "Breakdown," which might just be my favorite episode of the entire show. (Admittedly, those scenes affect me personally due to my own experiences of being in comas and on ventilators, but I'm quite sure they're still plenty suspenseful for everyone else!)

Stray observation: Yale Wexler, who plays Arnold, is a perfect mixture of Anthony Perkins and Jimmy Stewart. Hitchcock certainly had a type!

Popular author William Jerome Fay, who wrote 14 episodes for Hitch, cooked up this dynamic two character tale, one you can't miss. The thing is, once you see it, you won't forget it.

Also why Brian Keith was such a terrific actor, following in the footsteps of his famous father, Robert Keith. Here, he plays a man who is basically doomed. Once very successful, he's now confined to an iron lung and has only his wife to look after him.

Is that good or bad? Being a Hitchcock episode, you know there's more to the story, and with beautiful Joanna Moore playing his wife... Fill in the blanks. She most certainly is unfaithful, and ready to pull the plug on that wheezing iron lung stuck in the middle of their beach house living room.

And was this the first R-rated episode with Moore walking around the house in bikini bottoms or short shorts?

Perhaps the most ironic of all Hitchcock stories, you have to admit. I agree with the last reviewer, you really don't know how Keith's character earned all his money. Was he really a victim? Stay tuned.

The best of SEASON 5 remastered Universal dvd box set. 5 dvds. Released 2012. Collectors Edition for episodes like this.

"No Pain" is a real product of its times. When most people see it today, they might be confused to see the star of the episode, Mr. Rainey (Brian Keith) stuck in an Iron Lung machine. What is this and why is he there? Well, until the developed the Polio vaccine, countless thousands of people were stuck...confined in these devices in order to survive following the paralysis caused by the disease. The Iron Lung used air pressure to help these afflicted people to breath, as otherwise they would have died. But in many cases, they would end up confined this these contraptions for years...or the rest of their lives. Thank God for the vaccines that mean we don't have to use the devices any more.

In addition to Keith, the episode also stars Joanna Moore...both of which had appeared in earlier episodes of the series. It begins with Mrs. Rainey saying goodbye to her husband, as she's going out sailing with some young man. Naturally, Mr. Rainey cannot join them. Later, after she returns, the missus contemplates turning off the machine, as Mr. And Mrs. Rainey are all alone and will be for sometime. What's next? See the show.

This is one of the darker episodes I can recall. Now this doesn't mean it's bad...it's actually very good. HOWEVER, as often is the case, following the 'perfect crime' in the episode, in the Epilogue, Hitchcock explains that the folks who committed the murder were caught and punished...which completely negates so much of the good in the show. I am sure he was doing this to appease nervous sponsors, but it IS a show often devoted to murder after all!!

'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' "No Pain" (1959)

Opening thoughts: Norman Lloyd directed nineteen 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes, was a producer for most of the series' run and even acted in five episodes (his biggest role being in "Design for Loving"). His output was very up and down, but not ever unwatchable. "No Pain" is the first of six Season 5 episodes he directed and sees him reunited with Brian Keith after the excellent "Your Witness" (Keith, against type, was also absolutely terrific in that episode) from Season 4.

While not quite one of the very best 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes or one of the better ones of Season 5 (already uneven at this still early stage), "No Pain" is a very, very good outing from Lloyd and one of his best of what was as has already been said an up and down output. It is not quite a masterpiece, but it does come very close to that, but the good things are numerous and most of the good things are absolutely outstanding. Once again, it is a great representation of Keith, if admittedly not as meaty.

Bad things: This is another episode to have very little wrong with it. For my tastes though, the epilogue is pointless and over explanatory.

Also felt that the ending while unexpected and clever was on the abrupt side.

Good things: Keith and Joanna Moore are excellent in the lead roles, very powerful and moving (Keith again showing another side to him but a different another side compared to the epitome of nastiness he was in "Your Witness"). Their chemistry scintillates and is affecting. Lloyd's direction is tight yet also sympathetic.

Hitchcock's bookending is humorously ironic and gels with the story with ease, with no sense of jarring or disjointed-ness. It is more than solidly made visually, not looking cheap and boasting some nice atmosphere in the photography. "Funeral March of a Marionette" was an inspired and perfect choice for the series' main theme.

Furthermore, "No Pain" is brilliantly written. Taut, thought provoking and hard boiled, with no signs of melodramatic soap, rambling or irrelevant fat. The story is enormously absorbing and darkly suspenseful from beginning to end, never simplistic or muddled. Quite powerful emotionally. The truth is a real shock.

Closing thoughts: In summary, very, very good.

8/10.

Let's face it. The guy is in an iron lung, which meant his lungs were damaged where that monster machine had to breath for him. When the Sauk vaccine came out and polio literally disappeared, we were given a reprieve from every experiencing the horrors this man must endure. The young woman has done what she can, but the flesh is weak at times. We also can probably guess that Brian Keith's money situation was probably based on some cutthroat business practices where the chickens are coming home to roost. I will give the writers credit. I never saw the ending coming which makes it a very good AHP because one begins to try to figure out what sort of twist is available. All in all, it's sad to see someone suffer with little hope.