One More Mile to Go

This is a a mini-version of many of the Hitchcock thrillers. The murder is committed and becomes the pivotal act. We don't know anything about the victim other than she seems to be a virago. David Wayne obviously has had enough and kills her. He moves her to the trunk of his car and spends the entire episode seeking a place to dump the body. What he doesn't count on is a broken tail light and Javert type motorcycle patrolman (second prize winner in a Rod Steiger look-alike contest) who insists that it get fixed immediately. Unfortunately, changing a bulb doesn't do the job. There is a short and to repair it they must get into the trunk. Hitchcock is great at getting us caught up in the plight of the poor boob who has pretty much closed the door to any hopeful outcome. We do actually root for him all the way; why can't that damned cop leave him alone? Of course, the fates take over and we really know what will eventually happen.

I agree with those who say this is one of the best episodes. Hitchcock himself directs, and begins with us spying on a couple from outside. They argue, he grabs a poker from the fire and bludgeons her to death. Now he has to dispose of the body. It's more than 10 minutes in before we hear anything other than the soundtrack (first a siren, then a voice).

The whole episode is an exercise in tension. It's hard not to find ourselves rooting for the protagonist (the killer, played by David Wayne), we've been with him from the start.

There are only two other characters, the police officer and a garage mechanic (still working at night). The ending is understated, as was often the case in the series.

This is my ninth favorite episode of the show, it's pretty much your getaway story, what I like is the suspense is once again different as it's double layered. I like how throughout the episode we are in the guilty party's perspective as he is traveling to a location to cover up his crime, this would seem like smooth sailing except for one little thing that could ruin his plans.

You're really in this guy's shoes where you almost want this guy to get away, as he is just coming so close. And this one thing results in a close call with a police officer and mechanic we're hoping he can some how talk his way out of or have at least have a little luck left to bail him out.

But of course, the other layer of suspense is we already know this guy isn't going to get away with it, nor do we feel he deserves to, but the question is when is going to get caught.

Will he get away or won't he, you'll just have to wait and see. But as an old saying goes, it's always the littlest things that can derail the best laid plans.

Rating: 4 stars

"One More Mile to Go" is one of the seventeen episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', a truly fascinating series but an inconsistent one, that he directed himself. Also his first after "Mr Blanchard's Secret" which to me was a little disappointing (though still slightly above average) and among the weaker entries that he directed. Others of his were very good and more, especially one of the best episodes of the entire series "Breakdown". It was very interesting seeing this side to David Wayne.

There were not many episodes from Season 2, which was very up and down as a season, that blew me away. "One More Mile to Go" was one of the ones that did and it is amazing that it took what looks very standard on paper and turn it into a truly unsettling episode in classic Hitchcockian style with a psychologically fascinating lead character. To me, it is the best episode of Season 2, the best Hitchcock-directed episode since "Breakdown" and the best 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episode overall since "The Creeper".

Everything here works. It looks great and is very rich in atmosphere, when it comes to the photography and lighting "One More Mile to Go" is one of the best looking episodes of Season 2 and one of the few of the season to look and feel cinematic and on par with the best looking Hitchcock films from the 40s and early 50s. That is a huge compliment by the way. The audio is suitably ominous and the theme music couldn't have been a more ideal choice.

Hitchcock's direction is impeccable and reminiscent of the direction he had in the best of his thrillers, he wasn't coined the master of suspense for nothing. And there is plenty of suspense in "One More Mile to Go", the premise looking at it could easily have been over stretched and predictable. Actually it turned out to be diverting and increasingly uncertain as to how things map out and the sense of dread unsettles.

It was an interesting touch having much of the first half wordless, that proved to be a clever choice and the sound effects don't come over as cheesy or out of place at all. The lead character psychologically is fascinating and it is very easy to root for him later on. Wayne shows a side to him not usually seen before and does a superb job, unnerving but also succeeding in making the character easy to feel for.

Outstanding episode overall. 10/10.

After recommending this episode to numerous friends, boasting Hitchcock's tremendous directing work in it, I finally realized I hadn't even checked whether Hitchcock was truly the director of this episode. So I checked. And thank God he was the director.

You think you just know it when you see such excellent directing work. The director must take most of the credits, because technically the first line didn't come up until about 10 min into the show. It's all image. The plot is so simple and the tension all comes from the director's work.

You listen to the language of film.

The mise-en-scène, oh, how can I praise it enough? Sixty years later, it's still the best artwork in film making. How can anyone forget the shot where the police officer talks to the leading character and turns and sits on the engine cover casually dancing his revolver at his waist into the guilty man's eye sight? God, my Hitchcock!

My days especially enjoying such "line-less" scenes goes way back to middle school when I read Takehiko Inoue's masterpiece comic book SLAM DUNK. The last book of the series was the last part of the toughest basketball game they had. When it was so intense, in that book, there were not many lines. All actions and emotions were delivered through pictures, but what I felt was much stronger than any words can express.

That's also why I'm such a big fan of the Pang brothers. In their first feature film Bangkok Dangerous (1999), they created a deaf-mute protagonist, so they didn't have to focus much on verbal language. They chose the impactful language that has no barriers between different cultures, the language of images.

And here, in One More Mile to Go, I see one of the best poems written in this language.