Road Hog

Robert Emhardt, the master of mean and arrogance, pulls it off again in one unforgettable tale. Another Hitchcock "you get what you deserve" story we all grew up on.

ROAD HOG was written by Bill Ballinger, who did seven episodes for the series, best known for the chiller, THE STRANGLER (1964), based on the Boston Strangler murders. I'll bet, in all probability, he encountered one or two "artistic" drivers himself and thus came this story.

Emhart plays a man named Fratus who is a dang roadhog, defined. Nothing too surprising about that, except when he blocks desperate farmer Mr. Pine (played by Raymond Massey), who is trying to get his dying son to a hospital ASAP.

Mr. Pine eventaully plots a sweet revenge for this creep. Could be one of Massey's greatest tv performances. The perfect match for Emhardt, the guy you love to hate.

Not to be missed, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, who had a distinguished career, behind film classics like, COOL HAND LUKE and WUSA.

Look for silent screen comedy star Snub Pollard, who invented the long moustache, as a bar patron.

The ultimate for Hitch fans. SEASON 5 EPISODE 11 remastered Universal dvd box set. Thanks much to METV for this running this gem late nights.

Robert Emhardt is a series regular and is always good. It takes about five seconds to establish that he's the villain (poor butterfly!). He's a traveling salesman, and his callousness causes the loss of life here (no spoiler... this happens in the first five minutes or so).

Raymond "Canadian Abe Lincoln" Massey plays an old farmer who wants justice. So we have a real clash of personalities here.

The suspense is all about how justice will be served. We presume that Emhardt's character can't win. Often times, this show would "punish" the bad guys only in Hitchcock's closing segment. That wouldn't seem to be enough here. So the question is, how does it go down? And how far will they go?

Definitely worth watching.

I remember seeing this episode about 15 years ago, but not too much specific information about it.What I remembered, was a car going really slowly down a road, & some people in a truck wanting to pass because they were in a hurry for some reason.And I remembered being completely blown away by the ending.I knew that someday I would see it again.A few years ago, TV Land ran an Alfred Hitchcock Presents marathon, & I recorded the whole thing, over that whole weekend. I love everything Hitchcock has ever done, so I knew I'd see so many episodes that I would be so exciting to see for the first time, or the tenth time.While watching the tapes, "Road Hog" began, & as I sat there watching, I thought, "Oh my god! I think this is it!" I thought I was going to die from happiness! I was freaking out!Robert Emhardt is one of those actors who always gives an incredibly intense, chilling performance.You just can't take your eyes off him.Now I have the first two seasons on DVD (Road Hog is from a later season), & can't wait to get all the rest. Naturally,when I watch a Hitchcock episode that I haven't seen before, seeing certain actors names,whether it's Barbara Baxley, Russell Collins, Robert Emhardt, or so many others, I get happy & I know that I'm in for another special treat!If there is someone reading this who has not seen "Road Hog", I promise you, if you see it, you won't ever forget it.I certainly didn't!

Davey gored.

Salesman refuses to get over or speed up guy is driving 10! Then forces him off road. No dumb epilogue.

Early in the episode, a young man is badly gored by a bull and his father and brothers rush him to get medical treatment...or at least they try to. But on the way down the long dirt road to town, they get behind a horrible man...a traveling salesman with contempt for everyone. While they are in a huge hurry, the salesman (Robert Emhardt) takes his time and actually slows down to 10 miles per hour when they begin honking. Eventually, they are able to pull even with the guy...and yell to them that they are on the way to get a doctor and it's an emergency. Shockingly, the salesman uses that opportunity to run the truck off the road...and the young man dies because they couldn't get medical treatment in time. The father (Raymond Massey) vows revenge.

This is a very good episode for two main reasons. First, it's not a case of revenge where the father does anything to actually hurt the salesman. Second, at the epilogue, Alfred Hitchcock doesn't moralize or paste on a ridiculous comment about how folks responsible were caught and punished. Nope...it's just a nice case of the crime fitting the punishment! Well written and well worth your time.

'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' "Road Hog" (1959)

Opening thoughts: Stuart Rosenberg made a very good and very promising first impression with "Deadweight", also from Season 5. A first episode that was better than most of those from 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' prolific directors. Really liked the story idea, which is very Hitchcockian. Robert Emhardt is no stranger to the series and all his previous performances are all good and more. Season 5 was very uneven at this still quite early point, though the only bad episode really was a series nadir "Appointment at Eleven".

Rosenberg's second episode "Road Hog" is even better than "Deadweight" and for me proof that Rosenberg should have directed more episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'. It is one of the best, darkest and most suspenseful outings of Season 5, very much worthy of Hitchcock and one of the best of the series' latter seasons. After seeing some wastes of good concepts as of late it was great to see something that lived up to its one with every bit of the impact expected.

Good things: Everything. "Road Hog" is a well made episode, with some very stylish and haunting close ups standing out. It is suitably eerie audibly too and "Funeral March of a Marionette" continues to be an inspired choice for theme music. Rosenberg directs with even more confidence and edge than in "Deadweight", as good as when the series prolific directors were on good, if not at their very best, form.

Moreover, the writing is taut and thought provoking. The story is very darkly suspenseful, never dull and has a truly chilling sense of dread. Especially towards the end, complete with a cleverly executed ending that was not expected. Hitchcock's typically humorously ironic humour never jars, remarkably so considering the darkness of the story.

Acting is very good, Emhardt being unsettling in a role that plays to his strengths. Raymond Massey matches him and it was interesting seeing a young Richard Chamberlain. The character chemistry is spot on.

Closing thoughts: Overall, outstanding.

10/10.