There Was an Old Woman

I enjoy watching this episode on DVD. Estelle Winwood is excellent in her believable portrayal of an eccentric and portentous old lady. Charles Bronson plays a boorish golddigger while his wife, played by Norma Crane, is a young, blonde whiner with little understanding of what is actually taking place. The only issue that concerns her is her hunger. The final scenes are somewhat ambiguous when one has to decide whether or not the Winwood character is deliberately trying to poison her houseguests. While making the muffins she is looking for rat poison as she "dialogues" with her cat as to those pesky rodents. Then she asks, "Now where did I put that rat poison?" However it does not seem obvious if she intentionally intended to inform her guests that the muffins were poisonous or not. In one scene Winwood "scolds" Bronson in a manner that many today could not relate to. "You have made me very angry. You are indeed a man without honor". I thought to myself, "That's tellin' 'em".

I am sure that everyone will agree with the fact that this story brings nothing special to the series. If you remove the twist ending, there is nearly nothing left. Just an agreeable time waster and that's all. The lead characters is a couple of greedy crooks, robbers seeking to take advantage of an old lady. There are many old ladies in this series, I don't know if you had noticed. This is not an unforgettable story, I repeat, but it remains quite enjoyable. Not boring tale for a rather predictable plot. But there are many of them in this series. Compared to the other episodes, Iwill place this one in the medium scale of quality and interest.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents a macabre black story. Monica Laughton (Estelle Winwood) is an eccentric old woman who lives on her own. She is also regarded as wealthy.

The milkman is her only regular contact. Frank Bramwell (Charles Bronson) overhears a story that Miss Laughton has hidden wealth somewhere in her mansion.

A ne'er do well like Bramwell views Miss Laughton as easy pickings. He goes to see her along with his wife Lorna with a plan to rob her. Only to find just how strange her household set up is.

Miss Laughton is quite mad with a house full of imaginary relatives and always carrying a handbag. She refuses to tell Frank where her money is but plays games with the two would be thieves.

It is not long before the gruesome twosome get their just desserts.

Bronson is a hissable villain. His wife seems a bit dim. Maybe that is why Miss Laughton has them stringing along so quickly.

The story is left rather open ended. Is Miss Laughton in the habit of bumping off people? Her conversation with the milkman seems to point that way.

A delicious episode. I never thought I would see a frazzled Charles Bronson, but then he is up against an 80-year old loopy Estelle Winwood. Seems small-time crook Frank (Bronson) and rather dim wife (Crane) think aristocratic old lady Laughton (Winwood) will be easy pickings. After all, she lives alone in a big house full of invisible family, guests, and food. But somewhere inside that mausoleum, Frank figures, is a load of cash, at least that's what he heard. So now he and wife push their way in, while the agreeable old lady introduces them to the invisible guests. But where's she got that darned money hidden.

Winwood's perfect, her bulging eyes and ditzy manner, a perfect foil for the aggressively greedy Bronson. This was still early in the tough guy's career before his acting style was reduced to a single hard-eyed stare. Happily, he shows here that he does have an acting range. Then too Crane makes the rather slow-thinking wife into a reluctant counterpart to hubby Bronson. In my book, the episode is pitch-perfect Hitch fare, the character elements coming together beautifully, with an ironic closing line that fits perfectly, raising also a boggling subtext about how those now invisible family members became invisible. Anyway, hats off to all involved, and to a Bronson that's seldom seen.

Really liked to loved all but one of Robert Stevenson's previous 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes. That exception being one of Season 1's lesser outings "Don't Come Back Alive". Particularly good was one of my favourites of Season 1 "And So Died Riabouschinka". The premise for "There Was an Old Woman" was good and it was interesting seeing early year Charles Bronson in a role that was not the type he would take on later.

"There Was an Old Woman" to me is a great episode with a lot that is truly excellent and with nothing really inherently wrong. Season 1 was a relatively solid season with a few disappointments along the way, and one of its best is "There Was an Old Woman". As far as Stevenson's 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' entries go, this compares very favourably and one of those that one should see to see whether Stevenson deserved being one of the most used directors on the series (to me he did).

Production values are solid, especially the atmospheric photography. The sets are on the sparse side, but not enough to ruin the episode. As always, the main theme is haunting and certainly fits this tale very well. The episode is suitably ominous audibly. Hitchcock's bookending is typically droll, didn't find that all of them worked in the series but most did work very well and "There Was an Old Woman's" did work very well indeed. The ironic final line is memorable.

Stevenson directs adeptly, he doesn't rush things or lets it slack and he has a good feel for atmosphere. The script is taut and intelligent, with the entertainingly macabre humour standing out. While the story may not have the chill factor of for example "Breakdown", it never felt dull to me or over-stuffed, is very suspenseful and didn't come over as predictable or confusing.

Bronson does scorn, annoyance and nastiness very well indeed and Norma Crane avoids overdoing the whininess. The two work very well together and the characters are suitably jerkish without going overboard. Best of all is the delicious Estelle Winwood, who both amuses and unsettles.

Overall, great. 9/10.