Toby

"Toby" is director Robert Stevens' second 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episode in a row and his third one of Season 2 (the first one being "De Mortuis"). The previous one being the previous episode "None are So Blind". The premise sounded very interesting and potentially suspenseful and Jessica Tandy was a fine actress. Robert H. Harris was no stranger to 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and nearly always delivered in a good way, even in episodes beneath him.

While all the previous Season 2 are watchable or more, though the season did get off to an underwhelming start with "Wet Saturday", none of them wowed me. Even the best one, the pretty good "De Mortuis". "Toby" is another one of the Season 2 episodes that is worth a one time watch, but not wow-worthy. Not much wows here either, other than the cast in yet another Season 2 outing where the cast are better than the episode itself.

Am going to start with the good. Tandy is marvellous, alluring yet suitably enigmatic, and the main reason to see "Toby". Harris also comes off very well, bringing grit and also an affecting quality that makes him easy to sympathise with. The supporting cast are a very colourful lot, and the characters are all psychologically intriguing (a lot more so than the story).

Hitchcock's bookending is amusing and typically dry-humoured. The episode starts off quite well, the production values have some nice atmosphere and the main theme is haunting.

On the other hand, the story could have been a lot better. It could have had a good deal more tension and didn't feel that suspenseful. It is also rather safe and predictable with an ending that is not a surprise at all. More could have been done with the psychological aspect of it, the set up is intriguing and neat but it isn't fully explored and is not insightful enough.

Stevens' direction is competent but also undistinguished. The script could have been tauter and not felt as over-heated. It would have benefitted from being longer, 30 minutes is not long enough for a story like this and that's why the psychological aspect of the story suffered.

In conclusion, a rather mixed bag. 5/10.

Not the best episode of the whole series, cute and enjoyable for the whole family, smartly written and done too. Riveting, without being a masterpiece. Not a comedy either, just a sweet drama destined to the widest audiences. Family drama, rather unusual for the show. I like this episode. Touching too with a good twist ending. I hope you will enjoy it too. Now that's up to you to decide. Convincing performances. I have seen worse.

Hitch gave a hint in his introduction of the episode warm up baby bottle, exposing a bit of morbidity about to come when a mid-age bachelor Albert Birch (Robert H Harris) thru an adds on newspaper finds out his old girlfriend Edwina (Jessica Tandy) which invites her to live with him for a future marriage, turns out that the old lady brings a baby named Toby, on what Albert asking her if was married before, Edwina answer she never was, the baby is gave to her due his sister and husband died on car's accident, henceforth she got the right to raise the little one, relieving the already worried Albert.

Although something suspicious comes across due Edwina never allowed Albert to see Toby whatsoever, such odd things arouse inkling on Albert, worst to trying give a kiss at Edwina's face she becomes furious without any fair explanation, the upstairs neighbors also perceive her bitterness behavior, Albert often was called to warm up a milk to Toby, nonetheless the baby feeding in done on closed door, then things going bad when the comes to surface soon.

Jessica Tandy is a fabulous actress on these kind of role as Edwina surely mentally ill, we can envisage her on "Driving Miss Daisy" as stubborn lady, another high point is Robert H Harris in a convincing performance as heartbroken man, simply great.

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First watch: 2023 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25.

I know that my comments sometimes go over the same ground. With the pressure of producing so many of these little stories, there is going to be a clinker in the lot. A lonely man who left his only love is about to get her back. He is scared and apprehensive and unsure. He banters with the local characters and sets up shop for her reappearance. Apparently, a personal ad leads to their reunion. They are going to be married. The woman finally shows up and she is pretty strange. She has a baby with her. It is supposedly the son (Toby) of her now deceased sister. She immediately puts him in a spare bedroom and that's where he stays. She occasionally gets a baby bottle of warm milk to give to little Toby. Weeks pass and nobody sees the baby. This gets so far fetched that at some point we say "Right!" I had it figured out about five minutes after she appeared. Still, Jessica Tandy being the consummate actress, really hams it up and does what she can with this clinker.

I enjoyed this episode very much.

Our episode centers on two characters that are seen early on. Albert is preparing for a reunion with a lady he used to have a romantic relationship with. He's a bundle of nerves and is quite anxious about all of this. Edwina loves roses and a vase is being prepared for roses to be put in there. The handle of the case breaks off and Albert's nerves go into overdrive as he laments that this is a bad omen.

Edwina shows up and she's got a surprise with her. She claims she's taking care of her sister's baby after the deaths of her sister and the child's father. She's being very mysterious about this child. Nobody can see the baby. Edwina has the child bundled up and claims were the child had just gotten over scarlet fever. Albert's not the only one talking. A couple of people that live in the apartment are harassing Edwina about when will they get to see the baby. Albert shows what a good guy he is and he lies and says he's seen the baby in order to get them off Edwina's back. But you can tell the confusion is mounting even more inside of Albert.

It's not just the baby that Albert's concerned about. Edwina's having mood swings. It's not played for laughs imo. Albert had given Edwina a rose to pin on a hat and she seemed so pleased with it and now she's angry and crumpling it up. Edwina's ranting about her life. Oh, she tried to get over Albert and now she comes crawling back to him courtesy of an ad in the newspaper. She talks about her loneliness and perception of people getting further away from her.

It's all starting to come out and the final piece of the puzzle is about to be slipped into place. Edwina's mentally ill. Men arrive to come pick her back up to take her back to the facility for her own safety. They were surprised she ran off, especially since the roses are growing and she loves them so.

But what about Toby? Edwina leaves Toby in Albert's care and he's about to see who Toby is. Toby turns out to be a cat! I loved that reveal tbh. I'm in my late 30s and I'm childless. I'm also somebody that treats my cats like they're my kids. So yeah, I think Edwina was ahead of the game with her 'furkid'. One has to feel for Albert. He reacts with such devastation once he sees Toby's a cat. I think seeing Toby was the final bit of hope and optimism he had about a future with Edwina going down the drain.

Enjoyable episode and I liked how Jessica Tandy approached her role of Edwina. But I'll also snark a bit at the elephant in the room. Albert didn't hear a cat meowing? Edwina must've been sharp on cleaning up cat poop and pee. I say that because of how the other people in the apartment acted towards Edwina. I think she would've been scared to take Toby outside if anybody else was outside to talk to her.