Wet Saturday

Hitchcock returns to direct the pilot for season two as he did with season one, sadly this is no "Revenge". It's not the best or worst effort I've seen in the series even though I'm not sure if this is played for laughs or if where suppose to take this seriously. Sir Cedric Hardicke and John Williams do fine as usual. The surreal odd performance of the obscure actress Tita Purdom is what makes this so interestingly bad though, I'm not sure if she's overacting like this on purpose or if she's just this bad or why she was cast as she is so out of place, looking more like a poor country girl then a rich upper class one. She returns in another episode two years after this so I guess I'll have to wait and see then.

After an interesting and generally solid if inconsistent Season 1, there were high expectations for Season 2. Which in general was most watchable and interesting, with enough good and more episodes, but the quality was similarly inconsistent. And of course there are always high expectations when watching any season opener and there were for Season 2's first episode "Wet Saturday". Especially considering the director, two members of the cast and because the previous season ended so wonderfully.

"Wet Saturday" sadly turned out to be a very disappointing start for Season 2 and doesn't leave one with a good feeling of how the rest of the season will map out. There are good things and it has its moments, but "Wet Saturday" should have been much better. Actually found it hard to believe that it was directed by the master of suspense himself and that it came from the same director responsible for one of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' best episodes "Breakdown". Not a good sign.

It looks pretty good, with some nice atmosphere in the photography. The main theme has a devillish quality and irony. Hitchcock's bookending is suitably droll.

Cedric Hardwicke gives by far the episode's best performance, in a restrained, nuanced turn with moments of suitable dryness. John Williams is similarly very expressive and doesn't overdo or underplay and his face tells a lot.

Tita Purdom however is another story entirely, am going to agree with everybody that thought she was awful and bad enough to completely unbalance the episode. Have not seen such painful overacting in a long time and she comes over as really irritating (as does her character, who becomes unbearable quite quickly). One of the worst performances of the entire series and that is saying quite a bit. Hitchcock's direction lacks suspense and any kind of atmosphere, actually got the sense that his heart wasn't in it and that was unlike him at this stage of his career where he was making some of his best films. If you compare this and "Breakdown" for example, it is like a completely different person directed them.

Also think that "Wet Saturday" is far too heavy on the talk and too much of it felt like padding. Some of it is very over-heated and hammy. Am aware that it was aiming for the tongue in cheek approach, but this wasn't done very well in my view. Coming over as unintentionally funny and overboard on the silliness. The story lacks any kind of suspense or tension, is rather slow going, is pretty silly and feels too thin for the length. The conclusion is forgettable at best and felt anti-climactic.

Very disappointing overall. 4/10.

Sometimes an episode seems so dumb. Of course, before long you come to realize that the whole thing was done tongue in cheek. This is about the crazy frenetic daughter of a wealthy family. She has murdered her "lover," a schoolmaster and now the family has to deal with it by covering it up. As far as basic morality goes, there's not much to go around in this presentation. They eventually invite a beloved family friend and decide to set him up for the crime. Meanwhile, the daughter, who gyrates and howls, continues to make outrageous statements, bothering everyone. If you want a primer on overacting, watch this. Still, she steals every scene she's in. Don't take this one very seriously and you'll enjoy it a lot more.

The real-crime here is the episode's talkiness. From start to finish, it's talk, talk, talk, without relief, set in only 2 connected-rooms, one of which is a garage, I think, with a floor-grate leading to a sewer. Eventually, I realized the plot, such as it was, was meant as a dryly-brittle, tongue-in-cheek farce. It's hard for a viewer to stay focused, though, because virtually-nothing happens, it's just talk--the family-patriarch trying to coach his family on how to explain an embarassing, inconvenient-murder, likely, if discovered, to ruin their social-prominence among the gentrified-elite. Cedric Hardwicke's always worth-watching, though, an actor who conveys dignity & authority, speaking in a mellifluous, dulcet-tone. His restrained-style of physical-movement lends the proper-air to his calm, unflappable presence. The finale is ambiguous. If detectable at all, it flits-by without impact or clarity. I kept thinking the story would evolve into a more-compelling scenario but it never did--and all the talking tried my attention-span. Perhaps this wasn't an issue among the audiences of the 1950's. I believe viewers DID have longer attention-spans in past-decades. Usually, I can overcome this obstacle, as I now actually prefer, at my current-age, conversational-scenes, as opposed to today's hyper-paced action & smarmy-humor. This episode made it tough, though. In short, I'd say watch it for Mr. Hardwicke's droll-performance, as well as John Williams' expressions in reactive-shots, two old-pros interacting with aplomb. The tale itself, sadly, is nothing.

The episode begins with learning that Millicent Princey has murdered someone. Her father (Cedric Hardwicke) insists that for the sake of the family name they MUST hide the murder. However, considering how much Millicent simpers and overacts, I was surprised he wanted to cover up the killing. So, he decides to pin it on a convenient scapegoat, Captain Smollet (John Williams).

Considering that "Wet Saturday" was the premier episode of season two, you'd think it would be a particularly good show. Well, it wasn't. Most of the problem was that Tita Purdom (who played Millicent) was just awful--overacting horribly. You cannot entirely blame her, as the director SHOULD have elicited a different sort of performance with at least SOME subtlety. And, considering that Hitchcock himself directed it, I certainly expected more. A HUGE disappointment.