I first watched this spellbinder when it aired more than 45 years ago. Somehow I never caught up with it until recently, although it remained in my memory as a true classic all that time.
While I did remember the ending, and a few bits of dialogue, I was dazzled all these years later.
The production brings with it a tremendous number of assets: of course the Ray Bradbury story; casting that is letter-perfect, including veterans l like Oscar winner Jane Darwell and Slim Pickens; superb direction by Alfred Hitchcock Exec Producer Norman Lloyd (still going strong now age 96); and a message that covers so many angles. And Pat Buttram was pure magic.
Do we all delude ourselves to stay alive? Are our minds fragile, or egos weak, temptations abounding? Too much time on our hands. Or, let's get to it, what IS in the Jar?
Happy to know that many others also have a special feeling about this classic. Hope I did not overhype this, but boy this is simply the best of the many brilliant Hitchcock episodes.
While I did remember the ending, and a few bits of dialogue, I was dazzled all these years later.
The production brings with it a tremendous number of assets: of course the Ray Bradbury story; casting that is letter-perfect, including veterans l like Oscar winner Jane Darwell and Slim Pickens; superb direction by Alfred Hitchcock Exec Producer Norman Lloyd (still going strong now age 96); and a message that covers so many angles. And Pat Buttram was pure magic.
Do we all delude ourselves to stay alive? Are our minds fragile, or egos weak, temptations abounding? Too much time on our hands. Or, let's get to it, what IS in the Jar?
Happy to know that many others also have a special feeling about this classic. Hope I did not overhype this, but boy this is simply the best of the many brilliant Hitchcock episodes.