London, 1912. Shop owner Joe Saunders refuses to lend money to his son Sam, who is anxious to win over a cheap showgirl.London, 1912. Shop owner Joe Saunders refuses to lend money to his son Sam, who is anxious to win over a cheap showgirl.London, 1912. Shop owner Joe Saunders refuses to lend money to his son Sam, who is anxious to win over a cheap showgirl.
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Did you know
- TriviaEdmund Gwenn's last performance. The veteran actor was so crippled by arthritis at this point that he could barely move, and this disability was written into the script to explain his immobility.
- GoofsThe show opens with the words "London 1912" over a foggy street scene of London. A woman is walking down the sidewalk in a knee length dress, correct for the 1950s, but not for 1912.
- Quotes
[afterword]
Alfred Hitchcock: [Hitchcock has a partially eaten apple in his hand] Unfortunately, he wasn't. Sam was one of those person for whom all things seem to work out well. No matter what happens to him, he always manages to land on his head. That's all for tonight. Next time, we plan a similar foray into your parlor. I hope you'll be home. Good night.
[Resumes eating apple]
- SoundtracksFuneral March of a Marionette
Written by Charles Gounod
Featured review
Bland respect
Herschel Daugherty's 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' output was uneven, though it was not hard to see why he was one of the series' most regular directors as most of his previous episodes ranged between decent and outstanding. He directed some great episodes, "The Creeper" being one of the series' best in my view and "The Belfry" being one of the better first episodes of all the directors that directed more than one episode. He did have disappointments though, the most disappointing of his previous episodes being "My Brother Richard."
"Father and Son" is another disappointment. Actually consider it worse than "My Brother Richard" and a strong contender for Daugherty's worst 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episode. It does have one great performance that makes it semi-watchable, but "Father and Son's" story execution (meaning primarily the lack of suspense, a good ending and poor pacing) is nowhere near good enough to overlook how much the excessive unlikeability of one character unbalances things. There are a few episodes where a character is really unlikeable but the story and character writing make that not matter, like with the previous two episodes but it's difficult in this case.
Edmund Gwenn is the best thing about "Father and Son". It is a very sincere performance and it was easy to feel for him and understand his point of view. He does have believable chemistry with Charles Davis, who does work hard with what he is given and has real moments of intensity but the bad writing for Sam works against him.
It looks slick and atmospheric, Hitchcock's bookending is amusingly droll and the theme music continues to be an inspired use of pre existing classical music.
The story however is very weak, which brings the episode down significantly because it affects more than one component. It is a very flimsy plot that feels over-stretched and goes nowhere too much of the time. The pace is very dull throughout, and "Father and Son" is undone by the complete lack of suspense (the very little that happens being predictable) and the "that's it?" ending which is a major anti-climax.
Also thought that there is too much talk and too much of it not interesting and at times not necessary. Daugherty's direction is competent visually but completely uninspired dramatically, with only the father son dynamic done right. For all Davis' best efforts, "Father and Son" goes way too far in making Sam as difficult to feel anything for as possible, the character flaws being so overblown that it feels like he has no redeeming qualities. The only emotion felt is the desire for Joe not having anything to do with him. Character motivations tend to be underdeveloped.
Concluding, pretty lacklustre. Do like 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and there are many episodes that are recommended without any hesitation, but it wasn't exempt from misfires in pretty much all its season and this happens to be one of them. 4/10.
"Father and Son" is another disappointment. Actually consider it worse than "My Brother Richard" and a strong contender for Daugherty's worst 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episode. It does have one great performance that makes it semi-watchable, but "Father and Son's" story execution (meaning primarily the lack of suspense, a good ending and poor pacing) is nowhere near good enough to overlook how much the excessive unlikeability of one character unbalances things. There are a few episodes where a character is really unlikeable but the story and character writing make that not matter, like with the previous two episodes but it's difficult in this case.
Edmund Gwenn is the best thing about "Father and Son". It is a very sincere performance and it was easy to feel for him and understand his point of view. He does have believable chemistry with Charles Davis, who does work hard with what he is given and has real moments of intensity but the bad writing for Sam works against him.
It looks slick and atmospheric, Hitchcock's bookending is amusingly droll and the theme music continues to be an inspired use of pre existing classical music.
The story however is very weak, which brings the episode down significantly because it affects more than one component. It is a very flimsy plot that feels over-stretched and goes nowhere too much of the time. The pace is very dull throughout, and "Father and Son" is undone by the complete lack of suspense (the very little that happens being predictable) and the "that's it?" ending which is a major anti-climax.
Also thought that there is too much talk and too much of it not interesting and at times not necessary. Daugherty's direction is competent visually but completely uninspired dramatically, with only the father son dynamic done right. For all Davis' best efforts, "Father and Son" goes way too far in making Sam as difficult to feel anything for as possible, the character flaws being so overblown that it feels like he has no redeeming qualities. The only emotion felt is the desire for Joe not having anything to do with him. Character motivations tend to be underdeveloped.
Concluding, pretty lacklustre. Do like 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and there are many episodes that are recommended without any hesitation, but it wasn't exempt from misfires in pretty much all its season and this happens to be one of them. 4/10.
helpful•77
- TheLittleSongbird
- Aug 2, 2022
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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