The fate of accused killer Lloyd Ashley depends on whether or not his lawyer Mark Robeson can prove that a gun can fire accidentally, even with the safety catch on.The fate of accused killer Lloyd Ashley depends on whether or not his lawyer Mark Robeson can prove that a gun can fire accidentally, even with the safety catch on.The fate of accused killer Lloyd Ashley depends on whether or not his lawyer Mark Robeson can prove that a gun can fire accidentally, even with the safety catch on.
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Did you know
- TriviaThe impressive structural formula presented at the close includes several components found in real-world compounds, but it violates a number of chemical bonding rules and thus does not represent an actual molecule.
- Quotes
[afterword - Hitchcock is counting the horse's taps]
Self - Host: ... 1,999,938, 1,999,939... So much for our story. Unfortunately, Lloyd Ashley had spent all of his money on his first murder trial. And when his trial for the shooting of Mark Robeson came along, he didn't have another two million dollars for a good lawyer. I believe that's 42. Or was it one m- Oh, well, I give u- I don't know how he does it without fingers. Now for something you can always count on, after which I'll be back.
[commercial break, after which Hitchcock stands by a blackboard with a scientific equation]
Self - Host: Before our guest left, I discovered him scribbling on this blackboard. Frankly, I don't know how long we can hold our scientific superiority over the horse, but I think we better do something drastic. That is unless you relish the thought of suddenly finding yourselves on the wrong end of a plow or chasing each other around racetracks while the horses do the betting. And on this grim note, I must leave you until next week when I shall be back with another play. Until then, good night.
- SoundtracksFuneral March of a Marionette
Written by Charles Gounod
While not one of the worst episodes of Season 4, it is not as bad as "Don't Interrupt" and a decent 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' directing debut for Lloyd, "The 2,000,000 Defense" could have been better and is a let down after the brilliant previous episode "The Crooked Road". It is not a terrible outing and is quite fun, as well as compensated by the acting, but it is a long way from great at the same time and does underwhelm in the story and not just by a little.
Am going to start with the good. Neilson is very well cast and the slippery eel like sliminess literally drops off him, he really does relish his interesting character without hamming up too much. Barry Sullivan is an authoritative presence. Hitchcock's bookending is suitably dry humoured and Lloyd does provide some more than competent directing. The theme tune is a classic and fits the macabre tone of the series really well.
It is well made visually, simple but slick and not too stagy. The script is amusing and thought provoking and the episode does go at a lively enough pace and intrigues.
Having said all of that, the story is also really far fetched with not much making sense. Did find some of the storytelling rather incomplete feeling and a longer length would have helped to flesh out the second half more, and the episode is severely lacking in suspense.
Not to mention a good ending, here the ending is far too implausibly silly and comes out of nowhere which gives off an anti-climactic feeling.
Overall, worth a look but a long way from being one of the series' essentials. 6/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- May 2, 2023
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Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1