Francis Cockrell, Marian Cockrell, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents: An Overview

"You Got to Have Luck"

by Jack Seabrook

Francis Cockrell wrote or co-wrote 18 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents: nine in season one, six in season two, one in season three, and two in season four. Five of his scripts were directed by Hitchcock , including "Revenge," the series' premiere. His scripts tend to feature male protagonists and to be more serious and dark in theme than the shows written by his wife, with whom he co-wrote "Whodunit." Cockrell wrote the only multi-part episode in the ten years of the series (the three-part "I Killed the Count") and directed two episodes: "Whodunit" and "The Rose Garden," which featured a script by his wife. Francis Cockrell's nine scripts for the first season helped set the tone for the series.

"There Was an Old Woman"

Marian Cockrell wrote or co-wrote eleven episodes: four in season one, four in season two, two in season three, and one in season five. Her scripts were often lighter in tone than those of her husband, and many of her shows featured female protagonists, often seeming mentally unstable but just as often cleverer than they were thought to be. She wrote the first episode to be filmed ("Into Thin Air") and one of her episodes was directed by Hitchcock ("Wet Saturday"). Her often humorous touch and her work with female leads were important factors in setting the tone for many episodes of the series, episodes that were quite different than those written by her husband.

Between them, the Cockrells had a major influence on determining what kind of show Alfred Hitchcock Presents would be, and they wrote many episodes that are recalled as among the show's best.

EPISODE GUIDE-FRANCIS COCKRELL ON ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS

Episode title-“Revenge” [1.1]

Broadcast date-2 October 1955

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell and A.I. Bezzerides

Based on-"Revenge" by Samuel Blas

First print appearance-Collier's 11 January 1947

Notes

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Episode title-“Breakdown” [1.7]

Broadcast date-13 November 1955

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell and Louis Pollock

Based on-"Breakdown" by Louis Pollock

First print appearance-Collier's 7 June 1947

Notes

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"Breakdown"

Episode title-“The Case of Mr. Pelham” [1.10]

Broadcast date-4 December 1955

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-"The Case of Mr. Pelham" by Anthony Armstrong

First print appearance-Esquire November 1940

Notes

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Episode title-“A Bullet for Baldwin” [1.14]

Broadcast date-1 January 1956

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell and Eustace Cockrell

Based on-"Five Bullets for Baldwin" by Joseph Ruscoll

First print appearance-none; radio play first broadcast on Molle Mystery Theater, 16 April 1948

Notes

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"A Bullet for Baldwin"

Episode title-“You Got to Have Luck” [1.16]

Broadcast date-15 January 1956

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell and Eustace Cockrell

Based on-"You Got to Have Luck" by S.R. Ross

First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, October 1952

Notes

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Episode title-“Back for Christmas” [1.23]

Broadcast date-4 March 1956

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-"Back for Christmas" by John Collier

First print appearance-The New Yorker, 7 October 1939

Notes

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"Back for Christmas"

Episode title-“Whodunit” [1.26]

Broadcast date-25 March 1956

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell and Marian Cockrell

Based on-"Heaven Can Wait" by C.B. Gilford

First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, August 1953

Notes

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Episode title-“The Gentleman from America” [1.31]

Broadcast date-29 April 1956

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-"The Gentleman from America" by Michael Arlen

First print appearance-The Tatler, Christmas 1924

Notes

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"The Gentleman from America"

Episode title-“Momentum” [1.39]

Broadcast date-24 June 1956

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-"Murder Always Gathers Momentum" by Cornell Woolrich

First print appearance-Detective Fiction Weekly, 14 December 1940

Notes

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Episode title-“De Mortuis” [2.3]

Broadcast date-14 October 1956

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-"De Mortuis" by John Collier

First print appearance-The New Yorker, 18 July 1942

Notes

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"De Mortuis"

Episode title-“I Killed the Count” (part one) [2.25]

Broadcast date-17 March 1957

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-I Killed the Count by Alec Coppel

First print appearance-stage play first performed 10 December 1937

Notes

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Episode title-“I Killed the Count” (part two) [2.26]

Broadcast date-24 March 1957

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-I Killed the Count by Alec Coppel

First print appearance-stage play first performed 10 December 1937

Notes

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"I Killed the Count"

Episode title-“I Killed the Count” (part three) [2.27]

Broadcast date-31 March 1957

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-I Killed the Count by Alec Coppel

First print appearance-stage play first performed 10 December 1937

Notes

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Episode title-“The Hands of Mr. Ottermole” [2.32]

Broadcast date-5 May 1957

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-"The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" by Thomas Burke

First print appearance-The Story-Teller February 1929

Notes

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"The Hands of Mr. Ottermole"

Episode title-“The Dangerous People” [2.39]

Broadcast date-23 June 1957

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-"No Sanctuary" by Fredric Brown

First print appearance-Dime Mystery Magazine March 1945

Notes

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Episode title-“The Impromptu Murder” [3.38]

Broadcast date-22 June 1958

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-"The Three-Foot Grave" by Roy Vickers

First print appearance-Pearson's Magazine November 1934

Notes

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"The Impromptu Murder"

Episode title-“Relative Value” [4.21]

Broadcast date-1 March 1959

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-"Superfluous Murder" by Milward Kennedy

First print appearance-uncertain; 1928-1935?

Notes

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Episode title-“Banquo's Chair” [4.29]

Broadcast date-3 May 1959

Teleplay by-Francis Cockrell

Based on-Banquo's Chair: A Play in One Act by Rupert Croft-Cooke

First print appearance-July 1930

Notes

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"Banquo's Chair"

EPISODE GUIDE-MARIAN COCKRELL ON ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS

Episode title-“Into Thin Air” [1.5]

Broadcast date-30 October 1955

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell

Based on-"The Vanishing Lady" by Alexander Woollcott

First print appearance-The New Yorker 6 and 13 July 1929

Notes

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Episode title-“Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid” [1.12]

Broadcast date-18 December 1955

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell

Based on-"Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid" by Margaret Cousins

First print appearance-Good Housekeeping December 1943

Notes

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"Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid"

Episode title-“There Was an Old Woman” [1.25]

Broadcast date-18 March 1956

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell

Based on-an unpublished story by Jerry Hackady and Harold Hackady

First print appearance-none

Notes

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Episode title-“Whodunit” [1.26]

Broadcast date-25 March 1956

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell and Francis Cockrell

Based on-"Heaven Can Wait" by C.B. Gilford

First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, August 1953

Notes

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"Whodunit"

Episode title-“Wet Saturday” [2.1]

Broadcast date-30 September 1956

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell

Based on-"Wet Saturday" by John Collier

First print appearance-The New Yorker, 16 July 1938

Notes

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Episode title-“Conversation Over a Corpse” [2.8]

Broadcast date-18 November 1956

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell and Norman Daniels

Based on-an unpublished story by Norman Daniels

First print appearance-none

Notes

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"Conversation over a Corpse"

Episode title-“The Rose Garden” [2.12]

Broadcast date-16 December 1956

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell

Based on-an unpublished story by Vincent Fotre

First print appearance-none

Notes

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Episode title-“The West Warlock Time Capsule” [2.35]

Broadcast date-26 May 1957

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell

Based on-an unpublished story by J.P Cahn

First print appearance-none

Notes

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"The West Warlock Time Capsule"

Episode title-“Miss Paisley's Cat” [3.12]

Broadcast date-22 December 1957

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell

Based on-"Miss Paisley's Cat" by Roy Vickers

First print appearance-Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine May 1953

Notes

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Episode title-“Miss Bracegirdle Does Her Duty” [3.18]

Broadcast date-2 February 1958

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell

Based on-"Miss Bracegirdle Does Her Duty" by Stacy Aumonier

First print appearance-The Strand Magazine September 1922

Notes

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"Miss Bracegirdle Does Her Duty"

Episode title-“The Schartz-Metterklume Method” [5.35]

Broadcast date-12 June 1960

Teleplay by-Marian Cockrell

Based on-"The Schartz-Metterklume Method" by Saki

First print appearance-The Westminster Gazette, 14 October 1911

Notes

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The Hitchcock Project-Francis and Marian Cockrell Part Fifteen: Relative Value [4.21]

by Jack Seabrook

Having written bad checks to support his bad habits, John Mansbridge arrives by train at Gorse Hill intent on murdering his cousin Felix and thus preventing his forgeries from coming to light. John establishes an alibi by making sure he is seen by a ticket collector and a policeman before taking a bicycle that he had previously hidden in a shed and riding to his cousin's home. He was seen setting out on foot for the 45-minute trip, so his speedy cycling allows him to arrive before anyone would think he could. On arrival, John lets himself in the front door with a pilfered key, creeps up behind Felix, who is dozing in an armchair, and bashes in his skull with an Indian club.

After arranging the room to make it look like his cousin was killed during a robbery, John finds the bad check he was seeking in the pocket of his brother's jacket, ignoring a letter folded around it. He then goes outside and pretends to have just arrived, making a fuss when no one answers the door. A passing constable shows up right on time, enters the house, and finds Felix dead. He also finds a note in which Felix confesses to having committed suicide by taking poison. John is stunned, so the constable gives him a drink to calm his nerves.

Torin Thatcher as Felix

The police superintendent, sergeant, and constable later piece together what must have happened, realizing that John intended to murder his cousin without realizing he was already dead. They cannot figure out how John got to the house so quickly and they will never know, since the drink the constable gave John to calm his nerves was the same poisoned liquid that Felix had imbibed and John died almost instantly.

"Superfluous Murder," by Milward Kennedy, is the type of story that depends on giving the reader all of the clues while leaving out important details. In the first paragraph, we are told that John intends to murder his cousin. His carefully planned alibi seems to work and the murder is described in such a way as to avoid the suggestion that the victim is anything but asleep. When the constable finds the suicide note, John is shocked and takes the offered drink without comment. The scene then jumps to a discussion among three policeman about how the murder was accomplished. The author omits the fact of John's sudden death until the final paragraphs and it comes as a second surprise to the reader.

Tom Conway as the superintendent of police

I have been unable to pinpoint a date or place for the original publication of this story, but it was included in G.K. Chesterton's 1935 collection, A Century of Detective Stories, and the first publication I could find for any work by Kennedy dates to 1928, so it is reasonable to assume that this story was originally published between 1928 and 1935. The title may refer to cousin Felix's self-murder by suicide, which turns out to be superfluous because he would have been murdered anyway by John, or to John's supposed murder of Felix, who was already dead. The act of murder is also superfluous because Felix left a letter to say that he was killing himself and leaving his money to John. Consequently, the entire process that John goes through is superfluous.

Francis Cockrell was assigned to adapt Kennedy's short story for Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959, and he changed the title to another one with more than one meaning: "Relative Value." John and Felix are, of course, relatives, and Felix's value to John lies in the money he can provide, either dead or alive. John's seeming murder of Felix is also of relative value, since it turns out to have been superfluous. Kennedy's story is so tightly plotted that its essence survives what is a somewhat sloppy script by Cockrell, at least judging from what appears on screen.

Frederic Worlock as Betts, the butler

The show opens with a close up of a check dated June 5, 1930, thus telling us that the story takes place almost three decades before it was aired on CBS on Sunday, March 1, 1959. We then see a scene that was only described as having happened in the past in the story, as John visits Felix and is chastised for forging a check and then having the temerity to request more money. This initial scene follows the pattern established by Cockrell in many other shows of taking events from a story and rearranging them to present them in chronological order.

Unfortunately, to the careful viewer, the time sequence in "Relative Value" refuses to make sense. In the initial scene, Betts, Felix's butler, tells John that he is going on vacation on Thursday and that a woman from the village named Mrs. Simpson will "come in by the day" to look after Felix. We can assume that this scene takes place some time between Friday and Tuesday; Betts would not say he was leaving on Thursday if the scene occurred prior to the preceding Friday; he would say "next Thursday" or give a specific date. If the conversation occurred on Wednesday, he would say he was leaving "tomorrow." The forged check seen in the first shot is dated June 5, 1930, a Thursday, so it must have been written at least a day before the scene takes place, and probably more than that.

Walter Burke as Benny, the bookie

Things begin to get confusing when John leaves Felix's home. He goes outside and examines a nearby pond, then sees the constable bicycle by on the road and checks the time on his watch. Readers of the story know what is going on, but viewers of the show are left to wonder what John is up to. The next scene takes place in daylight, which suggests that time must have passed since the last scene. In an incident added by Cockrell, John stops in a shop to see Benny, a bookie. John asks Benny if he will know if a check John gave him was fraudulent by "Thursday" and Benny replies that he'll know "tomorrow," which strongly suggests that tomorrow is not Thursday.

Even worse, after Felix has been murdered, Cockrell has the policemen interviewing Mrs. Simpson in Felix's living room. Now, if Betts the butler was not leaving till Thursday, and Simpson was going to come in "by the day," the earliest she would have come would be Thursday, and she says that this was her first day there. The times just don't add up. Cockrell should have either added some title cards to clarify the timing of events or added a few lines of dialogue to explain matters. As it plays on screen it looks like John leaves Felix's house, goes to the village, and then returns to Felix's house that same night, but this is clearly impossible and not Cockrell's intention. Instead, we are meant to understand that there is a break in time between the night when John leaves Felix's house and the afternoon when he arrives back in the village.

There are still other problems. After visiting Benny the bookie, John goes to a village pub, where last call is announced; this is usually 11 p.m. John then runs down the road and into the woods, where he finds a bicycle. In Kennedy's story, it is explained that John had hidden the bicycle in a shed previously so that it would be available for him on the night of the murder. In the TV show, it looks like he just happens to run into the woods and find a handy bike lying on the ground. Where did it come from? This is never explained. In the short story, a month passes between John's visit to Felix and his return to commit murder. In the show, the viewer is left confused.

Denholm Elliot as John Mansbridge

At Felix's house, John stands outside his cousin's window and hears a program on the radio (or perhaps a disc on a phonograph) in which a man explains life insurance--a nice touch, considering what is about to happen. In the short story, Kennedy has the superintendent explain that Felix bought a policy that was not invalidated by suicide; this detail is missing from the teleplay and one is left wondering why Felix would think that he could leave his life insurance benefits to John and then kill himself. John hits Felix with a fireplace poker, not an Indian club, and one is reminded of how many fireplace pokers have been used on television to commit homicide. John finds his second bad check in Felix's pocket and we see that it is dated June 5, 1930, just like the check in the show's first scene. Why did John write two bad checks--one for 50 pounds and another for 100 pounds--both on the same day, and why did one make its way to Felix long before the other? Who knows?

Most frustrating of all, perhaps, is what happens when the constable gives Felix's suicide note to John. John begins to read it aloud, there is a cut to the actual note, and then the screen begins to blur and there is a fade to black. We do not see the constable give John the poisoned drink! The shot then fades back in on the three policemen discussing the murder, and it is not until the show's final lines that we learn that John drank poison. This seems like an inexcusable failure to show an extremely important incident. In the last scene, the police refer to John being in the next room and comment that they will leave him there; we assume he is sitting in a chair, recovering. The last shot has the police go into the next room, where Felix and John's bodies are laid out side by side on the floor, so we get a visual representation of the fact that both are dead. The constable admits to having given John a poisoned glass of whisky and there is a fade out.

The final surprise!

"Superfluous Murder" is such a strong story that it manages to survive the clumsy adaptation for television under the title "Relative Value," despite the confusion as to timing, the mysteriously convenient bike in the woods, and the failure to show the key drink being administered. Some credit for this likely goes to the director, Paul Almond (1931-2015), a Canadian filmmaker and novelist who worked on TV and in film from 1955 to 1992. He directed "Seven-Up!," the first in the long-running series of features that have tracked a group of children every seven years as they grow up. In addition to "Relative Value," he directed one other episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His shot choices and handling of the cast make "Relative Value" an enjoyable half-hour, despite its internal inconsistencies.

Starring as John Mansbridge, who passes bad checks to support a gambling habit, kills a corpse, and accidentally drinks poisoned whiskey, is Denholm Elliot (1922-1992), a British character actor who was a gunner in the RAF during WWII. His plane was shot down in 1942 and he sat out the rest of the war in a POW camp. After the war, he had a long career on screen, from 1947 until his death. He appeared in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "The Crocodile Case." His career peaked in the early 1980s, with notable roles in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Trading Places (1983), and A Room With a View (1985).

A.E. Gould-Porter as Tom, the bartender

Receiving second billing for a brief appearance is Torin Thatcher (1905-1981), who plays Felix Mansbridge. A British actor born in India, Thatcher was on screen from 1927 to 1976 and took a break to serve in the Royal Artillery in WWII. Among the many classic films in which he appeared were Great Expectations (1946) and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). He was on the Hitchcock show three times, including "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole," and he also was seen on Thriller, Star Trek, and Night Gallery.

Tom Conway (1904-1967) plays the police inspector who figures out what really happened. Born Thomas Sanders in Russia, Conway's family fled to England at the time of the 1917 revolution. He was on screen from 1940 to 1964 and is best remembered as the star of the Falcon series of films in the 1940s. He was also in Cat People (1940). Conway appeared in three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "The Glass Eye."

In smaller roles:

*Frederic Worlock (1886-1973) as Betts, the butler; he was on screen from 1914 to 1970 and appeared on the Hitchcock show four times, most recently in Francis Cockrell's "The Impromptu Murder."

*Walter Burke (1908-1984) as Benny, the bookie; born in Brooklyn, his face is familiar from countless TV roles between 1950 and 1980 but this was his only time on the Hitchcock show.

Mollie Glessing as Mrs. Simpson

*A.E. Gould-Porter (1905-1987) as Tom, the bartender; seen in numerous films and TV shows from 1942 to 1973, he was in ten episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "I Killed the Count."

*Mollie Glessing (1891-1971) as Mrs. Simpson, who came in "by the day" to look after Felix; this is one of her seven appearances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents; the last was "The Impromptu Murder."

Milward Kennedy (1894-1968), who wrote "Superfluous Murder," was born Milward Rodon Kennedy Burge and was a British novelist and short story writer active from 1928 to 1958. This appears to be the only time one of his works was adapted for the screen. In her introduction to Great Tales of Detection, Dorothy L. Sayers writes that, in this short story, Kennedy "uses the method first popularised by R. Austin Freeman of showing the method of the crime first and the method of detection after; adding a cynical twist in the modern manner." R. Austin Freeman claimed to have invented the "inverted detective story" in 1912; his most famous detective was Dr. Thorndyke. Those of us who remember the long-running TV series Columbo are quite familiar with the technique of showing how the murder was done first and how it is solved second.

"Superfluous Murder" is available in many collections of classic detective stores. "Relative Value" may be viewed online for free here or is available on DVD here. Read the Genre Snaps take on this episode here.

Sources:

The FictionMags Index, 1 Mar. 2018, www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/0start.htm.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub., 2001.

IMDb, IMDb.com, 1 Mar. 2018, www.imdb.com/.

Kennedy, Milward. “Superfluous Murder.” Great Tales of Detection, edited by Dorothy L. Sayers, Dent, 1976, pp. 309–323.

“Relative Value.” Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 4, episode 21, CBS, 1 Mar. 1959.

Sayers, Dorothy L. “Introduction.” Great Tales of Detection, Dent, 1976, p. xiv.

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Mar. 2018, www.wikipedia.org/.

In two weeks: Our series on the Cockrells wraps up with a look at "The Schartz-Metterklume Method," starring Hermione Gingold!

The Hitchcock Project-Francis and Marian Cockrell Part Fourteen: The Impromptu Murder [3.38]

by Jack Seabrook

Hume Cronyn as Henry Daw

An impromptu act is defined as one that is done without being planned, organized, or rehearsed. One might think that "The Impromptu Murder" would likely be marked by error, but that's not necessarily what happens in the Roy Vickers short story of the same title that was adapted by Francis Cockrell for an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

In the story, 42-year-old British solicitor Henry Daw has a comfortable practice in the English town of Swallowsbath. After a client named Agnes Wilkinson unfairly questions his integrity, he feels justified in using her money to make his own investments, but when World War One breaks out he loses both his money and hers. When she comes to visit to discuss her finances, he invites her to stay at the home he shares with his spinster sister, Margery. Miss Wilkinson surprises Henry by stating that she needs her money to invest in her brother's factory, which is being converted to war production. Henry takes Agnes for a walk and decides to murder her and save himself from going to prison for theft. He prepares a spot where he will bury her and lay a slab of slate over her grave. That night, he violently suffocates her as she sits in her room writing letters.

"The Impromptu Murder"
was reprinted here

He buries her body and covers the grave with the slab. Next morning, he dresses in her clothes and a veil, taking a pre-dawn carriage to the train station and leaving a note saying that she had decided to return to London and that he was going to accompany her part of the way. Boarding the train, he changes back into his own clothes and returns home later that afternoon to find his sister acting out of sorts. In the days that follow, Agnes's disappearance is reported and a search begins. Henry's explanation to a detective about accompanying Agnes on the train is found credible and he avoids suspicion.

For seven months, all is quiet, but come the next Whitsunday (late spring), a heavy rain leads to flooding and a woman's dead body is found. The police superintendent comments to Henry, who is by this time the mayor of Swallowsbath, that the woman's neck was broken and that she has been dead since around the time when Agnes disappeared. Asked to identify the body, Henry closes his eyes and denies that it's Agnes. Superintendent Tarrant, of Scotland Yard's Department of Dead Ends, asks Agnes's brother George to travel to the small town and view the body. Tarrant also visits the town and calls on Henry, asking if his sister Margery would view the body and provide her opinion. Henry refuses to allow it.

Valerie Cossart as Margery Daw

Fearing that suspicion will fall on his sister, Henry confesses to Agnes's murder. Just then, Tarrant receives a telephone call reporting that the corpse is definitely not that of Agnes. He then asks Henry what he did with the body and, after Henry explains, Agnes's corpse is recovered. The other corpse is never identified.

"The Impromptu Murder" is very much a tale of the British countryside in the early part of the twentieth century, where even a violent murder can seem genteel. The story was originally published under the title, "The Three-Foot Grave," referring to the depth that Henry digs, and it first saw print in the November 1934 issue of Pearson's Magazine. The original title seems more appropriate than "The Impromptu Murder," under which title it was reprinted in the October 1950 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, because the murder is not impromptu at all: Henry makes his plans and digs a grave before committing the violent deed. The shallowness of the grave is key to Henry's worry that the heavy rain and floods have caused the body of his victim to become uncovered, even though he put a slab of slate over it.

"The Impromptu Murder" was one of three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents to be adapted from short stories by Roy Vickers (1889-1965), an English author who was born William Vickers and who is best remembered for his series of tales dealing with the Department of Dead Ends. Though some of the stories have been reprinted in a series of editions going back to 1947, this particular short story does not seem to have been reprinted since 1950. Vickers also wrote the stories upon which "The Crocodile Case" and "Miss Paisley's Cat" were based.

Robert Douglas as Charles

Francis Cockrell's script for "The Impromptu Murder" opens with two quick shots with superimposed titles to establish the place, the time, the main character, and his occupation. The first is a long shot of an English country town and the title, "Swallowsbath, England, 1916," then there is a dissolve to a heavy, wooden door with a plaque reading, "Henry Daw, Solicitor." Henry arrives at work and is greeted by Hobson, his clerk, a character not found in the short story. Henry opens a letter from Miss Wilkinson, who writes that she is stopping by for a chat in a week; he remarks that he has not had a word from her in years. In the TV version, there is no mention (at least in the early scenes) of Henry using his client's money improperly.

In the next scene, Henry pours drinks while Miss Wilkinson and Margery chat in the Daw living room. Henry seems apprehensive but, since we don't know that he has lost his client's money, there is no explanation for his behavior. He does not walk Miss Wilkinson to town, as he does in the story, and the next time we see Henry, he is digging a grave. Without the background of his financial impropriety, this makes no sense and we are left to fill in the details on our own. That night, he sneaks into her room and kills her in a scene well-staged by the episode's director, Paul Henreid: we see Henry approach the woman but we witness the murder as it is reflected on the wall in shadows. Henry carries the corpse out of the house but we see that his sister is awake in her bed and that she hears him head down the stairs.

Henry sneaks out before dawn dressed as Agnes

After a break, Henry is shown putting the slab in place over the grave. In the next scene, he leaves home before dawn, dressed as his victim, rides a carriage to the train station, boards the train, changes his clothes, and makes sure that he is seen by a client while on the train. Back at home, he finds his sister out of sorts, but again the reason for a character's behavior is unclear; if Margery suspects that something is amiss, why does she not say anything to her brother? In the scene that follows, a dapper policeman named Charles questions Henry, who lies and says that he cannot do anything with Miss Wilkinson's money because she did not give him definite instructions. We must assume that Charles is a policeman because he questions Henry; there is no explanation of who he is and we assume he is local because he rides a bicycle and Henry knows him by his first name.

Francis Cockrell cleverly takes the various policeman in the short story and merges them all into the single character of Charles. The next thing we know, it's pouring outside, and we must assume that some time has passed since the murder. Margery makes an odd comment to Henry that "no one can have everything just as he would like it" and, the next day, Henry--now the mayor of Swallowsbath--dedicates a small stone monument to the village's war dead. His speech is interrupted when a body floats down the river; he watches with horror as it is fished out.

Charles, the policeman, asks Henry to identify the body and Henry closes his eyes and denies that it is Agnes. Charles then visits Henry at home and asks for Margery to get involved, but Henry confesses and says that the motive was to hide the use of his client's money. This line is the first time in the episode that the viewer gets an idea of the reason for the murder. Charles then gets the telephone call, Henry reveals the location of the body, Charles tells him that it's not Agnes, and the show ends on a close up of Henry's face as he realizes that he has confessed to murder for no reason.

Doris Lloyd as Agnes

"The Impromptu Murder" has some flaws in the script that leave out important facts and character motivations, yet it works surprisingly well as a half-hour crime drama. Paul Henreid (1908-1992), the director, is largely responsible for the fast pace of the show and its moody atmosphere, especially in the murder scene. Born in Austria, Henreid's onscreen career began in Germany in 1933 and continued for decades after he emigrated to the United States. His most famous role was in Casablanca (1942), of course, but he was also an accomplished director who worked mostly in TV and who directed no less than 29 episodes of the Hitchcock series, including "Guest for Breakfast" and "Annabel."

Another reason the show works is the performance by Hume Cronyn (1911-2003) as Henry Daw. Cronyn, who was Canadian, not British, is completely believable as the solicitor who robs and murders his client and then succeeds in covering up his crimes until mistakenly blurting out a confession. Cronyn's acting career began on Broadway in 1934 and he was on screen from 1943 until 2004. He had important roles in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Lifeboat (1949) and was also one of the writers credited on Hitchcock's Rope (1948) and Under Capricorn (1949). Cronyn appeared twice on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and among his other memorable film roles were The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), in which he also plays a lawyer, and Cocoon (1985), a late-career hit. His wife, Jessica Tandy (1942-1994), was also a great actor who appeared on the Hitchcock TV show.

David Frankham as Hobson

Charles, the policeman, is played by Robert Douglas (1909-1999), who was born in England as Robert Finlayson and whose career started on stage in 1927. His appearances on screen stretched from 1931 to 1978 and he also directed, almost exclusively for TV, from 1960 to 1982, including four episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. One of them, "Behind the Locked Door," is among the best.

Margery Daw is a name from an old English nursery rhyme, "See Saw Margery Daw," and in the short story Henry affectionately calls his sister by the nickname, "See Saw." In the TV show, there is no such familiarity, and the role of Margery is played rather stiffly by Valerie Cossart (1907-1994) who, in fairness, is not given much to do. She was a Broadway actress of the 1930s and 1940s who worked mostly on TV from 1946 to 1980 and who appeared in the film version of Rod Serling's tale of the business world, Patterns, in 1956. This was her only appearance on the Hitchcock show.

Supporting players include:

*Doris Lloyd (1896-1968) as Agnes Wilkinson; she started out in Vaudeville in 1916 and appeared in over 150 films from 1920 to 1967. Her nine roles in the Hitchcock TV series included parts in "Dip in the Pool" and "Isabel."

Molly Glessing as the maid

*David Frankham (1926- ) as Hobson, Henry's clerk; he worked for the BBC from 1948 to 1955 before coming the the U.S. and becoming an actor. He was on screen from 1956 until 2010 and wrote an autobiography, Which One Was David?

*Molly Glessing (1891-1971) as the maid; she often played maids in a career onscreen from 1951 to 1964 and she was seen in seven episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby."

"The Impromptu Murder" may be viewed online here or is available on DVD here. Thanks to Peter Enfantino for providing a copy of the short story!

Sources:

The FictionMags Index, www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/0start.htm.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub., 2001.

IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/.

“The Impromptu Murder.” Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 3, episode 38, CBS, 22 June 1958.

Stephensen-Payne, Phil. “Galactic Central.” Galactic Central, philsp.com/.

“Valerie Cossart, 87, Actress of the 30's.” New York Times, 12 Jan. 1995, www.nytimes.com.

Vickers, Roy. “The Impromptu Murder.” Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Oct. 1950, pp. 22–32.

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, www.wikipedia.org/.
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