Usually Tony Randall played nice guys in film and TV as well as the lovable nut, Felix Unger. However, his character in this installment of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" is a HUGE departure for him! In "Hangover" he plays an alcoholic...and an occasionally shockingly violent one...something you just don't expect from this actor!
When the story begins, Hadley (Randall) is having cooking sherry for breakfast....a 'morning pick me up'. This is because he has a hangover and his body is craving liquor. When his wife catches him, she tells him he's an alcoholic and she'll leave him next time he gets drunk. While he denies it, he clearly is an alcoholic and soon goes off on a bender...a really bad one. It's so bad that he's blacked out and doesn't have any idea what's happened...who the new woman (Jayne Mansfield) is in his home nor about what happened at the big sales presentation at work. He cannot recall any of it...though through the course of the show he's able to piece things together...and none of them are good!
While I would agree that this episode goes on a bit too long (the switch to the one hour format was, in hindsight, a mistake for the series), it is shocking and makes a big impact. It also shows that Randall could act far beyond the usual 'nice guy' roles. Shocking...definitely...and the end hits you like a brick and nearly had me in tears.
When the story begins, Hadley (Randall) is having cooking sherry for breakfast....a 'morning pick me up'. This is because he has a hangover and his body is craving liquor. When his wife catches him, she tells him he's an alcoholic and she'll leave him next time he gets drunk. While he denies it, he clearly is an alcoholic and soon goes off on a bender...a really bad one. It's so bad that he's blacked out and doesn't have any idea what's happened...who the new woman (Jayne Mansfield) is in his home nor about what happened at the big sales presentation at work. He cannot recall any of it...though through the course of the show he's able to piece things together...and none of them are good!
While I would agree that this episode goes on a bit too long (the switch to the one hour format was, in hindsight, a mistake for the series), it is shocking and makes a big impact. It also shows that Randall could act far beyond the usual 'nice guy' roles. Shocking...definitely...and the end hits you like a brick and nearly had me in tears.