Herschel Daugherty's 24 episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' were quite mixed. He was responsible for one of my favourite episodes of the series "The Creeper" and his debut episode "The Belfry" is one of the better debut episodes of the regular directors, so at his best his output was excellent. Some of his episodes though were very flawed, perhaps the biggest example of his previous episodes being "My Brother Richard". "The Cream of the Jest" though contains one of the finest character actors of his generation Claude Rains, so already there was a lot of interest.
"The Cream of the Jest" is another episode of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' that is well worth seeing. It is not one of Daugherty's best episodes and had a number of problems with the story. It is also not one of his worst and is worth seeing for particularly the two leads chemistry and the acting, with Rains certainly not disappointing. Season 2 was an inconsistent one and took a while to find its groove, generally not as good as the first, but there is still a good deal to like about most of the episodes and "The Cream of the Jest" is no exception.
Am going to begin with what could have been done (much) better. It does suffer from a rather implausible final act, and much more could have been done with exploring Gregory's motivations.
The change of heart is introduced too suddenly without warning and the why is left vague at best, with his participation is not easy to swallow or explained that well.
On the other hand, there is a lot still to recommend. It is extremely well acted by the two leads, wirh Rains being absolutely excellent as a truly juicy character. The dynamic between the two is the heart of the episode (it and Rains' performance) and despite the story being very uneven it still had a lot of intrigue and tension on the whole thanks to the central dynamic between the two leads. Daugherty directs more than competently.
It is a slick and atmospheric looking episode, with the photography really adding a lot to the creepiness and making up for the simplicity of the sets. The audio is suitably ominous and the theme tune for the series continues to be one of the best uses of pre existing classic music in television, Bernard Hermann has a lot to thank for suggesting it. The script is intriguing and not too talky, while Hitchcock's bookending is suitably ironic and not over-explanatory.
Concluding, uneven but well worth the look for particularly Rains. 7/10.
"The Cream of the Jest" is another episode of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' that is well worth seeing. It is not one of Daugherty's best episodes and had a number of problems with the story. It is also not one of his worst and is worth seeing for particularly the two leads chemistry and the acting, with Rains certainly not disappointing. Season 2 was an inconsistent one and took a while to find its groove, generally not as good as the first, but there is still a good deal to like about most of the episodes and "The Cream of the Jest" is no exception.
Am going to begin with what could have been done (much) better. It does suffer from a rather implausible final act, and much more could have been done with exploring Gregory's motivations.
The change of heart is introduced too suddenly without warning and the why is left vague at best, with his participation is not easy to swallow or explained that well.
On the other hand, there is a lot still to recommend. It is extremely well acted by the two leads, wirh Rains being absolutely excellent as a truly juicy character. The dynamic between the two is the heart of the episode (it and Rains' performance) and despite the story being very uneven it still had a lot of intrigue and tension on the whole thanks to the central dynamic between the two leads. Daugherty directs more than competently.
It is a slick and atmospheric looking episode, with the photography really adding a lot to the creepiness and making up for the simplicity of the sets. The audio is suitably ominous and the theme tune for the series continues to be one of the best uses of pre existing classic music in television, Bernard Hermann has a lot to thank for suggesting it. The script is intriguing and not too talky, while Hitchcock's bookending is suitably ironic and not over-explanatory.
Concluding, uneven but well worth the look for particularly Rains. 7/10.