Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) Man from the South (1960) User Reviews

"Man From the South" showcases early McQueen

[chuck-reilly · 9/10 · 17 March 2008]

In the 1960 "Man From the South", a young up-and-coming Steve McQueen isn't even given a name; he's merely "the gambler" and his real-life wife, Neile Adams is cast as "the girl." They accidentally bump into each other at a Las Vegas lounge in the early hours of the morning and strike up a conversation. It's obvious that they're both broke and looking for a fast way out of town. Their chance meeting may be one of desperation, but the two seem to hit it off extremely well. Soon they might even be potential lovers until they're interrupted by an obnoxious stranger. Enter Peter Lorre as "Carlos" who offers McQueen and his new girlfriend a quick exit in the form of a strange and very macabre wager. After over-hearing how impressed McQueen is with his new cigarette lighter, Lorre offers to wager his brand new convertible if Steve can get the lighter to strike successfully ten times in a row. If the lighter fails just once, Lorre gets to whack off the little finger on McQueen's left hand with a meat cleaver. At first, McQueen declines the wager---until he re-evaluates his current and dire financial situation. After some brief soul-searching, he decides to take the bet.

There's a nice punch line to all of this and it has nothing to do with the evils of gambling. Lorre keeps the plot moving with his excellent performance and McQueen does his best to hold his own when the two are on screen together. McQueen also does some major sweating while he flicks his lighter once, twice, three times, etc. With a bored and forlorn expression, Lorre stands over him with his meat cleaver firmly in hand. Then another "gambler" enters the picture...

The BEST Alfred Hitchcock episode ever (IMHO)

[james-e-clark-880-251394 · 10/10 · 11 March 2013]

I just watched this (my favorite) episode again so it is all fresh on my mind. Optimum cast combination for this suspenseful little play. Despite the negative review given previously concerning Neile Adams acting, personally I thought she was just fine. You have to bear in mind the style of acting back then tended to be melodramatic. Perhaps she was just too gorgeous (not "odd looking") for me to notice any flaws. The chemistry between she and McQueen is real. Contrary to what another reviewer felt, I thought the ending was very tight. Spoiler in response to the previous reviewer: McQueen lights the lighter successfully seven times before being interrupted; then when trying to light the girl's cigarette (what would have been the eighth try) the lighter fails.

Deadly Gamble

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 19 January 2019]

This is my favorite episode of the series, I just love it from beginning to end. I always like suspense tales about gambling which is fitting since in gambling there is always a high degree of risk involved as it is based on the fifty-fifty chance of winning or losing. These kinds of tales are the most suspenseful as every gambler even non-gamblers always carry the fear of losing because whose to say whenever you play any kind of game you never do.

There have been plenty over the years in that subcategory of suspense, like the "Chopping Cards" episode from "Tales from the Crypt" and even "The Ledge" story from Steven King's Night Shift and the film "Cat's Eye". This one was one of the first and still one of the best in my book and of course this was based on one of the suspense stories from Roald Dahl which is awesome as he's one of my suspense thriller writers.

I remember being on the edge of my seat when I watched this episode. When it came time for Steve to light that sucker once more, I thought, "Oh God, please light up." It was so nerve racking because there are so many ways things could go south, like may 'be his thumb wouldn't slide across the knob right, he would fail to press the gas button at the right time, the gas in the lighter would go dry.

But also, what makes this episode is the main character play well by legendary actor Steve McQueen, this episode was his acting debut and I'll just say it was one hell of a good start, you can say also one hell of a combo of both a legendary episode and actor. Along with veteran actor Peter Lorre whom as usual plays the shady character that contains quiet menace, or in his case a cleaver. The girl Neile Adams was decent, there is good chemistry between Steve and her, which is ironic as both were married.

Can Steve make that perfect succession, you'll just have to wait and see?

Rating: 4 stars

Who Needs This One When I've Got Nine More!

[dougdoepke · 23 June 2007]

This is the second entry featuring McQueen in the series. Both rely on superior scripts, probably an enticement for the then fast rising young actor. Also featured is McQueen's real life wife, Neile Adams, who quickly shows why she was a professional dancer and not a professional actress.

Anyway the two "meet cute" in an anonymous Las Vegas lounge when interrupted by the one-and-only Peter Lorre looking a bit like a human version of Pacman. Naturally, you suspect something weird from such a weird looking guy, and he doesn't disappoint. He proposes a cockamamie wager to McQueen: his convertible car for McQueen's little finger!-- (Thank you writer Roald Dahl for this one.) McQueen's intrigued; it's just strange enough to be interesting. Then too, maybe that will impress the shapely Miss Adams. The trick is for McQueen to light his cigarette lighter ten times without a miss, otherwise his fingers only count up to nine.

Thanks to the inbuilt suspense, we sweat a bucket-load, hanging with Steve as he flicks once, twice, three times, his other hand splayed across a table top with Lorre poised hatchet in hand. Frankly, in my view, the ending doesn't quite match the lead-up in pay-off. Still, the 30 minutes amounts to a fascinating premise with a lot of white-knuckle interest for fans beyond those of early McQueen.

It Can Only Happen In Las Vegas

[jasonbourneagain · 9/10 · 16 October 2018]

The story lures the viewer in quickly. It's early morning and a young pretty woman (Neile Adams, Steve McQueen's real life wife at the time) is down to her last drink and orders a brandy at a Las Vegas casino cocktail lounge. She takes a sip and her shoe falls off. A down on his luck young gambler (Steve McQueen) helps her retrieve her shoe and makes conversation. He offers to have coffee and breakfast with his last $1.86 and she decides to join him. While he lights her cigarette, a strange little man named Carlos (Peter Lorre) interrupts to get a light for his cigarette. He buts into their meeting and leads their conversation into the man's lighter. He tells the couple that he's rich and has in mind a strange wager of his expensive sports car for something the young man has. The young man tells him he only has $1.86 and a casino chip, but that's not what he has in mind. Another stranger who overhears their strange bet can't help but get involved. I can see Peter Lorre doing his strange laugh after making the proposition. 9/10 stars.

Gripping

[ctomvelu1 · 8/10 · 6 January 2013]

Steve McQueen and Peter Lorre star in this subversive little horror tale from the pen of Roald Dahl. Lorre and McQueen meet in a casino restaurant., and a casual boast by McQueen about his cigarette lighter leads to a grim be: If McQueen can make his lighter work 10 times in row, Lorre will hand him the keys to his car. If he fails, Lorre gets to chop off McQueen's pinky. Veteran director Norman Lloyd milks this baby for all the suspense it was worth. Lorre is suitably creepy, and McQueen demonstrates the casual charm that would stand him in good stead in the years ahead. The only sour note is struck by the actress who plays McQueen's new gal pal. She is rather odd-looking and can barely handle her lines. Surprise! She was McQueen's wife at the time.

Man From The South

[a_baron · 8/10 · 2 December 2014]

Having just watched the remake with John Huston as the evil one, how could I not watch the original? Until last night I had no idea either that it was a remake or that it was based on a Roald Dahl short story from 1948. Peter Lorre was a naturally sinister individual - in the nicest possible way. When this was made, four years before his death, he had put on a little weight. I can't quite make up my mind if he was more or less sinister than in his youth, but he was certainly less menacing here than Huston because of the distance of the character; you could imagine Huston's character running a Sunday school or even a kid's party, not so Lorre's. Nevertheless, he turns in a convincing performance. Likewise, King of Cool Steve McQueen doesn't look quite so cool under pressure here.

The ending is distinctly inferior to the remake, primarily because of the way the real owner of the car holds her left hand; this is kind of a giveaway even to a slow-witted individual like Yours Truly, and would have been even if I hadn't known what was coming.

YOU'LL ONLY LOSE A FINGER OR TWO, THAT'S ALL!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 8 February 2023]

Believe it or not... this over the top episode, perhaps the best of the entire series (which is stretching it, but wait and see) may have actually been inspired by cigarette lighter commercials on tv at the time. Which lighter could last the longest?

William Jerome Fay, a frequent writer for Alfred Hitchcock, cooked up this truly camp episode, which made him famous. Peter Lorre, who you can tell is having fun with his brooding character, plays Carlos, an impulsive gambler who has gone to the next level.

He has a devious wager, proposed to young Steve McQueen, who he has taken a fancy to. One of his fingers hangs in the balance, depending IF he can successively light a cigarette lighter so many times in a row. Get It? If he loses the wager, McQueen loses a finger. And considering that Carlos is an ace gambler, there's also a chance for a re-match, should McQueen lose, allowing him to gamble with more fingers! Can you believe this?

This story must have given Hitch a chuckle or two, especially with his old friend Peter Lorre.

This will keep you literally glued to the small screen, and the posturing of McQueen's hand on a desk, ready to be chopped at, is something to see. Veteran character actress Katherine Squire is perfect as Lorre's wife, who reveals the sad truth about his little "addiction". Wait for the ending.

Peter Lorre, who had a great sense of humor, must have relished this assignment and it has become one of his most requested tv appearances. Guaranteed to linger with you for awhile.

SEASON 5 EPISODE 15 (1960) CBS dvd box set.

For some reason, the Season 5 box set is the most expensive of all --and this may be why.

When Steve McQueen was the unknown with star quality

[Clive-Silas · 9/10 · 21 September 2023]

The part to watch for is just before they begin the lighting of the lighter. The third party, the umpire, asks the gambler if he's really willing to go through with the extraordinary bet. Steve McQueen just looks down at his cocktail, looks down and toys with his olive. He doesn't look up at all and just says, "Yeah, I want to go through with it". For such a young actor barely at the beginning of his career, facing two much more experienced performers, along with his wife. To have the sheer confidence to deliver his line like that, not looking up from his glass, with such extraordinary power. This man was truly a megastar in the making.

Thanks to Roald Dahl, One of Hitch's Best Known

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 29 April 2023]

I saw this 60 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday. Peter Lorre, one of my favorite actors of all time, makes a proposition to two young people. The young guy, played by Steve McQueen, has a lighter he says always works. Lorre makes a proposal. If the guy can get the lighter to work ten consecutive times, Lorre will give him his convertible. There is some nice chemistry going on between young Stever and the Pretty Girl from Moscow, Idaho. Of course, the bet is by nature a suspense builder. But there is a fly in the ointment. The writing is fine and it works all the way to the end when fate intervenes. One of the best.

A convertible for a little finger...

[binapiraeus · 7/10 · 10 September 2014]

Well, this one surely is a QUEER entry in the great TV series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" - but nonetheless, it's certainly VERY much in the way of the great master's suspense, and humor! (The story is from Roald Dahl, so that should give keen mystery readers an idea about what's expecting us...)

In Las Vegas one morning, a sympathetic but all too cocksure young guy (Steve McQueen) meets a young girl and starts flirting with her, using his lighter that 'never misses', as he assures her, as the first thing that comes to his mind to attract her attention - but it also attracts the attention of a VERY strange man in every way (played by none other than the great Peter Lorre), who invites the lad to a bet: if his 'lighter that never misses' will light ten times in a row, he's going to win the stranger's brand new convertible - BUT if it doesn't, he'll chop off the little finger of the youngster's left hand... And what does the young fellow do to show his courage and self-assurance (especially to the girl, of course...)? He accepts the bet. And so they all go up to the strange man's room, where the boy has got his lighter ready - and the stranger a butcher's knife...

We certainly can't deny that Hitch has got us sweating and biting our nails once again, and the minutes, even the seconds seem like hours - but you SURE need a good sense of humor to take in all the twists and turns of this crazy episode! Anyway, for real fans of suspense and irony, this will be a REAL treat...

One of the better episodes

[lou345 · 9/10 · 4 January 2012]

I just bought the fifth season really for this episode. However, my memory of how this ends was much different then I remember. I originally thought that Steve McQueen got to the ninth try OK, but on the tenth light of the cigarette lighter just as he is about to strike the lighter, the hotel door opens and he's not able to light the lighter. In the end, the woman who is married to Peter Lorre shows her arm having 11 fingers for the amount of the 11 cars lost. In the show you only see two fingers and Steve only gets to seven tries with the lighter. The build up somehow drops off as the ending comes into play. Maybe I thought of a remake of this show somewhere over time but I can't quite remember because it hasn't shown on TV for many many years. Maybe someone can help me out with what I remember?

A Piece of Dahlist Macabre

[theowinthrop · 7/10 · 11 November 2006]

To most movie fans, Roald Dahl is best recalled for the children's classic CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, which was made into two films. But in the 1950s on ALFRED HITCHCOCK and on other television shows Dahl's cynical and ironical style of humor came up again and again on the air to widespread popular acclaim. While CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY was something about what makes a young child a good child, with the rivals of Charlie self-destructing due to their bad behavior or characters, the other stories tended to be more grown-up and (in their twisted way) fun.

Steve McQueen (in an early part) is a gambler in a Latin American country, who is very willing to bet on anything. He is also very proud of his handsome new, infallible cigarette lighter (this was made in the period when getting a new Ronson or Zippo lighter was a nice gift with little consideration about cancer causing cigarettes - an ironic point considering the premature death of McQueen at the height of his career). He is constantly boasting about his never fail lighter, when a mysterious man approaches him for a proposed wager. The man (Peter Lorre - the only time he and McQueen both appeared together in any film or show) says he is a wealthy man who likes to make an occasional bet - not for money. He will give McQueen his limousine (which McQueen was admiring earlier) if McQueen's lighter will properly light ten times in a row without pause. But if it does fail to light up properly, Lorre wins. He will cut off one of McQueen's fingers.

The suspense of the episode is that McQueen thinks that Lorre's bet is really a flight of unreality, but he is sure his great little lighter will work ten times straight in a row. Lorre is very matter-of-fact about the wager, even if the goal is a trifle ghoulish on his part. It is only when McQueen finally gets down to actually performing the action of the lighting of the lighter that he sees how serious Lorre really is. Lorre has McQueen's other arm tied down, and readied for it's thumb to be cut off with a cleaver. But McQueen starts flicking the lighter on. One...two...three...four...five...six...seven....

SPOILER COMING UP.

As McQueen is about to light the lighter an eighth time, a woman comes in and confronts Lorre. She starts berating him about the bet - reminding him that everything he owns is hers, not his. Actually this kills the bet from continuing, as if McQueen wins it Lorre has no title to the car to give it to McQueen. Lorre, like a sullen little boy gives his keys to his wife (the woman who came in - Katherine Squire), and we see only two of her fingers remain on one hand as she picks up the keys. As for McQueen, as he sees that the bet has blown up, he is lighting a cigarette with his infallible lighter, and much to his amazement it fails to light!