Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat (1960) User Reviews

A Maupassant short story

[cheryl-rixon · 8/10 · 30 January 2016]

This is not the normal Hitchcock episode, Audrey Meadows is married to a bland and stingy dentist, He does not appear to be particularly mean-spirited. She escapes from him once a month to be with her wealthy lover who appreciates her. He gives her a gift to end the relationship, and the story revolves around the fate of this gift.

There is an air of lost dreams and stifled hopes of people trapped in unfulfilling relationships. The plot moves along steadily and it only becomes apparent what is going to happen at the very end.

I seem to have rated this episode higher than most viewers as I got into the atmosphere of the story from the very beginning, and had recently seen a number of episodes which did not involve the black humour, or elements of murder or death present in most episodes.

It was not particularly slow moving or leisurely, and did move along in a very gentle way.

Think Things Through

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 28 May 2021]

Audrey Meadows cheats on her boring dentist husband once a month. She goes to see a rich man who lives in a mansion. One day, it is all over. He gives her a parting present--a very expensive mink coat. What can she do with it? Well, she has a plan, but it depends on some pretty well conceived plans. I also can't help but think of her as Alice from the Honeymooners.

THINK MINK... AND THINK FAST!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 10 December 2023]

You have to love this episode, so thoughtfully directed by Alfred Hitchcock himself, who may have been a fan of Audrey Meadows. She is the whole show here.

Audrey plays Mrs. Bixby, the wife of a dentist --who is a bore! She finds a secret new life with a wealthy and distinguished colonel, and visits him from time to time, EXCEPT one day comes word he wants to break it off! But all is not lost, as he gives her a little "settlement" in the form of a mink coat.

Now what??? And Hitch must have had a giggle over this one.

Talk about being between a rock and a hard place... and does Mrs. Bixby's boring husband start looking good to her all over again? Wait and see.

Exceptionally written by Halstead Wells, who wrote six episodes for Hitch. Without too much surprise, Wells wrote for the classic SUSPENSE tv series and later for NIGHT GALLERY.

True, you keep on thinking of Audrey Meadows as Alice from the HONEYMOONERS, but give it a watch as you can't keep a great actress down. She is fun.

SEASON 6 EPISODE 1 remastered Universal dvd box set.

It's a good story but...

[fayder-49132 · 6/10 · 7 December 2019]

Audrey will always be Alice Kramden to me. And I can't help but think it would be cheaper for her dentist husband to run out and grab a 50 cent sandwich for lunch than for his wife to take the train back and forth just to bring him leftover salmon from last night's dinner.