Alfred Hitchcock directed the first (and only the first) episode of the 1950s TV series "Suspicion"; it is certainly a much better showcase of his talents than "Incident At A Corner", the one TV episode he directed for a different TV series, "Startime", three years later. Hitch puts his stamp all over this one, having his customary fun with little details that first give false hope to E. G. Marshall's character that there may be a way out of his predicament, only to dash those hopes time and time again by unforeseen developments. Cornell Woolrich's story is filled with ironic twists and reversals. *** out of 4.
9 Reviews
Man against the clock
kapelusznik1827 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Highly suspicious watch repairman Paul Steppe, E.G. Marshall, is convinced that his wife Fran, Nancy Kelly, is having an affair behind his back and plans to do Fran and her "lover" who turns out to be "Pretty Boy" Dave, Richard Long, in the next time he shows up in the house at precisely 4:00 PM. that afternoon. Assembling a massive overkill time bomb-That can easily demolish an entire city block- to do the work, by knocking off Fran & Dave, everything is set to go off until two neighbor hoods Joe & Bill, Tom Pittman & Harry Dean Stanton, break into the house in a home invasion and after robbing Paul of his last 9 dollars gag and tie him up in the basement.
Knowing that he has a little time-Two hours- until the bomb goes off Paul forgets about his wife Fran cheating on him if that's what she's doing and tries to get her as well as her lover "Pretty Boy" Dave, who turns out to be just a friend of the family, to rescue his sorry a** when they both drop in to have their afternoon tea & crumpets. Totally ignoring his attempts to alerts both Fran & "Pretty Boy" Dave of his desperate condition Paul waits for the end to come as the clock, or time bomb, slowly ticks away to its final and explosive conclusion.
****SPOILERS*** Heart-stopping final that blows everyone's mind to how this story finally ends with Paul by then having already lost his own and gone almost completely brain dead . Not what you would expect in a story like this but still enough tension and suspense to give one an massive heart attack watching it. With Paul, who by then has finally seen the evil in his ways, realizing what a big mistake he made by letting his emotions take control of his reasoning. And thus setting himself up for the "Big Bang" that's to destroy his life home family as well as his entire universe!
Knowing that he has a little time-Two hours- until the bomb goes off Paul forgets about his wife Fran cheating on him if that's what she's doing and tries to get her as well as her lover "Pretty Boy" Dave, who turns out to be just a friend of the family, to rescue his sorry a** when they both drop in to have their afternoon tea & crumpets. Totally ignoring his attempts to alerts both Fran & "Pretty Boy" Dave of his desperate condition Paul waits for the end to come as the clock, or time bomb, slowly ticks away to its final and explosive conclusion.
****SPOILERS*** Heart-stopping final that blows everyone's mind to how this story finally ends with Paul by then having already lost his own and gone almost completely brain dead . Not what you would expect in a story like this but still enough tension and suspense to give one an massive heart attack watching it. With Paul, who by then has finally seen the evil in his ways, realizing what a big mistake he made by letting his emotions take control of his reasoning. And thus setting himself up for the "Big Bang" that's to destroy his life home family as well as his entire universe!
This episode has the alternative title Pris au Piège . . .
realthog12 April 2014
. . . but unfortunately IMDb currently has no facility for adding alternative titles for TV episodes. So I'm putting it here. And now I have to work this up to a full ten lines.
The episode is carried almost entirely by actor E.G. Marshall, who plays a watchmaker suspicious that his wife's being unfaithful, sets a booby trap for her and her supposed lover, and then finds himself through force of circumstance in position to be the booby trap's victim. How will he get out of this? It's not often you see Marshall carrying a movie's burden, but he makes a pretty good fist of it here -- although his voice-over work (much of the dialogue comprises the watchmaker's thoughts) seems a little artificial. Very well worth watching, though.
The episode is carried almost entirely by actor E.G. Marshall, who plays a watchmaker suspicious that his wife's being unfaithful, sets a booby trap for her and her supposed lover, and then finds himself through force of circumstance in position to be the booby trap's victim. How will he get out of this? It's not often you see Marshall carrying a movie's burden, but he makes a pretty good fist of it here -- although his voice-over work (much of the dialogue comprises the watchmaker's thoughts) seems a little artificial. Very well worth watching, though.
Hitch proves again how he earned the title "master of suspense."
mbrachman11 August 2023
Hitchcock was at the peak of his powers in the 1950s, and this debut episode of the anthology series "Suspicion" is further evidence of that. How he had time to crank out high-quality feature films at a rate of one about every 8 or 9 months, host his own TV anthology series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (for which he also directed a number of episodes), AND do side projects such as this one, I'll never know.
The story is straightforward: E. G. Marshall (in the same year he appeared as Juror Number 4 in Sidney Lumet's "Twelve Angry Men") portrays Paul Steppe, a nerdy and socially awkward watch repairman who suspects his wife Fran (Nancy Kelly) of cheating on him, so he's decided to kill her and the man Paul believes is her lover. But other circumstances intervene and Paul finds that he is trapped by his own elaborately-planned plot, and the clocks (several of them) tick away mercilessly and relentlessly away as Paul tries desperately to extricate himself. Hitchcock was known as the master of suspense and this episode of "Suspicion" is superb confirmation of that.
The story is straightforward: E. G. Marshall (in the same year he appeared as Juror Number 4 in Sidney Lumet's "Twelve Angry Men") portrays Paul Steppe, a nerdy and socially awkward watch repairman who suspects his wife Fran (Nancy Kelly) of cheating on him, so he's decided to kill her and the man Paul believes is her lover. But other circumstances intervene and Paul finds that he is trapped by his own elaborately-planned plot, and the clocks (several of them) tick away mercilessly and relentlessly away as Paul tries desperately to extricate himself. Hitchcock was known as the master of suspense and this episode of "Suspicion" is superb confirmation of that.
Brilliant and a must-see.
planktonrules27 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Don't read the summary!! Yes, the other reviewer was correct--the summary gives away one of the spoilers and IMDb should remove or amend it. I am warning you as I am giving the same spoiler (since the cat is already out of the bag).
E.G. Marshall stars in this Alfred Hitchcock directed program. He makes a living repairing watches and clocks and plans to use this ability for evil. You see, he has reason to believe his wife is cheating on him and so he's been constructing a bomb. He intends to blow the house up with the two lovers inside! And, much of the show shows his meticulously building this bomb.
The plan, however, doesn't go exactly as he'd hoped. While he'd snuck home from work to set the bomb, afterwards he finds that the house is NOT empty. No, it's not the wife nor her lover--it's two burglars (one of which is played by Harry Dean Stanton). And, the burglars subdue him and tie him up in the basement...only feet away from the bomb! To make things much worse, they do a great job tying him up and he is both gagged and unable to free himself. So, for hours he just sits there...awaiting his own death. During this time, however, he learns some things about the wife and her supposed lover...things which make his final hours all the more painful. So what's next? See this one, available for free download at archive.org.
There are several things about this program that make it absolutely brilliant. Hitchcock's direction is amazing--better than in many of his films. The camera angles and camera tricks are beautiful and make the film a work of art. After all, with so much of the show consisting of Marshall tied up and gagged, you MUST be inventive in order to keep the audience. Additionally, the show has several wonderful ironic twists...twists that keep the viewer guessing. Watch this one...you'll not regret it.
E.G. Marshall stars in this Alfred Hitchcock directed program. He makes a living repairing watches and clocks and plans to use this ability for evil. You see, he has reason to believe his wife is cheating on him and so he's been constructing a bomb. He intends to blow the house up with the two lovers inside! And, much of the show shows his meticulously building this bomb.
The plan, however, doesn't go exactly as he'd hoped. While he'd snuck home from work to set the bomb, afterwards he finds that the house is NOT empty. No, it's not the wife nor her lover--it's two burglars (one of which is played by Harry Dean Stanton). And, the burglars subdue him and tie him up in the basement...only feet away from the bomb! To make things much worse, they do a great job tying him up and he is both gagged and unable to free himself. So, for hours he just sits there...awaiting his own death. During this time, however, he learns some things about the wife and her supposed lover...things which make his final hours all the more painful. So what's next? See this one, available for free download at archive.org.
There are several things about this program that make it absolutely brilliant. Hitchcock's direction is amazing--better than in many of his films. The camera angles and camera tricks are beautiful and make the film a work of art. After all, with so much of the show consisting of Marshall tied up and gagged, you MUST be inventive in order to keep the audience. Additionally, the show has several wonderful ironic twists...twists that keep the viewer guessing. Watch this one...you'll not regret it.
4.5 out of 5 Stars
craigmu9 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
A masterclass effort of suspense from one of the best in the business.
Everything works in this story, although the viewer needs to suspend some disbelief when Steppe's wife arrives home accompanied by the guy he's suspected she was having an affair with.
Although he can clearly hear their quiet conversation, he in turn is unable to make them hear his cries for help through his gag.
If it was me in that predicament, I'd be making more than enough noise than a brass band on speed and Red Bull !
Everything works in this story, although the viewer needs to suspend some disbelief when Steppe's wife arrives home accompanied by the guy he's suspected she was having an affair with.
Although he can clearly hear their quiet conversation, he in turn is unable to make them hear his cries for help through his gag.
If it was me in that predicament, I'd be making more than enough noise than a brass band on speed and Red Bull !
Scary as scary can get
mlbroberts1 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
E G Marshall (Paul Steppe) is convinced his wife Nancy Kelly (Fran Steppe) is having an affair with handsome young Richard Long (Dave) while he is away at work as a clockmaker. Marshall decides to build a time bomb and put it in his basement to blow Kelly and Long to kingdom come. He knows they will be there at four o'clock, so he places the bomb, sets the timer, and is already to leave - when two burglars show up, tie him up good and tight and gagged so he can't move or yell, and leave him in the basement, near the bomb that they do not know is there, but Marshall does.
Kelly and Long come in and are upstairs talking. Marshall can hear the truth - Long is not Kelly's lover but her brother just out of prison that she hasn't told Marshall about. But Marshall is stuck next to a ticking time bomb and can't do a thing about stopping it.
The story is about Marshall disintegrating, knowing he was wrong about everything and unable to stop the disaster he created. Scared the living daylights out of me, all the way through, including the ending.
Kelly and Long come in and are upstairs talking. Marshall can hear the truth - Long is not Kelly's lover but her brother just out of prison that she hasn't told Marshall about. But Marshall is stuck next to a ticking time bomb and can't do a thing about stopping it.
The story is about Marshall disintegrating, knowing he was wrong about everything and unable to stop the disaster he created. Scared the living daylights out of me, all the way through, including the ending.
If you read the Plot Summary you are in for a SPOILER!
lindaz29 July 2009
Whoever wrote the plot summary blew it majorily big time. He not only gives the plot summary, but he summarizes the entire movie down to about 8 sentences thereby ruining it totally for anyone who wanted to watch it.
I would make this comment shorter, but if I do, then the IMDb thingy will throw it all out. Since I couldn't find a place to click to report this major spoiler, I am writing about it here.
While I'm on the subject, I think it would be really useful to have a "spoiler alert" button we can push. I was very interested in watching a certain movie a couple of years ago and came to IMDb to check out the plot summary. Again, in the "Comments" section, some bozo had written out the best parts of the film and then ended it by saying something like, "And the main point of the suspense in this movie is to make you believe it's based on a true story. Well, it's all fiction, folks. None of it is true. It was just made this way to get you excited." Result? I was very very excited. So excited that I reported that stupidity at the time, but now can't find anywhere to report to. Maybe I'm just having a "blond" moment here and it's in plain sight. In such a case, please excuse me.
I would make this comment shorter, but if I do, then the IMDb thingy will throw it all out. Since I couldn't find a place to click to report this major spoiler, I am writing about it here.
While I'm on the subject, I think it would be really useful to have a "spoiler alert" button we can push. I was very interested in watching a certain movie a couple of years ago and came to IMDb to check out the plot summary. Again, in the "Comments" section, some bozo had written out the best parts of the film and then ended it by saying something like, "And the main point of the suspense in this movie is to make you believe it's based on a true story. Well, it's all fiction, folks. None of it is true. It was just made this way to get you excited." Result? I was very very excited. So excited that I reported that stupidity at the time, but now can't find anywhere to report to. Maybe I'm just having a "blond" moment here and it's in plain sight. In such a case, please excuse me.
Inspired Hitchcock
jadedtom2 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This hour-long drama for 'Suspense' reminds me quite a bit of the 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' 'Breakdown' with Joseph Cotten. We are treated to the spectacle of E.G. Marshall's character finding himself tied up next to a bomb he has set to go off at exactly four o'clock. We agonize along with Marshall, much like Cotten's character in 'Breakdown'. 'Breakdown' sees Cotten character still alive, but totally paralyzed, due to an auto accident.
I don't want to add any spoilers to this review, but these stories are right up Hitchcock's alley. In a truly inspired bit, Hitchcock makes the most of a young boy's fascination with an insect as minutes tick away for Marshall.
Hitchcock learned a big lesson during the making of 'Sabotage' about what to do about bombs, and this story may have been made to rectify what he considered a big mistake on his part during the making of 'Sabotage'. True Hitchcock fans will know what I'm talking about. This episode would stand up quite well among the best of the 'Alfred Hitchcock Hour's.
I don't want to add any spoilers to this review, but these stories are right up Hitchcock's alley. In a truly inspired bit, Hitchcock makes the most of a young boy's fascination with an insect as minutes tick away for Marshall.
Hitchcock learned a big lesson during the making of 'Sabotage' about what to do about bombs, and this story may have been made to rectify what he considered a big mistake on his part during the making of 'Sabotage'. True Hitchcock fans will know what I'm talking about. This episode would stand up quite well among the best of the 'Alfred Hitchcock Hour's.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
