They’re in black and white, which was once an economical production medium. They’re shot on 35mm film. Most were made on a strict six-day schedule. They were shot almost entirely at Universal City. The series started out as a half hour show in 1955, and then switched to an hour format in 1962, ending its run in 1965. Each episode was shot like a feature film, in “single camera” format, rather than in sitcom format, and production values — especially story lines and guest stars — to say nothing of the physical execution of each segment were exceptionally high.
As an anthology series, there were no continuing characters; it was an entirely new show every week. Hitchcock’s own input into the series was minimal, but he directed a few episodes of the series, and watching the Universal TV crew work, he was inspired by their speed and efficiency to shoot his groundbreaking film Psycho there, breaking away from the slower crews at Paramount, where he had spent the 1950s. All in all, 363 episodes were shot over a ten year period.
An enormous number of exceptionally talented actors, writers and directors contributed to the series, including actors Ed Asner, Mary Astor, Roscoe Ates, Gene Barry, Ed Begley, Charles Bronson, Edgar Buchanan, John Cassavetes, Jack Cassidy, Dabney Coleman, Joseph Cotten, Bob Crane, Hume Cronyn, Robert Culp, Bette Davis, Francis De Sales, Bruce Dern, Brandon De Wilde, Angie Dickinson, Diana Dors, Robert Duvall, Peter Falk, John Forsythe, Anne Francis, Edmund Gwenn, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Charles Herbert, Lou Jacobi, Joyce Jameson, Carolyn Jones, Don Keefer, Brian Keith, Jack Klugman, Peter Lawford, Christopher Lee, Cloris Leachman, Peter Lorre, Dayton Lummis, E. G. Marshall, Walter Matthau, Darren McGavin, John McGiver, Lee Majors, Steve McQueen, Tyler McVey, Joyce Meadows, Vera Miles, Vic Morrow, Robert Newton, George Peppard, James Philbrook, Sydney Pollack, Judson Pratt, Vincent Price, Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, William Shatner, Henry Silva, Barbara Steele, Jan Sterling, Dean Stockwell, Jessica Tandy, Dick Van Dyke, Richard Waring, Dennis Weaver, Joanne Woodward, Fay Wray, and Keenan Wynn.
It’s an elegant, intelligent, well designed series, the like of which we will never see on television again. Black and white has vanished as a production medium, along with the artistic values that went with it. Film has also vanished, leaving everything to be shot with a slick, artificial digital sheen. The violence quotient has been upped so that gruesome rapes and murders are now commonplace on shows such as Law and Order SVU and the CSI series; it seems that plot, acting, and nuance have been left behind. Let’s raise a glass, then, to The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, one of the most innovative and artistically ambitious television series ever produced — on a budget, on a schedule, on an assembly line, even — but with style, elegance, and wit, down to Hitchcock’s droll introductions and commercial break announcements, which the director performed himself.
Tags: Alfred Hitchcock, Angie Dickinson, Anne Francis, Barbara Steele, Bette Davis, Bob Crane, Brandon De Wilde, Brian Keith, Bruce Dern, Burt Reynolds, Carolyn Jones, Charles Bronson, Charles Herbert, Christopher Lee, Classic Television, Cloris Leachman, Dabney Coleman, Darren McGavin, Dayton Lummis, Dean Stockwell, Dennis Weaver, Diana Dors, Dick Van Dyke, Don Keefer, E. G. Marshall, Ed Asner, Ed Begley, Edgar Buchanan, Edmund Gwenn, Fay Wray, Francis De Sales, Gene Barry, George Peppard, Henry Silva, Hume Cronyn, Jack Cassidy, Jack Klugman, James Philbrook, Jan Sterling, Jessica Tandy, Joanne Woodward, John Cassavetes, John Forsythe, John McGiver, Joseph Cotten, Joyce Jameson, Joyce Meadows, Judson Pratt, Keenan Wynn, Lee Majors, Lou Jacobi, Mary Astor, Peter Falk, Peter Lawford, Peter Lorre, Richard Waring, Robert Culp, Robert Duvall, Robert Newton, Robert Redford, Roscoe Ates, Single Camera Television, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Steve McQueen, Sydney Pollack, Tyler McVey, Universal City, Vera Miles, Vic Morrow, Vincent Price, Walter Matthau, William Shatner
