When the show begins, a man is seen up on the ledge of a tall hotel in New York and it's obvious he is a jumper. But despite this, he hasn't jumped yet and a cop (Mark Richmond) manages to build rapport with him and the jumper (Gary Merrill) is talking to him so there apparently is some hope. It seems that the jumper is upset because his wife has been cheating on him and eventually it resulted in her committing suicide....and then the show springs the wonderful twist that really shocked me!
While "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" is a very good show much of the time, too often the twists at the end are pretty limp and you can't help but feel disappointed. This one in no way disappoints....as the writing and acting are just terrific. Dark...but terrific! What is NOT terrific is the epilogue by Hitchcock. It seems that some of the sponsors must have balked at the notion of crimes going unpunished and insisted that he say something along the lines of "the police later figured out he was responsible and he was sent to prison"....which is a total cop-out and this is exactly what they did here. Frustrating and unnecessary....and for this I deducted a point from an otherwise great episode.
While "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" is a very good show much of the time, too often the twists at the end are pretty limp and you can't help but feel disappointed. This one in no way disappoints....as the writing and acting are just terrific. Dark...but terrific! What is NOT terrific is the epilogue by Hitchcock. It seems that some of the sponsors must have balked at the notion of crimes going unpunished and insisted that he say something along the lines of "the police later figured out he was responsible and he was sent to prison"....which is a total cop-out and this is exactly what they did here. Frustrating and unnecessary....and for this I deducted a point from an otherwise great episode.