Two retired insurance salesmen confront an aggressive, hostile woman in hopes of saving her from a disaster.Two retired insurance salesmen confront an aggressive, hostile woman in hopes of saving her from a disaster.Two retired insurance salesmen confront an aggressive, hostile woman in hopes of saving her from a disaster.
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Did you know
- TriviaIn the opening scenes, following the two men observing different accidents, some of the crowd scenes, including those witnessing the unconvincing "man" falling from a roof, are from an extremely old film, perhaps even a silent; the clothes they are wearing look from about 1928 vintage, though this story is a contemporary (1956) one.
- GoofsAlthough it is supposed to be 89 degrees Fahrenheit, hot and humid, when the two salesmen are outside the butcher shop, exhalation vapor can be seen coming from the mouth one of the salesmen as if it is very cold outside.
- Quotes
[first lines]
[opens a door with no noise, then puts oil on door hinges and opens the door which makes a loud squeaking noise]
Alfred Hitchcock - Host: There, that's better. Much better. The least we can do is to provide the proper atmosphere. This is truly an extraordinary item. Loud, squeaking fluid. It is also excellent at making old shutters bang, and on dark nights, one can spray it in the air in case the wind isn't whistling loud enough. It's very practical, too. It can make old shoes squeak like new again. Now that we have established our mood, I should like to tell you that tonight's story is by Ray Bradbury and is known by the provocative title of "Shopping For Death."
- ConnectionsVersion of The Ray Bradbury Theater: Touched with Fire (1990)
- SoundtracksFuneral March of a Marionette
Written by Charles Gounod
This quite good idea is not very well executed at all in "Shopping for Death" (great title!). The episode had a lot going for it but wastes almost all of it. Have said about my high opinion of Stevens' previous episodes, and it was a shame that he went from one of his most interesting episodes in "The Older Sister" to one of his worst in "Shopping for Death". Also consider this entry one of the lesser ones of Season 1 and the worst 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episode since "Triggers in Leash".
"Shopping for Death" has its moments. There are moments of atmosphere in the photography and lighting. The series' main theme is still wonderfully haunting.
Hitchcock's bookends are insightful and amusingly droll, better written and more interesting than the rest of the episode. John Qualen and Robert Harris give good performances.
A lot unfortunately does not work. Van Fleet was a big disappointment. The episode goes way too far in making her character unlikeable and Van Fleet tries far too hard to the point of scenery chewing and comes over as too neurotic. Bradbury's usually insightful character writing is not much in sight here, or at least the character writing does not feel like him. His portrayal of human psychology is more complex usually and Van Fleet's character comes over as cartoonish, a word that one doesn't associate Bradbury's character writing with. Stevens' direction is strangely workmanlike at best too.
Furthermore, some of "Shopping for Death" is cheap looking. Looking especially phony at the beginning. The script is far too talky and much of it is over-heated and melodramatic. The story lacks suspense severely and is paper thin, like 15 minutes over-stretched, which made the pacing feel very dull. The ending veered on silly.
In summary, rather disappointing. 4/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Feb 23, 2022
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1