Friends and neighbors all bashfully obey, teasing out the boy’s joke-and the audience’s horror. For a pulse-pounding afternoon, the boy waltzes around town, slipping through each townsperson’s grip as he plays cowboy. A young boy replaces the toy gun in his holster with the real revolver he finds in his uncle’s suitcase, which he partially loads with live rounds. The episode “Bang! You’re Dead,” which originally aired in 1961 and can be viewed in full online, tracks an afternoon of agonizing roulette. With incessant surveillance, melting planets, and robot warfare consuming headlines, there’s no shortage of potential comparisons.īut following the recent wave of accidental shootings at the hands of children-culminating in the heart-wrenching story of a sibling fatality in south-central Kentucky from a gun marketed for children as “My First Rifle”-there’s another classic TV show that applies to a chilling degree: Alfred Hitchcock Presents. 7/10.Each news cycle is replete with Twilight Zonecomparisons. ![]() The ending is very interesting and very surprising, it just could have gone into more depth. Half an hour is too little for a story of this nature. Furthermore, it is one of the episodes that would have benefitted from being longer by at least 15 minutes and even better feature length. However, "A Bullet for Baldwin" did feel rushed at times, a lot goes on and sometimes at a fast rate and the final act especially could have done with a slowing down and expansion because it did start getting a little too complicated. John Qualen excels in the psychologically fascinating lead role and Cabot relishes his part. The story is very compelling and never dull, it is not perfect by all means but it is also quite suspenseful and twisty. Liked how tongue in cheek it was too, and in a way that was amusing and not corny or too broad. In terms of scripting, "A Bullet for Baldwin" is thought-provoking and doesn't have any excess fat. Hitchcock's bookends are typically droll, remember not being crazy about them to begin with but there were some inspired crackers throughout the series' run. The wonderfully devillish theme tune is a classic, and one of those that one hears in popular culture a lot before and since and recognise it without knowing what it is (Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette"). While not enhancing the atmosphere as such, when it is used the music doesn't distract or feel at odds either. It is slickly and atmospherically made visually and Addiss' direction is tight enough as well as controlled. It is good and does do a lot that is highly commendable, but it didn't wow me and this is one of the half hour episodes that would have been better with a longer length with a story of this nature. "A Bullet for Baldwin" to me is one of the high middle entries in the series. There are better episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', of Season 1 (which was not always smooth sailing but was mostly solid) and overall. It is always great to see Sebastian Cabot, best known to me for 'Family Affair' and his Disney voiceover work. ![]() Really liked the idea, quite complicated conceptually but always liked the more psychological kind of stories. The first one being "Salvage", which to me is a very good episode and saw the series get back on track after a quality dip for a few episodes. "A Bullet for Baldwin" is the second 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episode to be directed by Justus Addiss.
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