Happy 100th Birthday to the Great Norman Lloyd!

It was 100 years ago today that Norman Lloyd was born in  Jersey City, New Jersey. Well known for his appearances in Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) and Spellbound (1945), Mr. Lloyd is one of our last remaining links to the Golden Age of Film. Having served as a producer (as well as director and occasional star) on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and guest starred on such shows as The United States Steel Hour and G.E. Theatre, he is one of our remaining links to the Golden Age of Television as well. Mr. Lloyd also appeared on various radio shows as well. He is then one of our remaining links to Old Time Radio as well.

Norman Lloyd began his remarkable career when he was very young. He was still a child when he first took the stage in the Twenties as a song and dance performer. He began his acting career as part of Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre. He was only thirteen years old when he made his debut on Broadway in the play Crime in 1927. In the Thirties he appeared on Broadway in productions of Noah and Power before joining Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre. He appeared in the Mercury Theatre's productions of Julius Caesar and The Shoemakers' Holiday on Broadway. The Forties would be a busy time for Norman Lloyd on stage. He appeared in such productions on Broadway as Liberty Jones, Village Green, and Ask My Friend Sandy. His career on stage continued to prosper in the Fifties, during which time Mr. Lloyd appeared in such Broadway productions as King Lear; Madam, Will You Walk; and Measure for Measure. He also directed two plays on Broadway: The Golden Apple and The Taming of the Shrew.

While Norman Lloyd never appeared on Orson Welles's The Mercury Theatre on the Air, he did appear in other radio shows over the years. He appeared in Norman Corwin's radio play "The Undecided Molecule" on Columbia Presents in 1945. He also guest starred on episodes of Columbia Workshop, Suspense, and Listener's Playhouse. He later appeared in several radio plays staged by the California Artists Radio Theatre, including adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Major Barbara, and many others.

While Norman Lloyd has worked on both stage and radio, he is better known for his career in film, a career which is still ongoing. He made his movie debut in the short "The Forgotten Man" in 1941, only a year before his historic role as Fry in Alfred Hitchcock's classic Saboteur (1942). He worked with Mr. Hitchcock again in the director's 1945 film Spellbound. Over the years Mr. Lloyd appeared in many films, including The Unseen (1945), A Walk in the Sun (1945), Reign of Terror (1949), the 1951 remake of M, and Limelight (1952). Norman Lloyd would be introduced to new generations of fans in such films as FM (1976), The Nude Bomb (1978), and Dead Poets Society (1989). Mr. Lloyd has continued to appear in films over the years, including the short "Photosynthesis" (2005), as well as the features In Her Shoes (2005) and A Place for Heroes (2014). Next year he will appear in the Judd Apatow film Trainwreck. In addition to acting, Mr. Lloyd also directed one motion picture, A Word to the Wives... from 1955.

As well known as Mr. Lloyd is for his film career, he may be equally well known for his career in television. In fact, Mr. Lloyd appeared on television before he ever appeared in a feature film. In 1939 he appeared in an adaptation of Dion Boucicault’s The Streets of New York that aired on NBC's experimental station W2XBS in New York City on 31 August. He would return to television in the Fifties, although not initially as an actor but as a director. Mr. Lloyd directed episodes of The Adventures of Kit Carson, Chevron Theatre, and Omnibus. It was in 1957 that his friend Alfred Hitchcock brought Norman Lloyd on board his show Alfred Hitchcock Presents as an associate producer. Mr. Lloyd remained with Alfred Hitchock Presents for the rest of its run, becoming the show's producer and later executive producer when it changed to an hour long format as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1962. Mr. Lloyd also directed several episodes of both Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He even occasionally acted in episodes as well, including the classic "Design for Loving".

Norman Lloyd would prove to have an extremely successful career in television on both sides of the camera. He produced such shows as Journey to the Unknown and Tales of the Unexpected, as well as many television movies. Mr. Lloyd also continued to direct television shows after The Alfred Hitchcock Hour left the air, including episodes of Columbo and Tales of the Unexpected, as well as many television movies. Of course, most audiences are probably familiar with Mr. Lloyd from the various roles he has played as an actor in television shows over the years. He may be best known as Dr. Daniel Auschlander on St. Elsewhere, a role he played for the entire run of the show. Mr. Lloyd also played the regular role of Dr. Isaac Mentnor on the short lived sci-fi show Seven Days. Over the years Norman Lloyd guest starred on such shows as One Step Beyond, The Most Deadly Game, Night Gallery, Quincy M.E., The Paper Chase, Wiseguy, Wings, and Modern Family.

Norman Lloyd has had a remarkable career, one that is all the more remarkable in that it is still continuing even as he turns 100. He is an incredible character actor, with a range far greater than most actors, even those from the Golden Age of Film. Over the years he played nearly every sort of role an actor could play. He appeared as one of film's most iconic villains, Fry, in Hitchock's Saboteur. In his second Hitchcock film, Spellbound, he played a role about as far from Fry as one could get, that of mental patient Mr. Garmes. In  A Walk in the Sun he played the rather pessimistic Private Archimbeau. Over the years he appeared in a wide variety of genres of film. From Hitchcock thrillers to war films (A Walk in the Sun) to films noirs (Scene of the Crime) to Westerns (Calamity Jane and Sam Bass) to swashbucklers (The Flame and the Arrow). He also worked with such legendary talents as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, and Charlie Chaplin. Regardless of what film in which he played or with whom he was working, Mr. Lloyd always delivered (and still does deliver) a great performance.

Of course, it is not enough that Norman Lloyd is a great actor. He also did great work as a producer and director in television as well. Alongside producer Joan Harrison, Norman Lloyd oversaw the day to day operations of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He was involved in everything from the casting of episodes to the hiring of directors to the commission of scripts. Together Miss Harrison and Mr. Lloyd insured that Alfred Hitchcock Presents would be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, anthology shows of all time. The show featured scripts by such writers as Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Evan Hunter, and Stirling Silliphant. The show's episodes were directed by such experienced veterans as Robert Stevenson and Don Weiss (not to mention Mr. Hitchcock himself) as well as such newcomers as Robert Altman, William Friedkin, Arthur Hiller and Sydney Pollack. Alfred Hitchcock Presents was truly one of the shining moments in the last days of the Golden Age of Television, and Norman Lloyd was much of the reason it was so great.

Having worked with some of the most legendary figures in film and having worked extensively in television, Norman Lloyd is a rich source of stories of both the Golden Ages of Film and Television. What is more, in interviews he tells these tales with both charm and wit, and with such richness of memory that it is hard to believe the events happened decades ago. What is more, Mr. Lloyd is that most rare thing in Hollywood, a true gentleman. He was married to the same woman, his beloved wife Peggy, for nearly 75 years (until her death in 2011). From those who have worked with him to those who have only met him briefly and casually, one never hears an ill word said about Mr. Lloyd. He is the sort of man who treats everyone with dignity and always has a kind word for them. In the end Norman Lloyd is more than a great talent as an actor, producer, and director. He is more than a centenarian with a incredibly rich memory. He is, quite simply, a truly good man.

And the War on Thanksgiving Continues

Last year a number of retail stores generated controversy by either opening on Thanksgiving or by starting their Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving. Among these stores were Target (which opened at 8:00 PM), Kohls (which opened at 8:00 PM), and Macy's (which opened at 8:00 PM). KMart opened at 6:00 AM, although it must be pointed out that this was nothing new for them. They have opened on Thanksgiving for the past 23 years. WalMart also has a "tradition" of being open on Thanksgiving, although they caused controversy by starting their Black Friday sales at 6:00 PM.

Unfortunately, while there was a good deal of controversy over stores either opening or starting their Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving last year, it seems many stores plan to do the same thing this year. In fact, some of them are opening even earlier. Both Kohl's and Macy's, which opened at 8:00 PM last year, are opening at 6:00 PM this year. J. C. Penney, which opened at 6:00 PM last year is opening at 5:00 PM.

Of course, the fact that stores will actually be open on Thanksgiving is yet another volley in what has become the retail industry's war on Thanksgiving. Long ago it seemed many retailers were determined to reduce Thanksgiving, long a holiday all its own, to simply an extension of the "Christmas shopping season". While the term "Black Friday" for the day after Thanksgiving did not gain currency until the Seventies, the day was regarded as the first day for Christmas shopping as early as 1907 (that year The Evening Times of Cumberland, Maryland made reference to shopping on the day after Thanksgiving).  Indeed, while we think of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as a Thanksgiving tradition, it began in 1924 as "Macy's Christmas Parade". It was renamed "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" in 1927.

The idea of the day after Thanksgiving as the first day of the Christmas shopping season would even have an impact on the date when Thanksgiving was held. In 1939  President Franklin Delano Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving from the last (and that year, fifth) Thursday of November to the fourth Thursday of the month in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. The move proved controversial and in 1941 Congress established the fourth Thursday of November as the date of Thanksgiving in something of a compromise.

Or course, while the day after Thanksgiving, currently known as "Black Friday", has long been the first day of the Christmas shopping season, it has only been the past few decades that Thanksgiving has seemed in danger of being overtaken by Christmas. Even though the Christmas shopping season began the day after Thanksgiving, it was a rare thing to see stores put up Christmas decorations, much less see Christmas oriented commercials, before December. Over the years this has changed. It was many, many years ago that one started seeing  the first Christmas oriented commercials on the day after Thanksgiving or even on Thanksgiving. It was several years ago that the first Christmas oriented commercials started airing in early November. Now a few of them air even before Halloween has passed.

Given the phenomenon of "Christmas creep", in which retailers began advertising for Christmas at earlier and earlier dates, it was perhaps only a matter of time before retailers sought to begin the Christmas shopping season even earlier. Namely, rather starting the shopping season on Black Friday, starting it on Thanksgiving itself.

I personally find the whole phenomenon of stores being open on Thanksgiving depressing, distasteful, and offensive. The fact is that Thanksgiving has a long tradition in what would become the United States. The first Thanksgiving feast celebrated in the Thirteen Colonies was on December 4, 1619 by the settlers of Berkeley Hundred in Virginia. Another more famous Thanksgiving feast was later celebrated by the Pilgrims at Plymouth at some time between September 21 and November 9 of 1621. Annual Thanksgiving celebrations in the Thirteen Colonies were begun in Connecticut in 1639 and the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1680. It was President Abraham Lincoln who officially recognised Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863. It has been a national holiday ever since.

As a particularly old holiday Thanksgiving developed its own traditions, most of which centred around the family gathering together for Thanksgiving dinner. Indeed, perhaps no other American holiday is as centred around food and family as much as Thanksgiving is. Unfortunately, if retail workers are required to work on Thanksgiving, then they obviously cannot be home enjoying turkey and pumpkin pie with their families. Quite simply, in being open on Thanksgiving many stores are then robbing many families of what is one of the biggest holidays in the American year.

Now I realise some people will claim that they have a right to shop on Thanksgiving and that stores have a right to be open on Thanksgiving if they choose. I am not going to argue with either of these. That having been said, I also believe people have a right to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families on Thanksgiving, not that Saturday or that Sunday. If stores are going to be open on Thanksgiving, then, I would say that they should be staffed only by people who have volunteered to work that day. No one should be required to work on Thanksgiving. If the stores cannot get enough volunteers to work on Thanksgiving, well, then they simply cannot open.

Unfortunately I worry that stores will continue to open on Thanksgiving for the foreseeable future. As long as there are people willing to shop on Thanksgiving, the stores will continue to be open then. For those of us who think Thanksgiving should be for family and not for shopping. I can only suggest that we do not shop at stores who open on Thanksgiving. Fortunately there are a number of stores that do not do so and we might wish to give them our business instead. Costco, Lowe's, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom all close for Thanksgiving. It is stores like these that should be rewarded, not those who think greed outweighs family time spent together on a major American holiday.

Godspeed Renée Asherson

Renée Asherson, the star of stage and screen who appeared in such films as Henry V (1944) and The Cure for Love (1949), died on 30 October 2014 at the age of 99.

Renée Asherson was born in Kensington, London on 19 May 1915. She grew up in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, as well as Anjou and Switzerland. She studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Her first walk-on part was in 1935 in John Gielgud’s production of Romeo and Juliet at the New Theatre (now known as the  Noël Coward Theatre) on the West End. Afterwards she spent 18 months as part of the Birmingham Repertory Company. In 1940 she appeared in Clifford Bax's play The Rose Without a Thorn. Afterwards she joined the Old Vic, appearing as Iris in The Tempest. She toured with the Old Vic company in the years 1940 and 1941, appearing in such parts as Maria in Twelfth Night, Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice, Ann Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Desdemona in Othello. In 1939 she made her television debut in Smiling at Grief.

It was in 1944 that Renée Asherson made her film debut in Carol Reed's film The Way Ahead. That same year she appeared as Princess Katherine in Laurence Olivier's film adaptation of Henry V. In the Forties she appeared in the films The Way to the Stars (1945), Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), Hour of Glory (1949), Once a Jolly Swagman (1949), and The Cure for Love (1949). She continued to appear on stage, appearing in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Westminster Theatre in 1942, a production of  Lottie Dundass  at the Vaudeville Theatre, and a production of The Cure for Love at the Westminster Theatre in 1945.

In the Fifties Miss Asherson appeared in the films Pool of London (1951), The Magic Box (1951), The Malta Story (1953), The Red Dress (1954), and Time Is My Enemy (1954). She also appeared frequently on television during the decade. She played Queen Victoria in the mini-series Happy and Glorious. She also appeared on the TV shows Lilli Palmer Theatre, Rheingold Theatre, and ITV Television Playhouse. She continued appearing on stage, most notably as Stella in the West End production of A Streetcar Named Desire. She also appeared in such productions as a revival of Three Sisters, The Big Knife, and The Waltz of the Toreadors, and The Unexpected Guest.

In the Sixties Renée Asherson appeared in the films The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966), and The Smashing Bird I Used to Know (1969). She appeared on television on such programmes as ITV Television Playhouse, BBC Sunday-Night Play, ITV Play of the Week, Love Story, Thirty Minute Theatre, and Strange Report.

In the Seventies Miss Asherson appeared in the film Theatre of Blood (1973). She was a regular on the television shows as Clayhanger and Flesh and Blood. She appeared in the Armchair Thriller serial "Quiet as a Nun". She also appeared on the television shows Country Matters, Away from It All, Victorian Scandals, Jubilee, and  A Man Called Intrepid.

In the Eighties Renée Asherson was a regular on the show Tenko. She appeared on the shows Love and Marriage, Crown Court, Time for Murder, Tom's Midnight Garden, and Chain. She also appeared in such television productions as Edwin, Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: A Murder Is Announced, Romance on the Orient Express, and Norbert Smith, a Life.

From the Nineties into the Naughts Miss Asherson appeared on the TV shows Screen Two, Screen One, Lovejoy, Brighton Belles, Performance, and Midsomer Murders. She appeared in the films Grey Owl (1999) and The Others (2001).

Renée Asherson was a very talented actress capable of a diverse number of roles. She played the demure Princess Katherine in Henry V in 1944, then played the steady and resolute WRAF Iris in The Way to the Stars the following year. She played the Tsarina in the Hammer Film Rasputin, the Mad Monk in 1966, and then played Norbert Smith's daft wife in Norbert Smith: A Life in 1990. Miss Asherson had considerable versatility as an actress, and she almost never gave a bad performance. She was indeed a rare talent.

The Late Great Jack Bruce

Jack Bruce, the legendary bassist who played with the Graham Bond Organisation, Manfred Mann, and Cream, died on 25 October at the age of 71. The cause was liver disease.

Jack Bruce was born on 14 May 1943 in Glasgow, Scotland. While Jack Bruce was still very young the family emigrated to Weston, Ontario, Canada, a small village outside Toronto. They remained there only a few years before returning to Glasgow. While he was young Jack Bruce was exposed to music by way of his paternal grandfather, who played piano, melodeon, and harmonica. His father played piano as well. Eventually young Jack took up guitar. After attending a number of different schools, Jack Bruce wound up at Bellahouston Academy.  It was there that he started playing cello. He won a part time scholarship to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

At the same time Mr. Bruce took an interest in jazz and took up the double bass. He began playing with various jazz bands. The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama did not particularly approve of jazz and eventually Jack Bruce left the school. Afterwards he toured Italy with the Murray Campbell Big Band.. In 1962 he joined Alex Korner's Blues Incorporated. After Blues Incorporated broke up, Graham Bond, Ginger Baker,  John McLaughlin, and Mr. Bruce formed the Graham Bond Quartet, which became the Graham Bond Organisation. It was during this time that Jack Bruce changed from the upright bass to electric bass.

The Graham Bond Organisation was signed to Decca in 1965. The band would release several singles and two albums (The Sound of 65 and There's a Bond Between Us, both in 1965) to little success. Unfortunately there were strong internal tensions within the band, with quarrels occurring between drummer Ginger Baker and Mr. Bruce. Eventually Jack Bruce was fired from the Graham Bond Organisation. He played with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers for a brief time before joining Manfred Mann as their new bassist. Jack Bruce played on Manfred Mann's single "Pretty Flamingo" and their EP Instrumental Asylum. It was while he was with Manfred Mann that Jack Bruce collaborated with Eric Clapton as part of the short-lived supergroup Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse.

It would be guitarist Eric Clapton who would be responsible for Jack Bruce becoming part of the band for which he might well have been most famous.  Quite simply, drummer Ginger Baker wanted to leave the Graham Bond Organisation, having wearied of Graham Bond's substance abuse problems. Eric Clapton, having left John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, was looking for a new band. Ginger Baker then asked Eric Clapton to join the new band he was forming.  Impressed with Jack Bruce's playing after having worked with him, Mr. Clapton would do so only if  they had Mr. Bruce as their bassist. Messrs. Bruce and Baker's relationship when they were in the Graham Bond Organisation having been very volatile, the two of them set aside differences for the new band, the power trio known as Cream.

Cream would prove to be one of the most successful bands of the Sixties. Their first album, Fresh Cream (released in 1966), went to #6 on the British albums chart. Their second album, Disraeli Gears (released in 1967, went to #5 on the British albums chart and #4 on the U.S. albums chart. Their third album, Wheels of Fire (released in 1968), went to #3 on the British albums chart and #1 on the U.S. albums chart. Their fourth and final album, Goodbye (released in 1969), hit #1 on the British albums chart and #2 on the American albums chart. They also had several hit singles, including "I Feel Free", "Sunshine of Your Love", "White Room", and "Badge".

Unfortunately, tensions existed in Cream from the very beginning. Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker continued to fight, something that worsened as the band progressed. Eric Clapton often found himself in the role of peacemaker between the two. Eventually the three members decided to break up following the release of Wheels of Fire, but their management persuaded them to do one last album. Their final album, Goodbye, was released after the band had broken up in late 1968.

Following Cream, Jack Bruce launched a solo career. From Songs for a Tailor in 1969 to Silver Rails this March, Mr. Bruce released a total of fourteen solo albums. He also collaborated with many other musicians, including Carla Bley on one album, Leslie West and Corky Laing on three albums, Michael Mantler on six albums, Robin Trower on three albums, and so on.

There can be no doubt that Jack Bruce was one of the greatest rock bassists of all time. He was classically trained and also well versed in jazz. He had played in both blues bands and rock bands. It was not unusual for him to combine styles in his music, from mixing rock music with jazz or classical, or even blending all three. With poet Peter Brown he was responsible for writing some of Cream's best known songs, including "White Room" and"I Feel Free". With Peter Brown and Eric Clapton he wrote the band's biggest single in the United States, "Sunshine of Your Love". When Jack Bruce was playing bass in a band, it was never merely part of the rhythm section. Jack Bruce made the bass an instrument all its own, as noticeable and as important as the lead guitar. Few bassists could ever match his talent and few ever will.

Happy Halloween 2014

I just want to wish everyone out there a happy Halloween! For more treats, you might want to check out my guest post at The Black Maria on "Classic TV Horror!".  Here at A Shroud of Thoughts I have long had the custom of posting Halloween pin ups on All Hallows Eve. Without further ado, then, here are the pin ups!

First up is Clara Bow, with a rather large jack o'lantern!

And here's Anna Nagel with another gigantic jack o'lantern.

The lovely Leila Hyams is a bit spooked this Halloween!

Veronica Lake is ready to cast a few spells.

 Paulette Goddard is ready for a Halloween party!

Audrey Totter is busy carving pumpkins!

And what would Halloween be without the lovely Ann Miller!

Happy Halloween!

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

It seems possible that Sir Alfred Hitchcock is the most physically recognisable director of all time. Many might not be able to identify Frank Capra or Cecil B. DeMille, or even more recent directors such as Martin Scorese or Steven Spielberg, but they know Alfred Hitchcock when they see him. There can be no doubt that much of this is due to Mr. Hitchcock's cameos in his films and his occasional appearances in the trailers for his movies (the trailers for North by Northwest and Psycho being prime examples). That having been said, much of the reason that Alfred Hitchcock remains so immediately recognisable is that he was the host of his own show, the long running suspense anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

It was Alfred Hitchcock's former agent and then president of MCA, Inc. Lew Wasserman, who came up with the idea of bringing the director to television in early 1955. When Mr. Wasserman brought up the idea to Mr. Hitchcock that spring, the director initially appeared reluctant to do such a series. Fortunately, he ultimately agreed to do it. To produce Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mr. Hitchcock formed Shamley Productions (named for his summer home). The show would be made at MCA's television division, Revue Studios. While Alfred Hitchcock would serve as the show's executive producer, Mr. Hitchcock hired his former assistant, Joan Harrison, to serve as the show's line producer. Miss Harrison had written several screenplays (many for Alfred Hitchcock) and produced several films as well. Later, in 1957, Alfred Hitchcock's friend, actor Norman Lloyd, would be brought on board as an associate producer on the show. MCA sold the show to CBS and the sponsor Bristol-Meyers on the basis that Alfred Hitchcock would serve as the programme's host and would also direct the occasional episode, as well as serving as its executive producer.

As the host of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mr. Hitchcock would appear at the beginning of each episode. His introductions, written by James Allardice, were tongue in cheek and often involved black humour and almost always ribbing the sponsors. Mr. Hitchock also appeared at the close of each episode, in which he would humorously explain the comeuppance that the perpetrators of any crimes in the episode might have received. While Alfred Hitchcock's introductions and closings might be humorous, the episodes of the show varied from black humour to deadly serious.

The episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents ran nearly the entire gamut of the suspense genre. In "Don't Come Back Alive" an elderly couple plots to cheat the insurance company out of money by faking the wife's disappearance. In "Arthur" a chicken farmer resorts to drastic measures when his former fiancée returns to him; the episode starred Laurence Harvey, Hazel Court, and Patrick Macnee. In "The Motive" two friends conclude that the perfect crime is one without a motive, and decide to prove their conclusion. In "De Mortuis" two men become convinced their friend has killed his cheating wife. The murder of spouses was a popular subject on Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Indeed, what may be its most famous episode dealt with the subject. In "Lamb to the Slaughter" a wife murders her husband with a rack of lamb after she learns he is leaving her, then feeds it to the investigating police officers. The episode was based on the story by Roald Dahl and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It starred Barbara Bel Geddes as the murderous wife and Harold Stone as the detective on the case.

While most Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes were straightforward mysteries and thrillers, it occasionally ventured into the realms of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. In the first season's "Whodunit," an angel gives a murdered man the chance to relive the last few hours of his life in hopes of catching whoever killed him. The first season also featured an adaptation of Michael Arlen's ghost story "The Gentleman From America". In the third season's "Mail Order Prophet," a mail clerk begins receiving letters from the near future. In the fourth season's "Human Interest Story" a man claiming to be from Mars warns of an impending invasion from Mars. One horror episode was so horrifying that it would not air until the series entered syndication. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was written by Robert Bloch and based on his own story. It starred  Brandon deWilde, Diana Dors, and  David J. Stewart. Meant to be the finale to the show's seventh season (and its final season as a half hour show), "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was deemed "too gruesome" by Alfred Hitchcock Presents' sponsor Revlon and it did not air during the show's network run.

As might be expected from a show coming from the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock Presents was very much a "prestige' show. Throughout its run the programme adapted the works of such writers as Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Thomas Burke, Roald Dahl, Dorothy L. Sayers, Cornell Woolrich, and John Wyndham. Alfred Hitchcock himself directed a total of 18 episodes out of the 318 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents/The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Alfred Hitchcock Presents won Emmy Awards for Best Editing of a Television Film (in 1956 for the episode "Breakdown") and Best Direction (for Robert Stevens's direction of the episode "Half Hour or Less"), and the show was nominated for several more. In its time on the air it also won a Director's Guild of America award, a Golden Globe (for Best TV show), and the Venice Film Festival TV Prize for the episode "Man From the South.

Not only was Alfred Hitchcock Presents a highly respected show, but it was also highly successful, outliving many of its contemporary anthology shows. Debuting on CBS on 2 October 1955, it ran on CBS until it switched to NBC in 1960. In 1962 it returned to CBS with an expanded hour long format and a new title, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. When The Alfred Hitchcock Hour went off the air in 1965, it was not because it was no longer popular, but because Alfred Hitchcock had decided to end the show due to his own advancing age and the health issues that came with it. The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ended its initial run on 26 June 1965.

In 1985 NBC revived the show as The New Alfred Presents. The show aired colourised versions of Alfred Hitchcock's introductions and featured a mixture of adaptations of the original series' episodes and original episodes. While The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents was cancelled after one season by NBC, it would run for three more on the cable channel the USA Network. The original series can still be seen in syndication to this day (ME-TV recently ran The Alfred Hitchcock Hour). The first six seasons of Alfred Hitchcock Presents have been released on DVD, with the seventh season forthcoming. All three seasons of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour are available on DVD.

Ultimately it seems possible that Alfred Hitchcock Presents could be the most successful American anthology series of all time. Counting the combined runs of both Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, the show ran for a total of ten seasons. It has continued to be seen in syndication ever since. In fact, when many people picture Alfred Hitchcock in their heads, it is most likely as the television host with a macabre sense of humour. Alfred Hitchcock might have achieved immortality as a movie director, but it seems he achieved memorability as a television host.

Peeping Tom (1960)

In the oeuvre of director Michael Powell, Peeping Tom (1960) occupies a unique position. Alongside Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948) it numbers among his most famous films. Today it is also one of his most respected films and widely regarded as a classic. Upon its initial release, however, Peeping Tom was reviled by critics and generated a good deal of controversy. Indeed, the uproar caused by Peeping Tom when it was first released was so great that it has become the stuff of legends.

Given the film's subject matter it is perhaps understandable why it caused such an uproar upon its initial release in 1960. Peeping Tom is the story of Mark Lewis (played by Karlheinz Boehm, who was billed as Carl Boehm), a lonely recluse who works as part of a film crew and takes girlie pictures part time for additional money. Unknown to everyone, he also murders women and films their deaths with a portable motion picture camera. Mark's life is complicated when he meets a young woman, Helen (played by Anna Massey), whose mother is renting the flat below his in his late father's old house.

Peeping Tom began life as a screenplay by Leo Marks. Mr. Marks was a cryptographer who worked with the Special Operations Executive during World War II. Following the war he pursued a career as a playwright and screenwriter, writing the play The Girl Who Couldn't Quite! and the film Cloudburst (1951). For nearly his entire life Leo Marks had been fascinated by Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis. He eventually decided that he wanted to write a study of scoptophilia. Mr. Marks's thoughts on scoptophilia eventually led him to the idea of a young man who murders women and films their deaths, with the camera essentially becoming a symbol of murder.

About the same time Leo Marks and director Michael Powell were planning a biopic of Sigmund Freud. This project came to an end when they learned that John Huston was also planning a film biography of Freud (which would come to fruition as Freud: the Secret Passion, released in 1962). Leo Marks then told Mr. Powell of his idea for what would become Peeping Tom. Michael Powell decided that would be his next film and told Leo Marks to write the screenplay. It was Michael Powell who decided upon the title Peeping Tom. When Mr. Marks objected to the title on the grounds that it might "get all the wrong people", Mr. Powell simply responded, "Well, let's get the wrong people in as as well as the right ones!"

Peeping Tom was produced by Nat Cohen of Anglo-Amalgamated Productions, with additional financing obtained through the National Film Finance Corporation. It was budgeted at £125,000. According to some reports Nat Cohen wanted to cast Sir Dirk Bogarde as Mark Lewis, but the Rank Organisation (to whom he was under contract at the time) refused to loan him out. Michael Powell considered Laurence Harvey (who had a recent success with the film Room at the Top), but he proved unavailable. Ultimately German born Karlheinz Boehm was cast in the role of Mark Lewis. At the time Karlheinz Boehm was little known in either the United Kingdom or the United States, but having starred in director Ernst Marischka's films Sissi (1955),  Sissi – Die junge Kaiserin (1956), and  Sissi – Schicksalsjahre einer Kaiserin (1957), he was very well known on the Continent.

Peeping Tom was shot over the course of six weeks starting in October 1959. Much of the film was shot at Pinewood Studios, as well as on location at various places around London. It was photographed by Otto Heller, who had shot such films as His Majesty O'Keefe (1954) and The Ladykillers (1955), and would go onto work on such films as The Ipcress File (1965) and Alfie (1966). It was shot in Eastmancolor, the same process used on the popular (and then notorious) Hammer Films.

Peeping Tom was submitted to the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) not long after its completion. In all the BBFC required seven cuts to the film, including reducing some of the murders and cutting the shot of a nude woman (apparently the legendary nude shot of  famous glamour model Pamela Green). Even after the cuts the BBFC certified Peeping Tom "X", meaning that only people over the age of 16 could see the film.

Peeping Tom was released on 16 May 1960 to hostile reviews and a great deal of controversy. In the Tribune critic Derek Hill wrote, "The only really satisfactory way to dispose of Peeping Tom would be to shovel it up and flush it swiftly down the nearest sewer. Even then, the stench would remain."  Caroline Lejeune of The Observer claimed, "It's a long time since a film disgusted me as much as Peeping Tom." In The Daily Express Len Mosley wrote, "In the last three months ... I have carted my travel-stained carcase to some of the filthiest and most festering slums in Asia. But nothing, nothing, nothing — neither the hopeless leper colonies of East Pakistan, the back streets of Bombay nor the gutters of Calcutta — has left me with such a feeling of nausea and depression as I got this week while sitting through a new British film called Peeping Tom." Dilys Powell of The Sunday Times thought Michael Powell had been tainted by the film, writing, "He cannot wash his hands of responsibility for this essentially vicious film."

Despite the controversy surrounding the film and contrary to popular belief, Peeping Tom did not disappear from British cinemas after only a week, nor was it withdrawn from circulation. Following its premiere Peeping Tom did brisk business at the Plaza in London for two weeks. The film also did well in pre-release engagements in such places as Bath, Bristol, Doncaster, Leicester, and elsewhere. An engagement at the Gala Royal on London's West End Peeping Tom proved very successful as well. Throughout the summer of 1960 Peeping Tom continued to do well at not only the Gala Royal, but smaller theatres throughout Britain. What is more, the film seemed to have some staying power in the United Kingdom. Indeed, according to the article "Peeping Tom: The Myths" by Steve Crook on the web site The Powell & Pressburger Pages, Peeping Tom played in Liverpool on a double bill with Revak the Rebel (1960) as late as 1962.

While Peeping Tom was not pulled from distribution as commonly believed, this is not to say that its initial release went smoothly. The film was banned outright in Reading, Berkshire on the basis of Anglo-Amalgamated Productions' press kit and the bad reviews it had received alone. It was also due to the controversy that Peeping Tom was pulled from theatres in the large ABC Cinemas chain after only a week. It is perhaps because ABC Cinemas cut short their run of Peeping Tom that the legend emerged that the film was pulled from distribution after only a week. As pointed out above, this certainly was not the case. In the end, while Peeping Tom was hardly a smash hit, it actually did modestly well upon its initial release in the United Kingdom.

Peeping Tom did have some difficulty getting distribution in the United States. At the time American International Pictures (AIP) distributed Anglo-Amalgamated's films in the United States. They distributed Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) and would distribute Circus of Horrors (1960). Ultimately AIP passed on distributing Peeping Tom, feeling it would not appeal to their audience. Peeping Tom went through the entirety of 1960 and much of 1961 without finding an American distributor. At last, in July 1961, Astor Pictures announced they would be releasing Peeping Tom in the United States.

Sadly, Peeping Tom would not fare particularly well in the United States. The Production Code Administration required extensive cuts to the film in order to qualify for a production seal. As a result Peeping Tom was reduced from its British running time of 101 minutes to a mere 86 minutes. Perhaps because of the cuts the Legion of Decency gave Peeping Tom a rating of "B" (Morally objectionable in part for all); given the controversy the film had stirred up in the United Kingdom one has to wonder that the original British version would not have received a "C" rating (Condemned).

Regardless, in the United States Astor Pictures struck upon an odd means of distributing Peeping Tom. As might be expected of a film directed by Michael Powell, Peeping Tom played art houses. At the same time, however, it also played in grindhouses better known for low-budget horror movies or even sexploitation films. It would seem Astor Pictures could not make up its mind as to whether Peeping Tom was an art film, a horror movie, or a sexploitation movie. While Peeping Tom never made a good deal of money in the United States, it proved to have some longevity on the grindhouse circuit. It was still being shown in theatres as late as 1966.

Of course, here it must be pointed out that Peeping Tom was not the only notable film distributed by Astor Pictures in the early Sixties. They also distributed François Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player (1960) and  Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita. Unfortunately Astor Pictures overextended themselves not long afterwards and they went bankrupt in 1963. In 1969 Anglo-Amalgamated, the company that produced Peeping Tom, would become part of EMI. At some point thereafter the rights to Peeping Tom were bought by Brad Marks Enterprises Ltd., who retitled it Face of Fear and, with further cuts, released it to television.

Fortunately throughout the years Peeping Tom was able to overcome the controversy it had stirred up in the United Kingdom and its somewhat haphazard release in the United States. Over the years the film developed a cult following among film buffs. In 1977 the Telluride Film Festival held a tribute to Michael Powell at which Peeping Tom was shown. It was in 1978 that Corinth Films approached filmmaker Martin Scorsese about providing money for a re-release of the film. Mr. Scorsese, who had seen the American cut upon its initial release in the United States and had long been a champion of the film, agreed to give them $5000. If it had not been before, Peeping Tom was on the path to reappraisal.

Of course, it must be pointed out that, contrary to popular belief, Peeping Tom did not end Michael Powell's career. In fact, his film The Queen's Guards was released in 1961, not that long after the controversy over Peeping Tom. Unfortunately The Queen's Guards received generally poor reviews and died a quick death at the box office. Even with the failure of The Queen's Guards, Mr. Powell would make several more films: Herzog Blaubarts Burg (1963), They're a Weird Mob (1966), Age of Consent (1969), and The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972).  He also did some work in television, directing three episodes of Espionage in the United Kingdom as well as one episode each of The Defenders and The Nurses in the United States. While Michael Powell's glory days might have been behind him, his career did not end with Peeping Tom.

As often been noted, Peeping Tom was released the same year as Alfred Hitchock's Psycho (1960). In fact, the premiere of Psycho in New York City was only a little over a month after the premiere of Peeping Tom in London. Some have even claimed that it was due to the harsh critical reception that Peeping Tom received in Britain that Alfred Hitchcock decided against holding a press screening for Psycho, although it seems equally plausible that Mr. Hitchcock did not want the press spoiling the surprise ending of Psycho. Regardless, the two movies are similar in several ways. Both deal with literate, mild mannered murderers who were the products of dysfunctional parents. Both feature the murders of beautiful women through either slashing or stabbing. And in both the murders come suddenly and, at least initially, unexpectedly. While Peeping Tom and Psycho do share a good deal in common, they differ a good deal as well. Peeping Tom features a much higher body count than Psycho. Indeed, while Norman Bates only seems to kill when the opportunity arises, Mark Lewis actually goes out and seeks out his victims. Perhaps the most obvious difference between the two is that while Peeping Tom was shot in lush Eastmancolor, Psycho was shot in black and white.

Regardless of any other similarities or differences between the two films, one thing that Peeping Tom and Psycho have in common is that they have both generally been considered horror films. Over the years there have been those who  have denied that Peeping Tom is a horror film, even though in its initial release the film was promoted as a horror movie on both sides of the Atlantic. Many of the original posters for Peeping Tom in the United Kingdom featured the tagline, "Do you know what the most FRIGHTENING thing in the world is...?" Some posters in the United States went even further. They featured the tagline, ""More horrible than horror! More terrible than terror!" and prominently featured the spear with which Mark Lewis killed his victims. Regardless of what anyone thinks today, it would appear both Anglo-Amalgamated in the United Kingdom and Astor Pictures in the United States thought of Peeping Tom as a horror film and promoted it as such.

Beyond having been originally promoted as a horror film in its original run, over the years there have been those who have noted similarities between Peeping Tom and the slasher films that would emerge in the late Seventies and early Eighties. In her essay on Peeping Tom in the book Fifty Key British Films, Isabelle McNeill notes how Peeping Tom anticipated the slasher film genre. She quotes the characteristics of slasher films Carol Clover listed in her book Men, Women, and Chainsaws that feature in Peeping Tom. Quite simply in the film  "...the killer is the psychotic product of a sick family, but still recognisably human..." and the victims are beautiful women. What is more, the locations of murders are not at home, but some "Terrible Place," and the weapons are something other than guns. Finally,the attacks are often from the victim's point of view. To Carol Clover's list Isabelle McNeill adds one more way in which Peeping Tom anticipates the slasher films of the Seventies and Eighties. Quite simply, Peeping Tom has its own "Final Girl" (the woman who survives to confront the murderer at the end) in the form of Helen.

While the resemblance between Peeping Tom and the later slasher films has often been noted, it has rarely, if ever, been noted that the film also resembles the concurrent Hammer Horrors as well. Indeed, despite the fact that Peeping Tom is set in London in the late Fifties and the Hammer Horrors in earlier times, Peeping Tom looks a good deal like a Hammer film. Like the Hammer movies Peeping Tom was shot in lush Eastmancolor. Like the Hammer Horrors a good deal of attention was paid to the detail of the sets for Peeping Tom. If Hammer had been making horror films set in the present day at that time, it would be easily to believe their sets might look like the sets of Peeping Tom. Beyond the look of the film, however, Peeping Tom resembles the Hammer Horrors in one other respect. Quite simply, Mark Lewis as played by Karlheinz Boehm resembles Dr. Victor Frankenstein as played by Peter Cushing. Both are aloof, clinical men who can be charming at times. What is more, both men are obsessed with their individual pursuits. In the case of Dr. Frankenstein that happens to be building monsters. In the case of Mark Lewis that happens to be murdering women to record their faces in fear as they die. At any rate, Mark Lewis would not have been out of place in a Hammer film!

Of course, Peeping Tom is not nearly as graphic as the later slasher films or even the concurrent Hammer Horrors. Despite the number of murders in the film, one never sees any bloodshed. That having been said, that makes it no less a horror film. In fact, I rather suspect many, perhaps most people, find Peeping Tom much more frightening than slasher films from the Seventies and Eighties (most of which aren't very scary at all) or even the classic Hammer Horrors. Michael Powell was able to build suspense in the various murder sequences of Peeping Tom without resorting to gore or shock tactics, to the point that they are very frightening indeed. For myself, the sequence featuring Moira Shearer as Vivian numbers among the scariest scenes in any film. It is true that Peeping Tom is not a traditional horror film. It is a horror film that is literate and cerebral, but it is a horror film nonetheless. Michael Powell described it as a "Freudian thriller".

While Peeping Tom can be considered a part of the cycle towards horror films sparked by Hammer's The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957, to a degree it can also be considered part of another trend in British film making at the time. Quite simply, Peeping Tom shares with the films of the British New Wave a tendency towards social realism. While for the most part the films of the British New Wave examined the lives of the working classes in the North, Peeping Tom examined the gritty underbelly of London. Like the world of the British New Wave films, the world of Peeping Tom is one where class was swiftly becoming less important. It is a world where Mark Lewis, who is obviously upper middle class at the least, is free to interact with such lower class institutions as a newsagent's shop dealing in pornography and lower class Soho prostitutes. Like the British New Wave films Peeping Tom even makes use of real life locations.

That is not say that there aren't significant differences between the films of the British New Wave and Peeping Tom. Most of the British New Wave films were shot in black and white, while Peeping Tom was shot in striking Eastmancolor. Most of the British New Wave films were shot in a pseudo-documentary style while Peeping Tom was not. Still, there would appear to be more similarities between Peeping Tom and the British New Wave films than differences. Indeed, much of the power of Peeping Tom to frighten and disturb perhaps lies in that its milieu seems all too contemporary and realistic.

Of course, much of the power of Peeping Tom to frighten and disturb probably also lies in the fact that it is essentially a film about a filmmaker who literally kills to make his films and in doing so makes some unsettling statements about movie making and movie audiences. In his review of Peeping Tom Roger Ebert commented, "Why did critics and the public hate it so? I think because it didn't allow the audience to lurk anonymously in the dark, but implicated us in the voyeurism of the title character." Indeed, it must be pointed out that unlike other horror movies of the period (even Psycho), Mark Lewis is the protagonist of Peeping Tom, this at a time when it was generally taken for granted that audiences would identify with the protagonist. The film is made all the more disturbing by the fact that Mark Lewis, unlike many other movie monsters, is presented with some sympathy.

While Peeping Tom invites the audience to sympathise with Mark Lewis, however, at the same time most of the murders are shot from the victim's perspective. In these instances the audience sees what the victim sees. We see Mark Lewis's spear coming in for the kill. In effect the audience becomes the victim. Through his skill as a director Michael Powell insured that audiences would be both the victimiser and the victim in Peeping Tom, something with which most critics probably were not comfortable in 1960.  Martin Scorsese, who may well be the film's biggest fan, believed that Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 and Michael Powell's Peeping Tom said everything that there was to say about directing. Of the two films he said, "8½ captures the glamour and enjoyment of film-making, while Peeping Tom shows the aggression of it, how the camera violates... From studying them you can discover everything about people who make films, or at least people who express themselves through films."

Of course, Peeping Tom is an extremely complex and sophisticated film, so that its themes go well beyond filmmaking and the participation of audiences in watching movies. In fact, it would probably take a fairly lengthy book to deal with the many themes upon which the movie touches. Peeping Tom not only deals with filmmaking and voyeurism, but such themes as the relationships between children and their parents, sexual repression, sexual perversion, violence, fear, and the collapse of the class system in post-war Britain. In many respects Peeping Tom is a potpourri of many of the anxieties plaguing the United Kingdom following World War II.

Critically reviled upon its initial release in Britain and suffering from slipshod distribution in the Untied States, Peeping Tom has come to be regarded as a classic. In 1999 the BFI ranked Peeping Tom number 78 in their list of the top 100 British films. In 2004 Total Film ranked Peeping Tom as the 24th greatest British film of all time. Once condemned by British critics as trash that was unworthy of director Michael Powell, in the end Peeping Tom has come to be regarded not only as one of Michael Powell's greatest films, but one of the greatest films of all time.