Alfred Hitchcock Presents Series 2, Episode 7    Jules Bricken    Lee Philips    11 November 1956    24m 40s    6/10

Alibi Me

Georgie Minnelli (Lee Philips) is angry that his long-time adversary Lucky Moore (Chick Chandler) is taking away a lot of his business in the amusement industry and so goes to confront him. When Georgie pulls a gun on Lucky, Lucky reminds him that due to their mutual hatred of one another they are known to a cop called Larkin who told them, "If ever one of you punks gets knocked off, the other one had better have a good alibi." They would each be the prime suspect if either one of them was to suddenly die. But it's too much for Georgie and he pulls the trigger when Lucky starts to antagonise him. Georgie pays a visit to his Uncle Leo (Alan Reed) and asks for him to alibi him and say that Georgie was with him earlier that afternoon but the uncle refuses. The two of them almost get into a fight before Georgie leaves and shows up at his ex-girlfriend's apartment. She is a bit more accommodating of his request to have her say that he has been with her all day. That is until she discovers a signed photo of a beautiful woman in his jacket and orders him out. Growing desperate to cover his tracks. Georgie visits a bed-bound old friend and asks him to help. Luckily, the man agrees and the two of them conjure up their afternoon activities but then the man dies (come on, seriously?) with Georgie in the room.... which kind of makes things a bit awkward for him! He then goes to Mrs. Salvatore, his middle-aged landlandy and asks her to say that he has been home all day but she also doesn't want to get involved, so he blackmails her. Later, the cop Larkin turns up and tells Georgie that Lucky has been found dead. True to her word, the landlady gives Georgie the alibi and Larkin believes her. It looks like Georgie has got away with it until there is a knock on the door....

HITCH'S PROLOGUE: [Hitch is in close-up holding a conductor's wand] "Good evening. [a bell rings] Some of our late viewers tuning in. One of the commonest questions that people ask our producer of mystery motion pictures is, 'which is written first - the words or the music?' In our case the background music always comes first. After it is written we sprinkle the score liberally with sound effects and then hire an author to write appropriate scenes to accompany the music. Quiet scenes to coincide with the somber passages and scenes of violence to synchronize with the noisiest sections. Finally we garnish this pot pourri with a title composed of one to four words, selected because they are eye-catching and provocative and we arrange them in a manner designed to titillate and confuse. Let me show you what one of our stories sounds like before it is written. [camera pulls back and Hitch turns round with his back facing the camera then proceeds to conduct an orchestra of various sounds including screaming, gunshots and sirens]." How fortissima can you get? I trust this has been educational. I deliberately cut that number short because it was the music of tonight's story, ALIBI ME. And I didn't want you to know how it comes out. If you haven't already guessed, here is the way it begins."" HITCH'S EPILOGUE: "Well that was a surprise! The pistol shot Georgie used to kill Lucky wasn't in the original score. But that's what happens when the musician who plays the revolver is allowed to improvise. Naturally Georgie was given life imprisonment while the offending musician got off with a ten year sentence. Next time we plan to bring you more music and sound effects and another story to accompany them. Good night."

REVIEW & OPINION An average episode, to be fair. It was intriguing to know how Georgie was going to pull it off especially as he was seen in public after the killing. Lee Philips in the lead role wasn't particularly convincing or much likeable for the most part. As for the ending, I felt it was okay but a little corny. The scene with Harry Tyler (the old man in the bed) suddenly dying was a bit much!

SPOILERS When Lucky was antagonising Georgie earlier, he tells him he has sent him a large lollipop "for a big sucker". That lollipop ends up being the key to tripping Georgie up. The gift is delivered by a messenger boy whom Georgie refuses to tip. The boy then tells the cop that this was the fifth attempt of the day to try and deliver it because on all the previous attempts to do so, Georgie wasn't home.

THE CAST (click any image to enlarge)

Georgie Minnelli... LEE PHILIPS Lucky Moore... CHICK CHANDLER Lt. James Larkin... HARVEY STEPHENS Uncle Leo... ALAN REED Timmy... HARRY TYLER Mrs. Salvatore (landlady)... ARGENTINA BRUNETTI Goldie... SHIRLEY SMITH Messenger boy... LEE ERICKSON Viola (photograph)... EUGENIA PAUL

GALLERY (click any image to enlarge)

Acknowledgements: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508356/ [IMDb] This page was last updated on: 20 March 2020