"The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" The Magic Shop (1964)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Robert Stevens

Writers:

John Collier (teleplay)
James Parish (script)

TV Series:

"The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (1962)

Original Air Date:

10 January 1964 (Season 2, Episode 13)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

Steven Grainger gives his son Tony money for his birthday, and takes the little boy to a remote magic store in town...

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | Character Name In Title

Cast

Alfred Hitchcock	...	Himself - Host
Leslie Nielsen	...	Grainger
Peggy McCay	...	Mrs. Grainger
John Megna	...	Anthony 'Tony' Grainger
David Opatoshu	...	Mr. Dulong
Paul Hartman	...	Mr. Adams
William Sargent	...	Dr. James Stone
Ted de Corsia	...	Police Lieutenant Herlie
Hugh Sanders	...	First Cop
Rolfe Sedan	...	Old Man in Car
Audrey Swanson	...	Eric's Mother
Robert Reiner	...	Intern
Brian Corcoran	...	Eric

Runtime:

60 min

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Shamley Productions

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the boy starts the fire in the neighbor's house you can clearly see it start in the upstairs window. But when they show the house on fire shortly thereafter, you can see it's archive footage of a single story house-fire.

Very scary story

Thought I have not seen this episode since I was in elementary school 40 years ago. But it left a lasting impression.

A young boy goes to a magic store and vanishes along with the owner. He later turns up at home but seem different. He starts doing real magic (what you would probably call witchcraft (ala Bewitched). At the midway point the neighbor kills his dog and he vows revenge. In the last scene, he looks out his window and makes that neighbor's house catch fire. He moves his index finger in a circle then punches the middle and the fire starts in one window. He repeats that several times. In a minute, the whole house is engulfed in flames. After that he takes a picture of his father and with a knife, cuts the face and the same cuts come on his father. It ends with them eating and the family is scared to say anything.

This episode of the Alfred Hitchcock Hour will be run tomorrow August 15, 2008 at 6:00 am and 12:00 pm on the Chiller Network This may wind up not being as scary if I see it now. Like the end of the Outer Limits' Misfits of Zanti at the end you can see the strings holding the giant ants. You notice cheesy things like that now, but when you are a young child, things like this do not matter.

The Chiller Network is now showing the Alfred Hitchcock Hour, so maybe I can see it again.