Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.18

Shopping for Death

starring Jo Van Fleet

written by Ray Bradbury

directed by Robert Stevens

Retired insurance salesmen Clarence Fox and Elmer Shore try to convince Mrs. Shrike (Jo Van Fleet) that she could get murdered.

Thoughts

I'm not sure what to make of Clarence and Elmer. What makes them, Clarence in particular, such busybodies? In the end it seems that Clarence was right. Mrs. Shrike gets it in the end, but how did Clarence know? What made him spot her in the first place?

I kept thinking this episode was going to deliver something that never that never arrived. I kept thinking that Clarence, who did most of the talking and was the one who insisted that they first watch and then visit Mrs. Shrike, would do or say something to explain how he knew that Mrs. Shrike's life was in danger. Barring that I hoped that maybe something he said would mean something to Mrs. Shrike. He failed me on both counts.

I was amused by this episode up to a point. I enjoyed watching Clarence try to convince Mr. Shrike that she was in danger. I enjoyed watching Elmer try to talk Clarence into moving on and forgetting about Mrs. Shrike. I enjoyed the way that Mr.s Shrike rejected everything that Clarence suggested. The performances were all good but there was something lacking in the story or the screenplay or the way it was televised. This episode isn't awful but it left me feeling unsatisfied.

Notes

This is the first of three episodes of this show in which Jo Van Fleet appeared. She also appeared in one episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre.

Robert H. Harris played the part of Clarence Fox. This is the first of eight episodes of this show in which he appeared. He appeared in one episode each of Kraft Suspense Theatre, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and The Six Million Dollar Man. He appeared in two episodes of The Invaders, the first of which was 1.04 The Leeches.

John Qualen played the part of Elmer Shore. This is the second of three episodes of this show in which he appeared. The first one was 1.14 A Bullet for Baldwin.

Michael Ansara has a small part in this episode. I know him best as the voice of Mr. Freeze in Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond. This is the first of three episodes of this show in which he appeared. He appeared in one episode each of Kraft Suspense Theatre and The Outer Limits. He appeared in three episodes of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. He appeared in episodes of three different Star Trek series: Star Trek (1966), Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.

This is the first of five episodes of this show that Ray Bradbury had a hand in writing. He wrote both the story upon which this episode was based and the screenplay. He also had a hand in writing episodes of The Twilight Zone (1959) and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He died in 2012 but his stories and novels are still being made into movies and episodes of television.

This is the seventh of 44 episode of this show and third consecutive episode of this show that Robert Stevens directed.