Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) 1.28

Portrait of Jocelyn

starring Philip Abbott, Nancy Gates, John Baragrey

written by Edgar Marvin, Harold Swanton

directed by Robert Stevens

Mark Halliday (Philip Abbott) takes to see his wife Debbie (Nancy Gates) to see a painting he bought for her for their first wedding anniversary except that when the dealer shows it to them it isn't the painting he remembered buying. It is a portrait of Mark's first wife, Jocelyn, who disappeared five years ago. Nancy is disturbed by the painting. They learn where they can find the man who painted the portrait, Arthur Clymer (John Baragrey), thanks to Jeff, Jocelyn's brother.

Debbie insists that they go looking for Clymer. They drive up the coast and find Clymer. There is something about Clymer that doesn't feel right to Mark. He goes to visit him and finds out what's really going on.

Thoughts

The portrait of Jocelyn is shown in this episode. There is also a sculpture of her, a bust. I have no idea who the model was for Jocelyn. She does not appear except in the two pieces of physical media. There are no flashbacks and she does not suddenly show up during this episode.

I was intrigued by this story. I wanted to believe in it but I found the ending to be a little too neat and tidy. I also didn't like how Debbie dropped out of the story in the last five minutes of the episode. I feel as though she should have been part of the ending.

Notes

This is the only episode of this show in which Philip Abbott appeared. I saw him most recently in an episode of The Outer Limits (1963), 1.18 ZZZZZ.

This is the second of two episodes of this show in which Nancy Gates appeared. The first was 1.06 Salvage. She also appeared in one episode of Four Star Playhouse. Her last screen credit was in 1969 but she didn't pass until 2019.

This is the first of two episodes of this show in which John Baragrey appeared. 

Raymond Bailey played the part of Jeff. This is the third of 10 episodes in which he appeared. The second episode in which he appeared was 1.10 The Case of Mr. Pelham. 

There are a couple of actors with small parts in this story who appeared in multiple episodes of this show. Olan Soule plays the art dealer. This is the second of six episodes in which he appeared. Harry Tyler played a real estate agent. This is the fourth of 11 episodes in which he appeared. 

Edgar Marvin wrote the story that was the basis for this episode. It is the only episode of this show that he had a hand in writing. Harold Swanton wrote the teleplay for this episode. This is the third of 10 episodes of this show that he had a hand in writing. The second episode that he worked on was 1.09 The Long Shot.

This is the 10th of 44 episodes of this show that was directed by Robert Stevens. The ninth episode he directed was 1.24 The Perfect Murder.