This was an essay I wrote on the third episode of the third season of the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents titled "The Perfect Crime" starring Vincent Price. I originally wrote this essay in an Alfred Hitchcock course I took in the Fall of 2013. Since I referenced the events of the episode a lot, I also included a link to the episode from Hulu.com.
A common thread that is spread throughout most of Hitchcock’s directorial filmography is that of death and/or murder. Spanning six decades, from the 1920s to the 1970s, Alfred Hitchcock made films that featured death as a common theme. In several of those films death was a result of murder. The theme of murder would be one of many themes that would become part of his legacy as a film maker. Along with certain themes, a specific style in which he would make his films would comprise what is known today as Hitchcockian. His television series, Hitchcock Presents, would also use the Hitchcockian style in its episodes, especially those Directed by Alfred Hitchcock himself. For example, the season three episode three “The Perfect Crime” , aired on October 20, 1957 was Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
In Nicholas Haeffner’s book on Alfred Hitchcock he mentions how affective he was at selling his persona and his films to an audience. By the late 1950s Hitchcock was a very popular and well known Director amongst audiences not only on the big screen but also the small screen. In the television series Hitchcock would appear on screen and talk with the viewers. This episode, “The Perfect Crime”, starts off in the usual way with the iconic Hitchcock silhouette and accompanying theme music. The camera pans over to Hitchcock sitting in a chair wearing a hat and smoking a pipe, looking very similar to Sherlock Holmes. Although he does not mention who he is emulating, he hints at it by saying “Good evening lady and gentlemen and Dr. Watson wherever you are.” To make a reference to one of the most famous fictional private detectives of all time right before the episode that has a murder mystery storyline in it is a smart tactic by Hitchcock and his writer’s. Chances are they are most of the viewers are already familiar with Sherlock Holmes, so Hitchcock uses that to his advantage and also adds his own comedic charm to it. The exorbitant amount of bubbles coming out of the pipe and him frantically swatting to pop them while commenting on the perils of bringing a pipe to bed is a nice light comedic moment before we get into a story about murder. Something he did throughout his filmography was have the ability to switch from comedy to drama and sometimes mesh the two together.
The episode stars Vincent Price as a very successful detective named Charles Courtney and James Gregory as an unsuccessful defense lawyer named John Gregory. Gregory confronts Courtney about a case involving a murder by a man named Harrington of a man named Ernest West. But, before he brings up such a case they have a very casual conversation about murder. Specifically, Courtney’s trophy case of mementos from his victorious cases and an empty spot awaiting the perfect crime, or how he puts it the perfect murder. This casual chatting about murder reminds me of the discussion that Charlie’s father and his friend have in “Shadow of a Doubt” when they were discussing how one would commit murder and get away with it. Their conversation is more comedic but what the two conversations have in common is the casualness in which such a serious subject is discussed.
Through this casual conversation Courtney seems to exhibit some of the characteristics a of a classic Hitchcock antagonist. He is a wealthy egotistical individual who seems to have gained a lot of wealth and positive standing in the public’s eye. He remarks that his trophies represent perfect memories of imperfect crimes. Although he says that they are not monuments to his brilliance but tombstones to the stupidity of criminals regards, one can not help but think he is merely being modest as to not appear to be egotistical. But, then he goes onto to say that he can not find a real challenge hence why he holds out hope for the perfect crime. He seems bored by all the trophies, as if they were all the cases were to easy. His biggest fault and ultimately the biggest fault of any of Hitchcock’s antagonists is their ego. They think they are perfect or at least present themselves in that way. In this instance the fault in Courtney’s perfection is revealed to the audience in one Hitchcock’s famous plot twists.
About midway through the episode after Courtney has smugly explained how easy it was for him to discover Harrington as the killer of West, Gregory reveals that Harrington was not the killers and he can prove it. Courtney dramatically rises to his feet, with the camera shot just neck high revealing the look of disbelief on his face. Then there is a great cut to the Hitchcock silhouette as a dramatic score plays. The silhouette seems like a silent message by Hitchcock to the audience reminding them that it is the Hitchcockian twist that they familiar seeing in his work. Courtney of course must dismiss his claim as false because in his mind he can never be wrong, especially a case that has already resulted in the execution of the man he found to be the murderer. But in true Hitchcockian fashion the truth is revealed by Gregory not only to Courtney but to the viewers as well. Not only does Gregory reveal the truth but he has monologue within his revelation that is a direct strike at who Courtney is. He exclaims that at last those like Courtney will know the taste of defeat and humiliation, brought down to some level of the ordinary. Then I think he makes the grave mistake of trying to hold this truth over Courtney in the form of blackmail. He literally goes nose to nose with Courtney and his ego and as he says his reputation does not allow mistakes. So Gregory pays the ultimate price for his confrontation in what I perceive as a second Hitchcockian twist.
After their brief heated confrontation, Courtney seems to retreat for another drink off camera. The camera holds on Gregory who turns his back to take what he assumes is a victory drink and then from off screen the arms of Courtney move around his neck, then fade to black. The quickness by which the arms of death position themselves around the neck of Gregory must have given the viewer a jolting fright. That quick action is the second Hitchcockian twist in the episode. The next scene begins with the press taking pictures of Courtney as he shows them around his home. He has the same calm exterior that he had earlier in the episode. I find the moment when he describes how efficient his oven is that he uses for ceramics to be great. The way he utters the word “efficient” twice and looks down at his wrist indicates that it is significant. Also the way he describes the vases as being made with a “special” kind of clay. Hitchcock was a master of using implication in his films. The oven and the clay pot imply that Gregory was killed and his body was disposed of in the oven. But of course given the time it was made that can not be shown on screen.
Hitchcock arrives at the end of the episode to provide an epilogue. He enters the room in which the episode took place but all the furniture have sheets placed over them as if no one lives there any longer, implying that Courtney has been caught. He points to the spot that the vase was in and explains that Courtney had been caught when a woman knocked it over and when it broke it revealed pieces of Gregory, like his gold filling. Hitchcock even makes a joke using the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme in reference to fragments of Gregory. A flash of his dark humor shows through. Coincidentally the woman who knocked over the case is now a darling of the press like Courtney was. Hitchcock also ends the episode with another joke that cleaning women all over the world have been trying to knock over vases so they too can become famous. Leave it to Hitchcock to end an episode that revolved around death and murder with not one but two jokes.
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