Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Murder, Mystery and Melodrama

Alfred Hitchcock Presents was as the name suggests hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured both mysteries, melodramas and sometimes murder. The title sequence of the show became very well known. The camera fades in on a simple line-drawing caricature of Hitchcock's rotund profile. As the program's theme music plays, Hitchcock himself appears in silhouette turns to face the viewers, and says "Good evening."

The drawing was the work of Hitchcock himself. The sequence has been parodied countless times in films and on television. Hitchcock appears again after the title sequence and drolly introduces the story. At least two versions of the opening were shot for every episode. A version intended for the American audience would often spoof a recent popular commercial or poke fun at the sponsor, leading into the commercial. An alternative version for European audiences would instead include jokes at the expense of Americans in general.

Hitchcock would close the show in much the same way as it was opened, but now to tie up loose ends rather than joke. Originally 30 minutes per episode, in 1962 the show was extended to a full hour and re-titled, with great creative flair, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.Hitchcock himself only directed 17 of the 270 filmed episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and only one of the hour-long episodes.The last new episode aired on June 26 1965 but the series continued to be popular for decades.

In 1985, NBC broadcast a new TV-movie based upon the series, combining newly-filmed stories with footage of Hitchcock from the original series introducing each segment. The movie was a huge success, and sparked a brief revival of the genre that included new versions of The Twilight Zone amongst others. The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents series launched in 1985 and retained the same format as the movie - newly filmed stories (both original works and updated remakes of original series episodes) with introductions by Hitchcock. The new series lasted only two seasons before NBC cancelled it, but it was then produced for two more years by USA Network.

A large number of notable actors appeared on the series including Patricia Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock's daughter. Steve McQueen, William Shatner, Vic Morrow, Vincent Price, Claude Rains and John Cassavetes

Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, London in 1899 and passed away in Bel Air Los Angeles USA in 1980.