Sat 19 Jan 2019
Stories I’m Reading: ROALD DAHL “Man from the South.”
Posted by Steve under Stories I'm Reading[8] Comments
ROALD DAHL “Man from the South.” Orinally published in the September 4, 1948 issue of Colliers (as “Collector’s Itemâ€). First collected in Someone Like You (1953). Reprinted many times, including A Shocking Thing, edited by Damon Knight (Pocket, 1974). TV versions: (1) Cameo Theatre, August 7, 1955. (2) Alfred Hitchcock Presents, January 3, 1960 (with Steve McQueen, Peter Lorre). (3) Tales of the Unexpected, March 24, 1979, (with José Ferrer). (4) Alfred Hitchcock Presents, one segment of “Pilot,” May 5, 1985 (with John Huston, Steven Bauer). (5) Suspense, February 12, 2016.
Even though you may not recognize it from its title, most readers of this blog may easily have read or watched at least one version of this story. In case not, this is the tale of a daring young man who bets the loss of the little finger on his left hand against a brand new Cadillac that his lighter will light successfully ten times in a row.
Somewhat surprisingly, the story that Dahl is not nearly as suspenseful as the versions I’ve seen on TV, namely (2) and (3). The snapping of the lighter by the boy whose other hand is tied to the table is almost perfunctory. Not nearly so as when drawn out for dramatic effect in either TV version.
Even so, there is no denying that Roald Dahl’s story, only 12 pages long, is as bizarrely evil as anything I’ve ever read, with a twist as good as any ever written.
January 19th, 2019 at 8:18 am
My earliest memory of that HITCHCOCK episode is hearing my Aunt tell my Mom all about it in lurid detail. I wasn’t allowed to watch it in those days, but when I finally did see that episode (thanks to the miracle of Cable TV) in my 20s, it wasn’t nearly as gripping as my Aunt’s narrative.
One thing I have noticed in the wisdom of my advancing years is that whenever I see Peter Lorre in the movies, he’s almost always smoking a cigarette. Thar last sentence isn’t grammatical but it’s true.
January 19th, 2019 at 10:53 am
I don’t remember for sure, but I must have seen that earlier Hitchcock episode live. I waych the show every week, if i could, and I didn’t miss many. What I don’t remember are any details, only the general impression that it scared the hell out of me. When I found the pair of images I added to the review,, I said to myself, ah, yes, that’s what it looked like.
January 19th, 2019 at 12:23 pm
Obviously, you couldn’t have seen the Hitchcock show live, because it was on film. 😀
But Seriously Folk …
I’m wondering how many viewers of that original broadcast (if any) were aware that Steve McQueen’s leading lady was his IRL wife of the time, Neile Adams.
(Who, in my view, really rocked a pixie haircut …)
January 19th, 2019 at 4:15 pm
I wasn’t aware then and I didn’t know now until you told me. Thanks! I assume that’s her in both of the two photos?
January 19th, 2019 at 7:34 pm
Is it ever.
Neile Adams was a dancer when she married Steve McQueen; she appeared with him in that capacity in a few variety shows (when he was still doing that sort of thing; at least one such appearance can be found on YouTube).
Post-McQueen, Neile Adams did some acting bits here and there.
She turned up briefly in the movie of Fuzz, playing Teddy to Burt Reynolds’s Steve Carella (it’s the one I can remember, but I’m sure there are others).
Actually, now that you know about her, see if it doesn’t give a whole new subtext to the opening scenes of “Man From The South”.
January 19th, 2019 at 7:42 pm
Does it ever.
I don’t remember her, though, except that just happens to be in both of the images I used. I’ll see if I don’t happen to have the season’s worth of DVDs this episode is part of. There’s plenty of reason now to (finally) see this one again.
January 21st, 2019 at 9:16 pm
The short story is more a gotcha than horror or suspense, in the O Henry vein much like “Lamb to the Slaughter.” But once adapted on television with actors like Lorre and McQueen (he did at least one other AHP episode with Arthur Hill about Martians, I think based on a Fred Brown story) the inherent suspense and drama of that flicking lighter become obvious.
Hitchcock himself directed twenty five television episodes of AHP and AHH (and two others not from his series) including “Lamb to the Slaughter”, was this one of them?
January 21st, 2019 at 9:30 pm
No, this one was directed by a fellow named Norman Lloyd. You may have heard of him! He really got around.