Fri 30 Apr 2010
A TV Review by Mike Tooney: THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR “The Paragon.”
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[4] Comments
“The Paragon.” An episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (Season 1, Episode 20). First air date: 8 February 1963. Joan Fontaine, Gary Merrill, Virginia Vincent, Linda Leighton, Richard Carlyle. Teleplay: Alfred Hayes. Story: Rebecca West (source unknown). Director: Jack Smight.
Alice Pemberton (Joan Fontaine) is one of those individuals who, wherever they go, leave discouragement in their wake. She always rubs people the wrong way and yet never seems to notice the harm she does.
From criticizing her sister’s child-rearing abilities to flicking lint off the maid’s uniform, Alice is a walking, talking affront to anyone who knows her. Her husband John (Gary Merrill) just can’t get through to her; she’s perfect and she expects everybody else to be also.
One night Alice has a dream, a nightmare really, of a dark shape floating through the bedroom window and settling over her face, smothering her. It just so happens that one of the people who know Alice well is making plans to make her dream come true ….
Joane Fontaine is best remembered for Rebecca (1940) and Suspicion (1941). She also appeared in Jane Eyre (1944), Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948), Born to Be Bad (1950), The Bigamist (1953), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956), and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).
We’ve already dealt with Gary Merrill’s criminous career. See “The Paragon” on Hulu here.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
While Fontaine may not have been as glamorous or attractive as her sister Olivia De Haviland, it always struck me as amusing that in three of her most important roles she was cast as a ‘plain Jane’ in REBECCA, SUSPICION, and JANE EYRE.
Leave it to Hollywood to think Joan Fontaine was anyone’s idea of plain.
August 14th, 2018 at 2:55 am
I just happened to come across this post after watching the episode. A little research shows that the story by Rebecca West which is the source of “The Paragon” is called “The Salt of the Earth.”
Here’s a review of the story, without spoilers. Note that it confirms that the name of the main character is Alice Pemberton.
August 14th, 2018 at 2:56 am
Forgot the link:
http://danitorres.typepad.com/workinprogress/2015/05/short-story-sunday-the-salt-of-the-earth.html
December 26th, 2021 at 9:32 am
So the opening scene is nothing more than a nightmare ironically foretelling her death at the hands of her husband? The woman who looks in on her says Alice has been ill for a couple days but this is a natural indigestion only? Is she in bed at her mother’s house? In conclusion Hitchcock says husband turns himself into the police the next day. Out of overwhelming guilt or certain he won’t get away with it so hastens the arrest?