Alfred Hitchcock Hour
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Also known as | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962–65) |
| Genre | Anthology |
| Created by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Presented by | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Theme music composer | Charles Gounod |
| Opening theme | "Funeral March of a Marionette" by Charles Gounod |
| Composer(s) | Stanley Wilson (music supervisor) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 360 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Producer(s) |
Joan Harrison Norman Lloyd |
| Editor(s) | Edward W. Williams |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 25–26 minutes (Seasons 1–7) 49–50 minutes (Seasons 8–10) |
| Production company(s) |
Revue Studios (1955–63) Universal TV (1963–65) Shamley Productions |
| Distributor |
Revue Studios (1955–63) Universal Television (1963–2004) NBCUniversal Television Distribution (2004–present) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
CBS (1955–60; 1962–64) NBC (1960–62; 1964–65) |
| Picture format | Black-and-white 4:3 |
| Audio format | Monaural sound |
| Original release | October 2, 1955 – June 26, 1965 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985) |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock, which aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the time it premiered on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades. Time magazine named it one of "The 100 Best TV Shows of all time". The Writers Guild of America ranked it #79 on their list of the 101 Best-Written TV Series tying it with Monty Python's Flying Circus, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Upstairs, Downstairs.
A series of literary anthologies with the running title Alfred Hitchcock Presents were issued to capitalize on the success of the television series. One volume, devoted to stories that censors wouldn't allow to be adapted for broadcast, was entitled Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV—though eventually several of the stories collected were adapted.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is well known for its title sequence. The camera fades in on a simple line-drawing caricature of Hitchcock's rotund profile. As the program's theme music, Charles Gounod's Funeral March of a Marionette, plays, Hitchcock appears in silhouette from the right edge of the screen, and then walks to center screen to eclipse the caricature. He then almost always says "Good evening." (The theme music for the show was suggested by Hitchcock's long-time musical collaborator, Bernard Herrmann.)
The caricature drawing, which Hitchcock created, and the use of Gounod's Funeral March of a Marionette as theme music have become indelibly associated with Hitchcock in popular culture.
Hitchcock appears again after the title sequence, and drolly introduces the story from a mostly empty studio or from the set of the current episode; his monologues were written especially for him by James B. Allardice. 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. For later seasons, opening remarks were also filmed with Hitchcock speaking in French and German for the show's international presentations.
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