A 5-year-old boy finds his uncle's revolver, partially loads it with bullets, and plays with it in public, unaware of its deadly power.A 5-year-old boy finds his uncle's revolver, partially loads it with bullets, and plays with it in public, unaware of its deadly power.A 5-year-old boy finds his uncle's revolver, partially loads it with bullets, and plays with it in public, unaware of its deadly power.
- Rick Sheffield
- (as Steve Dunne)
- Fred Chester
- (as Biff Elliott)
- Amy Chester
- (as Lucy Prentiss)
- Jackie Chester
- (as Billy Mumy)
- Supermarket Customer
- (uncredited)
- Darlene
- (uncredited)
- Stephen
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMarta Kristen (Jiffy Snack Girl) would later go on to co-star with Bill Mumy (Jackie Chester) in Lost in Space (1965).
- Quotes
[introduction - HItchcock is in the box office of a movie theater]
Alfred Hitchcock - Host: Good evening and welcome to "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". The feature is about to commence. Please don't be alarmed. We are not charging admission. This is not pay-TV. As usual, all we ask is that on those occasions when you can't view our show, that you let us know so that we can send it to someone else. Please don't be a no-show.
[steps out of the box office with a gun]
Alfred Hitchcock - Host: This is not a holdup. I wish to dramatize the title of tonight's play.
[Hitchcock pulls the trigger and a flag with the word 'BANG' pops out]
Alfred Hitchcock - Host: Tonight's story is called "Bang! You're Dead". Despite the fact this has been introduced with my usual flippancy, it concerns a very serious subject and I would be doing it a disservice if I led you to regard it lightly. Now I must hurry into the theater, for I don't want to miss the beginning. Fortunately, I have a minute to find my seat before the feature starts, for it is preceded by an unselected short subject. It is the management's way of discouraging those who might stay through more than one show.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Svengoolie: Indestructible Man (2021)
- SoundtracksFuneral March of a Marionette
Written by Charles Gounod
I don't see this episodes as something telling everybody to take all guns away from people because bad stuff happens. I think it's telling people to be responsible. Keep firearms out of the reach of children. That's all it is imo.
Anyway, onto the story. Chester is a little boy that loves playing with guns. And let me say something before I dive deeper into this episode. It was absolutely bizarre in modern times to watch a tv show featuring such a young child walking to the store all by himself. I don't know of that existence tbh. But something tells me if you were a young child in the 50s and 60s, you might chime in that you did that all the time. Things were just different and you could do stuff like that without too many bad things happening. On a somber note, it must be sad for all of you that grew up watching Alfred when it was originally airing and you're watching it in current times. There must be so many things that pop out to you about how things were back then and how sad things are in modern times because there's none of that innocence. Oh, I'm not trying to romanticize the past. But there is still that innocence lost factor, ya know?
Another thing that seemed bizarre involves our actual plot point. Jackie's uncle is visiting and he's brought a surprise for Jackie. Jackie find his uncle's real gun and real bullets and he trots off happily because he thinks this is the surprise his uncle meant for him. So Jackie's walking around town with a real gun and he doesn't know it. Jackie meets the mailman and talks with him before finishing his trek to the store. He gets to the store and he's got this gun out and he's loading bullets into it, pointing it at people, messing with the safety, etc. He's clearly seen. Can you imagine a scene like that today? And I'm not even talking about a real gun. Can you imagine going to your local stores and walking by a kid playing with a toy gun? I hate to say it but I think people are so on edge that even a toy gun....maybe even playing with a water gun would set some people off.
Anyway, Jackie's family realizes what's happening. They know Jackie's out and he's got his uncles gun and he's got bullets for the gun too. They all go out to search for him. They go to the grocery store and Jackie is still in the store while the announcement is being made mentioning his name. But he can't hear the announcement because he's near a man grinding coffee. Jackie leaves the store and later on Jackie's family leaves the store. The family are out in the parking lot and all get frightened when a car backfires because they thought it was the gun being fired.
Jackie gets back home and greets Cleo. Cleo is the family's maid. The two banter back and forth and Jackie's now got all the bullets in the chamber by this point in time. He says he's gonna shoot Cleo. Please remember he still thinks he has a toy gun when he's saying these things to Cleo. Cleo thinks he's playing around and continues to banter with him. Jackie pulls the trigger and gun fires. Thankfully the bullet misses Cleo and Jackie's upset once he sees what happened.
Again, this was a well told story and I didn't come away with the feeling of being preached out. Great job with the writing and acting in this episode.
- glitterrose
- Jul 11, 2022
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1