User Reviews

Virgilia (Joana Moore) has been married twice and she is quite the flirt...even though she's currently married. Her new husband (Gary Merrill) seems depressed about it but so far has said or done nothing....that is until a scaffold falls and nearly kills Virgilia. A family friend wonders if this is the new husband's work, as he thinks there's something underneath his broodish exterior. Is this the case or is some other person trying to kill this shameless flirt?

This is just an okay episode. The twist, as it was, was not especially memorable nor interesting. Just okay overall and nothing more.

'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' "Invitation to an Accident" (1959)

Opening thoughts: "Invitation to an Accident" is the final Don Taylor-directed 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episode, the final one of seven. All of his seven outings are watchable and above, so actually reasonably consistent, the weakest "Fatal Figures" (between that and "The Deadly") of the previous episodes still being decent if uneven. Though only "The Right Kind of House" was properly great in my view (the very good "The Crocodile Case" came close) of his episodes.

"Invitation to an Accident" is a good final episode for Taylor and is in the solid middle category ranking Season 4, a mostly solid one though with a few major bumps (i.e. "Don't Interrupt"). Of Taylor's episodes too, "Invitation to an Accident" is around the middle in ranking, not "The Right Kind of House" level but better than "The Deadly" and "Fatal Figures" (closest to "Listen Listen"). It is not much out of the ordinary story wise, but is compensated by the acting and the ending in particular. A lot is good here in "Invitation to an Accident", but it falls short of greatness.

Good things: Joanna Moore's performance here is very powerful and affecting, while Gary Merrill is intensely brooding. The character interaction between them has a suitable amount of tension and edge. The chemistry also compels and intrigues. Hitchcock's bookending is droll and amusing as to be expected and Taylor's direction is assured enough and generates enough suspense.

Also did find the story very interesting on the whole, with some nice atmosphere.t is not too simple while not being convoluted either. The dialogue provokes enough thought, while it is atmospherically made and the theme tune deserves its classic status.

Bad things: "Invitation to an Accident" isn't flawless, the final third is too silly and lacks plausibility.

Count me too as another person who didn't find the ending that memorable or surprising, somewhat predictable actually.

Closing thoughts: Overall, quite good end to a solid Season 4.

7/10.

Solid Hitchcock, well cast with good twist ending. Coquettish young wife Virgilia (Moore) is cheating on grumpy middle-age husband Joseph (Merrill). Worse, most all their high-class friends know about it, while Merrill just sits and broods. He's being made a fool, but what will he do. Complicating things is one of Virgilia's old boyfriends, Albert (Hewitt), who seems more interested in being the proper gentleman than anything else.

Moore is so good as the sexy flirt, it's not hard to imagine her lack of discretion. Then too, Merrill comes across as both enigmatic and slightly menacing, so he's perfect for building suspense. Nothing special about this 30-minutes, just a good solid Hitchcock entry.

This is the eternal triangle times four. Once again we have the marriage of a dull, relatively unattractive man and a party-girl wife. Her dalliance is known about by everyone, it would seem, but her husband. Enter a man who really has no designs on her, but who fears she may become a murder victim. In typical Hitchcock fashion, we are toyed with. The unfortunate do-gooder finds himself square in the middle of unknown events; his snooping and searching become visible to the husband at some point. What is done with this is the subject of the show. It is a bit far-fetched to say the least, but these tightly plotted little short stories force this. It is certainly an example of no good deed going unpunished.