User Reviews

It is scary that Gerald Clarke reacts so strongly to by a gun being pointed at him, since he was in the military in WWII you would think that some of that could be attributed to what they then called "shell shock" except the story pointedly tells us he was never on the front lines.

This story attains more relevance when viewed today (2018) because of the ability to now look over the shoulder of law enforcement with bodycams and 2nd guess officer's actions even though law enforcement generally follows what they have been taught (and the public has not been taught). This story shows a man who over reacts to a gun being pointed at him. SPOILER - Even Hitchcock's comments at the end poke fun at this by saying Clarke was arrested, not for Mrs. Philips' murder, but for emptying his gun into an Uncle Sam poster (presumably one of those with a gun pointed at him).

Unfortunately, violence is not funny and this episode helps drive home that point with a shocking, but easily predicted ending twist.

I did enjoy Hitchcock's own violent tussles at the beginning and ending even though they were of the comic variety.

Well written and acted, in spite of the predictable ending.

Self-Defense is a well above average sixth season Hitch half-hour, well acted by Audrey Totter and, especially, in the leading role, George Nader, who gives the nearest to a bravura performance I've ever seen from him; and it sells the episode. Well written by John Kelley, an author unknown to me, it's a study in human nature, and of the character of one man in particular; and the outcome is nearly impossible to guess even after the first commercial break.

A simple tale of a handsome, gentle man nearing middle age who, when trying to break a five dollar bill for a six-pack of beer in a liquor store finds himself in the middle of a robbery. Unbeknownst to him, when he entered the place, the woman at the counter was in the process of being held up, with the perp hidden from sight. When the man realizes that someone is holding a gun on him and takes action, the hold-up man, quite young, nearly a boy, and inexperienced looking, flees.

Loaded gun in hand, the older man chases the younger one outside, as the latter jumps into a car and tries to drive away, the older man shoots,--four times!--which seems excessive, as the car had stopped after the second bullet was fired. Devastated and deeply shaken by what he has done when he realized that the perp was a near juvenile, that his gun was unloaded, and that he's in intensive care and may not pull through, the man has a chat with an officer in the police station, who reassures him that while he may not have done the right thing that his actions were within the law and he should try to take it easy.

In short time we learn that the young robber died in the hospital, and his killer runs into the deceased's mother, in tears, volunteers the information that it was he who shot the boy, how sorry he feels, and the two arrange to meet. He even attends the funeral, volunteers to pay for it. Increasingly stressed and distraught looking, and seeming to have aged ten years in a short period of time, when he invites the boy's mother to his apartment to talk to her he's still guilt-ridden and yet able to rally sufficiently to face the mother of the young man he killed.

Yet something is amiss. These two mature adults are not on the same wavelength. The man is in guilt overdrive, the woman in revenge overdrive. We are faced with two grieving characters, in the same place, each with very different agenda from the other. The woman, from out of the blue, pulls a gun on the man, interrogates him, demands to know why he fired so many shots at her son. What occurs as a result of this confrontation is nearly impossible to guess in advance.

There's a lesson to be learned in this episode on how easily people can unravel and become, both figuratively and, here, literally, loose cannons when provoked, shocked and no longer in control of their emotions. This is one of the best and most surprising entries from the show's sixth season. Even after all those years on the air the series could still rise to its former heights; and it could make the viewer think.

I was appalled by the character of Gerald Clarke (George Nader) in this episode, notwithstanding his fear of having a gun pointed at him. As soon as the young robber left the liquor store, Clarke no longer found himself in a self-defense situation. Because the police lieutenant (Steve Gravers) accepted George's description of events, I can't really fault him for stating that George had a right to defend himself. I can understand George's feeling of guilt when he found out the Phillips boy had an unloaded gun, but actually inviting the boy's mother (Audrey Totter) to his home struck me as quite abnormal. Having a witness there would have made it more credible, but still bizarre. When George finally pulled out a gun on Mrs. Phillips after she relented with her revenge plan, it could only be considered murder when he shot her, no matter how frightened he might have felt. But the situation would have made for a better case of self defense than the instance with her son. This is about the only time where Hitchcock's concluding remarks were welcome regarding the aftermath, although George Clarke's apprehension had more to do with shooting up an Uncle Sam poster than killing a woman invited to his home. Did the police even investigate?