A middle-aged mobster suspects his young wife is cheating on him. He gets in touch with Harry Silver, the best hitman in the business.A middle-aged mobster suspects his young wife is cheating on him. He gets in touch with Harry Silver, the best hitman in the business.A middle-aged mobster suspects his young wife is cheating on him. He gets in touch with Harry Silver, the best hitman in the business.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe second line that Harry Silver quotes to Louis 'King' Koster is from François Villon's "Testament," "When death, that cheater of cheats comes knocking, and his voice grows near, where are the snows of yesteryear?"
- Quotes
[afterword]
Alfred Hitchcock: [Hitchcock is still holding the machine gun] To summarize the next reel, Harry did as he threatened, and Marian lived happily ever after. She had a rich, full life. It was too bad Harry was not there to share it with her, but of course,
[Hitchcock shrugs]
Alfred Hitchcock: crime does not pay, murder will out, etcetera, etcetera. And now, good night until we again bring you a saga of suspense and/or mystery. Good night.
- SoundtracksFuneral March of a Marionette
Written by Charles Gounod
"The Better Bargain" is not one of his best episodes, comparing this to Daugherty's previous four episodes this gets my vote as the weakest by quite some way. It is a long way from bad, far from being one of the worst episodes of Season 2 or of the whole of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and definitely worth the look, but it is a case of one great performance being quite a lot better than the episode itself. As far as Season 2 goes, "The Better Bargain" is neither one of the best or worst.
What raises "The Better Bargain" from being a potentially mediocre episode to a slightly above average one is the performance of Henry Silva, who is wonderfully serpentine. His character is on the obvious side, but Silva really unnerves and has strong chemistry with a solid (if not quite inducing the same amount of fireworks) Robert Middleton. Daugherty does direct more than competently, not exceptional but it is a long way from a hack job.
It is a slick looking episode, with some atmospheric shots and lighting. The audio has enough atmosphere too and the main theme never fails to haunt and fits the tone of the series perfectly. Hitchcock's bookending is entertainingly ironic. Enough of the script is thought provoking and it starts off well.
Did feel though that "The Better Bargain" could have done from a lot of tautness and suspense and the second half felt too routine for my tastes.
Moreover, the final quarter did ramble a bit (again personal opinion) from the story starting to feel over-stretched, all the way to the too predictable conclusion.
Overall, slightly above average but only just. 6/10 (was debating whether to give 5 or 6 but Silva is so good that part of me couldn't be too hard on it)
- TheLittleSongbird
- May 10, 2022
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1