04x07 - Man with a Problem

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One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

Now raise your hands above
your head. Higher. Higher.

I wish to take this opportunity
to welcome you latecomers to

Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Someone suggested I go
to a slim and trim class.

And I decided to go even
further and start one of my own.

Here to encourage you
beginners is an illustration

of what hard work and
determination can do.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

This is Mr. Webster, who I'm
certain is the envy of all of you.

When Mr. Webster
first came to me,

he weighed nearly
pounds.

He was sluggish and rundown,

and was the object of ridicule
because of his obesity.

Furthermore, his wife had
threatened to walk out on him.

Now, all that has
changed for the better.

He has his old energy back,
he's quite popular socially,

and his wife has left him.

He also has a pleasant job,

modeling in the anatomy department
of one of our largest universities.

And in evenings,
is end man in a minstrel show.

And now, ladies and gentlemen,
a special low-calorie story.

However, first, for those
of you who aren't dieting,

we have this bit of treacle.

Taxi, please. Can you
get me a taxi, please?

I'm in an awful hurry.

They've seen me now. They'll be
coming soon. I mustn't lose my nerve.

No matter what they do or say,
I mustn't let them stop me.

Open it.

Is that the man
you brought up?

Yeah, but he had
glasses on.

I brought him up
about minutes ago.

Go down to the desk,
get his registration card.

Call the security officer.

Tell him to shut the main
entrance and clear this floor.

Yes, sir.

Desk, give me security.

What's the meaning of this?
What are you trying to pull?

Leave me alone.

You come
in here at once!

Come out and get me.

Don't do this.

Think what it will mean to
your family, to your wife!

I don't have a wife.

Get inside.

Get in or I'll jump right now!

All right.

A wife.
No, I don't have a wife.

Not anymore.

Not since last night.

Or was it two months ago that
she stopped being my wife?

I've been wanting
to tell you.

I've been trying to get
up my courage for weeks.

I don't want to hurt you, Carl,
but I can't go on living like this.

So that's it.

Who is he?

His name is Steve.

The man you had dinner
with Wednesday night?

I saw you.

You've known.

I've seen you
together before.

Will you divorce me,
or shall I file?

Divorce?

People change, Carl.

It just happened.

Please let me go.

For this? For some
crazy infatuation?

No!

Steve and I
are in love.

Then test it.

Stop seeing him.

Give it six months.

I'm sorry, Carl.

Is he married?

Yes.

Usually are.

There's nothing
between them anymore.

His wife's giving
him a divorce?

Yes.

He wouldn't
lie to me.

No? Wait until he
gets tired of you.

He'll start telling you
how hopeless it all is.

How he has to be strong for
your sake and give you up.

No.

We want to do things
the right way, Carl,

but if we can't,
we're going to run away.

He agreed to that?

Yes, he did.

There's nothing
more to say.

I'm tired and
I'm going to bed.

Karen, you'll never leave me.

I belong with Steve.

I'll love him
as long as I live.

All right.
Come on, let's move.

Come on. Come on, sisters,
move along.

If he jumps, somebody's gonna
get hurt. Come on, let's go.

Take it easy.
Move back.

Yes, please. And call us
collect if you hear anything.

Well, you certainly
took your time, Officer.

I had to ring in for help.
It's kind of crowded down there.

Is this man
a regular guest?

No, I never saw him before. His name
is C.J. Adams from Trenton, New Jersey.

I was just appointed manager here less
than a month ago, and now I get this.

Why did he have to come here? Why didn't
he pick on some hotel near Penn Station?

Well, let's ask him
when we get him in, huh?

He says he has no family, but
I called the Trenton police.

They're looking up everybody
by the name of Adams

to see if they can find a relative
or somebody who might know him.

Well, don't count on it.
The name's probably a phony.

He's got a new suitcase
with a blank name tag.

No identification
in the jacket,

he's even ripped
out the label.

Do me a favor, will you? Call Bellevue
and ask them to send over a psychiatrist.

Hiya, fella.

Got quite a view, huh?

There's a better one from
the top of the Empire State.

I like this one.

Don't come any farther.

You're not really
going to jump, are you?

Yeah.

Are things that bad?

Aren't you scared?

Yeah.

Here, take a drag of this.

It'll help your nerves.

So you can grab me?

And go down with you?

I never learned to fly.

Here.

Put it down.

I'm sorry you
have to jump.

Nothing to you.

No, but you're doing
this on my b*at.

I got a promotion
coming up. Sergeant.

You go and my
chances go with you.

They can't blame you
for what I do.

You don't know my lieutenant.
He doesn't like me.

He'd say I pushed you.

It means a lot
to you, huh?

Not especially.

It does mean an awful
lot to my wife, though.

I'm sorry.

Well, you've got
your own problems.

Who are they
down there?

Just police emergency and
a fire truck, Mr. Adams.

Well, get rid of them.
Make them go away.

Well, they wouldn't
listen to me.

You sent for them.

No, I didn't
send for them.

You did! I thought you understood!
I was beginning to trust you!

You can. You can
trust me, Mr. Adams.

I gave you a cigarette,
didn't I?

I'd fall a lot faster
than that, wouldn't I?

Yeah.

Well, keep them
away from me then!

Tell them no tricks!
One move and I go!

Go down and tell them!

Well? Are you going
or shall I?

Take it... Take it easy.
I'll go. I'll keep them away.

Just promise not to jump, huh?
What do you say?

Tell them!

He'll come in,
won't he?

You think he's
going to come in?

No. I think he's
going to jump.

Jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump!

Jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump,

jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump,

jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump.

Come on.
Hey, listen, you guys,

I'm not doing a
fool job on this.

Look, I'll catch
him when he jumps,

you catch him half-way down,
and you catch him when he hits.

That way,
we can... No.

That way, we can catch a
full spread on a magazine.

How about it, huh?

Check the next floor
and the roof.

Lieutenant, I want
to talk to you.

Don't move
without an order.

Lieutenant, if that bunch
scares him, he's gonna jump.

You heard my instructions,
Barrett. I'm not a rookie.

You know, he was beginning to listen to
me, until you came up with those sirens.

How'd you expect us to
come, on tiptoe? What room?

Seventeen-eleven.

Thank you for trying.

You were right, Officer.

Trenton Police can't find
anybody who ever heard of the man.

Lieutenant, listen to me,
will you, please?

Now, he's in bad shape.
I promised to keep you away.

If he sees you... Are you in
charge of this detail, Barrett?

He'll talk to me.
Ask him.

That doesn't
bring him in.

It hasn't made
him jump.

You'll be
responsible, Lieutenant.

If anything should happen,
I heard this officer warn you.

I know my responsibilities.
And I know this officer.

He wants to be a sergeant
so bad, he can taste it.

He wants to make it with a grandstand
play instead of working for it.

You! Get in here or we're
going to bring you in!

You are?

You are?

Well, then do it!

Do it or get
away from me!

All right!
Stop that!

Well, are you satisfied,
Lieutenant? Supposing he'd jumped?

The fire crew's down
there with a net.

Yeah.

From stories,
Lieutenant?

Get upstairs and see
what that squad is doing.

Hotels all over town. Why
did he have to pick this one?

Ever see one jump?

I've seen pictures
in the papers.

I saw one once in Philly
about six years ago.

The guy didn't jump, though.
A priest talked him out of it.

They're waiting,
waiting for me!

It won't be for long.

I can't last much longer.

It's too late to do
anything else.

Last night settled
that forever.

Where are you going?

With Steve. For good.

His wife's giving
him a divorce?

No. No, you were right
about her. She never will.

But you were wrong
about Steve.

We decided last night.

I'm sorry, Carl.

Sorry?

Karen...

No, it's all right.

I deserved it.

I hope it makes things
easier for you.

Karen, he won't
make you happy.

He's no good.
I've checked on him.

He's what I want.

I love him.

Goodbye, Carl.

He may fall, he may jump.

How do I know how long?

TV station.

Wanted to know if they'd have time to
set up a mobile unit across the street.

How does it look?

Morrison says
it's bad.

Has the same spread
between the windows.

He'd be bound to spot a net, above
or below, before they could rig it.

What about the roof?

Cornice juts out
about four feet.

They've set up a looped rope
with a pulley directly above him.

But it's no good unless
he's willing to use it.

Morrison could try
a lasso from .

It's a bad angle and he'd
only get one chance at it.

It's your decision,
Lieutenant.

I was down there last
night, walking and thinking.

Trying to conceive
a life without her.

How many hours was it?

How many blocks and
endless miles to oblivion?

Karen?

Karen?

Karen? Karen, wake up!

Carl, dear, I came back
because I had no place else to go.

You weren't here.
I knew you wouldn't be.

You were right about
Steve, so right.

Even to the words he used
about it being hopeless,

and he had to be
strong for my sake.

He just wanted
to be rid of me.

I know now the pain
I must have caused you.

I'll never hurt you again.
Goodbye, Carl. "

Ah, he ain't gonna jump.

They ain't getting
no place with him.

Look, he'll be just like
that guy in Philly, I know.

Do you want to put your
money where your mouth is?

For how much?
I got says he goes.

You got a bet.

You think he'll jump?

At this point,
I can only guess.

What's wrong with him?

An emotional disturbance
of some duration,

aggravated by a severe shock
precipitating him into this.

Well, you've got an opinion.

How long has he
been out there?

About four hours now. Why?

Well, a delay generally indicates
indecision, an unresolved conflict,

a manifestation of the will to live
or a desire for attention, but...

But, what?

Look, I have a feeling that the
generality doesn't apply here.

I think he's already
made up his mind.

To jump? Or to come in?

It could be either.

Then our going after him
wouldn't cause anything

he wasn't going
to do, anyhow?

A scare might make him fall.

Can't you help us
any more than that?

Look, I can't delve into his
mind without his cooperation.

He simply refuses to talk.

He spoke to me, Doc.

He was almost friendly,
until he heard those sirens.

I could try it again.

Well, it can't
do any harm.

Go ahead.

How about another
smoke, Mr. Adams?

No, you lied to me. You
let that lieutenant come.

I told you how he was.

If you ask me, I think
he'd like to see you jump.

Just like they'd
like to see it.

You want to make them happy?
Go ahead, jump.

They just can't wait for the
big thrill of watching you fall.

Jump, jump, jump!

Yeah, that's right.

People like them,
like the lieutenant.

They think you owe it
to them to die.

Yeah, like vultures.

Jump, jump, jump!

Vultures!

Lean back!
Lean back!

Come on in, Adams,
come on. Fool them.

Fool them all
down there.

Yeah, fool them all.

Come on, take my
hand. Nice and easy.

I'm weak.

Dizzy.

Stop looking down.
Hug the building.

Just hold on.
Hey, just for a second.

Yeah.
Lieutenant.

Hold it, Morrison.

I think he'll listen to me
now, but we got to move fast.

Tell Morrison to drop
it slow and easy.

Morrison, lower the rope.
Yes.

Here.

All right now, Mr. Adams,
here's what I want you to do.

You see that rope?

Now, take it easy. When it
swings in, I want you to grab it,

slip it over your head
and down under your arms.

Okay? Go ahead, try it.

Go ahead, try it.

Ah, I can't.

I can't.

All right, hold on.

I'm coming out for you.

Okay, now put your
left arm through here.

Come on, over your head,
put your arm through.

We tighten up
and we're all set.

Thanks for coming
out after me.

Anytime.

All right, two tugs
and we'll haul you up.

No, wait.

Do you have any idea why I
chose this hotel on your b*at?

No.

But tell me when we
get back inside, huh?

No! No, here!

My name isn't Adams.

I had a wife
until last night.

A girl named Karen.

Karen?

She k*lled herself.

Because of you, Steve.

Unfortunately for Mr. Adams,
revenge was not sweet,

for he ultimately
paid for his crime.

While we were watching this sad
saga, I was doing some thinking.

This program might be improved by
the use of our special spot reducer.

I can think of three
spots in particular.

Here is one of them, after which,
Mr. Webster and I shall return.

Mr. Webster seems to
have disappeared again.

This is one aspect of his
life that's a bit tiresome.

You see, the dogs keep carrying
him off and burying him.

I've had to dig him up
at least three times.

And now it's time for me to
disappear, until next week that is.

I shall be back then with
another story. Good night.