["Alfred Hitchcock" theme music]
- Good evening, ladies and
gentlemen,
and welcome to the Alfred
Hitchcock Hour.
[dog barks]
I suppose you are wondering
what kind of dog this is.
It's an invisible one.
[cat meows]
And this,
as you can see, is an invisible
cat.
None of this is very remarkable
until you realize they're not
fighting.
Peaceful coexistence seems to be
a natural side effect of
invisibility.
We are now thinking of
trying it on human beings
and television commercials.
After all, if my sponsor's
messages were invisible,
I suspect I might not
be as critical as I am.
I might even grow to love them.
Death and the Joyful Woman
is the name of tonight's hour of
charm.
But do not be deceived.
The story is very American,
very contemporary,
and just a little bit homicidal.
And now, in a highly visible
state, the sponsor's message.
[suspenseful music]
[laid back band music]
- [Kitty] Let's see your ID,
buddy.
- Kitty Norris, hi.
- You're not old enough to
be drinking, Dominic Felse.
What will you pay me not to
tell?
- Hmm, Aguilar?
Private stock.
- It's hardly enough.
- A comparable Norris
champagne is infinitely better.
- I agree.
Has Mr. Aguilar made his
entrance yet?
- He's still upstairs with his,
uh, secretary or whatever she
is.
Oh, boy, those two are really a
pair.
Hey, what are you doing
coming in the backdoor?
I hardly think that's proper.
- Well, I thought I'd
case the joint first.
Anybody good here?
- Everybody Aguilar hates,
you know, the usual guests,
except Al's here.
- Al Aguilar is here?
- [Dominic] Brought His Wife
Too.
- Those poor kids.
They must be desperate.
Where are they?
- You see, sitting on the
couch behind the piano.
They've been sitting
there for almost an hour,
haven't moved.
Nobody's even talked to him
except me, and all I said was,
"Hi, will you hand me that
glass, please?"
- Hey, Dominic.
- Hey, Kitty.
- Now, listen, buddy.
Watch yourself at all times.
- Oh, yes, ma'am.
- And do exactly as I say.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Run out and ask Al and Jean
if they would join me in the
kitchen.
Tell them I'm hiding out here.
I wanna talk to them.
- Say please.
- Please, please, please,
please.
Jean, take him home.
- I can't do anything.
Look at him, Kitty.
- We got an invitation, Kitty.
It's my big A invitation.
- Of course you got an
invitation.
You got one last year too,
but you had sense enough not to
come.
- Yeah.
Last year, I didn't have to
come.
I could still pay the rent.
This year, I can't.
I've come to beg.
Who knows, he may have changed.
I haven't seen him since he
kicked me out.
That heart may have a soft
center.
It may have melted just a
bit in the last two years.
- I wouldn't count on it.
- That's what I told him, Kitty.
But in some ways, he's like his
father.
- She means stubborn.
Hey, Dominic.
What are you doing working here?
- Oh, just trying to make enough
money
to be able to propose to Kitty
Norris.
Will you marry me, Kitty?
- Ask me again in a couple of
years.
Dominic's my buddy.
- Oh, yeah, buddy, and
tennis partner, and attorney.
- It's true.
He talked his mean old policeman
father
out of giving me a traffic
ticket last week, didn't you?
- And I'm in love with her.
- You tell him, tiger.
How is that mean old
policeman father of yours?
- He got promoted up
to the homicide squad.
It's dead though.
No business.
- [chuckles] You'll have to tell
Luis.
Hello, Al.
- Hello, Ruth.
Thanks for the invitation.
- Oh, it wasn't from me.
I wouldn't have sent it.
Your father put your name
at the head of the list.
How are you, Kitty?
- Hello, Ruth.
- Hi, Jean.
Your father watched you drive
up while he was tying his tie.
He's in a mean mood, Al.
Oh, take a bottle of wine
up to Mr. Aguilar's bedroom
immediately.
He's waiting for it.
- Red or white, please.
- The white wine.
- It's called a Joyful Woman,
Dominic.
- Oh, he's always in a mean
mood right before harvest.
But tonight, something
nice is going to happen.
- Which is Mr. Aguilar's room?
- Second floor.
It's the first door on the
right.
Now, don't be afraid.
He's not gonna bite you.
- Mr. Aguilar is waiting.
- Come on, I'll give you a push.
Straight up.
- You know what Jack found
at the top of the beanstalk,
don't you?
- Go on, you big coward.
Go on, go on.
[ominous music]
[knocking on door]
- [Luis] Who is it?
- [Dominic] The wine, sir.
- [Luis] Come in.
Put it down on the desk.
Open it, boy.
Show me the label.
- Oh, excuse me, sir.
- [Luis] Good.
Did my guests arrive?
- Well, there's a lot of
people downstairs, sir.
- [Luis] They are downstairs,
wolves,
jackals,
snakes,
and dogs.
Thank you.
♪ For he's a jolly good fellow ♪
♪ For he's a jolly good fellow ♪
♪ Which nobody can deny ♪
[guests applaud and chatter]
- Thank you, Lorraine.
How do you do, Miss Applewhite?
How do you do?
How are you?
Oh, thank you.
- Fantastic party, Luis.
It's great, great.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
[people chatter]
Hello, Wesley, how are you?
How beautiful you always are,
Kitty.
- Thank you, Mr. Aguilar.
- Hello, father.
- I wanna talk to you.
- I wanna talk to you too,
alone.
- Good.
It's been a long time
since we chatted together.
Come on.
I want you to see my new tasting
room.
- Luis, your guests.
- You play hostess, Ruth.
Follow us.
Bring two magnums of the
Joyful Woman and follow us.
- Yes, sir.
- I'm going up to the tasting
house.
I don't wanna be disturbed.
- Yes, sir.
- Come on, Al.
[laid back piano music]
- Come on, silly.
Everything's all right.
- A little bitter.
Understandable.
Bottled the year you disobeyed
me.
- You know I don't drink.
- Oh, yes.
I forgot.
I forgot.
So,
you said you wanted to talk to
me.
Well?
- I have to have some money.
- You do, huh?
This has been a very bad year,
Al.
I've had a lot of expenses.
I bought myself five new
suits at $300 a piece,
a car, $8,000,
$10,000 for a trip to Europe
and--
- I just--
- Don't interrupt me!
Beautiful pair of cuff links,
$1,000,
four or five new paintings,
and oh, yes, I bought Ruth a
necklace
and a fur coat.
A secretary must have a fur
coat.
$14,000.
Al, I won't give you a cent.
And if you care, you are
no longer in my will.
My only son, I only asked
him to do one thing.
One thing was all I ever asked.
It was all set up.
I could have doubled this
empire.
- I didn't love Kitty.
- I didn't ask you to love.
I asked only one thing.
- She didn't love me either.
- Stop talking about love!
It was a business arrangement, a
merger,
a merger of the Norris-Aguilar
wines.
But the only son of Luis
Aguilar,
the only one who could
have carried it off,
the thing I'd been working on
for years,
that only son, to spite his
father,
eloped with the harvester
that worked in the fields.
- Father, I have to have some
money.
- I am no longer your
father, Mister, uh, Mister X.
You are no longer an Aguilar.
- [Al] You're going to be a
grandfather.
Jean's going to have a baby.
- The thought of it makes me
sick.
- Al, come on.
- [Al] Please, please.
- You'd like to k*ll me,
wouldn't you?
- [Al] Oh, stop it!
- I saw it in your eyes.
I saw you wanted to m*rder me.
You want to k*ll me, don't you?
- Yes.
Yes!
- Are you man enough?
[ominous music]
Are you man enough, Mister X?
[ominous music]
Now, Mister X.
You're not leaving, are you?
- Did you call me, father?
- [Luis] How much money
do you need for this,
this blessed event?
- A thousand dollars.
I tried to borrow it at the bank
but they're all friends of
yours.
- I knew about that, but I
didn't know what it was for.
How would you like to leave
here tonight with say $5,000?
- I'm not up to this.
- Al.
How old are you now, boy?
- 26.
- 26, my, my.
Time certainly flies fast,
doesn't it?
When I was 26, my father
and I had a little contest
and I won $5,000.
- I know about that.
- You see, it's a tradition
in the Aguilar family
that when a son can outdrink
his father, he becomes a man.
I was 26 before I could do it.
The mother of Al didn't
approve of such contests.
She didn't approve of her son
drinking, so he didn't drink.
But now that she's no longer
here,
now that you can no
longer hide behind her,
I offer you the same terms
my father offered me,
$5,000 against what money
you have in your pocket,
drink for drink, and the first
one who passes out loses.
We even have a witness here
who is both referee and pourer.
I'm already a few drinks
ahead of you, boy,
so you have a running start.
I, Luis Aguilar,
agree to pay Alfred Aguilar,
hereafter known as Mister X,
the sum of $5,000
if he can drink me under the
table.
Come on, Mister X.
$5,000 will buy a lovely
bassinet, lots of baby food,
pay doctor bills, and I offer
you the best of all the wines,
the Joyful Woman.
Prove something to me, boy.
Prove something!
How much money do you have in
your pocket?
- $2.40.
- $2.40 against 5,000.
Bring me a glass from over
there.
Now, bring two glasses exactly
alike.
Sit down, Mister X.
Put your money on the table.
Pour.
Pour.
So much like your mother.
So much.
Is that empty?
- Yes, sir.
- The end of a magnum of a
Joyful Woman is a very sad
thing.
Come on, drink.
Drink.
This is no contest.
This is no Aguilar tradition.
Are you finished?
- No.
- Let's try some nice red wine.
No need to waste another magnum
when we only have a couple
of more glasses to go
before it's finished.
Open it.
A rather special wine this,
bottled the year you were born.
However, it was not a vintage
year.
Come on, drink.
Red wine.
Drink.
Drink.
You're losing, Mister X.
You are losing.
Drink!
- I can't drink anymore.
[ominous music]
- I won.
Wake up!
Wake up.
I want you to see that I won.
[glass shatters]
[laid back piano music]
- Are they still out there?
- [Jean] Yes.
- Mr. Aguilar's guests
are getting impatient.
I will see what's happening.
[knocking on door]
Luis.
- Al.
Al!
Al.
- Get him outta here.
Are you the little thing
he found to spite me with?
So you are.
Take Mister X home.
- Someone help me.
- [Luis] Help her.
- [Al] No!
No!
- [Luis] Don't you cry.
[Al sobs]
Don't you cry!
Get him outta here!
Don't you cry!
- Luis.
You have a house full of guests.
- [Luis] Kitty.
- I'll get you a coffee.
- I don't want any coffee.
Do you like my tasting room,
Kitty?
- Well, yes, it's very nice.
- Have you ever seen the
Aguilar cellars and cave?
- Al and I used to play
there when we were kids.
Mr. Aguilar, Al loves his wife
very much.
- I wanted him to marry you.
- I know, but you can't, you
can't force that on someone.
- He should have listened to me.
Look what he ended up with, a
mouse.
Would you have married him,
Kitty?
- Mr. Aguilar--
- Don't call me Mr. Aguilar.
My name is Luis.
What a lovely vision I had,
Kitty.
The two greatest vineyards, one
vineyard.
It would take days to see it in
the car.
Oh, Kitty.
You are very beautiful.
The girl who has everything.
What could I possibly offer?
- I don't understand.
- You know, Kitty, that
vision can still be realized.
I am going to make you
fall in love with me.
- Mr. Aguilar.
- Kitty.
Leave us alone.
- Ruth.
Ruth.
- Let her go.
Let her go.
I offer you the
consideration of an empire.
Will you marry me, Kitty?
I think your father, if he
were alive, would approve.
Don't you, Kitty?
- Let me go!
- Kitty, would you?
Would you, Kitty?
Would you?
[suspenseful music]
Mr. Aguilar?
Mr. Aguilar.
Dominic!
[Luis grunts]
- Get outta here.
Get out.
- It's almost 12, Luis.
- Go away.
- At 12, you were going
to make the announcement
- I am not making any
announcement at 12,
or three,
or four.
- I heard what you said to
Kitty about marrying her.
- Good.
Now go away.
- You didn't mean it.
- Yes, I did.
I meant every word I said, every
word.
- Every word?
[suspenseful music]
- Old Al's gonna have quite a...
Kitty?
- Dominic.
Mr. Aguilar.
I think he's dead.
- What?
- I pushed him away from me
and he fell down the stairs.
And I went down to him and he
didn't move.
He's lying on the tasting room
floor.
I think he's dead.
- Are you sure?
- Oh, what am I gonna do,
Dominic?
What am I gonna do?
Where are you going?
- I'll go take a look.
- Well, I better call your
father.
- All right, but don't tell
anyone else.
Now, relax.
I'll be back in a minute.
[knocking on door]
Mr. Aguilar.
Mr. Aguilar.
[knocking on door]
Mr. Aguilar!
[suspenseful music]
- For the next moment,
ladies and gentlemen,
we cut your wire to the world
and abandon you to the tender
mercies of your local station.
Good evening and welcome
to the second half
of the Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
As you know, our sponsor is
not exactly the type of person
who has streets named for him.
He has never even had an
hour named in his honor.
All he gets is one minute.
We give it to him now.
[suspenseful music]
- He's,
he's dead.
- Yes.
The king is dead.
It was an accident.
He fell down the stairs.
- That, that didn't happen
falling down the stairs.
- No.
You're too bright a boy
to waste time on such a simple
arithmetic.
Two and two are still the same.
Do you have the answer, young
man?
- Yes.
- Too bad, too bad, too bad.
- But why?
- Why?
Because I was the only one who
loved him.
After 20 years of being patient,
waiting for his wife to die
and then still waiting after she
was dead,
"I'm going to marry you, Ruth.
"Just be patient."
Then last week, he said he
would marry me this fall.
After 20 years of being a
secretary,
a letter opener, a letter typer,
he said to make all the
arrangements
and he would make the
enhancement tonight,
tonight, at the stroke of 12.
Right now, this moment. [sobs]
It took someone who loved him
to hate him enough to finally do
it.
But he's just as guilty as I am.
He wasn't planning on marrying
me.
And there's an end of patience.
No.
You can't go just yet, not just
yet.
[laid back band music]
- Dominic!
- Open the door.
- Dominic!
[knocking on door]
Dominic!
- Keep going.
Go ahead.
Up the stairs.
Get on there.
Stop.
Right here.
[g*n clicks]
[Dominic laughs]
- You're sure the door is
locked?
- I'm positive.
- It's one of these, I think.
I'm never really sure.
I rarely go into the tasting
house myself.
[laid back band music]
[suspenseful music]
[Ruth sobs]
[footsteps approach]
- Mr. Felse, there's
still no sign of Dominic.
I should have called you sooner
but Dominic wanted to go down
there
and I was so upset that I
didn't know what I was doing.
And then I saw Mr. Aguilar like
that.
Mr. Felse, what do you
think happened to Dominic?
- Get the addresses and phone
numbers
of everyone at the party.
You go back in the house.
I'm going down to the tasting
room.
- Kitty.
Is it true?
- Yes, he's dead.
- Dead.
He,
he's dead.
[Ruth sobs]
- Just a couple more
questions, Miss Hamilton.
You interviewed and hired
the help that came here
just for the party tonight,
didn't you?
- Yes.
- Do you remember hiring
a boy named Dominic Felse?
- Felse?
- Yes, my son.
- Yes.
I remember hiring him, but
what is he to do with it?
- I don't know.
He's disappeared.
- Disappeared?
- Well, his car's still
here but nobody's seen him.
I'm a little worried.
Both father and policeman
are pretty hard to play.
- I'm sorry.
I've had a terrible, terrible
experience.
- You try and get some rest.
- Yes, yes.
But I don't think I can.
I don't think I can.
I don't think I can.
[door closes]
[suspenseful music]
- You can let them all go
except the maid and the butler.
- All right.
- You examined the body?
How many blows?
- Several, George.
I can't be sure yet, but
six or seven at least.
- Hello, Susan.
He's not home?
Now, Susan, don't get
hysterical.
Just keep your head.
We'll find him.
Now, please.
Look, you have the number here.
If you hear from Dominic or
need me, you just call me.
Now, calm down, Susan.
You hear me?
Yeah, I'll call you the
minute I know anything.
- I wish there was something
I could do to help.
- [scoffs] He would get mixed
up in something like this.
He's one of these I'll
play detective kinda kids.
And the three of you can go on
home.
You'll hear from me tomorrow.
- If you don't mind, I'd like to
stay.
Dominic is a friend of mine.
- I know.
He's a friend of mine too.
- How's your wife?
- Not too good.
She's suffering pretty much.
Excuse me.
- Poor Ruth.
She really loved him.
She put up with a lot
but she really loved him.
- They were going to be married.
- What?
- She told me during the party.
They were going to be married
this fall.
He was supposed to
announce it at midnight.
The dress she had was part of
Tusso.
She was so sure that once
she became your stepmother,
she could patch everything up
between you and your father.
- They were going to be married?
Did you tell Mr. Felse?
- Should I?
Kitty?
- What time was that?
- Well, I would say about 12:30
or so.
I don't wear a watch,
so I can't say exactly.
- Excuse me.
- I never heard about any
marriage plans
between Ruth and Mr. Aguilar.
Jean just told me about
it a few moments ago.
Ruth must have been terribly
upset
when she heard the way Mr.
Aguilar was talking to me.
She left without saying a word,
and I don't remember
seeing her at the party
after Dominic went down there.
[Ruth laughs]
- Have you seen my son, Miss
Hamilton?
Where is my son?
- Don't worry.
I'll take good care of him.
Luis and I will take good care
of him.
Everything happens in threes.
Threes.
- Ruth.
Ruth.
- Go get some coffee.
Come on now, Miss Hamilton.
Wake up, wake up, wake up!
Wake up, wake up, wake up!
- No, no.
- Come on now, walk, walk, walk.
Where's Dominic?
Where's the boy?
- No, no!
- Where is the boy?
Where is my son?
- Luis, Luis.
No, I want to die.
- Where is my son?
Where is my son?
- In the caves.
- Dominic!
- [George] Dominic!
- Dominic!
- Dominic!
Dominic!
Dominic!
- [George] Dominic!
- [Kitty] Dominic!
Dominic!
That water.
That water shouldn't
be there, Mister Felse.
It shouldn't be there.
- Lay him out there.
Tilt his head to one side.
Go get the doctor.
Send for a respirator.
- [Officer] All right.
- All right, come on, Dominic.
Breathe.
Come on, son.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Come on now, breathe.
Come on.
Son, come on.
Breathe.
Breathe, son.
[Dominic breathes]
That's my boy.
That's my boy.
- Dad?
- [Kitty] Hey, Dominic.
- Hey, Kitty.
- Now listen, buddy.
You watch it, you understand?
- Yes, ma'am.
- And do everything I say.
- Oh, yes, ma'am.
- And if you do, I'll give
you a great big gold star.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Sorry to be late, but I've
been arguing with my sponsor
and he has now been
convinced that invisibility
will help my attitude
toward the commercial.
After all, if I can't see it,
how can,
my sponsor seems to have missed
the point.
Needless to say, next
on view is a commercial.
[mysterious music]
[dramatic music]
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