good evening ladies
and gentlemen
and welcome to the
alfred hitchcock hour
i trust you will excuse
my startled expression
but this is what i just
pulled out of my hat
it's rather a shock when
one is expecting a rabbit
however i suppose
it isn't as traumatic
if i were expecting her
and got the rabbit
since my hand is not
quicker than the eye
i think she will be quite useful
in diverting your attention
this evening i shall attempt
several feats of legitimate
one is to make an hour disappear
without you realizing
without you realizing it that will not
be easy considering this first minute
so
uh oh daphne did i startle you my dear
yes where's your young man harold oh
he had a a department meeting i waited then i came
on you walked from the campus through the wood yes
you must have pretty good nerves yeah dr mcfarland
i i think somebody followed me oh you sure yes i
saw branches and and bushes moving that must have
been the wind my dear come on in oh please don't
say anything inside my wife gets hysterical
there's been too much talk already come on yes
of course you'll very soon learn to take these
department meetings with greater patience after
you've married harold and become a faculty wife
definitely how nice oh hello how lovely you look
well thank you hello wanda hello where's paul
well my husband deserted me on the way over here
he's a great bird lover yes he jumped out
of the car and ran after a hermit thrush
you mean he's in the woods chasing a bird yes oh
that's all it was oh what was oh nothing nothing
at all oh edwin come in edwin you know edwin vogue
don't you we've never had anyone so brilliant in
the music department have we edwin oh i wouldn't
say that definitely it's so nice to see you
again how do you do wanda oh i do very well thank
you all right when i have a cocktail thank you
oh thank you thank you cheer cheers
harold
good evening doctor well that girl deserves a
good spanking this is your girl spanking what
have she done she walked over here alone took
the shortcut through the wood i waited half an
hour for you i left your nose yes i know you
did darling but i was still anxious about you
why in the heavens named it to take a
shortcut did you come through the wood
oh wild horses couldn't get me through
there you had me worried i uh apologize
for charging in like that with the way things
are around please don't have to talk about it
may i sorry to be late you're not late
paul help yourself your drink thank you
how are you fine
i think we almost met a little earlier this
evening when hmm weren't you chasing a bird oh a
hermit thrush people don't realize how beautifully
that bird sings angelic i thought someone was
chasing me through the woods i took the shortcut
over from the campus i guess it was you i heard my
thresh was in the trees by the symmetry nowhere
near the shortcut oh well so it couldn't have
been me no i suppose not well probably just
something running through the undergrowth
probably
so
so
so
good evening
i'm dave fulton i've noticed you quite often on
the campus you're in uh med school aren't you yes
i uh asked dr mcfarland to invite
me here when you were coming
i was warned you're more or
less engaged to harold but uh
you are allowed to talk to other men aren't you
as a matter of fact harold is cross with me now i
walked here through the woods alone were you being
brave or something oh well it's such a long way
the other way around and anyway it wasn't really
dark it wasn't really wise either may i tell you
you're much too attractive to take such chances
one of those girls was
k*lled in that wood you know
i doubt if they'll ever get him
there's nothing to go on there maybe
next time cookie you're so sure there's going to
be a next time thank you harold believes that the
k*ller is deranged a status maybe somebody's
not found yet why should it be deranged
it could have been a thief perhaps a girl screamed
and he lost his head edwin thieves don't use a
Kn*fe the way he did if you'd only seen the body
we found terence please will you not discuss the
details when my husband and harold get together
it's all very horrible but that's what makes it
fascinating i once knew an awful old man who had
a couple of books on t*rture covered in human skin
this k*ller might have cleared out
he isn't necessarily a local man
or but i think he is edwin you may remember the
jack the ripper stuck to one section of london
and the french bluebeard landrieu
stayed in paris fritz harmon who's he
i never heard of him a foul creature in hanover
he m*rder*d more than men in his butcher's shop
harold you can't make me believe that a college
town like woodside would even be likely to
harbor a mass m*rder*r on the contrary
college community is an ideal place for one
i agree yes you see there are a
lot of high-strung individuals here
many are frustrated some very curious easily
apt to be well up on the literature of m*rder
don't you couple that with the power of
suggestion and well now you uh take uh
take an intelligent man who's even slightly
off balance for example say that uh he's
dissatisfied he's building up grudges i suppose
he's been reading about these multiple K*llers
harman or writes in the beth smith julia it
was a man who's very artistic yeah a scholar
you're pretty well up on m*rder yourself aren't
you or he may be a specialized kind of madman who
is only occasionally seized by these compulsions
he uh he could be someone
in the university atmosphere
he could easily be one of us
oh no really how surely that doesn't include us
girls i hope no i i'm inclined to think it's a man
if you ask why he does this i think it's a
pathological distortion of something normal
something that's already there waiting in all
of us sane insane it's all a matter of balance
haven't any of you ever felt that when you were
terribly tired or worried sick about something
that keeping your sanity was like walking a
tightrope stretched across a great chasm and that
if the slightest thing went wrong you'd
topple off it never stopped falling have you
ever felt like that harold i think
anyone who hasn't is extremely fortunate
you have surgery early tomorrow
morning don't you oh yes
and he likes to take a walk before he goes
to bed i think it's time we all went home hmm
what a marvelous moon it's lighter
than when i came through earlier
you know i could have sworn something
was following me when i came through
here before dinner i don't know
exactly how to explain it except that
it stopped when i stopped and went on when i
went on when it finally made a rush towards
me you should have seen me i practically ran the
rest of the way it wasn't some mischievous child
wasn't oh no no children would be in here
that time of night it was dark and spooky
well maybe it was a dog maybe probably was
oh you are on edge aren't you
why in the world didn't you tell me we
needn't have come back this way no i
wanted to come through i wanted to come through
with you and feel safe do you know what i mean
i know
where are you
where are you
he was trying really hard give me
your time quickly right she's fainted
we hadn't frightened him he might have k*lled her
maybe it was you he was after
if she was only a substitute he may try again
if the woman hadn't had any attention she'd have
led to death but you were doing very well when i
came along i'm lucky you heard her scream
well i usually take a walk the last thing
i thought the man might still be there what has
she said about the att*ck it seems she went out
to mail a letter and he sprang on her she was
on that back road no not actually in the womb
he seemed terribly strong she said
and dragged her in among the trees
she couldn't describe him she doesn't remember
much really oh hello harold police say anything
well no just that uh she may remember more a
little later ah i doubt if she will looking
at the hospital daphne she'd like to thank
you yes of course i will bye goodbye doctor
the police still think that it isn't necessarily
the same man who did the other k*lling but i said
that it had to be a particular kind of man in a
particular state of mind and that they might need
the help of a psychologist and running him down
anyway i told him i'd do anything i could to help
oh don't get mixed up with this herald darling
you know how interested i am in these things these
strange twists of the mind that's why i
went into psychology in the first place
it's a wonderful opportunity for me to test
out some theories i've had in abnormal behavior
the only problem is i'm i'm gonna have to work
alone because the police don't go along with me
i i think you should stay out of it
daphna you want this man caught don't you
you know i can't forget that it
might have been you he was following
why would he try to get me i don't know but
i'm going to make sure that he never does
oh hello dave well you're always
creeping up behind me aren't you
i stopped by to see how you came
through all the excitement well
i have a lecture together i'll
call you later for dinner darling
that was a terrible thing last night if i'd
walked home that way i might have caught him i
thought you rode home with paul no i stayed
talking with mrs mcfarland then i walked
home the long way around alone at that time of
night now why should he walk when he could ride
do you want me to tell you well remember
how you felt listening to edwin at the piano
that's how i felt after you're gone i
just wanted to walk and think about you
you pay the most curious compliments first you
asked dr mcfarland to invite you to dinner and
then you tell me i'm too beautiful
to be married and now the moonlight
daphne
i didn't know you were out there
edwin that was beautiful stay there
i'll join you oh no i can't stay
that was the moonlight sonata you were playing
yes i'll play you some of those french melodies
you seem to like if you'd care to come in for
a while no i'm expecting harold to call they're
all danced to us really do i make them sound sad
yes there is a sort of sorrow in them not in them
it's in me music always gives away
one's feelings especially loneliness
that's the universal human
predicament doesn't it loneliness
i think in very talented people
like yourself it helps to create
well i must go goodbye
um oh my glad you're still awake i thought you
were going to call no i know it honey i'm sorry
but i had such a hectic day i forgot have you
had any dinner no i didn't even have time to eat
but you know something yeah i think i'm finally
making some progress of course the police think
i'm just another crazy professor but
they don't understand what's going on
you remember last night i said that the k*ller
might be sitting there at the table with us
well i was right he was you know how i know the
police went out there and i searched that whole
area where they found the girl nothing i went
out on my own i found a cocktail napkin with the
mcfarland's name on it oh well that doesn't mean
anything people are at the mcfarlands all the time
somebody could have dropped it or it could have
blown it well that's what the police said but i
disagree they say that this as*ault isn't like
the rest of them darling we know everybody at
the mcfarland but whether we know them or
not hasn't got the slightest bearing on this
now this k*ller gets a great satisfaction out of
terror and destruction and as children we have
much the same impulses but we grow out of them
now either he hasn't or they've reoccurred in him
how horrible yes it is horrible we're moving in
a region of her now the police have got everybody
pinned down they're pretty good at that you
know dr mcfarlane was out last night on his
nightcap stroll edwin walked home alone i know
it and so did dave i had lunch with him today
oh he did paul however was not he jumped out of
the car to look at a screech owl or something i
don't know what it was besides i don't think
it would be dave because he's much too normal
he'd rather have it anybody than dave wouldn't
you i'd sooner he never got caught than have it
be somebody we know but honey it is someone we
know now you heard the way that girl screamed
i want this fellow caught before he
makes you scream he isn't after me
daphne i know this man's secret mind i've
studied these people i know how they think
it's frightening sometimes how you know people
he watches you to him you're like a living jewel
or your perfection you're irreplaceable and to
destroy you would be a triumph now he followed
you but he didn't get you the other woman was just
a substitute but he didn't succeed with her either
so he's going to come back to his first choice
we can catch him through you and only through you
i want you to be a decoy i want you to walk
through the woods again alone no i'll be there
but i'll be out of sight i have a g*n well how do
you know you can catch him even with a g*n use a
police decoy they have people who do that sort of
thing but it's you he words don't you understand
it's not going to be any more of a risk than
you're running right now every day every minute
to walk through that woods again i don't
know how you can ask me to do such a thing
daphne besides protecting you we may save the
lives of others now how would you feel if some
morning you woke up and there was another girl
had been strangled and slashed when we could have
stopped it this has to be done at once darling
while this periodic excitement is still with him
we could drop into the mcfarlands tomorrow night
i'll let it be known that we'll be over there
but not what we're going to do nobody would ever
believe i'd go through that woods again not now
yes he will because that's what he wants to
believe and he'll wait until you do he'll
never stop watching you i know this kind of
mind i can't harold don't ask me again i can't
all right all right talk about
it tomorrow i won't change my
mind
uh
so hello harold yes i'm sorry to call you this
time of night but somebody tried to break in here
no no he climbed the tree now i only got a
glimpse of him didn't look like anybody i knew
no no please come over when it's light
when you you can see for yourself
yes and harold i'll go through
that woods again whenever you say
i shall begin my act immediately following
the station break so please hurry back
i warned you not to stay so long you can
hardly expect rabbits to simply sit around
waiting for a station break to end now it
is time for the second half of our story
perhaps after that there
will be time for a few tricks
well it's been a lovely evening doctor i'm afraid
we've stayed too late not at all delighted to have
you and thank you for the reports can't i drive
you back oh no thank you we'd rather walk well
there's no need to tell you stay clear of the
wood ah the police haven't got a thing on the
k*ller yet paul but if they get onto you a bird
lover who's seen at all times in odd places you
who'd be a hot suspect well if i were the m*rder*r
i think i could guarantee that i'd never be caught
when this one's caught you may
find that it's only the beginning
whatever you mean by that good night good
night daphne and harold look after her
good night my dear good night it's
always a delight to see good night harold
all you have to do is keep walking in a natural
pace like you are now do you mind if i hope he's
not there ah but he will be i told you he watches
you he knows you're out here he'll be waiting
for you maybe he'll guess it's a trap nobody
won't believe that because he wants you so much
and then when he sees you he won't be able
to hold back because it's a compulsion
i'm going to slip away in a
moment oh darling i'm frightened
shouldn't we get the help of the police i
tried to but they don't go along with my theory
you'll keep me in sight won't you
darling you won't be able to see
me but i'll be near you all the time
i'm glad there's a moon clouds though
my heart is pounding you come
immediately if i call won't you harold
harold
so
so
who is it who is it did i frighten you yes
you did a little only a little that's good
it seemed to me that i frightened
you quite badly the other evening
the other evening on your way to dinner
at the macfarlanes you began running
why did you follow me then it's a habit of
mine there was nothing to be afraid of not then
but i only wanted you to
know that you were not alone
you certainly must feel that you're not alone now
this will be different i'm glad you like my music
that's not all there is you know it's not the best
no no no now
come on
it worked daphne and it worked
is he dead
no no he's not dead
yeah you know edwin reads music
like you and i might read a book
he hears the sounds in his head
having his music there at the home
should be some consolation to him
why don't you come in darling no i i
don't like being here but i wanted you
here i know it's a little untidy but the
police have searched it edwin's apartment
is exactly the place for something i have
to tell you yes i think i know what it is
you want to tell me that you don't think the
att*cks are over and that they may be after me
who told you that dave dave is always
popping up isn't he on the campus in the wood
he said you told him the night you caught edwin
i reminded them all that some crimes
come in waves as if they're contagious
a ceremonial Kn*fe blood sacrifices that
appeals to some mentalities but this may
have spread already in the town on the campus
you mean you think he may have associates
or imitators men with the same ideas as edwin
the same objectives who do you think i don't know
i i wouldn't want to point a finger at
anyone but daphne look around this room
you remember how you felt about edwin his music
his charm and yet in his heart he hated all women
he would have strangled you
and sliced you with that Kn*fe
but daphne you mustn't trust
anybody dave not anyone
well i'll take the music to edwin he and i
were very close friends you know poor soul
hello edwin
how are you
i brought you most of your music i thought
maybe you'd like to play it when you feel better
there's a piano in the lounge tell me
that time with the girl in the wood
when daphne and i interrupted you that was all
for nothing wasn't it we came too soon and you
began it wrong you tried to take the life without
the ceremonial so the compulsion stayed with you
then you had to try again with daphne
well i must be going now edwin
i'll come and see you again
i know you will
i'm looking forward to it
are you going to be roaming around again tonight
i have some more clues i want to follow up
harold why don't you leave this up to
the police i have to continue on my own
i've been studying edwin's analysis
digging into his mind and here is the
smell of blood still it's fascinating
his ideas go far back into time they run deep
and he's not so non-sane as one might think
will you have dinner with me darling no
i can't i have a special class tonight
added biochemistry oh yes uh that's the uh
one that dave teaches isn't a small class
and afterwards i suppose he'll ask
you to have dinner with him my supper
but don't go daddy don't go darling what's gotten
into you what's gotten into everyone me you dave
what got into edwin we'll never know you poor dear
you're worn out
it's this terrible business with edwin
guard over me and working half the day and
hunting heaven knows what half the night
what if i were to go away i'd be sure nobody
ever found out no no don't do that no don't go
and especially don't go now darling
why don't you lie down and risk
i have some things i better do
harold i'm sorry about dinner
that's all right you have a good time with dave
so
did you have dinner this evening no not really
how about coffee and something with me hell thank
you i'm i'm going straight home harold waiting
i begin to wonder whether all his talk
about you being in danger is imagination
he was right about edwin he was wasn't he
you know a man like edwin never realizes
he's committing an abominable crime
he's merely yielding to an urge such
men worship dark and nameless gods
they act out the fantasies that
obsess their unbalanced minds
hmm you really can't blame somebody like edwin
that doesn't make them any less dangerous
that's exactly why harold is so absorbed in this
yes deeply it absorbs him when he should be
absorbed in you harold has been working night
and day trying to prevent anything else
from happening to me or to anyone else
daphne i'm going to say this i think there's
a lot of pretense about you and harold
there always has been hasn't there you're not
really in love that's what i mean by pretense
oh harold may be in love with
you in his way but you're not
how dare you say such a thing to me you're ducking
away from the truth i'm very fond of harold i
think i may owe him my life he certainly deserves
my loyalty that's a poor substitute for love
are you jealous of harold no
but he is of me good night dave
so
what happened hello darling i saw your light
oh you know i i never realized
how beautiful you're looking white
you look like a bride you must have come straight
down here yes i did sit down here and sit down
i want to celebrate i
i made my mind up about something
oh this is uh wine that i keep for very
special occasions faculty birthdays
it's wonderful the way you just
walked in here i i never expected that
yes i i just been talking with dave
i'll always remember you as you are this moment
darling smiling at me across a glass of wine
cheer cheers you came from dave to me i like that
because i have something to tell you about dave
no no i know how you feel about
him i'm not blind you know
harold if you're jealous of dave i can assure you
it's quite without reason without reason you said
without reason
no that isn't what i wanted to talk to you about
there's something else and this
is the perfect place to do it
you said you'd made up your mind about something
yes my darling i have and
we won't be interrupted here
now i don't want you to be
frightened by what i have to say
and run away as you did with edwin but he intended
to edwin k*ll those women in hatred and revenge
but i've decided tonight to make you completely
my own for love in the full aesthetic moment
a final sacrifice
come on pain is only a secret name for pleasure
and there can be no true sacrifice
no complete feeling of love
unless the victim dies
dave dave
your mind daphne no one else's
just mine
he really caught this contagion
this spirit of k*lling from edwin
a strange and ancient illusion that by blood
sacrifice you can reach a more intense communion
jealousy unbalanced his mind
but you're safe now harold is here i knew
it would be i've been looking forward to it
next week we should be back with another story
now there is just time enough for my escape act
good night
08x02 - Don't Look Behind You
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American anthology series featuring dramas, thrillers and mysteries.
American anthology series featuring dramas, thrillers and mysteries.