Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American anthology TV series that was aired on CBS and NBC from 1955 to 1965. It was hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock himself. The show featured several short and invariably surprising stories which contain the element of horror, comedy, thriller, mysteries, crime, and drama.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is considered to be one of the greatest TV series of all time. If you are a fan of Alfred Hitchcock and this show or if you want to know more about it,
here are some curious and interesting facts about Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Enjoy!
- The television series is famous for its title sequences wherein the camera fades in on a simple caricature of Alfred Hitchcock’s profile as the show’s theme music, Funeral March of a Marionette, plays, Hitchcock himself appears in a silhouette then walks to the center to eclipse with the caricature. This iconic title sequence has been parodied several times in different movies and television series.
- The famous and iconic caricature sketch was originally made for a holiday greeting card.
- After the title sequence, Hitchcock appears again from a mostly empty studio or from the set of the current episode to introduce the story. And Alfred Hitchcock shot at least two versions of the opening for every episode. One version, which was intended for the American audience, would often spoof a popular commercial or poke fun at the sponsor and the other version was for the European viewers which often featured jokes at the expense of Americans in general.
- For the show’s international presentations, the opening remarks were also filmed with Alfred Hitchcock speaking in German and French.
- James Allardice wrote all of Hitchcock’s segment.
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents originally ran for half an hour but the show was extended to a full hour and was retitled to The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
- Alfred Hitchcock only directed seventeen episodes out of 268 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
- Other directors of the show featured big names like Robert Altman, Ida Lupino, Robert Stevenson, and David Swift.
- Alfred Hitchcock wanted to film at Disneyland but Walt Disney barred Hitchcock from working on Disneyland after he saw his film, Psycho.
- The TV series was rebooted in the mid-1980s which held the same title and ran for a total of four seasons.
- The show featured a lot of TV and film legends as guest stars. Robert Redford, Bette Davis, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Jessica Tandy, Dick Van Dyke, Peter Falk, and William Shatner were just a few of the legendary stars who appeared on the show.
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents also featured some iconic writers as well. Roald Dahl, known to be one of the greatest storytellers of the 20th century, wrote six chilling and twisted episodes for the show.
- Several of the episodes of the show was re-filmed for Roald Dahl’s show in the UK, “Tales of the Unexpected”.
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents was featured in a United States postage stamp. The stamp featured Hitchcock’s iconic silhouette seen on the show’s opening. The postage’s design was done by Alfred Hitchcock himself.
- The show won one Golden Globe and three Primetime Emmy Award.
- Alfred Hitchcock’s stories can appeal to all ages because he also made stories for young children and released a show entitled Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories for Young People in 1962. The show featured titles like “The Helpful Hitchhiker” and “Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons”.
These are the curious facts about Alfred Hitchcock Presents we gathered for you. Which one is your favorite?