ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR, THE: THE JAR (TV)
Summary
One in this series of macabre dramas presided over by the "master of suspense," film director Alfred Hitchcock. A man named Charlie Hill visits a travelling carnival and becomes utterly fascinated with one of the curiosities, a large jar containing a mysterious possibly organic object. He convinces the carnival barker to sell him the jar, hoping to use it to garner respect from the people of his hometown of Wilder's Hollow. Back in town, Charlie's young wife Thedy openly carries on an affair with a man named Tom Carmody; the placid townsfolk note their tryst with disinterest. Charlie returns from the carnival and immediately attracts attention with the contents of his jar, inviting some men over to his house to have a look at it. He returns home and meets Thedy, giving her a ribbon he got at the carnival with her name sequined on. She is excited about the ribbon, but her mood sours when Charlie shows her the jar; she is disgusted by its contents and enraged that Charlie spent so much money on it. Alone with the jar, Charlie laments that nobody in town seems to respect him, and that he is aware of Thedy's affair. Soon people from all over town show up regularly at Charlie's house to view the jar. Charlie enjoys all of this newfound attention and proudly hosts these evenings, setting up seats for people to sit and contemplate the contents of the jar. Everyone sees something different in the jar, often of personal significance to them: Gramps Medknowe reveals he is obsessed with the jar and is losing sleep over it; the jar reminds Juke, a mentally handicapped man, of a kitten he was forced to drown when he was a kid; Mrs. Tridden believes the jar contains the remnant of her runaway son; Granny Carnation believes the jar contains "all things" and that it is a sort of metaphysical construct; and the little girl Eva Ann simply believes it is the "bogeyman." The only people uninterested in the jar are Thedy and Tom, who slip out of the house together at the first opportunity. Charlie watches them go. That night, the jar is stolen from Charlie's house. He discovers the jar is missing and alerts the police in a panic. He learns from Juke that Thedy and Tom conspired with a swamp-dweller named Jahdoo to steal the jar and take it into the swamp, where Jahdoo was asked to destroy it. Charlie hurries into the swamp and looks around for Jahdoo. He finds the jar sitting on a log and goes to retrieve it, but it's a trap and he soon finds himself sinking into a patch of quicksand. Jahdoo reveals himself and, seemingly ignoring Charlie's pleas for help, explains his own theory about the jar: that it contains a mystical "heart" which is somehow responsible for the creation of humanity, that it is the "center of all creation." He cannot bring himself to destroy it and finally helps Charlie out of the quicksand. Charlie returns home with the jar and angrily confronts Thedy over her scheme. She laughs in his face and then tries to destroy the jar herself, but Charlie stops her and they struggle. He throws her down and she believes he meant to kill her. He tries to apologize but she runs off, vowing to return and get revenge on him. That night, Thedy returns, explaining that she went to the carnival herself. She reveals that she spoke to the carnival barker who sold Charlie the jar and he told her the jar's true contents: the object within is merely a collection of clay, paper, yarn, rubber, and other bits of junk held together by a metal frame. Thedy says she plans to reveal the truth to everyone when they come to see the jar the following night, but Charlie likes the attention and respect he has been given since obtaining the jar. To prove her point, Thedy opens the jar and tosses out the contents, enraging Charlie so much that he smothers her to death. The next night, the crowd gathers to view the jar and contemplates their various theories once again. However, they discover to their horror that Charlie has cut off Thedy's head and placed it in the jar. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: February 14, 1964 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:00
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:46566
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1962-1964; NBC, 1964-1965
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Norman Lloyd … Producer, Director
- Gordon Hessler … Associate Producer
- James Bridges … Writer
- Ray Bradbury … Based on a story by
- Bernard Hermann … Music by
- Alfred Hitchcock … Host
- Pat Buttram … Cast, Charlie Hill
- Collin Wilcox … Cast, Thedy Sue Hill
- William Marshall … Cast, Jahdoo
- Jane Darwell … Cast, Granny Carnation
- Carl Benton Reid … Cast, Gramps Medknowe
- James Best … Cast, Tom Carmody
- George Lindsey … Cast, Juke Marmer
- Jocelyn Brando … Cast, Emma Jane
- Slim Pickens … Cast, Clem Carter
- Alice Backes … Cast, Mrs. Tridden
- Sam Reese … Cast, Milt Marshall
- Marlene DeLamater … Cast, Eva Ann
- Billy Barty … Cast, The Barker