When her husband goes away on a business trip, Mary Summers is all alone in her house--and gripped with a nameless fear. Then an escaped mental patient breaks in.When her husband goes away on a business trip, Mary Summers is all alone in her house--and gripped with a nameless fear. Then an escaped mental patient breaks in.When her husband goes away on a business trip, Mary Summers is all alone in her house--and gripped with a nameless fear. Then an escaped mental patient breaks in.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMary Summer's husband mentions pointedly that she is 35 years old. Assuming it's a contemporaneous story, filmed in 1956, that would make her birth year most likely 1921. However, the actress herself was born in 1919.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Alfred Hitchcock: [Hitchcock is still waving away the wisps of fog with a white handkerchief although the duster is still in his other hand] This concludes our play for tonight. Unhappily for Mary Summers, however, there is more to her story, for she subsequently found herself in one of those institutions she had come to fear. Next time we shall be back with another story. Until then, good night.
- SoundtracksFuneral March of a Marionette
Written by Charles Gounod
Luckily it most certainly was and it would definitely take a lot for anybody here to be as awful as Tita Purdom was in that. "Fog Closing In" is not great and is far from perfect, with it being a case of the lead performance being better than the episode itself. It is also not on par with Daugherty's previous outings. For all its faults though, "Fog Closing In" does have more than enough to make it worth recommending. Particularly the acting.
It is an episode that would have benefitted from a much longer length, a lot happens and there is a lot of complex psychology attempted but it did ideally need to be feature length to do it justice. This way, it felt too short and too hasty.
Also thought it could have done a lot more with the subject, it starts off very promisingly and unsettlingly but then feels rushed and suffers from the shortness of the length. The psychological aspect is intriguing initially but is too under the surface and not skin deep enough, it's complex stuff that is under-developed and could have done with more clarity.
With all that being said, Thaxter is truly excellent and is both chilling and moving as a rootable character. George Grizzard has some nice sympathetic support with her and Phillip Langton is easy to hate. Daugherty directs asssuredly and provides a nice unsettling atmosphere in primarily the first half. Hitchcock is suitably dry-humoured, likewise with his lines.
The production values are solid enough and the main theme fits like a glove. The script is intelligent and not rambling or overwrought, while there are enough moments that are suspenseful and emotionally investable. The ending could have had more time to develop but doesn't feel too much like a cop out or anaemic, it certainly surprised me.
Overall, a big improvement if not great. 7/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Apr 19, 2022
Details
- Runtime26 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1