Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) Breakdown (1955) User Reviews

"Imagine, if you can, the terror of being inside a television set"

[ackstasis · 9/10 · 13 March 2009]

Hitchcock, of course, understood exactly how to create suspense. His typical explanation involved a bomb under the table: if it explodes out of nowhere, then that's surprise. If the audience knows that the bomb is under the table but not when it will go off, that's suspense. Thus, the secret for mastering suspense was to allow the audience to know something that the film's characters didn't – for, whatever we may know, we are absolutely helpless to do anything. Hitchcock occasionally transferred the elements of this director/audience interaction to his own characters, as we see in 'Rear Window (1954),' in which Jimmy Stewart sits immobile and helpless in his apartment. "Breakdown" (Season 1, Episode 7) was the second episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" to be personally directed by the host, and, tellingly, it's also the best of the series so far. Hitchcock once again utilises the premise of a central character who, like the audience, is powerless to influence the events of the story.

Joseph Cotten plays William Callew, a callous businessman with little regard for human emotion. After a long-time employee weeps uncontrollably after losing his job, Callew unsympathetically condemns his lack of self-control. However, poetic justice is about to ensue. After becoming involved in a ghastly car collision with a truck of chain-gang prisoners, Callew wakes up paralysed from head to toe, but conscious enough to thinking logically. The fleeing prisoners offer hope of rescue, but instead – believing him to be dead – seize the opportunity to loot his clothing. Despite regaining slight movement in a single finger, nobody seems to recognise that Callew is still alive, and he seems destined to be buried that way. Hitchcock uses point-of-view shots to powerful effect, and Cotten – though not called upon to do much in the way of acting – delivers a creepy monotone voice-over that communicates his overwhelming paranoia. Though a lesson is proposed by the conclusion, its presence seems to be tongue-in-cheek, with Hitchcock spelling out the necessity of a "moral" in his introduction.

A grisly and disturbing episode....perhaps the most of the era!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 15 February 2021]

"Breakdown" is a famous but very, very, very disturbing installment of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". It also received an Emmy Award for its editing.

When the story begins, you see that Willam Callew (Joseph Cotten) is a rich but very hard man. He's humorless and when he has an older employee fired, he complains to his friend that the man should essentially take it and stop whining...and not be so emotional.

A bit later, Callew is driving home and a horrible accident occurs. Many folks are killed and he's completely paralyzed from head to toe. He cannot talk nor close his eyes and by all appearances he is dead. But he is alive and you hear Callew's voice as he talks to himself. This continues for about 80% of the episode...and when they wheel him into the morgue, it's quite disturbing! Does he stand a chance of anyone noticing that he isn't dead....just very, very badly injured.

This is well made...no doubt about it. But it's also very disturbing and something that some might just want to pass on because of it.

Genius...Absolute Genius

[mylkione · 9/10 · 8 January 2021]

Hitchcock traverses the macabre into pure existential terror. The stasis of the camera combined with the sparse mise-en-scene imprisons the spectator in the director's subjective and absolute control. This episode is a primer on minimalist horror and also reveals Hitchcock's internal mechanisms, which we now know were not just idiosyncratic but transgressive.

A Hitchcock Classic

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 3 October 2008]

This is an episode that I saw when I was a small child. It involves a cold blooded businessman who fires a long time employee and then chastises him for his tears. He is a bitter, mean man who looks only at the bottom line. One day, driving impatiently, he is left in his convertible, paralyzed. Unfortunately for him, the only people around are a bunch of prisoners on a work detail. They loot his car and steal his clothes. They don't check on him. The entire episode is told from Joseph Cotten's mind as he attempts to come to grips with his situation. He hopes to have someone help him but realizes he has no way of letting them know he is alive. There are some real problems with the medical people who show up. Did anyone notice that there was no rigor and that his skin was warm. If he were dead, why did he look so fresh. Nevertheless, the point is made at the very end. A remarkable lesson here.

Why Don't They Hear Me

[dougdoepke · 27 February 2007]

A "water-cooler" entry-- I expect people all over the country were talking about this tense 30 minutes the next day. Big-wig executive Joseph Cotton is mistaken for dead, and he better figure out a way to let the authorities know before they begin the slice and dice of the coroner's table. Trouble is that he's totally paralyzed except for gradual movement in a little finger. Will that be enough? We suffer bucket-loads with him as the gurney edges ever closer to the coroner's scalpel.

Really off-beat and well-thought-out premise with fine ironical ending. Don't overlook the first five minutes even though it's an uneventful set-up for what follows. Because there we understand that Cotton really does deserve to suffer some poetic justice, extreme though it is. If you think about it, there's a moral here. Anyway this is one of the initial episodes that really put the series on the TV map and continues to pack a wallop fifty years later.

a major short work from this director

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 22 April 2015]

All you need to know about this episode of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents show going in are these three things: 1) Hitchcock directed it, 2) Joseph Cotten is the star (formerly of Uncle Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt), and 3) most of this episode takes place after a car crash, which has left Cotten's character for all intents and purposes dead... but not really. What happens in this tale of mortal desperation is that Cotten's character - kind of unlikable at the start but not an awful person - is in a tight spot inasmuch that he's paralyzed, but not dead. Hitchcock and his editor make great use of narration here, which is a tricky aspect in a visual medium but works here because it's all about the intensity of this man's thoughts, which are lucid. It's a really tragic tale, when you think about it, but made absolutely gripping by the stakes and danger of life vs death.

How it finally gets resolved is kind of touching, if, for some, may seem kind of sappy. But Cotten really sells it with his voice and even his face and eyes, frozen as they are, because of how his character is set up and the follow-up happens. This is the kind of material that the Twilight Zone would go for years later, and I mean that as a compliment. It's among Hitch's best work in the 50's, for TV or film.

Unique and truly terrifying

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 10/10 · 7 January 2012]

After firing an employee who gets choked up about it(practicing for his acceptance speech for the Academy, perhaps... or, more likely, his identity is closely tied to his job) and briely discussing the matter with Mr. Ed(not a horse, of course), William Callew goes for a drive. He is forced to take a detour, and crashes on a rural road, where not many come by. This leaves him paralyzed, and several of the few that come by mistake him for dead, and present a revealing look into how uncaring and callous some people can be. I'm not certain if this is meant to be a sort of Karmic retribution(since our lead is not established as a real jerk, just someone uncomfortable with others losing control of their emotions), though there is a kind of moral lesson. And even if you don't enjoy that aspect, this is incredible. The acting is phenomenal; Cotten, who portrays our protagonist, is literally limited to his voice in getting across every single feeling(and the lines are impeccably written, they hit the nail on the head for what one would be thinking, and make for some of the best monologing in this medium) he experiences for most of this(and yes, that's slightly less than half an hour, but it is still an accomplishment... and the pacing is spot-on, and kudos to them for adapting this to this length, it would have been excessive otherwise... rather than perfect). For the duration, this remains on his "lifeless" body, the camera not leaving his side(and only showing a minimal amount that he himself does not see or otherwise realize), forcing the desperation, isolation and absolute hopelessness of his situation to sink in completely. This is extremely creepy and builds suspense expertly. There is a bit of disturbing and violent content in this. I recommend this to anyone who can handle it. 10/10

Early entry in Hitchcock series and one of the best

[chuck-reilly · 10/10 · 22 February 2007]

While taking a working vacation in Miami Beach, a heartless employer (Joseph Cotten) fires a long-time associate over the phone and berates the poor fellow for displaying too much emotion and shedding tears. After justifying his decision to all within earshot, he further admonishes the fired employee with this contemptible statement: "He should have learned to control his emotions."

Driving back to New York City, Cotten is involved in a freak accident while passing by a Georgia Chain Gang. Smashing into the prison guards and their vehicle, he is paralyzed and pinned to his own steering wheel. He is literally left for dead as the convicts scramble to make their escape. For the rest of the episode, Cotten's conscious mind and thoughts are relayed to the viewers as his horrific experiences continue. Even when the authorities and emergency workers arrive at the scene, he is still mistaken for a dead man. Finally, after spending a terrifying night alone in the morgue covered over with a white sheet, the coroner notices something that immediately tells him Cotten is very much alive. He sees TEARS running from the former heartless employer's eyes. At the conclusion, host Hitchcock (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) wryly informs the audience of the the distinct possibility that Cotten will fully recover from his injuries and most likely reinstate the fired employee. You could say he's had a life-changing experience. Of special note to viewers is a quick glimpse of a very young Aaron Spelling as an escaping convict from the chain gang.

an experience of death and loneliness

[AvionPrince16 · 7/10 · 9 January 2022]

An interesting story about a man who become powerless after an accident. We feel what he feels, and know how he thinks in this situation. I enjoyed the episode and found it pretty interesting and wondering until the end if someone will notice that he stills alive. His worries become our worries too. A nice identification trough him. And when the end come, we are satisfied as the main character. An interesting experience of the death and loneliness.

One of the best in this series to very creepy effect

[Mehki_Girl · 10/10 · 13 January 2021]

This is actually one of the best in the series. Having the steering wheel rammed right up under his chin, his mouth open, and his eyes open to very creepy effect.

Joseph cotton really acts and voice acts in this episode to extremely creepy effect.

If you are claustrophobic or have any dread about ever being buried alive, this will scare the bejeebers out of you. No matter how jaded and modern you think you are.

This is yet another example of using practical effects and suspense to really scare people rather than jump scares, intrusive music, and CGI.

It's why Hitchcock is one of the best.

"I'm not going to break down."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 12 July 2021]

Hitchcock liked to interject a moral or lesson into his stories, and this episode is a good example. William Callew (Joseph Cotten) is a callous businessman who in the opening scene, fires an employee over the phone, and proceeds to chastise the man for getting so emotional over it. His friend Ed (Raymond Bailey) tries to point out how the man must be feeling, but the advice is disregarded. Thereafter, on the way home, a serious automobile accident pins Callew behind the steering wheel of his car, and for all intents and purposes, leaves him paralyzed. The remainder of the segment offers Callew's thoughts and observations as first, a trio of convicts loot his car, and a subsequent pair at least have the humanity to free him from the vehicle's restraints. When finally rescued by authorities, he's brought to the city morgue where the inevitable awaits, unless he can show some signs of life in his paralyzed body. I don't think you can equate William Callew's reaction quite as obviously to the man he fired, for whom other options would have remained. Breaking down in tears would have been almost an involuntary reaction to the prospect of being buried alive, and Cotten's character sells it well. It remains doubtful however as the story ends, that Callew would ever escape his rigid immobility, thereby condemning him to a fate perhaps, worse than death.

Breakdown is Brilliant

[mercury4 · 10/10 · 30 June 2009]

This episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents is probably one of the best episodes I've seen. Maybe "the" best. The whole concept of the episode was brilliant. Sometimes you get a groundbreaking idea that is poorly executed and a good idea is wasted. This is not one of those times.

Breakdown features Joseph Cotten in the lead as William Callew. Callew is a stern businessman and a real mean SOB. Callew is away at the beach relaxing when he gets a call from an employee that was canned. The man is frantic and crying on the phone. The suddenness of being let go is too much for him and the poor man doesn't know what he's going to do. Callew, who is anything but compassionate, is disgusted by the man. He doesn't want to hear it and just hangs up the phone. Raymond Bailey plays Ed Johnson, a friend of Callew's. He heard the whole thing and like the audience, cannot believe how unfeeling Callew is. Callew tells Ed how disgusted he was by the man showing that kind of emotion on the phone. Callew says, "I hate that kind of weakness."

Joseph Cotten, as always, gives a great performance. He spends the beginning of the episode getting us to hate Callew and he succeeds. But this is only one way Cotten plays the part. After Cotten's character gets into a horrific car accident, Cotten pretty much has to play a corpse for the rest of the episode. Cotten actually pulls it off. Callew is pinned behind the steering wheel and looks dead. He isn't dead, but he is paralyzed. He literally cannot move a muscle. Callew is just sitting there with his eyes open and looks like he really is dead. Of course, Cotten does a voice over, to let us know what the character is thinking and feeling. Cotten's job for the whole rest of the episode is to make his character sympathetic. He pulls this off too.

The whole episode is pretty much Joseph Cotten. There are instances when different people approach the crash thinking Callew is dead. Callew realizes the bad spot that he is in. He has to find a way to let people know he is still alive. Time is running out and unless Callew can show he's still alive, he is going to be declared dead.

I found this episode very effective. The whole episode you are on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen. There is a particularly chilling scene of Callew ending up in the morgue with a sheet over his face. At the end of the episode there is a surprise ending that no one could've ever saw coming. I won't give anything away.

Check out this brilliant episode with masterful directing by the Master of Suspense himself. The writing and acting to the show are also great. Check out one of the best episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. This is by far, some of the best work I've seen from Alfred Hitchcock and Joseph Cotten. I also commend Francis Cockrell and Louis Pollock for writing something so original and so riveting. You are in for a treat with this brilliant episode. See it and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Scary Enough

[ml2348 · 7/10 · 4 March 2007]

Boy - this one scared me - because - it shows what can happen in a blink of an eye. by the way - from personal experience - I found out what canhappen in the blink of an eye. So - I can relate to this film - very much so. Very good story line - very good casting - very good acting. It was very unnerving to watch him suffer - real psychological suffering - can almost fell it yourself. It seemed so very realistic in its filimg & acting - scared me no end. Often wondered what others would think of this movie. I enjoyed it immensely and hope others did to - wish they would write their comments - however - my only concern is - haven't seen it since mid 1950's - have never forgotten it. I only wish it could be shown again - this time - I'd tape it & watch it a lot. Please advise [e-mail]

Breakdown

[bombersflyup · 1/10 · 9 February 2020]

The very thing he found spineless in another was in the end his saviour. However getting to this point's extremely dull, and as if they wouldn't check his pulse.

Chilling

[christiananderson · 14 March 2006]

This has to be one of the creepiest films I've ever seen. It's a good thing that Hitchcock had his TV series where he could direct this episode. To run this story any longer than the 25 minutes would have seemed to drawn out but this story fits just perfectly in the allotted time. It's a chilling and suspenseful story that is imaginatively shot from one person's perspective. I won't say more; just see it.

(Even being a big Hitch fan I had never seen any of his TV shows; now it's so easy to see just the episodes he directed through iTunes. This was the first episode I've seen and it definitely lives up to the Hitchcock brand.)

Imbolized Terror

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 13 June 2017]

Warning do not read unless seen episode.

This is my forth favorite tale in the show, I'll admit when I was a kid this tale really gave me chills, I almost couldn't breathe. It's always a terrifying feeling of being completely helpless and powerless. This premise has been done in may other shows and stories but this is still the best.

Though I'll admit the only bad things about the story are there is a small inconsistency as the medical people didn't do a good job of checking to see if he was alive, from noticing if his skin is warm, a sign of a heartbeat, breath to fog a small mirror, and any other method. And the first minutes of the story are kinda a shot in the foot, as it's a bit of a give away on the ending. But those are blemishes I can get past and I suggest to fast forward through those minutes.

There really isn't much to say, the story mainly consists of monologue throughout the whole story this could of easily of been an audio play; but from Joseph Cotton's great delivery of that monologue and the pacing really kept me engaged. Throughout the episode I was just on edge from beginning to end, hoping that somehow he'll be able to regain his motor functions again or even somehow summon help on time.

I kinda like how the revolving theme is about the importance of emotion. We see one scene where there are prisoners that are around but instead of helping him they just rob the guy, mistaking thinking he's already dead. It just goes to show how awful insensitivity can be as they don't care about who he is or the value of human life, which ironically is part of what a criminal is.

The episode is also participator there were moment where I couldn't help but yell to the screen, "Cmon, that guy's finger is moving, drop whatever the hell your doing and look." or when it gets close to the wire I thought "Cmon, you idiots he's not dead, run another damn check!" It was that intense for me and that's a cool feeling I don't get nearly enough for TV.

Emotion is always the most important thing to have because it could be your own salvation.

Rating: 4 stars

Even ruthless businessmen break down...

[binapiraeus · 9/10 · 10 September 2014]

In one of the first episodes of the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" TV series, we once again get to see - and feel - all of his irony and mastery at keeping us in an almost painful state of suspense for thirty (in this case LONG) minutes - but he also gives us a VERY unusual lesson in morals; and in the most unusual way, too...

The beginning of the whole story has got a special meaning: a heartless businessman on holiday has just given one of his oldest employees the sack without any warning, and the desperate man calls him on the phone, begging him and crying - and yet, all he does is make fun of his 'childish' behavior, remarking that there was no need for him to cry like a baby... BUT a little while later, he finds himself in a VERY desperate situation as well: after an accident, he's stuck behind the wheel of his luxury limousine, looking like he was dead - and he can't move, he can't talk, he can't give a sign of life; and so they take him to the morgue...

This has DEFINITELY got a touch of Edgar Allan Poe, and it's REALLY chilling to 'live' those dreadful hours (even 'crammed' into a 30-minute TV episode); but it also contains a PRETTY clear social and moral lesson... Joseph Cotten is simply EXCELLENT in a quite unusual role; and Hitch's directing is, to say the least, more breathtaking than in many of his most famous movies!

A great morality tale in Hitchcock's return to directing.

[b_kite · 9/10 · 2 October 2018]

William Callew (Joseph Cotten) is involved in a bad traffic accident on a rural road, that leaves him so paralyzed he appears lifeless, and when help arrives they think he's really dead.

Hitchcock returns for his 2nd of 17 directed episodes to give us a very entertaining morality tale. I mean to me its very close to being up there with the Pilot episode when it comes to good direction and quality and you can just tell when Hitch is behind the camera verses everyone else. The story itself is really nice as we have a character who seems to be a prick, for example he fires one of his associates at the beginning of the episode by phone, then puts him down for crying about it and not being a man. Which makes it only fitting that that's what eventually saves his life. Anyways this episode has been done a hundred times in the the past with "Tales from the Crypt" redoing it and many other horror anthologies as well, however this is the best take of this story and I defiantly recommend it.

Breaking ruthlessness

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 2 February 2022]

On my first viewing, a large part of me knew that 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' seventh episode "Breakdown" would be at least good. That it is the second episode directed by Hitchcock, a personal favourite director of mine since my teens, himself is already one strike in its favour. Joseph Cotten also proved that he and Hitchcock were a good teaming with his creepy performance in 'Shadow of a Doubt', which proved he could do creepy well.

While loving "Revenge" and "Premonition" and really liking "Salvage" (the other three left me mixed to indifferent), "Breakdown" to me is the first outstanding episode of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'. It also is not only a contender for the best episode of Season 1, it is also one of my personal favourites of the entire series. The atmosphere plays a massive part as to why, as that is what sets it apart from most episodes in the series, and that Hitchcock directs is already a plus.

"Breakdown" is outstanding in every way. It looks great and rich in atmosphere, and is to me definitely the best shot episode of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' up to this point. With it being the only one up to this early point of the series to have a cinematic quality to it. Hitchcock's direction is impeccable, he wasn't coined the master of suspense for nothing.

Something that "Breakdown" is filled to the brim with, the episode gave me the chills on first watch (the only episode up to this point of the series to do so) and the chilling atmosphere still remains to genuinely scary effect. "Breakdown" also contains some of the best written and atmosphere enhancing use of voiceover for anything on television, voiceovers too often bog the narrative down, feel unnecessary or over-explain but neither is the case here.

It is thoughtfully written and ominously scored (the theme tune is perfect), while the story never rushed and cramped or draggy and static. The ending is memorable.

As is Cotten's lead performance, it is an understated portrayal that seems limited but the simplicity of the body language and expressions are what makes the performance as truly creepy as it is. This is near 'Shadow of a Doubt' level. The rest of the cast are fine too, particularly Raymond Bailey, if not quite on Cotten's level.

Concluding, absolutely brilliant. 10/10.

Brilliant idea.

[peterhand-52480 · 7/10 · 20 January 2023]

Excellent execution of a terrifying idea, and how could the director have placed a more poetic ending to this poor man's plight. Has got to be the inspiration for the 1971 film, Johnny got his gun. Definately think Metallica should have used this film for their 'one' music video.

Again, a solid idea that has clearly been built on, from the aforementioned music video, to creepy pasta lore.

I will say with no remorse, that wes craven or M. Night Shyamalan need to get onto this, as it has the basis for an epic horror, that you could bring in any direction! Someone needs to take this amazing idea that Mr. Hitchcock created, and f'in run riot with it!

I Am Alive, Please Reach Me

[DKosty123 · 10/10 · 18 April 2010]

Hitchcock not only introduces this show but directs it as well. The story as told from Cottons mind is a great one. It deals with a first person story whose theme is repeated in other shows & other series later, but is never better done.

Joseph Cotton is the helpless victim whose mind we visit inside in a classic way. Given up for dead, he is put in the morgue and declared dead - yet knowing he is alive he is desperate to give the folks in the morgue a sign that he is. It challenges the viewer to think & put themselves in Cottons shoes on being helpless.

Great viewing & one of the best entries in the series.

The best episode!

[perona-1 · 9/10 · 28 July 2006]

This episode is the best I've seen of this show!It's so creepy...I love it! When I watched it I was terrified and shaking all over! I was like "Feel his pulse, feel his pulse! Can't you see he's alive?!" And when they brought him to the morgue I was like "Oh my God, they're gonna bury him alive!" It was almost out of my worst nightmare! I was so relieved when he started crying and the people noticed! My brother thought the episode was utterly boring! How could it be boring! My hart still starts thumping when I think about the episode. Hichcock was so good! I haven't seen any of his movies yet except half of Rear Window in school, but I'll watch The Birds this weekend. I'm sure it's great!

What goes around comes around

[gregorycanfield · 5/10 · 12 February 2022]

This may be some people's idea of a great episode. I don't think so. Joseph Cotton as a cold-hearted businessman who callously fires one of his employees. Callew is then involved in a car accident which leaves him paralyzed. The story becomes increasingly morbid, as we have to listen to everything going through his mind. He can't speak and is so motionless, everyone assumes that he is dead. Cotton's character might have deserved this terrible fate, but the viewer didn't deserve to be punished, as well. There were better directions this story could have taken. This episode is dreary, morbid, and painful to watch.

I'm alive!

[ctomvelu1 · 8/10 · 15 January 2013]

Exceptional episode, directed by Hitchcock himself and starring an old Hitchcock familiar (Cotton), about a businessman on his way back from a vacation. He ends up in a terrible accident and essentially is left for dead. When his body is finally retrieved from the wreck, he is taken to the nearest county morgue. There's only one problem: he isn't dead, just paralyzed, the result of the steering wheel crushing his chest (remember those days?) and the force of the impact breaking his neck. Cotton spends most of the episode with eyes open, unblinking and mouth agape, as we listen to his anguished thoughts via voice-over. This is an absolutely unnerving episode, and has to be among the 10 best from this series.

A little Hitch

[Lejink · 8/10 · 11 September 2018]

Rather like a novelist diverting into short stories, Hitchcock here uses the medium of his 25 minute TV series to knock off this excellent short-order production. Reunited with the worthy Joseph Cotten for the first time since his classic portrayal of Theresa Wright's serial killer Uncle Charlie in "Shadow Of A Doubt" 14 years earlier, we see the Master stretching himself in a similar technical way as on say "Lifeboat" where he constrained his set to one fixed locus by this time focusing his camera on Cotten's immobile, eyes-open face after suffering a horrendous car accident.

Immediately recognisable as one of the few Hitchcock -directed episodes of the show, Hitchcock injects a little moral into his story by making Cotten's hard-nosed big-boss deride an elderly employee's tearful reaction to being fired down the phone in the prologue only for his own later nightmare predicament to be relieved by showing emotion of his own.

Cotten for the most part just lies there wide-eyed and immobile, voicing over his ever more desperate commentary, again something only a director of Hitch's stature could ask of such a respected actor as Cotten. Superbly edited, with some distinctive Hitchcock grace-notes such as Cotten's subjective gaze up from his gurney as he's wheeled into the morgue, this is the old master flexing his muscles in a new medium and effortlessly at that.