Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) Kill with Kindness (1956) User Reviews

The acting makes this episode

[pmicocci-18908 · 7/10 · 5 August 2021]

Hard to believe this was the same Cronyn who played the sadistic, manipulative Capt. Munsey in "Brute Force" and the morally ambiguous lawyer in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" - that's what made him a superb actor.

And I enjoyed seeing Mathews' sweet old lady facade crack and show her true spirit when she shared with Gleason her secret glee at squashing one of her brother's beloved butterflies.

I like the characters and performances more than the story itself.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 20 February 2021]

Katherine (Carmen Mathews) and Fitz (Hume Cronyn) are a brother and sister who live together. Katherine is the boss and Fitz is in his own little world of birds and butterfly collecting most of the time. The pair have a secret plan....to burn down their house and make it look as if Fitz was killed in the blaze...and then collect the insurance money.

To make the plan work, they need a body to substitute for Fitz...and they see a hobo (James Gleason) in the park. Katherine invites him in for a warm meal and gives him some clothing...so that his body, or what is left of it, looks like Fitz after the fire. But like in all the episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", you know things won't go exactly as they intended.

Overall, this is a mixed bag. I love the acting and the characters...but the story and the twist are only okay....not bad...just okay.

"It's always such a joy to watch you sort your specimens."

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 6 August 2021]

I think a Hitchcock episode like this played better back in the Fifties than it does today. The premise of the story is exceedingly thin and practically ridiculous. Would a life insurance policy pay off enough to replace the home that was destroyed intentionally in a fire? Where would elder siblings Fitz (Hume Cronyn) and Katherine (Carmen Mathews) go to live if there plans literally went up in smoke? I think this was presented more in the vein of showcasing the principals in a humorous way, with the unwitting Mr. Jorgy (James Gleason) a pawn in a tenuous predicament until the Oldham plans went awry. Fitz's aside to the fireman (Mike Ragan) at the end of the story appeared to make a lemon situation into lemonade, but it just didn't work for this viewer. The value to be derived from this episode is in the fine performances of the principals, particularly the dialog between the scatterbrained Fitzhugh and his overbearing sister.

Cronyn Showcase

[dougdoepke · 1 April 2016]

Looks like this entry was reaching for a façade of black humor. The Oldhams, brother and sister, are aging and barely getting by. Unless they figure something out, their old age looks bleak. What they do have is a life insurance policy on brother Fitzhugh (Cronyn). Then along comes homeless old guy Gyorgy (Gleason). Nobody would miss him were he to disappear, so putting on their best face, they invite him in.

The entry depends more on character interest than suspense. Bird-watcher and butterfly-fancier Fitzhugh is too ditzy and bumbling to generate menace. That's left to sister Katherine (Mathews) who squashes butterflies rather than petting them. Trouble is she relies on her bumbling brother to do the dirty work. So we wonder just how much danger old Gyorgy is really in.

Cronyn specialized in eccentric parts and is clearly enjoying this ripe slice of ditz. Mathews was an early Hitch favorite, especially as Lizzie Borden's sinister sister, The Older Sister (1956). At the same time, Gleason makes a convincing penniless old man. The upshot however is fairly mild, while the episode as a whole remains largely a quirky Hume Cronyn showcase.

Birds and Butterflies

[Archbishop_Laud · 6/10 · 7 July 2013]

We can tell by his hair that Hume Cronyn is playing an eccentric (and Hitch's intro suggests there's a fire involved).

Cronyn's Fitzhugh is soft spoken and into birds and butterflies, but his sister (with whom he lives) has a more serious interest. She kindly brings an old drifter to their home and feeds him, but the conversation suggests something else is afoot. Perhaps a bit too obviously so ("we're impoverished, nothing left but this house and our insurance policy").

The setup is fun and there's definitely a comic tone to this one, but the ending falls completely flat for me.

Not quite killer

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 23 April 2022]

Herschel Daugherty's previous three 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes are well worth the watch. Especially "The Creeper", which is not just one of the best and creepiest episodes of Season 1 but of the entire series. While his third was the second episode of Season 2, and although it was a long way from flawless it was leagues better than the season opener. Hume Cronyn, already a Hitchcock regular, deserves more credit as an actor today and James Gleason was always watchable and more.

"Kill with Kindness" is not one of his best episodes however, actually consider it his weakest episode up to this point. It is one of those episodes with a fine cast that are better than the story, which is really not the strongest story of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and that is putting it mildly. "Kill with Kindness" is far from a bad episode and there are definitely worse episodes of the series, but it did feel like something was missing and it's fairly middling.

Am going to start with the good. The best thing about it is Cronyn, who is absolutely excellent in a role that is perfect for him (eccentric but also with intense edge). He really dominates the episode while not completely swamping it. Carmen Matthews matches him beautifully for pretty much the same reasons. Really loved their psychologically interesting characters and they are entertaining and unsettling together. Gleason is well cast too in a role that was quite different for him.

There are other things that "Kill with Kindness" does well. The black humour is deliciously dark at its best and effectively unsettles, it did amuse me though it won't be for those that don't like or get dark humour. The production values are solid enough, while the main theme is still haunting and Hitchcock's dry humour amuses just as much. The characters are interesting psychologically.

Really do wish however that the story was much better, it just came over as too far fetched, with some serious credibility straining needed later on, and bland with far too little suspense. This is a kind of story that calls for sinister creepiness and suspense, and there is not enough of that. The ending was also flat and more a going out on a whimper rather than a bang.

Furthermore, some of the writing veers on being too talky and the pacing could have been a good deal tighter. Daugherty's direction is rather workmanlike.

Summing up, a little above average but nothing special. 6/10.

The Jinxed wanderer Mr. Jorgy has his fate sealed to die in a phony murder??

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 2 July 2023]

The best on this episode quite sure is the intro of master Hitchcock tie up in a stake about to be burned igniting a matchstick to light a cigarette dropped the flaming matchstick to start a fire the smoke rising at Hitchcock's face pretending blame a possible technical obfuscation on the camera.

The story is pointless where the elder brother Fitzhugh (Hume Cronyn) and sister Katherine (Carmen Mathews) living together in an old house, they'd bought an insurance police which if one of them comes to die, whom stays alive will got the money, however the overbearing Katherine overpowers a faltering Fitzhugh, manages a bold plan to kill someone else in place of Fitzhugh, the cold Katherine finds a perfect victim the wanderer Mr. Jorgy (Jackie Gleason) in a nearby park, she invites him to got a supper aiming for cheating the old Jorgy that starts distrust over such goodness.

Meanwhile Katherine put a sleeping bill a couple of milk of Jorgy to taking him to upstairs at Fitzhugh's room to let him sleeping in the bed and sets fire in a house whilst Fitzhugh flees in order to aftermaths the fire the police finds out the incinerated body of the jinxed Jorgy, not so fast some unexpected facts will spoil the whole thing.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First Watch: 2023 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD /Rating: 7.

Hume Cronyn Was Great!

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 30 October 2008]

I saw Hume Cronyn on stage as Richard III in 1965. He was a masterful actor. He could play anything. In this he is an eccentric butterfly collector who lives with his sister. They are both nuts. They have decided to pull a con to collect fire insurance. He is so possessive of his hobby that he gets in the way. They lure a homeless man with the idea of substituting him for the Cronyn character. Because of the brother's instability we can sense things aren't going to go smoothly. Unfortunately, a ring the homeless man is wearing won't come off, plan B is implemented. This, of course, is going to throw the whole thing off. This episode is so far fetched but the acting is great. Where it fails is in the basic script. The plot just doesn't satisfy.

Decent black comedic episode.

[b_kite · 5/10 · 6 May 2021]

Pretty much a black comedy episode and a showcase for Hume Cronyn who plays a ditzy bird and butterfly collector, he and his sister plan to burn there house down with Cronyn dying in the fire so they can collect the insurance. They find a kindly homeless man to act in his place, as usual it doesn't quite work like they plan. Like said decent black comedic episode with Cronyn and Carmen Mathews putting up fun nutty performances there more interesting here then the story itself.

YOU HELP ME AND I'LL KILL YOU. OK?

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 30 August 2023]

I agree with many of my fellow reviewers, it's the acting. So truly impossible to beat the likes of Hume Cronyn and Carmen Matthews, playing a very pleasant, generous and diabolical brother and sister. Only with Hitch.

Emmy award winning writter AJ Russell wrote this gem, who ironically majored in comedy material. AJ was a frequent writer for Jackie Gleason and his HONEYMOONERS sitcom, and also won an Emmy for his work on the PHIL SILVERS SHOW. He later became a senior writer for GENERAL HOSPITAL.

The bottom line is the all mighty dollar, as usual. It seems the brother and sister's old house is insured (and so is the brother!), so why not burn it down to the ground and collect. To throw the insurance investigator's off, they decide to toss in a body -- such as a homeless man (well played by James Gleason), who would be mistaken for the brother as well. Cha-ching!

Can you beat that?

One you have to see, and see again, expertly directed by one of the best, Herschel Daugherty, who fronted endless cop shows and dramas throughout his long career.

Not to be missed for these three unforgetable actors.

Gleason would end his long career not to long after this episode with the iconic film, THE LAST HURRAH, starring Spencer Tracy.

SEASON 2 EPISODE 4 remastered Universal dvd box set. 5 dvd set. 2006.