Starring the Defense

Episode aired Nov 15, 1963
TV-PG
48m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

393

YOUR RATING

Richard Basehart, Teno Pollick, and John Zaremba in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)

Crime Drama Horror Mystery Thriller

Former movie star Miles Crawford is now a successful attorney. When his adult son Tod is charged with first-degree murder after a fight, he hires the best criminal lawyer he can find, but th... Read allFormer movie star Miles Crawford is now a successful attorney. When his adult son Tod is charged with first-degree murder after a fight, he hires the best criminal lawyer he can find, but then convinces Tod that he should represent him.Former movie star Miles Crawford is now a successful attorney. When his adult son Tod is charged with first-degree murder after a fight, he hires the best criminal lawyer he can find, but then convinces Tod that he should represent him.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

393

YOUR RATING

11User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

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Did you know

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Trivia
The character "Tod Crawford" is said to be 21 years old in the story, but Teno Pollick, the actor playing him, was 34 at the time.

Goofs
In the courtroom scenes, the stenographer can frequently be seen not typing anything.

Quotes
[introduction - Hitchcock has a dog catcher's truck behind him and is holding a net]
Self - Host: I have just made my first catch -
[indicates truck]
Self - Host: this. No license, no pedigree. Just running loose in the streets and attacking people. The highway seemed to be filled with them. All equally vicious. Incidentally, getting this position proved to be quite easy. I was the only applicant who didn't mind going out in the noonday sun. Oh, there was one other - a dog. But he didn't look a bit well. For those of you who are wondering, this is "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour". Tonight's tale concerns a man who was once a motion picture actor, but who decided to take up honest work instead and became a lawyer. It begins as soon as our sponsor makes his opening statement to the jury.

User reviews11

Featured review

4/10

Not so great.

Richard Basehart plays Miles Crawford, a man with regrets. Apparently, when his son was a baby, he was a famous actor and was too busy working to raise him after his wife left. So, he had the boy stay with his sister for the first ten years of his life....during which time, he quit acting, went to law school and became a lawyer. This regret comes to a head when the young man kills someone....and Miles seems to blame everyone but his son. And, the father decides to represent the son in court...and ends up behaving rather unethically in his summation speech.

I noticed most other reviewers liked this one...a few liked it a lot. Well, Basehart was very good...but the script left me VERY flat. The young man was very guilty and yet the ending seemed unconvincing...especially when the judge showed amazing leniency towards the killer. I just didn't think this made much sense...nor did it make sense that the judge wasn't furious with Miles for pulling the stunt he pulled in court. I was just left baffled.