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

"And then he killed me."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 8 July 2021]

My Dad used to watch "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" when I was a kid, but because it didn't have cowboys, monsters or gorillas, I don't think I ever watched a complete single episode. But I've grown to love this kind of stuff, which brings me to the first episode of his outstanding TV series. "Revenge" was directed by Hitchcock himself, hosting before and after each segment to offer his unique critique on the story at hand, or simply to offer some amusing comment or other as apropos.

This opener for the series featured a trailer park newlywed couple (Ralph Meeker and Vera Miles), with a strange sense of foreboding as the husband goes off to work, with his wife contemplating what her first day alone will be like. Neighbor Mrs. Fergusen (Frances Bavier) stops by to chat with Elsa Spann (Miles), resulting in an odd, long pause when she says her good-bye which didn't seem to fit at that particular point in the story. It was probably meant to preface what was to happen next, but seemed strange coming out of nowhere.

You can almost predict what will happen next when Carl (Meeker) comes home and finds his wife in a catatonic state. The implication is that she'd been violated, with repeated turns of the phrase 'He killed me'. With little to go on, the police hit a brick wall in their investigation, while Carl's anger ratchets up enough to take matters into his own hands. However his reliance on his wife's rationality to identify her attacker is seriously compromised after he beats one man to death, and she points out yet another suspect while driving around town. At that point, the horrific realization occurs that Carl killed the wrong man for no reason.

It's an effective story that sets the tone for what would follow in the Hitchcock vein. A slightly different take on the bizarre from the stories Rod Serling would host with his series 'The Twilight Zone', but provocative nonetheless. I now look forward to more episodes in the series.

"There he is. That's him"

[ackstasis · 8/10 · 4 December 2008]

After spending the last few years blossoming into a fully-fledged Alfred Hitchcock fan, I decided to expand into his work in television. The Master of Suspense was among the first big-name Hollywood directors to recognise the possibilities inherent in the television medium, and the original series of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" ran from 1955 until 1962. The series consisted of (typically) half-hour standalone stories, each of which contained the suspense, mystery and drama that audiences had already come to expect from the director's work. Though Hitchcock himself only directed a few of the episodes (this first story being one of them), he nonetheless appeared in person to bookend each tale, offering a droll remark or two and occasionally denigrating the commercial sponsor. Many popular actors and actresses of the day temporarily relinquished their screen prestige to appear in these television episodes, and many more used the series to achieve their first big breaks in the acting profession.

"Revenge" (Season 1, Episode 1) was directed by the Master of Suspense himself, and it has all the hallmarks of your typical Hitchcock mystery. Ralph Meeker and Vera Miles play a husband-and-wife couple who have arrived in California to allow Miles, a ballet dancer, to recover from a nervous breakdown. On her first day alone, the wife is assaulted (and, it is implied, sexually assaulted) by a "dark man in a grey suit," though she can offer no further leads for police detectives. Meeker swears revenge for what has been done to his wife, who remains in a dazed, semi-catatonic state for the remainder of the episode. When Miles apparently identifies the man responsible, Meeker follows stealthily, and rather hastily takes the law into his own hands. Was that the man who assaulted his wife? Was she even assaulted at all? Hitchcock delicately cleans up the loose ends in a manner that suggests he's satirising the need for a "moral of the story" rather than adhering to it. This is a short, sharp thriller from a man who knows what he's doing.

Concise

[gavin6942 · 8/10 · 7 March 2016]

When Carl Spann (Ralph Meeker)'s wife Elsa (Vera Miles) is assaulted by an unknown attacker, he drives his still-incoherent wife around town, hoping she can point him out, so he can kill him.

As the debut episode, this is definitely a strong one. When you only have twenty minutes to tell a whole story, you have to be good. Hitchcock himself directs this one, and it has a nice plot with solid characters and better than average actors.

In many ways, this show is more like a series of mini-movies. And a little bit darker than "Twilight Zone". Well, maybe not darker. But set in more realistic settings than some of the "Twilight Zone" episodes. They are great companions.

First entry in Hitchcock series

[chuck-reilly · 22 February 2007]

The first entry in the Alfred Hitchcock series (1955), "Revenge" sets the pattern for most of what followed. A young married couple (Ralph Meeker and Vera Miles), newly residing in a West Coast seaside trailer-park, start their day as usual. He wakes her gently, they have breakfast together with some pleasant conversation and then she sees him off to his engineering job at a local plant. During the casual breakfast chatter, it's established that the wife has had some kind of mental breakdown in the past and that the couple has moved to the quaint seaside community for health reasons.

When Meeker returns from work, he finds the trailer full of smoke from an errant oven and his wife unconscious from a vicious assault. After she's revived and questioned by the police, a nosy neighbor (Frances Bavier, Aunt Bee from Mayberry of all people) arouses the audience's suspicions. Earlier, she had stared disapprovingly at Miles when she was sunbathing in a revealing outfit. Since the wife had a previous breakdown, the assailant could be anyone (despite her groggy description of "a tall man in a gray suit"). What follows is textbook Hitchcock. The couple decide to ditch the trailer and move temporarily to a hotel in the nearby town to get away from the scene of the crime. While driving down the main street, the wife spots someone who appears to be her attacker. Husband Meeker decides to take what he feels is the appropriate action. At this point in the story, the viewing audience has been led astray as much as the husband and the resolution ends in tragedy.

Hitchcock's explanation of the events depicted hints at a "moral to the story" and that it has all been presented for the audience's benefit. The censors may have goaded him into stating some of this nonsense, but most likely it was all part of the show. In retrospect, "Revenge" is a worthy opener to the series and sets a high standard for what was to come. Although not totally unexpected, the "twist" at the end of this first installment leaves viewers with a very unsettling feeling.

Death of a Salesman

[callanvass · 7/10 · 15 November 2013]

Elsa Spann (Vera Miles) and her husband Carl (Ralph Meeker) live in a trailer home. Because of Elsa's mental instability, Carl asks the neighbor Mrs. Fergusen (Frances Bavier) to check in on her from time to time. He comes home to find Elsa's cake badly burned with smoke everywhere. Elsa is hysterical, and claims she had an unidentified assailant assault her in the trailer home. Carl brings Elsa with him so she can point out the assailant. I love Alfred Hitchcock. He's responsible for so many movies that have become favorites of mine, so naturally it was about time I decided to check out this show. I liked this episode, but it was rather ordinary as well. There is nothing that stands out about it, but it did keep me engaged for 26 odd minutes, and the photography is great. It has a rather subtle start, before kicking into gear once the "attack" commences. Ralph Meeker was OK, but Vera Miles was excellent. Her beauty was very noticeable. She was on track to become Alfred's new Grace Kelly, before she got pregnant. I thought she did the hysterics very well, and didn't overdo it. The ending was pretty well done as well with somewhat of a twist. It's a solid episode. Nothing all that special, but it's worth a look. It could have made for a great movie.

7/10

A Make Believe World???

[kidboots · 10/10 · 2 March 2012]

Have you ever had in your mind the plot of some long forgotten TV show or movie - everything forgotten (stars, show etc) but not that plot. That's what makes it so frustrating!!! I had two - a "Twilight Zone" episode called "The Hitchhiker" haunted me for years and this one!! About 17 minutes into the story I finally twigged and said "This is it, this is the one"!!!

Anyway this is about Carl and Elsa Spann who move to a caravan park to live a more stress free life following Elsa's breakdown. They both seem to be settling down, Elsa eager to do well, decides to bake a cake while Carl is at work. There is one ripple in the calm water, the peculiar, worried look friendly neighbour Mrs. Ferguson (Frances Bavier) gives Elsa when she sees her sunning herself.

Carl feels Elsa, being artistic, lives in her own little world where everyone is nice - does she??? Is her attack real??? Elsa, as well as a few witnesses, describes a man in a grey suit coming up from the beach but does he really attack her?? Carl comes home from work to find Elsa in a catatonic state claiming to have been attacked by a man in a grey suit but none of the residents have heard anything. The police urge Carl to get his wife away from the caravan park but while driving away Elsa comes out of her trance long enough to identify her assailant walking along the street. Carl takes the law into his own hands but later while driving away....

The stars are two of the best - Ralph Meeker excelled at everything he did - sadistic criminals ("Jeopardy") or decent hardworking guys (with just a hint of malice)!!! Alfred Hitchcock had put Vera Miles under personal contract and predicted big things from the actress he proclaimed was going to be his next Grace Kelly. Unfortunately pregnancy forced her to bow out of "Vertigo" and Kim Novak received all the acclaim but anyone who has seen her strong yet sensitive performance in Hitchcock's "The Wrong Man" knows that with luck she could have reached the top.

When you dig the grave for your enemy also have to dig for yourself

[bondburton25 · 7/10 · 19 January 2022]

Yeah, like old proverb says "When you dig the grave for your enemy you also have to dig for yourself" it mean You have to accept the consequences of your actions.

The man in the grey suit

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 19 January 2022]

'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' is a very interesting and very well done, if not consistent, series that ran for seven seasons between 1955 and 1962. Every season had some truly fine episodes, and they all had some not so good episodes. "Revenge" is most notable for being the episode that started it all and being one of the episodes that Hitchcock, one of my all time favourite directors, himself directed. Really liked the idea for the story and Ralph Meeker and Vera Miles often were reliable presences.

"Revenge" is a great start and a treat for fellow Hitchcock fans. It is not one of the best episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', but as far as Season 1 goes it is in the better end. It does a great job cramming in a lot of content in a short space of time and there is nowhere near as much of a finding its feet feel as feared like there can be with shows/series in their first episodes. If one is planning on watching 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' to see what the fuss is about and is not sure where to start, "Revenge" is a very good place to start.

Will admit to not being crazy with the bookend segment, something that always varied throughout the series (mostly good and more), what Hitchcock has to say is interesting and sums up the tale quite well but is a bit rambling and on the vague side.

However, so much is great here. It is beautifully and atmospherically shot, moodily lit and tightly edited, with a look similar to Hitchcock's output in the 40s (a good thing). The audio unsettles and has a good deal of atmosphere (the series' theme tune courtesy of Gounod especially), though the balance is not always there. Hitchcock directs impeccably, his unmistakable style being all over "Revenge" and showing why he was deserving of his "master of suspense" nickname.

It is tautly scripted and avoids being too melodramatic, which was a danger with this type of story. The story is crisply paced and there is a lot going on without feeling too over-crowded. It also drips with suspense the more desperate the situation becomes and the more the states of mind unravel. The twist was unexpected to me actually and unsettled me.

Meeker is a strong intense presence and Frances Bavier is strong support, but Miles' hauntingly tortured turn stays in the memory long after.

Overall, great start for such an interesting series. 9/10.

Strong but audibly flawed

[pnitram · 6/10 · 29 May 2017]

Definitely a strong 1st episode for the 1/2 hr format BUT, unfortunately, marred by an obviously damaged audio track. The ambient background sound is magnified to the roar of a jet engine; literally. I started to wonder if the trailer park was under a flight path (which really made NO sense). When the "sound" continued into the other exterior scenes (and even the interior scene at the hotel), I realized it WASN'T intentional or part of the plot. Sadly, it completely detracts from the intensity of the story.

An Indictment of the Human Belief That We Can Ever Be Certain of Anything, Ever.

[jzappa · 8/10 · 1 August 2009]

A married couple played by Ralph Meeker and Vera Miles have moved into a trailer park in California, after she apparently suffered a nervous breakdown. She is adjusting well to a more mellow life, after her strict schooling as a ballerina. Meeker sees Miles' ballet dancing as fantasy and playing, wehre he is a practical work force type, an engineer.

But then he comes home from work to find her terror-stricken and mortified after, evidently, a man assaulted her in the trailer. The police investigate, but find but a few generic details to go on. Meeker spirals into swelling rage about what has happened, and he is obstinate in his resolution to kill the man accountable, if he can find him. Yet this story is not only playing on the violent in the mind of the spectator, us, pertaining to the murder, but in the assault on his wife, too.

The exposition not directly heading to the story's turning point, Alfred Hitchcock knew how to tell a story without having to tell us anything. Rape. Murder. Uncertainty. The dialogue is never corroborated or denied by the visual text, which is why there is such great tension owing to the incomprehensible eyewitness testimony of Miles, who pre-Psycho here shows us how riveting she can be in terrified close-up. There is even an interesting moment of fleeting lesbian undertones, yet the moment is not placed for such reasons.

The first episode ever of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, directed by the master himself, half an hour long, aired at 9:30 on CBS on a 1955 Sunday night, is not just a little thriller yarn watered down for the new medium; it is an indictment of the human belief that we can ever be certain of anything, ever. It is a commentary on appearance profiling in a decade when that probably was not something of which your average viewer could claim to be innocent.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Revenge

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 3 November 2013]

Vera Miles (Psycho; The Wrong Man) has recently married Ralph Meeker (Kiss Me Deadly) and recovered from a nervous breakdown. They live in a coastal trailer park; she was once a ballet dancer, him currently an engineer at an airplane factory. Miles seems to be at a good place, baking a cake while the hubby is away. Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee of The Andy Griffith Show) is supposed to look out for her while he's at work because she is still rather fragile. When Meeker returns home from work, he finds a totally emotionally paralyzed Miles, who awakens from her fog to tell him of a salesman in a gray suit who assaulted and strangled her (if she was mistreated any further, we can only guess). The police have little to go on in regards to evidence or a sufficient eyewitness account that can give them exact details to catch the one responsible. Meeker, with plans to get Miles out of the area, stews with building anger and decides to take a trip in town to find her assailant. But, question is, if Miles does identify her perpetrator, is it authentic or a delusion? This performance feels almost like a precursor to The Wrong Man, with how Miles remains under total shock, kind of stuck in this state of stunned silence. She does answer to Meeker when asked if she'd like to get away, but her pronouncement that forms the moral dilemma at the heart of the story is "There he is. He's the one." This, to me, questions vigilantism and also ponders reliability in someone with a possible mental illness (or a psychological problem stemming from the breakdown). It perhaps isn't wise to "take action into your own hands" and the result of this story explains that thought-provokingly. This is a good showcase for Miles, while Meeker reacts to what happens to her (his frantic state is palpable with Miles saying little but positively showing that shock to the system an emotional crisis can cause). A VERY interesting scene--that is all Hitchcock and his camera-- could be (and I believe it is) tellingly homoerotic where Bavier, the neighbor, takes a good look at the attractive, young, beautiful body of Miles in a bikini. This scene very well could feed to the assault…a man sees her from the beach, and, in his lust, will try to consummate that sexually.

"The director's task is to manipulate the audience."

[grizzledgeezer · 10/10 · 26 December 2015]

That's what The Master said -- and does -- in this first entry in "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".

This review does not reveal the ending. But it's "suggestive". Those who want to fully enjoy the story should not read further.

How anyone can rank this episode at less than 9, or consider it "ordinary", is beyond me. Hitchcock shows his mastery by deflecting the audience's attention from what ought to be obvious -- and for making the audience sympathize with the wrong characters. (The good acting helps, too.)

A perfect little gem of storytelling.

Revenge

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 10 May 2022]

When Carl Spann's wife Elsa (Vera Miles) is assaulted by an unknown attacker, he drives his still-incoherent wife around town, hoping she can point him out, so he can kill him. Of course, there's a little twist, but not entirely unpredictable. It's well-acted, well-paced and has that trademark calm before the storm feeling that Hitchcock knows how to generate.

A story about Revenge

[AvionPrince16 · 5/10 · 2 March 2022]

A classic Story about Revenge. A woman get attacked and they need to find the killer. It have not suspense., no intriguing plot. It was clearly classic. Just at the end, we wondering if the Husband killed the good guy. And also Hitchcok give a morality about a man who give justice from his own hands. Thats all. Nothing more and nothing less.

Based on a story from pre-Comics Code horror comics!

[sparrowtrece · 20 September 2019]

The story first appeared in EC Comic's *Shock Suspense Stories* circa 1954; in the original, the traumatized victim isn't the narrator's wife, but his mildly demented father.

A sort of copycat version appeared in Harvey's *Black Cat Comics* that same year, in which the victim was the narrator's new wife and concludes with the line "My beautiful wife...was CRAZY!"

Aunt Bee Before Andy & Lovely Vera Set The Tone For Hitch

[DKosty123 · 7/10 · 18 April 2010]

Even though Hitch directed this episode, it is an ordinary entry in the series. The thing is, this series was a first for television. While radio had drama & suspense for many years, adding this first touch from the Master of suspense on television was an accomplishment in 1955.

Vera Miles is the young wife who has had a breakdown, is trying to recover & yet is viciously attacked in her trailer by a man in a gray suit. That is the premise, & Vera Miles definitely looked lovely here as she was the masters original choice for VERTIGO only she got pregnant at the worst time, when it was time to make the movie.

Frances Bavier plays the same type of busybody she played on Andy Griffith years later, except for one leering glance at Miles tanning in her bathing suit.

One thing that escapes the censors & some viewers is that the reason Miles points out the wrong man to her husband to take revenge on is not as obvious as you'd think. What is left open to the viewer & is possible is that Miles character really is crazy & is attacking herself because she wants attention. After all, she appears to deliberately burn her cake while getting her tan outdoors and the real man who is supposed to have attacked is never really found.

At the end, she points out yet another man in a gray suit. It is left open if she might be attacking herself as the attacks keeping following the couple from one location to another. This type of suspense is still more complicated than some viewers who watch it even today.

Better Than Most "Dexter" or "You" Episodes

[jamericanbeauty · 10/10 · 20 March 2019]

Husband (Ralph Meeker) and Wife (Vera Miles) are a match made in hell. As they relocate from town to town, she's the victim of a violent attack and recovering from "a breakdown". He's the loving protective Husband who seeks revenge against the man who attacked her. In reality, she's a psychotic master manipulator who pretends to be a victim of violent attacks, and her Husband is serial killer vigilante who pretends to believe she was attacked. They feed into each others dark sickness. It's a perfect dark twisted series premiere, directed by the one and only Alfred Hitchcock.

Watching all episodes in order

[sdot8787 · 7/10 · 21 March 2021]

Well the series starts out with a bang. Very good ending.

What a start

[ctomvelu1 · 8/10 · 15 January 2013]

Very first episode of AHP features Vera Milks, a Hitchcock favorite, and Ralph Meeker as a couple who has just moved into a trailer park by the sea. An engineer, he is starting a new job and she, a former ballerina, is recovering from a nervous breakdown. On the husband's return from work on their very first night there, he finds his wife in a state of shock and near-death, having been assaulted by an intruder. Their doctor advises the husband to move her into a motel and away from the park, and let her recuperate there. Meanwhile, the husband vows to kill the rapist if he is ever found. Classic stuff, very much playing like a movie, only in a half-hour format. The master himself directed. The early scenes with Miles and Meeker are incredibly sensual for their time and the fact that this was a 1955 TV show. The husband awakens his wife with a kiss as he prepares to leave for work, and she embraces him so passionately that we have no doubt what she has in mind. After he leaves and a kindly neighbor (Benederet) comes over to pay a visit, we see the wife wearing only a man's shirt. The camera lovingly lingers on her perfectly shaped bare legs and thighs as the two women sit and chat. In the next scene, she is shown wearing (for the time) a revealing bathing suit as she prepares to sunbathe out in front of the trailer. The camera proceeds to do a slow head-to-toe shot of her as she sunbathes, again lingering on her shapely legs (supposedly seen through Benederet's eyes, which gives the astute viewer pause to reflect and wonder). The contrast between this voluptuous character and the zombie-like creature she becomes is incredible. Hitchcock knew how to draw the best out of the lovely Miles, who appeared in no fewer than three of his movies. A must see.

Not Much Forethought

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 2 October 2008]

This is the first episode in the famous series, "Alfred HItchcock Presents." It is about a man and his wife, who live in a trailer park. She has suffered a nervous breakdown. He leaves her one morning. When he returns, she has obviously been raped and assaulted. The word is never used, but we can read between the lines. She announces that she has been killed. He can see in her zombie like presence what has happened and he swears revenge on whoever did it. The only description of the man is his height and his brown suit. She says, however, that she will be able to identify him when she sees him. Of course, she picks out some poor sap who is checking into a hotel, a salesman. The conclusion is surprising but predictable. This was a good start, setting up one of the most famous series of all time. Hitchcock's commentaries make it all worthwhile.

A great start to a great television series!

[b_kite · 10/10 · 24 October 2016]

In the premiere episode of the series. Elsa Spann (the beautiful Vera Miles) and her husband Carl Spann (Ralph Meeker) have recently moved to a beach located community after Elsa a former ballerina has recently suffered a nervous breakdown due to stress. However, one day Carl returns from work to find that Elsa has been assaulted and raped (even tho the term in never implied). As the police discover no leads Ralph's hate begins to escalate as a now traumatized Elsa says she could remember the man if she saw him. The two then set out to get revenge on her attacker, with horrible consequences...

The premiere episode of this series directed wonderfully by Hitchcock himself is a great little story which builds up the mystery and suspense and is a quite brutal little tale for its time building up to a surprise conclusion that many may see as rather predictable, but, I really didn't think so and loved the rather chilling final scene regardless. Both Ralph Meeker and Vera Miles make this one highly enjoyable as they play a believable couple and you cant help but feel symphony for both of them over what happens. The rest of the cast has a nice group of veterans led by Francis Bavier (Aunt Bea from The Andy Griffith Show) and the great Ray Teal who most may remember as the sheriff from "Bonanza".

Overall, the series starts off with a bang, this is one of my favorites from the show, and it still gets to you 61 years after its original airing, highly recommended.

Justice is mine, sayeth the engineer.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 22 February 2012]

Premier episode directed by Hitchcock. Not that you'd know it, because he hardly had time to do much with this series except direct only a handful and show up to read his droll introductions and epilogues, written I think by a man named Alardyce. They were often amusing in their low-key way. They became more outlandish as the series progressed.

Hitchcock must have enjoyed working with Vera Miles, who plays an insane woman who has been raped by a stranger and avenged by her engineer husband. He drove her mad again in "The Wrong Man." Vera Miles was an attractive woman, a former Miss Oklahoma or something, of the type that appealed to Hitchcock's fantasies. He used her again in "Psycho." When her character is introduced, her husband, Meeker, compliments her on her "hidden talents" and she giggles and flushes. And she strips to a bathing suit in one scene, the camera gliding down her long and pretty legs -- the old lecher.

I've always rather like Ralph Meeker. I don't know exactly why. His face is unexceptional and his acting style is less than expressive. I can think of any of his roles, put the young Jack Nicholson in his place, and the transplant is a success. But perhaps part of Meeker's appeal is just that he is NOT Jack Nicholson, just an ordinary, everyday sort of guy. Okay, he can't act -- but neither can we.

Great Start to A Classic!

[ShelbyTMItchell · 10/10 · 7 March 2013]

We first see a bald heavy set man who is film directing great Alfred Hitchcock in his GOOD EVENING trademark. As what was to become his dry wit and introducing a story. Movies won him respect but it was the TV show that won him fans and wealth.

The show features a young couple that went to a quiet place after the wife suffered a nervous breakdown and after her ballerina career. Then she says while the husband is working, she is attacked by a man.

But the police can't find any proof so the angry husband tries to find the man and punish him to the core. What will happen next I won't tell those who have not seen the episode.

A great start to a great classic show. And Hitchcock really is a hoot! Watch this show and you will know what I will mean.

Revenge

[bombersflyup · 6/10 · 30 January 2020]

Crime doesn't pay, you must have a sponsor. :) The presentation's good and all, with quality acting, just lacks substance. It's vague and left open to whatever you want to believe. The only thing for certain, is you know the guy in the grey suit isn't guilty of anything before he's killed, with her saying "yes that would be nice" to everything he says and her saying she's dead.

Trailer Park Confidential

[dougdoepke · 26 February 2007]

This first installment already presents some hallmarks of the series. The ending, for one, surprises, since Vera Miles seems like such a nice, sincere young woman. Listen also for the siren sound at film's end. That's the long arm of the law catching up. But if you think about the timing, it's really implausible that the cops would catch up like that. The series would later smarten up and save justice triumphant for the host's epilogue, where it would not interfere with the story-- a revolutionary move for 50's TV. Notice too how tactfully a presumed sexual attack is hinted at in the script and on screen. Anything more explicit was not permitted, so unless you read between the lines, you may not understand what appears to have happened (we never know for sure). Anyway, Vera Miles delivers a really sobering performance, directed by the master himself. And though the 30 minutes remains unexceptional, there is already a clear willingness to tamper with some of the more numbing conventions of the day.