Ep 23. Back for Christmas

"Back for Christmas" is an episode from the first season of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." Directed by Hitchcock himself, this episode tells the story of a man named Herbert Carpenter, played by John Williams, who is a biology professor at a college in New England. Herbert is married to a woman named Edith, played by Isobel Elsom, and the two of them are preparing to go on a trip to the Mediterranean. However, before they can leave, Herbert has one final task to complete: he needs to kill Edith.

The episode begins with Herbert digging a hole in his basement. He tells his wife that he is planning to build a wine cellar, but as the audience soon learns, he actually plans to bury Edith's body in the hole. Herbert is a meticulous planner and has been plotting his wife's demise for months. He has already established an alibi for himself by pretending to book a trip to the Mediterranean and has even gone so far as to purchase a one-way ticket for Edith. Herbert thinks that he has thought of everything, but as the episode progresses, it becomes clear that he may have underestimated the consequences of his actions.

As Edith prepares for their trip, Herbert becomes increasingly anxious. He worries that his plan will be discovered and that he will be caught. However, he tries to maintain a façade of normalcy, even going so far as to give Edith a parting gift of a music box. After Edith leaves for the airport, Herbert pours himself a large glass of scotch and revels in the success of his plan. He even listens to a record of Edith playing the piano, relishing the fact that he will now be able to enjoy her music without her being alive.

However, things start to go awry for Herbert when he receives a phone call from Edith's sister. The sister has become worried because Edith's suitcase was delivered to her house instead of the airport. Herbert tries to explain it away, but the sister seems to suspect that something is wrong. Herbert arranges for a taxi driver to pick up the suitcase and bring it to the airport, hoping to avoid any suspicion.

As Herbert starts to clean up evidence of his crime, he discovers that Edith's beloved cat is missing. He becomes increasingly paranoid that the cat will sniff out the buried body and alert the authorities. When the taxi driver arrives with the suitcase, Herbert is so afraid that he will be caught that he almost doesn't let the driver in. However, the driver manages to persuade him, and Herbert watches nervously as the suitcase is loaded into the trunk.

As Herbert tries to cover his tracks, he becomes increasingly unhinged. He begins to talk to himself and even begins to hallucinate, imagining that Edith is still alive and that she has come back to haunt him. Eventually, his paranoia gets the best of him and he decides that he needs to dig up the body and move it to a more secure location. As he works to disinter Edith, he becomes more and more frenzied, and it's clear that he has lost his grip on reality.

"Back for Christmas" is a classic Hitchcockian thriller, full of suspense, tension, and psychological drama. It's a masterful exploration of the human psyche, and it's clear that Hitchcock had a deep understanding of what drives people to commit terrible acts. The episode is a tour de force of filmmaking, with Hitchcock using a variety of techniques to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. From the clever use of sound to the inventive camera angles, "Back for Christmas" is a showcase for Hitchcock's unparalleled storytelling skills. Overall, "Back for Christmas" is a must-see episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and a masterpiece of suspenseful storytelling.