A combination that the average spectator may not expect is that of the director of the pioneers of the acclaimed horror Alfred Hitchcock and the author for children Roald Dahl. Dahl was best known for his books for fanciful and offbeat children, as Charlie and the chocolate factory,, Witches,, MatildaAnd James and giant fishing. However, Dahl had another side to his writing which involved many collections of new, both bizarre and bizarre, including a collection written for Playboy Magazine Between 1965 and 1974. Repolor the layers of Dahl’s career, and that seems to be completely suitable for Hitchcock’s feelings. Thus, when one of his stories was chosen as fodder for an episode of the Hitchcock television show, Alfred Hitchcock presents (1955-1965), it was perfectly logical.

The episode implies a strange incident in which a woman kills her husband with a frozen lamb leg, and the police arise to investigate. It recalls the tone of an episode of The twilight zone (1959-1964) and, in Dahl fashion, feels almost surreal in plausibility. The Hitchcock television show was so successful that even after its initial 10 -year race, it was relaunched less than 10 years after his death. And although the second series was not up to the first, he reminded producers that even with the famous director gone, his heritage was always cemented in the minds of the public. And there would always be more scary stories to tell.

“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl was adapted in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock present

Having been in films since the silent era of the 1920s, Hitchcock has experienced major changes in industry during his life. And, like synchronized sound, television was another major innovation that Hitchcock used to its advantage when the opportunity arose. Alfred Hitchcock presents was a series of anthology. This meant that two episodes were the same (also as The twilight zone). The episodes were all in accordance with the extent of Hitchcock and presented everything, from mysteries to thrillers and even to the theater. Viewers who want Hitch were sure to find something that stung their interest in each episode.

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Dahl’s news “Lamb to the Slaughter” was the first published In Harper Magazine in September 1953. Dahl’s friend – and author of James Bond Novels – Ian Fleming, actually suggested the idea to Dahl. In the book The irregles: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington By Jennet Conant, Fleming was quoted By saying to Dahl: “Why don’t you have someone who murdered her husband with a frozen sheep’s leg, which she then serves the detectives who come to investigate the murder?” Few Fleming ideas for his stories stood out in Dahl, but she stayed. And so the story of the pregnant woman who kills her husband in a blind rage after saying that he was leaving her was born. And it was an idea that would appeal to more than its first readers.

History itself only works about 10 pages. This details an evening between Mary Maloney and her police husband, Patrick. Patrick comes home and that his wife begins to prepare dinner, his agitation becomes apparent until he admits that he wants to leave their marriage. Dahl is intentionally cryptic on the reason why Patrick leaves. The text indicates only “, and he said to her, it didn’t take long, four or five minutes to the maximum, and she sat very always through all of this, looking at him with a kind of dazed horror then that he was getting more and more away from her with each word. “Perhaps Dahl was trying to reproduce the misty reality in which Mary had slipped with the shock of the news. The television episode makes it clearer and specifies that Patrick has an affair and wants to leave his wife for his new girlfriend.

Hitchcock would not be the only person to get rid of the adaptation of Dahl’s story. In 1979, it was adapted a second time for a British television series based on the works of Dahl called Unexpected tales. In this series, Dahl delivered the intro to the episode, again credit Its interaction with Fleming with the idea of ​​history. This time, the story is told in a non -linear way, turn signal to the murder after Mary discovered her husband who died on the floor of their house. Like the episode of Hitchcock, Patrick tells him that he had an affair with another woman and that he will always take care of her financially. One of the striking differences in this adaptation is the end, in which one of the police officers crowd the remains of the meal of the night in the trash, eliminating the weapon of the murder.

“Lamb to the Slaughter” was only one of the 17 episodes led by Alfred Hitchcock

Although the television show has shared its name, Hitchcock did not direct Each episode. Instead, there was a team of directors who all made sure to keep the show coherent with Hitchcock’s work. Notable directors included Robert Altman (CRUSH), Ida Lupineo (Not wanted), Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke), and David Swift (How to succeed in business without really trying). Hitchcock has always delivered his intros and signing outros for episodes. With 360 episodes in total, it would have been a Herculean task for Hitchcock to consider as a director. Especially since he still actively produced Hollywood films. During the race Alfred Hitchcock presentsHe produced staples of his work, such as To catch a thief (1955), The man who knew too much (1956), Vertigo (1958), North by the northwest (1959), and Psycho (1960).

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Alfred Hitchcock presents Also hosted some famous guest stars. Steve McQueen and Peter Lorre played in another episode based on one of Dahl’s works. The episode, entitled “Man from the South”, presents the story of a man who bets his own finger so that he can start his lighter 10 times in a row. In a special edition of 1997 of Television guideTHE The episode was ranked 41 in the 100 biggest episodes of the magazine of all time. The show was not without scandal either. One of his episodes remained uninstated by NBC in his initial race because he was deemed too horrible. “The sorcerer’s apprentice” did not succeed in the censors because he implied A woman accidentally sawed in two during something that went wrong – the network considered it “too horrible”.

In the middle of the race Alfred Hitchcock present, The show was renamed Alfred Hitchcock’s time. Meanwhile, the show doubled in a 60 -minute format. On the 93 episodes of the show under his new title, Hitchcock would only direct one episode: “I saw everything.” The episode was broadcast on October 11, 1962 and followed a mystery writer who was accused of having caused a deadly car wreck. Hitchcock has always supplied the livresses for the show despite its limited involvement of director. The show would keep the title until the broadcast of the final episode in 1965.

Alfred Hitchcock present was restarted in 1985

Only five years after Hitchcock’s death in 1980, Alfred Hitchcock presents received a second treatment. The series was broadcast on the same network on which the original finished its race: NBC. He used colorized images of Hitchcock from the first series to introduce emblematic segments. NBC canceled the show after its first season, but it would take place for three more seasons after being recovered by USA Network. An emerging director at the time, Tim Burton, would run season 1, episode 19, “The Jar”. The episode was broadcast on April 6, 1986 – only one handful of television projects on which Burton is recognized as a director. The series ended on July 22, 1989, having played for a large total of 76 episodes.

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Although this last series did not find the success of his predecessor, he said that Hitchcock was still a fascination for the general public. And the series inherited from anthology has been seen in more recent programs such as American horror story (2011-), Was cruel (2021-2023), and the recent Goosebumps (2023-) restart. Without a doubt, as long as Hitchcock’s inheritance continues, the public can expect more cinema and television tangentially inspired by the horror icon in the future.

Alfred Hitchcock presents

Release date

October 2, 1955