Alfred Hitchcock Presents Season 1, Episode 30 Air date: April 22, 1956 Time: 24 mins 12 secs Rating: 5/10 Director: Robert Stevens Teleplay: Gwen Bagni, Irwin Gielgud, Stirling Silliphant Based on a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns Director of photography: Reggie Lanning Art director: Martin Obzina Editorial supervisor: Richard G. Wray Editor: Edward W. Williams Music supervisor: Stanley Wilson

Karen Stewart wakes up in a strange bed with her arm heavily bandaged. The voices in her head tell her she is having the worst hangover ever and that she will always check the labels on the bottles first next time. She wakes, clearly confused and remembers something about a wine glass. Through a flashback sequence she remembers how she had given up drinking and kept the glass as a reminder of her success, which she now uses only as an ashtray. Her friend Margaret comforts her in her apartment but leaves so that Karen's boyfriend Jeff can be alone with Karen. Jeff turns up and Karen offers him a drink, insisting he drink it in front of her to prove it doesn't bother her. Karen begins to show her insecurity when she complains how she and Jeff only ever seem to do the things he likes. Later that evening Jeff and Karen arrive at a party. Karen is coerced by a guest into having a drink to save her from being 'disagreeable' but she finds it difficult to mingle. Karen begins to feel paranoid when her fella is not seen for a considerable amount of time, with her believing Jeff has gone off with Renee, the hostess. She later confronts Renee and throws her drink into her face before running out of the party. Back at the apartment Jeff confronts Karen who confesses she is worried about losing him. Jeff hints that they should be married, much to Karen's pleasant surprise. With her mood lifted, she wants to go back to the party with Jeff. They arrive and Renee brushes off Karen's apology for the drink-throwing incident earlier as the matter is forgotten about. During the party a drunken man confides in Karen that his sister (Renee, the hostess) has been hanging around Jeff and spreading gossip that Jeff's fiancee (Karen) is nothing more than a drunk. With her feelings hurt, Karen takes her drink quickly. This leads to her leaving the party with the drunk and hitting the bars downtown. Jeff and Renee find her drunk in a bar. Unfortunately she completely loses control and after one too many drinks she collapses and cuts her wrist on the broken glass as she falls. She wakes up in what she believes to be a hospital with a nurse about to give her an injection.... and the truth about where she is and why she is there.

HITCHCOCK'S OPENING & CLOSING DIALOGUE: [Hitch is tied up and gagged in a chair when the words "Transmission temporarily suspended - please stand by" appear on the screen. He then frees himself]. "Oh, good evening. Thank you for waiting; I was tied up in a story conference. The writer's seemed to have escaped... with the secretary too! I wonder if they left the story behind? Oh yes, here it is. It's called 'Never again'. May I show it to you? "Ladies and gentlemen, may I just for this once depart from our customary epilogue. Tonight we have brought you a drama based on one of Adela Rogers St. Johns' most powerful stories, with the hope that somewhere, somehow, it will help someone."

Facts • Episode 30 of Season 1. Trivia • Phyllis Thaxter starred in 6 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Personal opinion • "Phyllis Thaxter's character is so over-the-top that it is hard to like her. It's a weak episode and a pretty flimsy conclusion." *SPOILERS* • Well we all thought Karen was in hospital. Turns out she was in fact in the county jail - accused of murdering Jeff by slashing his throat with the broken brandy glass in the bar.

	Phyllis Thaxter Karen Stewart
	Louise Allbritton Renee
	Warren Stevens Jeff Simmons
	Jack Mullaney Marlow
	Joan Banks Margaret
	Carol Veazie Nurse

CREDITS

This page was last updated on: 23 April 2018