Into Thin Air
- Episode aired Oct 30, 1955
- TV-14
- 30m
When a young woman leaves her ill mother in a Paris hotel room and comes back later, she finds her mother is missing, and all the hotel's employees deny she and her mother were ever there.When a young woman leaves her ill mother in a Paris hotel room and comes back later, she finds her mother is missing, and all the hotel's employees deny she and her mother were ever there.When a young woman leaves her ill mother in a Paris hotel room and comes back later, she finds her mother is missing, and all the hotel's employees deny she and her mother were ever there.
- Diana Winthrop
- (as Pat Hitchcock)
- Bellhop
- (as Albert d'Arno)
- Director
- Writers
- Marian B. Cockrell
- Alexander Woollcott(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe story is based on a late 19th Century legend known as the Vanishing Hotel Room. It previously served as the basis for one of the segments of Eerie Tales (1919) and So Long at the Fair (1950).
- Quotes
[first lines]
Himself - Host: Tonight we are going to tell the story of a woman who disappears into thin air. By the way, have you noticed that thin air seems to be the type of air most conducive to disappearances? There, certainly, is a fact well worth knowing. Now, in case you seem to recognize parts of the story, don't be alarmed. It is familiar because it is a classic of its kind. Many, many people have borrowed this legend, quite profitably, too. Two novels have been written about it, and it has been made into a motion picture called "The Lady Vanishes." Once by no less a personage than, uh, Alfred Hitchcock. It was also related by Alexander Woollcott in his book, "While Rome Burns." Here, following our sponsor's all too brief message, is our version of that famous old tale. Now I had better get out of the way to enable you to see better. May I have a bit of thin air, please?
- ConnectionsReferences The Lady Vanishes (1938)
- SoundtracksFuneral March of a Marionette
Written by Charles Gounod
"Into Thin Air" is neither one of the best or worst episodes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', certainly better than the rating here implies (somehow managing to be rated worse than the previous episode "Don't Come Back Alive"). More of somewhere in the middle, that does a good deal right but it could have been fresher and runs out of gas at the end (which is a shame). Very neat set up, with a clear 'The Lady Vanishes' and 'So Long at the Fair' influence, with generally solid albeit not amazing execution.
Many things in "Into Thin Air" are good. The production values are solid, some stylish shots and a nice atmosphere created. The music is suitably ominous without being over-emphasised, and cannot get enough of the theme tune for reasons that have been pointed out in my reviews for the previous 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes. The intro is wonderfully dry and acerbic and Don Medford directs in a way that is not static or routine, even if he is not in complete control in the latter stages.
Enough of the script intrigues and there is some nice suspense. Patricia Hitchcock does a good sympathetic job in the lead roles, one of her better performances of the series. The rest of the cast support her well. Alan Napier was always great value, always liked him in 'Batman' for instance.
However, "Into Thin Air" is another episode of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' that tries to cram in too much in too short a duration. It feels very rushed, sprawling in structure and needed a much longer length, this is a story that would have leant itself much better as feature length. The suspense also could have been more consistent, it's there but just not enough.
Really do agree that a lot of suspension of disbelief is needed, though it is not as much as "Don't Come Back Alive" and even more so that the very abrupt and anti-climactic ending is a let down. Giving the sense that the writers didn't know how to end it so tacked one on.
Concluding, acceptable if not great. 6/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jan 25, 2022
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1