Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series)

Alibi Me (1956)

Alfred Hitchcock: Self - Host

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : Good evening.

  [reacts to shrill humming] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : Some of our late viewers tuning in. One of the commonest questions that people ask of a producer of mystery motion pictures is, "Which is written first, the words or the music?" In our case, the background music always comes first. After it is written, we sprinkle the score liberally with sound effects, and then hire an author to write appropriate scenes to accompany the music, quiet scenes to coincide with the somber passages, and scenes of violence to synchronize with the noisier sections. Finally, we garnish this potpourri with a title composed of from one to four words, selected because they are eye-catching and provocative. And we arrange them in a manner designed to titillate and confuse. Let me show you what one of our stories sounds like before it is written.

  [Hitchcock waves a baton as we hear women screaming, gunfire, burglar alarms, police sirens, crashes, etc] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : How fortissimo can you get? I trust this has been educational. I deliberately cut that number short because it was the music for tonight's story, "Alibi Me," and I didn't want you to know how it comes out. If you haven't already guessed, here is the way it begins.

• [last lines] 

  Alfred Hitchcock : Well, that was a surprise. The pistol shot Georgie used to kill Lucky wasn't in the original score. But that's what happens when the musician who plays the revolver is allowed to improvise. Naturally, Georgie was given life imprisonment, while the offending musician got off with a 10-year sentence. Next time, we plan to bring you more music and sound effects and another story to accompany them. Good night.