Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) Maria (1961) User Reviews

Revenge is sometimes successful

[talonjensen · 7/10 · 26 April 2018]

It is interesting to me, with Hitchcock, some characters get away with murder and some don't, but, you really never know until you listen to the ending dialogue.

For this episode to work you need to suspend some disbelief as the mask used is not very realistic. But, the writing and acting was good enough even though Maria seems a little stilted at times when talking (no pun intended).

SPOILER: I did enjoy Hitchcock implying at the end that Maria went to France, improved her art and became Toulouse-Lautrec (a very short artist).

"You're nothing but an ape, but a genius just the same."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 2 March 2022]

If you're in the mood for some monkeyshines, this Hitchcock episode will do it for you. If you think about it, the whole concept is kind of bizarre, and you really have to suspend a fair amount of disbelief to get through it. According to IMDb, this was the only acting role for the diminutive Venus de Mars, the lady in the chimp outfit at the center of the story. Disregard the fact that she actually gets bought and sold, this story opens with circus novelty performer Leo Thorby (Norman Lloyd) waking up with a royal hangover and dreaming he bought a monkey! After his wife's (Nita Talbot) initial shock, the 'monkey' is put to work in a new act, drawing caricatures of people she's seen and sometimes putting them in compromising situations. Maria (de Mars) has her sights set on Leo and incriminates Mrs. Thorby in an affair with the lion tamer (Edmund Hashim), but when that proves untrue, Leo turns around and sells her to another performer. This sets up Maria's final act of revenge which turns out to be pretty drastic, when all she was probably trying to do was make a monkey out of him.

No wonder the 'chimp' was so spiteful!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 19 April 2021]

To enjoy this episode, you really do need to suspend disbelief. After all, it all depends on the viewer thinking that a woman in a chimp costume looks just like a real chimp. Now, I must admit it's a decent chimp suit, but clearly it IS a chimp suit (even though in a few scenes they substitute a real chimp...the difference is obvious).

Leo (Norman Lloyd) is drunk and buys a chimp with the amazing ability to paint. However, soon he and his wife realize that it's not a chimp but a diminutive woman inside a chimp costume. But everyone thinks it's really a super-talented chimp and cannot see through the ruse.

A problem develops when the wife (Nita Talbot) is unnecessarily cruel towards the tiny lady...slapping her around and insulting her. And, when Leo just sells the woman, it's essentially slavery. So, it's not surprising how all this ends.

If it wasn't for how fake the chimp looks, I'd rate this one really high. It is a neat story. But with such a ridiculous 'chimp' I can't help but think it was really reliant on a viewer with either terrible vision or a strong ability to suspend disbelief.

Lame. Very disappointing and worst episode in the entire AHP series.

[CammieinOz · 1/10 · 21 May 2023]

Not really sure what to write except to say that this episode is the most confusing and nonsensical episode in the entire Alfred Hitchcock Presents seven seasons series.

The characters are all extremely unlikable and none more so than Maria aka the very fake looking ape. For starters, it's inconceivable that anyone (who wasn't highly drunk) would believe that the monkey was real. Inside the monkey suit is a very irritating woman who has an agenda of her own but the story is very badly executed.

I'm actually quite shocked that some viewers have given "Maria" a high rating but to each their own. Watch and judge for yourself!

"Maria" is a strange one

[chuck-reilly · 8/10 · 25 June 2013]

Occasionally, Alfred Hitchcock went for the "weird" and this entry is one of them. Norman Lloyd, one of Hitchcock's producers, plays a carnival worker who, during a drunken stupor, buys what he thinks is a talented monkey for $500. When he wakes up with a hangover and tells his wife (Nita Talbot) about it, she throws a fit. But Lloyd assures his wife that it's a very talented "female" monkey. Within minutes, she's drawing a picture of his wife on the wall, but Lloyd's "better half" is not the least bit interested. She just wants this monkey/lady out of their trailer and to get her husband's money back. But Lloyd has other ideas. He sees a "gold mine" with this primate. As he tries to explain to her that the monkey can help them with their career (the couple performs a worn-out mind-reading act for the carnival), the monkey introduces herself! She's really a dwarf in a realistic monkey costume named "Maria"---and for a dwarf, she's not unattractive. Ms. Talbot finally and reluctantly drops her objections and Maria soon becomes part of their show, delighting audiences with her drawings as the couple starts to make some real money. But Maria is the jealous and conniving type and she's hooked on old Lloyd. She plots a way to eliminate Ms. Talbot from the act and to get her thrown out of the carnival. Blinded by success, Lloyd falls for Maria's machinations and tragedy ensues. "Maria" was directed by the prolific Boris Sagal and he keeps this bizarre story of love and intrigue moving along with expert precision. Both Norman Lloyd and Nita Talbot are alive and well after all these years and still involved in their craft. Maria was played by Venus De Mars, a striptease dancer who was originally from Mexico. For someone who was barely a few inches over three-feet tall, Ms. De Mars exuded plenty of sex appeal and had a certain exotic mystique. This was one of her only screen appearances and her whereabouts is unknown at this point in time. She was only 24 when this episode was filmed.

Well, That Was Interesting!!!

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 1 June 2021]

Norman Lloyd, a great serious actor, buys a monkey for 500 dollars. His wife is furious. But the monkey has talent. She can draw caricatures. It turns out she is a little person in a monkey suit. This is one of the strangest little shows I've ever seen. We can't accuse anyone of stealing the plot. It also shows that sometimes we get in but we can't get out.

Excellent cast, creepy story

[mlbroberts · 9/10 · 17 November 2020]

Norman Lloyd and Nita Talbot are a circus mind-reading act, married but not very happily and just scraping by until Lloyd buys a monkey that can draw. The monkey turns out to be a dwarf woman, Venus de Mars, who wants to make her place in the circus but not as a monkey. The Lloyd/Talbot marriage is threatened in more ways than one.

The cast makes this episode a standout. Lloyd breaks the mold of straight arrow to be a real jerk. Nita Talbot, always wonderful, is perfect as the long-suffering wife. Venus de Mars was apparently a stripper who did little acting, but when she smiles in this role, you want to go hide, fast. Great episode if only for the fine acting.