Alfred Hitchcock Presents – Graduating Class (12/27/59)

Miss Siddons arrives at Briarstone Women’s College to accept a job offer from her old pal who is now the principal.  After a meet and greet with her friend and the vice-principal, she heads to her first class, European Literature.  The VP expresses doubt, but the P says Miss Siddons has had a tough life.  She lost her mother and father when she was in college.  Then she went to Germany to visit her uncle.  Darn the luck, the war started and she was stuck there for the duration.

When Miss Siddons enters her classroom, the well-groomed, neatly-dressed students turn to face the front, stop yakking, and give Miss Siddons their full attention.  Wait, is this AHP or TZ?  Well, it is AHP’s last episode of the 1950’s. Buckle up Al, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. [1]

Miss Siddons gets right to business as if these students were there to learn.  She humorlessly says, “You will find that I insist on punctuality and on attention.  You will also find that at the end of the semester you will have learned European Literature.”

After class, Miss Siddons is standing at the bus stop looking like Mary Poppins with her flat pork pie hat and valise.  A carload of girls pulls up in Gloria’s car and offers her a ride, which she surprisingly accepts.  She says she was under the impression that the students were not allowed to drive cars to school.  Vera says Gloria is PC.  Wait, what?  Gloria explains that means Privileged Character.  Privileged, really?  These girls women were really ahead of their time.  I eagerly await the scene where they pull down the statue of Jedediah Briarstone.

Another girl explains that Gloria’s family is still at their summer place.  So I guess she really is privileged.  Until they come back to town, she is allowed to drive the car to school.  They offer to take her to the malt shop, but she declines.

She asks to be dropped off at her apartment at the Clifton Arms.  As she is searching for her key, her tubby neighbor across the hall introduces himself as Ben Prowdy.  He invites her to the local bar — she says she doesn’t drink.  He suggests a movie — she says she expects to be busy for several weeks.  Wow, I didn’t get this much deja vu from yesterday’s Curious Case of Edgar Witherspoon.

The next day in class, Miss Siddons lectures, “It is not generally known that the author of the classic European horror story Frankenshtein was the wife of the English poet Shelley.”  C’mon, you lived in Germany for years and you say Frankenshtein?  She writes the name on the chalkboard.  Sadly, before I can see if she spells it with an H, Vera sneaks in late.

Miss Siddons admonishes her for this third violation.  To put her on the spot, Miss Siddons asks Vera if she knows who Prometheus was.  Vera says, “Isn’t it one of those funny little things we studied in Zoology?” which got a laugh out of me.  The stern Miss Siddons tells her, “The ancient Greeks regarded Prometheus as the creator of the human race.”  Vera replies, “I don’t see why we have to waste our time on a lot of people who’ve been dead for hundreds and hundreds of years!”  Rather than cowering, apologizing, asking Vera’s permission to go to the restroom, and ultimately resigning, the teacher calmly explains to the immature student that she has just demonstrated why she desperately needs to be educated.  Well, bravo Miss Siddons, but that’s no way to ever be promoted to Administration.

Gloria catches Miss Siddons in the hall after class.  Apparently, the lecture continued on to cover Shelley’s The Last Man.  Gloria was hoping Miss Siddons had a copy she could borrow. Miss Siddons tells Gloria what a great student she is, and Gloria invites her home to have tea with her mother.  While there, Miss Siddons sees Gloria’s mother is sickly and learns that her father is in Iraq — their summer place in Iraq, I guess.  Although I would picture that as more a winter getaway.

Miss Siddons doesn’t have the book Gloria asked about, but cares enough about her to check out an antique bookstore — the book is the antique, not the bookstore . . . the bookstore won’t last long enough to become an antique.  Ben Prowdy happens by and hits on her again.  She says maybe some other night.  We can tell by her rare smile that she actually means it.  She is startled to see, across the street, Gloria going into an establishment called 7th Heaven with a man.  She tries to follow, but the doorman says, “No ladies allowed without escorts.  You wouldn’t want the club to get a bad name, now would you, lady?”  I think this place will have a shorter life-span than the bookstore.

The next day, Gloria dozes off in class.  After class, Miss Siddons asks her to stay.  Gloria lies and says she was up late taking care of her mother.  That night, Miss Siddons goes to a movie with Ben.  Robert H. Harris is a little bit of a mystery to me.  He is 50ish, short, balding, and shaped like a fat potato.  Yet on AHP, he seems to be quite a success with the ladies in more than one episode.  He is kind of shaped like Hitchcock — maybe it was some kind of wish-fulfillment on Hitch’s part.

After the movie, she and Ben again walk down the only street in the city.  She sees Gloria wearing a fur coat, coming out of 7th Heaven with a man and they start swapping spit.  She explains to Ben why this is so upsetting to her.  They follow the couple to an apartment building where they see them as silhouettes in the window until the light goes out.

Seeing Miss Siddons is upset, Ben says, “Let me take you home.  Young people have different ideas about things today.  What was wrong when we were young — .”  Miss Siddons cuts him off, ” — is still wrong!”  Well, there’s the cost of two movie tickets shot to hell.  Miss Siddons enters the building to slide a note under the door.

The next morning, Gloria comes to Miss Siddons’ apartment, furious at being tracked.  When Miss Siddons explains that she was just trying to protect her, she explains that she is secretly married and the man is her husband. She was afraid the shock would kill her mother, so she was waiting for her father to get back from Iraq where he become used to both shock and awe.

The next day, Gloria is absent from class.  She left a letter that the other girls have already read.  There is a twist, but I’ll stop here.  Not to avoid a spoiler, but because the episode is wearing me out.  It is a little bit of a slog, and I’m not sure why.  Yeah, Miss Siddon is a very proper, stoic woman, but she is a believable character.  Prowdy and Gloria both provide some energy and humor.  It just feels like it is 2 hours long.

Back in November.  Or December, but I really prefer the 30-day months.  January.

Other Stuff:

  • [1] Yeah, yeah — the quote is wrong in 3 different ways.
  • AHP Deathwatch:  Julie Payne and Gigi Perreau have not graduated yet.
  • Marlon Brando’s sister Jocelyn makes her 2nd AHP appearance, and she is even more poorly utilized here.  AHP has one more chance to do right by her.

36 thoughts on “Alfred Hitchcock Presents – Graduating Class (12/27/59)

  1. Given that you posted reviews fairly regularly for a while, and it’s been a couple months since your last one, I hope that you are only taking a temporary break! These reviews are great and I look forward to the next one.

  2. What the Hell?! I just saw this episode and it really upset me. What was the point of the episode? There seems to be no point. The teacher was a nice lady, if a little prim and proper, but a good person. The Prowdy fellow was a bad guy, apparently, but how did this story have a point or justice? She was just being a nice teacher and all, and she gets in trouble?!

    And all the students walk out and her reputation is ruined…what?! Can someone explain this to me?!

    • I had to come online and look into this because I literally JUST watched this. I’m left so upset, too. I thought maybe I just didn’t understand something…at least I hoped I didn’t and would find out I took it wrong. I’m so upset for this teacher lady. I know it’s just a show, but for some reason I’m feeling so sad about it

    • I was wondering the same thing !

      So, the man across the hall, must have been listening thru the door, to know the secret.

      Hmm…..

    • I was struck the same way. Perhaps I could relate to the teacher on some level. She just seemed so sincere. For her to be blamed because some ridiculous old man tried to score through some scheme that clearly had nothing to do with her…It all seems so cruelly unfair. It’s the kind of episode where you’d think they were trying to make some manner of point, but that point eludes me, altogether.

    • the evil Mr Prowdy saw an opportunity to blackmail Gloria, unbeknown to Miss Siddons. Gloria did not know that Miss Siddons was totally innocent and she involved the police thinking Miss Siddons was part of the conspiracy. At the end, Prowdy told the police that Miss Siddons instigated the whole thing, when all along she was acting for the best intentions. It is hard to see how she could extricate herself from this and faces dismissal and end of her career. It would be just her word against Prowdy’s. The police would just think it was thieves falling out.

      A heartbreaking example of how nasty the world can be…

  3. Just got through watching it myself and I just don’t understand I thought the girl was good but then I guess you really wasn’t or was she trick I have no idea

  4. i agree for this episode……although the blogger guy is always incredibly witty and hilarious!!!!!!
    thank you .

  5. I was very disappointed that the ending offered no explanation. Of course many of AHP episodes end with more questions than answers, but this one was particularly frustrating. Don’t know why I keep watching them.

  6. OMG! I just saw this episode last night for the first time and I must say, I too thought there was something I missed because I couldn’t for the life of me understand what had happened! Why did all the young ladies suddenly snub Ms. Siddons? What had she done wrong? Then I had to research the ending. Come to find out, secretly married Gloria’s mother had slipped into a coma. This was the result of Ms. Siddons’ neighbor Ben Prowdy going behind their back and telling the girl’s mother her secret and then attempting to blackmail her to KEEP it a secret. Apparently this is what caused the woman to fall gravely ill. Of course poor Gloria assumed the Ms. Siddons was in on it as well when it was the unlikable neighbor all on his own.

  7. So I guess that the biggest sin that was committed by the stoic school teacher was her inability to keep a secret. But for the girl to not only assume but to be completely sure that madam school teacher was the brains of the blackmail plot against her mother is a bit of a stretch… right?

    • Actually she didn’t assume it. In the letter it says Mr Potato Head told the police that Mrs Siddons herself was the mastermind of the extortion plot. Terrible, unsettling bleak episode…

    • She didn’t tell Prowdy any of the details. Only that it was a secret and that the father would home to deal with it. We don’t know what sordid story Prowdy presented but he didn’t know Gloria was married to a man whose father owned the club she came out of.

  8. The teacher should’ve never followed Gloria and certainly not with Prowdy in tow but having said that, I agree with all of these comments in that the ending is a shock. The punishment does not fit the crime and for Gloria to turn on Siddons so savagely, without getting any kind of explanation from a woman who is obviously fond of her, makes no sense to me …and apparently many others as well!
    I’m fairly conservative and loved the summary and commentary on the show and the actors behaviors.
    Finally, several of AH show’s leave women as the villains which makes me wonder just how bitter Alfred was ….being turned down for dates with that pear-shape when he was much younger? I’m no liberal but do feel women are treated poorly at times in his shows.
    *** Thanks for Rocy for filling in a few grey areas!

    • I don’t think women are treated any worse than men on AHP. There’s no need to make every female character virtuous or wise. Anyway, on this particular episode it’s the male character who’s the villain.

  9. I think complaints about the “unfair” twist at the end of the episode may be misplaced. In Hitchcock’s universe, good people often do suffer through no fault of their own, and good intentions can come to nothing.

    What was particular disturbing to me was how the self-righteous little snots all assumed the teacher really had masterminded the blackmail scheme and never gave her a chance to give her side, even though she’d been friendly and fair with them for weeks. They’re like those people today who destroy others’ lives on social media without a second thought.

  10. The mother goes into a coma after being blackmailed?? It’s as unlikely as the treatment of the teacher is unfair. She, in no way, deserved her mistreatment.

  11. Troubling episode. I suppose Gloria could’ve said that Mrs Siddons would never mastermind this treachery as per Mr potato head’s interview with the police. But how well do we really know people. Interesting in that regard. And I wonder if Gloria was actually telling her the truth about this marriage story. She seemed difficult to trust imho. Great review though! Funny n spot on!

  12. One thing every reviewer is wrong about: This was a compelling episode, whether the ending was satisfying or not. (One thing’s for sure….I bet no one could have guessed it)
    If you doubt that, please tell me another episode that inspired so many comments.

    P.S. Great analysis of the Robert H. Harris characters, Don! I think you nailed it, especially in regard to Alfred’s psyche.

  13. My take is that we learn at the outset that she is reserved in nature because she has lost everyone she has cared about. She has closed herself down; won’t accept invitations from the students or Prowdy. She teaches 19th century Euro lit where everyone, as the student points out, is dead, thus irrelevant. Her colleagues fear she won’t fit in with her ways. Taking the teaching position is a big step, then she slowly opens up first to Gloria, shows joy at tea with her mom, even accepts invitations from Prowdy. In doing so, sadly, the old demons returns to haunt her. She is betrayed by Prowdy, she loses her friendship with Gloria, the mother goes into a coma and she will lose her position at the school and her old classmate friend (the principal). She will end up isolated again, perhaps in prison and probably close herself down again forever.

    Frankenstein was perhaps a metaphor for her putting the pieces back together and a new start at life. Like Frankenstein, the world won’t accept her. Prometheus has failed.

    • Extraordinary insight. Best comment ever. I agree and what the other comments have missed, is that in real life, many times people’s’ lives are destroyed by innuendo, rather than fact.

      • I don’t know that we necessarily ‘missed’ this point, but that the resolution seemed awfully extreme, without benefit of a more satisfying explanation. Anyone who knows people would understand that truly good intentions often get you nowhere in this world. But for the teacher’s relatively small part in the drama to get blown up to such proportions…being ostracized, and perhaps even headed for prison…seems a stretch, when it might just as easily have been written in a more convincing manner.

  14. I’d just like to say that I’ve enjoyed the comments on this blog post much more than I did the episode itself. Like, I’m sure they were aiming for depressing, but it’s also baffling.

  15. Moral: Sometimes bad things unexpected happen to good people. You can’t prevent something you can’t foresee. That ‘s the reality of life.

  16. A few questions:
    How did Proudy find out the secret since Laura didn’t tell him?
    How did Proudy know where Gloria’s family lived?

  17. I’ve watched all of Hitchcocks shorts over the years and if you haven’t noticed by now, nearly all of his/these programs aren’t written very well. He may have been great at movies, but his TV writing/directions were terrible, he’s not very good at all. Many of his stories aren’t really thoughtful, funny, scary, mysterious. Seems as if hes trying to compete with Tzone, but his stories/shows are a 2, whereas as TZ is a 8/9 on a 10 scale. The graduating class is a small example. Although different premise, try to compare it to something like TZ’s “changing of the guard”, now that was brilliant. To me, Hitchcock really wasn’t very good.

    • I agree. Occasionally, one of these episodes is truly gratifying, but much more often than not, they feel one or two scenes too short in providing any sort of resolution or sensible conclusion. The Twilight Zone, by contrast, managed its time much better and produced considerably fewer duds.

    • First of all, he didn’t write them at all. He okayed the story synopsis. Secondly, he didn’t compete with the ZOne, he was there 4 years before and the adaptors and writers of the short stories are some of the greatest of the century. It was a ratings success, bogger than all the others. It was also directed by many of the same directors as used in the ZOne. ‘The changing of the Guard’ is good but too self-piting. ZOne was magnificent in its first three years but the quality fell apart in the last two because Serling was burned out and Baumomt passed away. This show had so many strands that it was still as good and producing classics in its final years: The Jar, Water’s Edge, The Lonely Place. It also won the only award for directing any genre anthology would win. Also, Hitch’s first season had had at least 7/8 top tier classics about the same for Zone’s first one. I really enjoyed this segment, its got under people’s skin.

  18. I viewed this episode for the second time just last night. MeTV runs half-hour episodes of AH Presents nightly. The station runs them in chronological order and then, when the half hour episodes became full our programs, the air one hour episode nightly until the end of the run of those. I will agree that this may have been a rather weak offering of Mr. Hitchcock.The ending is truly frustrating. I also thought that the prologue and epilogue of this episode were rather bizarre. Many of his episodes include some kind of tag at the end during the epilogue that may help explain a sort of cliffhanger. This episode was not one of those. This was my second viewing, so this time it occurred to me that Mr. Hitchcock may have intended for the viewing audience to draw their own conclusions. That might include to imagine that Miss Siddons May have been allowed to explain her side of the story and deny any involvement in the blackmail plot. At least I would hope that was the case. The main reason I recorded this episode and watched it later was that I have always been a fan of the two top build actresses in this episode. Most of my favorite films are those of Mr. Hitchcock. I can’t say that I was as fond of his television programs, although I have enjoyed watching many of them.

  19. I’m not sure that the writing is primarily at fault with a lot of these. To me, the stories are just not very interesting.

  20. I just watched this. I believe the point of this story was that teachers should not get too involved in the personal lives of their students. Also, perhaps it is better just to mind one’s own business in general. As far as the story itself is concerned, I’m sure Miss Siddons could explain to the court what really happened. I don’t know why she would have to go to prison.

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