Mr. Laffler invites Mr. Costain to join him for dinner at a private club that he describes as a very special experience. To his disappointment, Laffler is informed that the house specialty, a lamb dish, is not being served. They continue to visit the club and one evening, the famous dish is served. It also happens that a long-time member has resigned. What, if anything, do the two events have in common?

Alexander Gifford has to be the cheapest skinflint on the planet. He chides his wife for leaving a light turned on and he reads his neighbors newspaper rather than buy his own. When his wife discovers he has bank accounts totaling $33,000 she starts spending money on herself and he decides he has to do something about it. He tries to hire a hit man, but recoils when he's told that the fee would be $500. The hit man refers him to a chemist to buy poison, but again recoils at the cost. He decides to find a low-cost way to proceed, but even when he's successful is taken aback when the doctor tells him that the funeral will likely cost at least $160. Even with that, he finds a way to avoid the costs.

D.A. Warren Selvey learns that he's on bad political ground because of his low conviction rate. He decides to vigorously prosecute a man named Rodman. He wins the murder case and Rodman is sentenced to die. After the sentence, however, Selvey meets a man named Barnes who claims to have committed the crimes. Selvey is now being considered a candidate for Congress. Fearing the repercussions of having convicted an innocent man, Selvey frightens Barnes into silence. The night Rodman is to be executed, Barnes shows up and urges Selvey to call the governor. Selvey refuses and in an ensuing struggle Barnes is killed. Selvey's political ambitions are ruined. Days later Selvey learns that Barnes was a fake. He was a crazy retired judge who would study the evidence of a case and then confess to the crime.

A fascinating look at the life and work of some of Hollywood's most iconic filmmakers.

Directed by Mark Cousins, My Name is Alfred Hitchcock re-examines the vast filmography and legacy of one of the 20th century’s greatest filmmakers, Alfred Hitchcock, through a new lens: through the auteur’s own voice.

Katherine Oldham sees a homeless man in the park, feeding the pigeons. He looks perfect. Her brother, Fitzhugh, his mind either on a bird or his butterfly collection, absent-mindedly agrees. She brings the old man inside and feeds him some stew. The man dimly suspects something is wrong when the eccentric brother blurts out something about killing and substitutes and insurance. But his benefactors seem so nice. And they even give him a new suit of clothes--Fitzhugh's clothes. And they let him spend the night. He may have spent his last night on a park bench--or anywhere else.

Seymour Johnston is a vain, silly man, but that's not how he sees himself. Nor does he see himself the way his late father did--as a man who couldn't be trusted with a large inheritance, a man who needed to make his own way in the world. That's why Seymour's father left all his money to his sister, Seymour's Aunt Muriel. Of course, once she is dead, the money will all go to him. But the middle-aged Aunt Muriel does not seem destined to die any time soon. In the meantime, how will Seymour keep his antique shop going? More important, how will he be able to enjoy any of the finer things in life? When Seymour, reduced to eating in a diner, finds a wallet someone had dropped, the answer comes to him immediately.

Georgie Minnelli confronts Lucky Moore, his old childhood enemy, for interfering in his pinball machine racket. Georgie waves a gun in Lucky's face, but Lucky isn't intimidated. A cop named Larkin has just been made lieutenant, and Larkin vowed long ago that if either of these hated rivals turns up dead, the other had better have a good alibi. Georgie couldn't possibly get away with it. But Lucky has pushed Georgie too far and his old enemy shoots him dead anyway. Now the young gangster is desperate for an alibi. But getting one won't be easy.

Gil Dalliford has an unnaturally close relationship to his father, whom he calls by his first name, Jonathan. "Every important moment of my life is a moment I had with Jonathan," he says. But after eighteen years of being a widower, Jonathan finds he's ready to settle down with a new wife. Before Gil even meets her, he declares his everlasting hatred for her. And that hatred only intensifies after his father dies. Of a heart attack, the doctor said. But Gil suspects foul play.

The cab driver taking Mr. Vinton to his destination is surprised to see he has business with Miss Julia Pickering and not her sister, Miss Cordelia. Miss Cordelia, aka Mrs. Welles, has her sister under her thumb. He's even more surprised to find that Miss Julia has written a book that Mr. Vinton wants to publish. When Mr. Vinton arrives at the elderly sisters' magnolia-scented Louisiana mansion, he's the one surprised, finding that the house perfectly matches the one Miss Julia had described in her story. As a guest in the house, he finds old furniture carved with lion's heads, brass cherubs, a stone bench in a rose garden -- all things from the book. Mr. Vinton's mind becomes troubled as he wonders how much the rest of Miss Julia's murder mystery might be true.

The kooky Babs Fenton's imagination is a great asset when writing murder mysteries. But it does not foster peace and harmony in the home, especially not when she has an unimaginative corporate lawyer for a husband. Her overstimulated mind begins working on her new next-door neighbors, the Blanchards, when she realizes she's never seen Mrs. Blanchard. And Mr. Blanchard seems less than eager for her to pay a call. Has Mr. Blanchard, a high school teacher and former university professor, murdered his wife?

television series

American television anthology series

This 1964, interview of Alfred Hitchcock was part of the CBC television series Telescope with host-director Fletcher Markle. It was conducted during or immediately after the filming of Marnie and also contains interesting stories and comments from Alfred Hitchcock and his associates Norman Lloyd, Joan Harrison and Bernard Herrmann. There are clips from and during the making of several Hitchcock movies. While some of the recollections are part of Hitch's standard interview material others are unique.

This documentary is a fascinating look at the cinematic genius of Alfred Hitchcock. Briefly covering much of his early British works, the film primarily focuses on his American classics, such as "Shadow of a Doubt", "Notorious", "Rear Window", "Vertigo", "Psycho" and "The Birds". The movie also covers his television years and neatly examines the Hitchcock signature touches, from his inevitable brief cameo to his famous MacGuffin. Kevin Spacey narrates, and there are interviews with his delightful daughter Pat as well as such film directors as Brian De Palma, Jonathan Demme, Curtis Hanson, Robert Altman, Ronald Neame and Peter Bogdanovich, along with cast and crew members Tippi Hedren, Joseph Stefano, Norman Lloyd, Robert F. Boyle, Teresa Wright and Janet Leigh.

A woman who once accused Henry Dow of a crime enters the town and he invites her to stay with him and his sister. She tells Henry that she is carrying a large amount of money since she is planning an investment. Henry kills her for the money and dumps her body into the river. Henry then attends a dedication ceremony held on a bridge overlooking the river. When a body floats by, Henry is asked to identify it as the missing Miss Wilkinson. Without really looking at the body, he says it isn't her. A police detective asks Henry's sister to identify the body. Before she can have a look Henry confesses to the murder. Unfortunately for him, the body wasn't Miss Wilkinson's at all. It was someone else

John Gaminsky finds a wallet containing a lot of money. He sees an ad in the paper asking for its return. His wife tells him to give the wallet back, but John lies to her and tells her he already did so. When she sees the ad again, she realizes he kept the cash for himself. She gives him a choice: either let her shop at an expensive store or she'll call the police. John opts for the former. When she goes on a buying spree, however, he realizes there is not enough to share. His wife comes to the same conclusion.