User Reviews

'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' "The Avon Emeralds" (1959)

Opening thoughts: Other than being an episode of the inconsistent but fascinating 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' series, there were two main interest points in seeing "The Avon Emeralds". One was seeing a young pre-James Bond Roger Moore. The other was seeing a director different to the regular 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' directors, in this case being Bretainge Windust (a very new name to me) in his first episode (of two) of the series, which is always nice once in a while. Did quite like the premise despite it sounding slight.

"The Avon Emeralds" is a very watchable episode and is worth a one time watch, but it could have been better and it didn't engage me as much as it should. There is a good deal to like about it, which is true of most of the 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes, but it doesn't really sparkle or at least not enough for this kind of premise. As far as Season 4 goes, "The Avon Emeralds" is a long way from being one of the worst. It is also a long way from being one of the best, rather middling instead.

Good things: It does have a good deal to like as said. Moore may be a little too boyish, but is very commanding and at ease in the lead role. Hazel Court is also fine. Hitchcock's bookending is amusingly droll as usual. What really stands out in a good way is the ending, which is a very cleverly written and executed one and by far the best thing about the story.

Furthermore, the production values are slick and atmospheric, neither overblown or cheap. The theme music is still a classic. Enough of the story is intriguing and it does entertain.

Bad things: However, "The Avon Emeralds" could have been a good deal better. The story is erratically paced, with a taking too long to get going-like beginning and then trying to do too much in the middle, which did affect the coherence at times. Especially in the character decisions, which tended to be vague and at worst far fetched.

Windust's direction is competent, but there is also nothing distinguished or unique about it and it is quite safe. Very get the job done, while not offering that much suspense. Do agree that the episode is too talk heavy and some of it over explains and doesn't always add much.

Concluding thoughts: Concluding, decent if nothing special.

6/10.

While Roger Moore was a Brit, in the late 1950s he came to the States to be the new star of "Maverick" after the show lost one of its leads. So, it's not surprisingly that around the same time he also appeared in an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"...another show filmed in America.

In "The Avon Emeralds", you learn that in the UK, death taxes are very extensive and now that a rich guy died, his widow is going to be forced to see off the super-valuable 'Avon Emeralds'...a gorgeous necklace. I know British folks will hate me for saying this, but making a widow sell off her property after her husband's death seemed wrong...and the person who wrote the episode seemed to be saying this as well. So what ultimately happens with the gems and taxes? See the show.

Overall, this was well written and fun...and a bit of a political statement from the show. Well worth seeing...even if it's only to see how pretty Moore was back in the day.

Classic Hitchcock in the lighter vein. Luscious Lady Avon (Court) is suspected of ducking out on the tax sale of her expensive emerald necklace. So handsome young inspector (Moore) is assigned to make sure that doesn't happen. But the lady is full of tricks.

Fine light touch throughout by director Windust captures just the right mood. At first I thought Moore's good-looking presence was just another instance of star-casting. But it's not, turning out to be essential to the plot. Note too that the nature of the suspected crime appears a victimless one, also essential to the plot. Court is certainly a babe if there ever was one, and I can understand writer Stephen King's infatuation with her. In fact, I never could forgive Laurence Harvey for wringing her beautiful neck in that 1959 black-humor classic "Arthur". Anyway, in my book, this is a highly enjoyable episode with a delightfully deft touch.

I had trouble with this one because it had that slick 1950's kind of "charm" to it. Don't get me wrong. I like charm, but the people are so shallow and smug, I didn't care about them. This is about an effort to smuggle invaluable emeralds out of the country and not face the consequences involving taxes and theft. It is quite predictable and has few surprises. Roger Moore is so cheeky as to be tiresome. I never really like him as an actor, but that's beside the point. He is the character he plays in nearly every setting. Even though he does a good job, I didn't have much empathy or feeling for him or his consort. This is more slickly produced than some of the more pedestrian episodes but pretty plain in every way.

Alfred Hitchcock definitely had to have a hand in recruiting talent here, what with fellow Brits Rogers Moore and lovely Hazel Court front row and center. Call it a family show.

A very simple plot, all about money and greed, always the most fun. Enter young and handsome police inspector Moore who definitely meets his match with Lady Gwendolyn Avon (Court), heir to a famous emerald necklace.

The only problem is that her late husband's estate has mostly gone to taxes --and the necklace is NEXT.

Desperate Lady Avon has to resort to some fancy footwork... and for that matter, so does the debonaire inspector. The games people play. Well written by William Jerome Fay, who wrote 14 episodes for Hitch.

Bretaigne Windust (who had the most interesting name in the business!) brings out the best in Moore and Court, and when all is said and done, you really couldn't think of a better team. Windust had a lengthy list of tv credits, directing many episodes of BACHELOR FATHER.

Look for future BATMAN butler, six foot plus Alan Napier as a distinguished gentleman no less.

Watch this gem. SEASON 4 EPISODE 24 remastered dvd box set. 5 dvds. Released 2008.

Sorry to say, this is another confusing, hyperactive-episode. I've always liked Roger Moore, especially as the later Simon Templar in the long-running 1960's British TV-series "The Saint", a role he made-his-own. Although devilishly-handsome, he appears quite-young here, almost-boyish. Overall, I think he was fine as the assigned-inspector on the case-in-question. I'd only make-the-observation that I feel he overdid his facial-expressions, i.e., they seemed a little too mannered & over-elastic through most of the show, thus tending to overemphasize his reactions to whatever he was told or discovered, such as puzzlement, skepticism, usage of wry-humor, frustration, etc. I mentioned how I found the plot confusing; well, much of the initial set-up for the premise occurs in the opening-scene of the Chief Inspector's office, played by a pre-"Batman" Alan Napier. His dialogue toward Moore is spoken very-rapidly in typically-filmic British-fashion, which I couldn't easily-follow & just gave-up trying, somewhat-hampering my enjoyment of the rest of the story, since I didn't get the real-premise of it. The back & forth about Hazel Court's necklace, it's mysterious-whereabouts, etc., became tedious to keep-track-of, to the point I no-longer cared. So many shady-characters, too, passing in & out of scenes, only-added to the confusion. Normally, I'd enjoy the Britishness of an episode, as I'm a true- Anglophile, but between a much-too-complex set-up & my feeling of a lack of caring about those darned-diamonds, the show didn't do it for me. I never cared-enough. The ending was clever, I admit. I'd actually seen this episode many years-ago but had forgotten how it played-out. In short, a potentially- promising-premise with much-too-rapid dialogue, confusing-actions, heavily-talky with overexcited-accents, along-with Moore's never-static facial-contortions made me bow-out, involvement-wise, early-on---a British-concoction of the old-school that simply wasn't my cup-of-tea!