Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Man from the South

With the success of Wonka, Roald Dahl’s kid’s books are selling like crazy, but for cool readers, his macabre stories are where it is at. Alfred Hitchcock was a fan. He “presented” six of Dahl’s stories on his famous anthology show. This one was later remade by the 1980s Alfred Hitchcock Presents reboot and the Dahl anthology series Tales of the Unexpected, but the first was the best. Fittingly, “Man from the South” screens tomorrow as a part of “Good Evening,” a program of Hitchcock’s TV work at UCLA.

When the young “Gambler” meets the young “Woman” in a casino café, sparks immediately fly, even though they are each recovering from a hard luck night. That is why he is initially annoyed when the mysterious Carlos invites himself to their table. However, his interest perks up when the rich weirdo offers him an unusual bet. If the Gambler can light his zippo ten times straight without fail, he wins Carlos’s convertible. However, if he misses just once, Carlos chops off the Gambler’s little finger.

This is a familiar story, because Tarantino spoofed it in his segment of the anthology film Four Rooms, the only good “room.” Yet, the original Hitch Presents production is still surprisingly tense, because Norman Lloyd’s direction is so tight and focused. (Lloyd, the prolific character actor, also co-starred in Hitchcock’s Saboteur and Spellbound, and later produced a dozen episodes of Tales of the Unexpected, but not the “Man from the South” remake.)

Of course, the legendary cast is another big reason why this is absolutely classic television, starting with Peter Lorre’s massively creepy performance as Carlos. He looks like a man who really wants another finger. He took his share of corny gigs late in his career, but this is the vintage Lorre we know from M, Mad Love, and, of course, the Hitchcock films Secret Agent and The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse, on PBS

Roald Dahl would be appalled by the prospect of sensitivity readers censoring his work. He always believed his young readers were smart enough and sufficiently snarky to appreciate his humor. It turns out Beatrix Potter would agree. She happens to meet the young Dahl just when she is getting pushback from the 1920’s equivalent of a sensitivity reader in David Kerr’s Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse, which airs on select PBS stations throughout December (starting today).

It is historically accurate that young Dahl’s father passed away a little more than a year after the death of his older sister. Other circumstances of the comfortable Dahl household were fictionalized for the sake of holiday film conventions. However, it is also true young Dahl successfully set out to meet his literary idol, Beatrix Potter, the author of Peter Rabbit. According to Abigail Wilson’s amiable screenplay, Sofie Dahl allowed her grieving son to make the journey, providing only modest parental oversight, hoping it would yield therapeutic benefits.

Despite her happy marriage to William Heelis, Potter has grown eccentric and curmudgeonly. As Christmas approaches, she prefers to putter in her garden, rather than writing her next guaranteed bestseller. To spur her along, Potter’s publisher has dispatched the prim Ms. Anne Landy, who has a bone to pick with Potter regarding some of her more macabre rhymes. In fact, if Landy has her way, Potter will revise them, making them far less colorful. If “trigger warnings” were a thing in the 1920’s, Landy would have been an ardent proponent.

In between the live action storylines, Kerr intersperses stop-motion animated segments, following a little boy mouse, whose life clearly parallels young Dahl. The animation (directed by Thomas Harnett O’Meara) is stylishly nostalgic, evoking fond memories of the finer vintage Christmas specials, in the best way.

In fact, Kerr and Wilson consistently find the right tone for Roald & Beatrix. Of course, it is sentimental, but never excessively so. It always feels just right for holiday seasonal viewing. Yet, the bit with Ms. Landy has surprising bite and it could not be more relevant.

Shortlisted: Revolting Rhymes (Animated Short)

The BBC has a lot of credibility with American audiences for mysteries, literary costume dramas, and Britcoms, but we really haven’t considered animation one of their comparative advantages. Yet, they have amassed an impressive record of Oscar nominations and festival play for their animated adaptations of the books of Julia Donaldson (The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child, Room on the Broom). Now, two of the animators who collaborated on the Donaldson specials have turned their talents towards an author with a much wider American readership: Roald Dahl. Originally broadcast on consecutive nights, Jan Lacheur, Jakob Schuh, and (co-director) Bin-Han To’s Revolting Rhymes (trailer here) has since been rolled into one, but it is still short enough to be shortlisted for the best animated short film Academy Award.

In this fractured fairy story collection, the Big Bad Wolf will be the Hans Conriedian teller of tales, as well as the ominous villain up to no good. He starts his night by introducing himself to a kindly elderly woman enjoying a cup of coffee before she babysits for Little Red Riding Hood. As you might expect, there is some bad blood between her and the Wolf. However, for her to truly understand what actually happened, the Wolf must also tell the intertwined stories of Snow White and the Three Little Pigs.

In part two, the Wolf’s schemes successfully earn him entry into Red’s flat, but to buy time, her two children convince him to tell them a story, sort of employing the Scheherazade strategy. In this case, it is the stories of Beanstalk Jack and Cinderella that were in fact interrelated.

The Donaldson films were cute and sweet, but Revolting Rhymes are really funny, very much in the tradition of Fractured Fairy Tales. It should definitely appeal to fans of Shrek, but it is not as desperate to prove its hipness. While nowhere near the level of Studio Ghibli lushness, the animation is pleasingly colorful, lively, and faithful to the spirit of Quentin Blake’s illustrations.

The Revolting Rhymes bind-up also boasts an absolutely marvelous voiceover performance from Dominic West. It is safe to say his rich, commanding voice makes the Wolf quite a charismatic predator. Rob Brydon returns to voice assorted goofy characters, while Gemma Chan and Rose Leslie bring out the personalities of besties Snow White and Red.

There is no question RR is the best BBC animated special to make it into Oscar contention. It is consistently witty, not infrequently morbid (mostly in a kid friendly way), but always tied to tradition, just as you would expect from Dahl. Very highly recommended, Revolting Rhymes is on the Oscar shortlist and available on DVD.