Original subtitles

("Alfred Hitchcock" theme music)

- Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,

and welcome to "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour."

I trust you would excuse my startled expression,

but this is what I just pulled out of my hat.

It's rather a shock when one is expecting a rabbit.

However, I suppose it isn't as traumatic as it would be

if I were expecting her and got the rabbit.

Since my hand is not quicker than the eye,

I think she will be quite useful

in diverting your attention.

This evening I shall attempt several feats of legerdemain.

One is to make an hour disappear without you realizing it.

That will not be easy considering this first minute.

(suspenseful music)

(insects chirping)

(owl hooting)

(wings flapping)

(owl hooting)

(bushes rustling)

(bushes thudding)

(bushes rustling)

(bushes rustling)

(woman screams)

(dramatic music)

(suspenseful music)

(door bell rings)

(owl hoots)

(dramatic music)

- (gasps) Oh!

- Daphne.

Did I startle you, my dear?

- Yes.

- Where's your young man, Harold?

- Oh, he had a department meeting.

I waited but then I came on.

- You walked from the campus through the wood?

- Yes.

- You must have pretty good nerves.

- Dr. MacFarlane, I think somebody followed me.

- Are you sure? - Yes.

I saw branches and bushes moving.

- (chuckles) That must have been the wind, my dear.

Come on in.

Oh, please don't say anything inside.

My wife gets hysterical.

There's been too much talk already.

Come on. - Yes, of course.

- You'll very soon learn to take these department meetings

with greater patience

after you've married Harold and become a faculty wife.

- Daphne, how nice to see you. - Oh, hello.

- How lovely you look. - Why, thank you.

Hello, Wanda. - Hello.

- Where's Paul?

- Well, my husband deserted me on the way over here.

- He's a great bird lover.

- Yes, he jumped out of the car

and ran after a hermit thrush.

- You mean he's in the woods chasing a bird?

- Yes. - Oh, that's all it was.

- [Mrs. MacFarlane] All what was?

- Oh, nothing, nothing at all.

- Oh, Edwin.

Come in, Edwin.

You know Edwin Volck,

don't you? - Yes, of course.

- We've never had anyone so brilliant

in the music department, have we, Edwin?

- Oh, I wouldn't say that.

Daphne, it's so nice to see you again.

How do you do, Wanda?

- [Wanda] I do very well, thank you.

- Hello Edwin, have a cocktail.

- Thank you.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

Cheers. - Cheers.

(gentle piano music)

- [Mrs. MacFarlane] Harold.

(Harold sighs)

- Good evening, MacFarlane, doctor.

That girl deserves a good spanking.

- Well, she's your girl, spank her.

What has she done?

- She walked over here alone,

took the shortcut through the wood.

- I waited 1/2 hour for you.

I left you a note.

- Yes, I know you did, darling,

but I was still anxious about you.

Why in heaven's name did you take a shortcut?

- Did you come through the wood?

- Oh, wild horses couldn't get me through there.

- You had me worried.

I apologize for charging in like that,

but the way things are around here--

- Please, please.

We don't have to talk about it.

- May I?

- Paul.

- Sorry to be late.

- You're not late, Paul.

Help yourself to a drink.

- Thank you.

How are you?

- Fine.

I think we almost met a little earlier?

- This evening, when?

- Weren't you chasing a bird?

- A hermit thrush.

People don't realize how beautifully

that bird sings, angelic.

- I thought someone was chasing me through the woods.

I took the shortcut over from the campus.

I guess it was you I heard.

- That thrush was in the trees by the cemetery,

nowhere near the shortcut.

- Oh.

Well. - So it couldn't have been me.

- No, I suppose not.

Probably just something running through the undergrowth.

- Probably.

(gentle piano music)

- Good evening.

I'm Dave Fulton.

I've noticed you quite often on the campus.

You're in med school, aren't you?

- Yes.

- I asked Dr. MacFarlane to invite me here

when you were coming.

I was warned you are more or less engaged to Harold,

but you are allowed to talk to other men, aren't you?

(Daphne laughs)

- As a matter of fact, Harold is cross with me now.

I walked here through the woods.

- Alone? - Hmm.

- Were you being brave or something?

- Oh, well, it's such a long way the other way around.

And anyway, it wasn't really dark.

- It wasn't really wise either.

May I tell you, you're much too attractive

to take such chances.

One of those girls was killed in that wood, you know?

- I doubt if they'll ever get him.

There's nothing to go on.

- There may be.

Next time.

- You're so sure there's going to be a next time.

- Harold believes that the killer is deranged, a sadist.

- And maybe some body's not found yet.

- Why should it be deranged?

It could have been a thief.

Perhaps the girl screamed and he lost his head.

- Edwin, thieves don't use a knife the way he did.

If you'd only seen the body we found.

- Terence, please.

Would you not discuss the details?

- Very well, my dear. - When my husband and Harold

get together they-- - It's all very horrible.

But that's what makes it fascinating.

I once knew an awful old man

who had a couple of books on torture.

Covered in human skin.

- This killer might have cleared out.

He isn't necessarily a local man.

- Oh, but I think he is, Edwin.

You may remember that Jack the Ripper

stuck to one section of London,

and the French bluebeard Landru stayed in Paris.

Fritz Haarmann. - Who's he?

I've never heard of him.

- A foul creature in Hannover.

He murdered more than 40 men in his butcher shop.

- Harold, you can't make me believe

that a college town like Woodside

would even be likely to harbor a mass murderer.

- On the contrary.

A college community's an ideal place for one.

- I agree. - Yes.

You see, there are a lot of high-strung individuals here.

Many are frustrated, some very curious.

Easily apt to be well up on the literature of murder.

So you couple that with the power of suggestion and...

Well, you take an intelligent man

who's even slightly off-balance, for example.

Say that he's dissatisfied, he's building up grudges.

Now suppose he's been reading about these multiple killers.

Haarmann or (mumbles), Gilles de Rais. (chuckles)

He was a man who was very artistic.

Yeah.

A scholar.

The Marquis de Sade.

- You're pretty well up on murder yourself, aren't you?

- Or he may be a specialized kind of madman

who is only occasionally seized by these compulsions.

He could be someone in the university atmosphere.

He could easily be one of us.

- Oh now, really, Harold.

Surely that doesn't include us girls, I hope.

- No, I'm inclined to think it's a man.

- If you ask why he does this,

I think it's a pathological distortion of something normal.

Something that's already there, waiting in all of us.

- Sane, insane, it's all a matter of balance.

Haven't any of you ever felt

that when you were terribly tired

or worried sick about something

that keeping your sanity was like

walking a tightrope stretched across a great chasm

and that if the slightest thing went wrong

you'd topple off and never stop falling?

- Have you ever felt like that, Harold?

- I think anyone who hasn't is extremely fortunate.

- You have surgery early tomorrow morning, don't you?

- Oh yes.

- And he likes to take a walk before he goes to bed.

- I think it's time we all went home.

(gentle music)

- Hmm, what a marvelous moon.

It's lighter than when I came through earlier.

(horn honking)

(insects chirping)

You know, I could've sworn something was following me

when I came through here before dinner.

I don't know exactly how to explain it

except that it stopped when I stopped

and went on when I went on.

When it finally made a rush towards me,

you should have seen me,

I practically ran the rest of the way.

- It wasn't some mischievous child, was it?

- Oh no, no children would be in here at that time of night.

It was dark and spooky.

- Well, maybe it was a dog.

- Maybe, probably was.

(bird cawing) (Daphne gasps)

(Harold chuckles)

- Oh, you are on edge, aren't you?

Why in the world didn't you tell me?

We needn't have come back this way.

- No, I wanted to come through.

I wanted to come through with you and feel safe.

Do you know what I mean?

- I know.

(woman screaming)

(woman whimpering) Where are you?

(bushes rustling)

(woman whimpering) Where are you?

(woman screaming)

(suspenseful music) (woman whimpering)

He was trying for the heart.

- Give me your top, quickly.

(bushes rustling)

Thank you.

- All right.

She's fainted.

If we hadn't frightened him, he might have killed her.

(bushes rustling)

Maybe it was you he was after.

If she was only a substitute, he may try again.

(bushes rustling)

(upbeat suspenseful music)

- If the woman hadn't had immediate attention,

she'd have bled to death.

But you were doing very well when I came along.

- Got lucky you heard her scream.

- Well, I usually take a walk the last thing.

I thought the man might still be there.

- What did she say about the attack?

- It seems she went out to mail a letter

and he sprang on her.

She was on the back road, you know?

Not actually in the wood.

He seemed terribly strong, she said,

and dragged her in among the trees.

She couldn't describe him.

She doesn't remember much, really.

Oh, hello, Harold.

- Hello, Dr. MacFarlane. - Police say anything?

- Well, no, just that she may remember more a little later.

- Oh, I doubt if she will.

Look her at the hospital, Daphne.

She'd like to thank you. - Yes, of course, I will.

- Bye. - Goodbye, doctor.

The police still think that it isn't necessarily

the same man who did the other killing,

but I said that it had to be a particular kind of man

in a particular state of mind,

and that they might need the help of psychologist

in running him down.

Anyway, I told them I'd do anything I could to help.

- Oh, don't get mixed up with this, Harold.

- Darling, you know how interested I am in these things,

these strange twists of the mind.

That's why I went into psychology in the first place.

It's a wonderful opportunity for me to test out

some theories I've had in abnormal behavior.

The only problem is I'm going to have to work alone

because the police don't go along with me.

- I think you should stay out of it.

- Daphne, you want this man caught, don't you?

You know I can't forget that it might have been you

he was following.

- Why would he try to get me?

- I don't know.

But I'm going to make sure that he never does.

Oh hello, Dave.

- [Daphne] Well, you're always creeping up

behind me, aren't you?

- I stopped by to see how you came through

all the excitement.

- Well, I have a lecture to give out.

I'll call you later for dinner, darling.

- That was a terrible thing last night.

If I'd walked home that way, I might have caught him.

- I thought you rode home with Paul.

- No, I stayed talking with Mrs. MacFarlane,

then I walked home the long way around.

- Alone?

At that time of night?

Now why should he walk when he could ride?

- Do you want me to tell you?

Well, remember how you felt listening to Edwin at the piano?

That's how I felt after you'd gone.

I just wanted to walk and think about you.

- You pay the most curious compliments.

First you ask Dr. MacFarlane to invite you to dinner,

then you tell me I'm too beautiful to be married,

and now the moonlight.

(gentle piano music)

- Daphne.

I didn't know you were out there.

- Edwin, that was beautiful.

- Stay there, I'll join you.

- Oh no, I can't stay.

That was "The Moonlight Sonata" you were playing.

- Yes.

I'll play you some of those French melodies

you seem to like

if you'd care to come in for a while.

- No, I'm expecting Harold to call.

- They're old dance tunes, really.

Do I make them sound sad?

- Yes.

There is a sort of sorrow in them.

- Not in them. (chuckles)

It's in me.

Music always gives away one's feelings,

especially loneliness.

That's the universal human predicament, isn't it?

Loneliness.

- I think in very talented people like yourself

it helps to create.

Well, I must go, goodbye.

(suspenseful music)

(door knocking)

- [Harold] Hi, it's me.

- [Daphne] Hi.

- Oh. (chuckles)

Oh, am I glad you're still waiting.

- I thought you were gonna call.

- I know, honey, I'm sorry.

But I had such a hectic day, I forgot.

- Have you had any dinner?

- I didn't even have time to eat.

But you know something? - Here.

- I think I'm finally making some progress.

Of course the police think I'm just another crazy professor,

but they don't understand what's going on.

You remember last night I said

that the killer might be sitting there at the table with us?

Well, I was right, he was.

You know how I know?

The police went out there and they searched that whole area

where they found the girl, nothing.

I went out on my own.

I found a cocktail napkin

with the MacFarlane's name on it.

- Oh, well, that doesn't mean anything.

People are at the MacFarlane's all the time.

Somebody could have dropped it,

or it could have blown there.

- That's what the police said, but I disagree.

They say that this assault isn't like the rest of them.

- Darling, we know everybody at the MacFarlane's.

- Whether we know them or not

hasn't got the slightest bearing on this.

This killer gets a great satisfaction

out of terror and destruction,

and as children we have much the same impulses

but we grow out of them.

Now, either he hasn't, or they've reoccurred in him.

- How horrible.

- Well, yes, it is horrible.

We're moving in a region of horror.

The police have got everybody pinned down.

They're pretty good with that, you know?

Dr. MacFarlane was out last night on his nightcap stroll.

Edwin walked home alone.

- I know, and so did Dave.

I had lunch with him today.

- Oh, he did? - Hmhmm.

- Paul, however, was not.

He jumped out of the car to look at

a screech owl or something, I don't know what it was.

Besides, I don't think it would be Dave

because he's much too normal.

You'd rather have it anybody but Dave, wouldn't you?

- I'd sooner he never got caught

than to have it be somebody we know.

- But honey, it is someone we know.

Now you heard the way that girl screamed.

I want this fella caught

before he makes you scream like that.

- He isn't after me.

(Harold sighs)

- Daphne.

I know this man's secret mind.

I've studied these people, I know how they think.

- It's frightening sometimes how you know people.

- He watches you.

To him, you're like a living jewel.

You're perfection, you're irreplaceable.

And to destroy you would be a triumph.

Now he followed you but he didn't get you.

The other woman was just a substitute,

but he didn't succeed with her either

so he's going to come back to his first choice.

We can catch him through you and only through you.

I want you to be a decoy.

I want you to walk through the woods again alone.

- No.

- I'll be there, but I'll be out of sight.

I have a gun.

- How do you know you can catch him even with a gun?

Use a police decoy,

they have people who do that sort of thing.

- But it's you he wants, don't you understand?

It's not going to be any more of a risk

than you're running right now, every day, every minute.

- To walk through that woods again...

I don't know how you could ask me to do such a thing.

- Daphne, besides protecting you,

we may save the lives of others.

Now how would you feel if some morning you woke up

and there was another girl that'd been strangled and slashed

when we could have stopped it?

This has to be done at once, darling,

while this periodic excitement is still with him.

We could drop into the MacFarlane's tomorrow night

and I'll let it be known that we'll be over there

but not what we're going to go.

- Nobody would ever believe

I'd go through that woods again, not now.

- Yes, he will.

Because that's what he wants to believe.

And he'll wait until you do.

He'll never stop watching you, I know this kind of mind.

- I can't, Harold, don't ask me again, I can't.

- All right.

All right.

We'll talk about it tomorrow.

- I won't change my mind.

(door slams)

(suspenseful music)

(something clanking softly)

(something rustling)

(phone whirring)

Hello, Harold.

Yes, I'm sorry to call you at this time of night,

but somebody tried to break in here.

No, no, he climbed a tree.

No, I only got a glimpse of him.

Didn't look like anybody I knew.

No, no, please come over when it's light,

when you can see for yourself.

Yes, and Harold,

I'll go through that woods again, whenever you say.

Yes.

- I shall begin my act immediately following

the station break,

so please hurry back.

I warned you not to stay so long.

You can hardly expect rabbits to simply sit around

waiting for a station break to end.

Now it is time for the second half of our story.

Perhaps after that there will be time for a few tricks.

(upbeat suspenseful music)

(gentle music)

- [Harold] Well, it's been a lovely evening, doctor.

I'm afraid we've stayed too late.

- [Dr. MacFarlane] Not at all, we're delighted to have you,

and thank you for the reports.

- [Paul] Can I drive you back?

- [Daphne] Oh no, thank you, we'd rather walk.

- [Paul] Well, there's no need to tell you

to stay clear of the wood.

- [Dr. MacFarlane] Oh, the police haven't got a thing

on the killer yet, Paul.

But if they got on to you,

a bird lover who's seen at odd times in odd places,

you'd be a hot suspect.

- [Paul] if I were the murderer,

I think I could guarantee that I'd never be caught.

- [Harold] When this one's caught,

you may find that it's only the beginning.

- [Paul] Whatever you mean by that, good night.

Good night, Daphne.

And Harold, look after her.

(car engine rumbling)

- [Dr. MacFarlane] Good night, my dear.

- [Daphne] Good night.

- [Dr. MacFarlane] It's always a delight to see you.

Good night, Harold. - Good night, doctor.

All you have to do is keep walking in a natural pace

like you are now.

- Do you mind if I hope he's not there?

- Oh but he will be, I told you he watches you.

He knows you're out here, he'll be waiting.

- Maybe he'll guess it's a trap.

- I know but he won't believe that

because he wants you so much.

And then when he sees you he won't be able to hold back

because it's a compulsion.

I'm going to slip away in a moment.

- Oh darling, I'm frightened.

Shouldn't we get the help of the police?

- I tried to, but they don't go along with my theory.

(owl hoots)

- You'll keep me in sight, won't you, darling?

- You won't be able to see me

but I'll be near you all the time.

- I'm glad there's a moon.

With clouds, though.

My heart is pounding.

You'll come immediately if I call, won't you, Harold?

Harold?

(insects chirping)

(owl hoots)

(owl hoots)

(suspenseful music)

(footsteps rustling)

Who is it?

Who is it?

- Did I frighten you?

- Yes, you did a little.

- Only a little?

That's good.

It seemed to me that I frightened you quite badly

the other evening.

- The other evening?

- On your way to dinner at the MacFarlane's.

You began running.

- Why did you follow me then?

- Oh, it's a habit of mine.

There was nothing to be afraid of.

Not then.

I only wanted you to know that you were not alone.

You certainly must feel that you're not alone now.

This will be different.

I'm glad you like my music,

but that's not all there is, you know?

It's not the best. (Daphne screams)

No, no.

No, mustn't go now.

You mustn't go now!

(Daphne screaming)

- [Daphne] No!

(gun fires)

(Edwin panting)

- It worked, Daphne.

It worked.

- Is he dead?

- No.

No, he's not dead.

(suspenseful music)

(Daphne panting)

You know, Edwin reads music

like you and I might read a book.

(Harold sighs)

He hears the sounds in his head.

Having his music there at the home

should be some consolation to him.

Why don't you come in, darling?

- No, I don't like being here.

- But I wanted you here.

I know it's a little untidy,

but the police have searched it.

Edwin's apartment is exactly the place

for something I have to tell you.

- Yes, I think I know what it is.

You wanna tell me that you don't think the attacks are over,

and that they may be after me.

- Who told you that?

- Dave.

- Dave is always popping up, isn't he?

On the campus, in the wood.

- He said you told him the night you caught Edwin.

- I reminded them all

that some crimes come in waves,

as if they're contagious.

A ceremonial knife, blood sacrifices,

that appeals to some mentalities.

But this may have spread already

in the town, on the campus.

- You mean you think he may have associates or imitators?

- Men with the same ideas as Edwin, the same objectives.

- Who, who do you think?

- I don't know.

I wouldn't wanna point a finger at anyone,

but Daphne, look around this room.

You remember how you felt about Edwin?

His music, his charm?

And yet in his heart he hated all women.

He would have strangled you and sliced you with that knife.

Daphne, you mustn't trust anybody.

Dave, not anyone.

Well, I'll take the music to Edwin.

He and I were very close friends, you know?

Poor soul.

(door clanking)

(keys jingling)

(keys jingle)

Hello Edwin.

How are you?

I brought you most of your music.

I thought maybe you'd like to play it

when you feel better.

There's a piano in the lounge.

(suspenseful music)

Tell me.

That time with the girl in the wood,

when Daphne and I interrupted you,

it was all for nothing, wasn't it?

We came too soon.

And you began it wrong.

You tried to take the life without the ceremonial,

so like a poison it stayed with you.

Then you had to try again with Daphne.

Well, I must be going now, Edwin.

I'll come and see you again.

- I know you will.

I'm looking forward to it.

(upbeat suspenseful music)

(gentle music)

- Are you going to be roaming around again tonight?

- I have some more clues I wanna follow up.

- Harold, why don't you leave this up to the police?

- I have to continue on my own.

I've been studying Edwin's analysis.

Digging into his mind.

And here is the smell of blood still, it's fascinating.

His ideas go far back into time, they run deep.

And he's not so non-sane as one might think.

Will you have dinner with me tonight?

- No, I can't.

I have a special class tonight, added biochemistry.

- Oh yes, that's the one that Dave teaches, isn't it?

A small class.

And afterwards I suppose he'll ask you

to have dinner with him or something.

Don't go, Daphne.

Don't go.

- Darling, what's gotten into you?

- What's gotten into everyone.

Me, you, Dave.

What got into Edwin.

We'll never know.

- You poor dear.

You're worn out.

It's this terrible business with Edwin.

Standing guard over me and working half the day

and hunting heaven knows what half the night.

What if I were to go away?

I'd be sure nobody ever found out where.

- No, no, don't do that.

No, don't go.

Specially don't go now.

- Darling, why don't you lie down and rest?

- I have some things I'd better do.

- Harold.

I'm sorry about dinner.

- It's all right.

You have a good time with Dave.

(suspenseful music)

(door shuts)

- Did you have dinner this evening?

- No, not really.

- How about coffee and something with me?

- No thank you, I'm going straight home.

- Harold waiting?

I've begun to wonder whether all his talk

about you being in danger is imagination.

- He was right about Edwin.

- He was, wasn't he?

You know, a man like Edwin never realizes

he's committing an abominable crime.

He's merely yielding to an urge.

Such men worship dark and nameless gods.

They act out the fantasies

that obsess their unbalanced minds.

- You really can't blame somebody like Edwin.

- That doesn't make them any less dangerous.

- That's exactly why Harold is so absorbed in this.

- Yes, deeply.

It absorbs him when he should be absorbed in you.

- Harold has been working night and day

trying to prevent anything else from happening.

To me, or to anyone else.

- Daphne, I'm gonna say this.

I think there's a lot of pretense about you and Harold.

There always has been, hasn't there?

You're not really in love.

That's what I mean by pretense.

Harold may be in love with you in his way,

but you're not.

- How dare you say such a thing to me?

- You're ducking away from the truth.

- I'm very fond of Harold.

I think I may owe him my life.

He certainly deserves my loyalty.

- That's a poor substitute for love.

- Are you jealous of Harold?

- No.

But he is of me.

- Good night, Dave.

(gentle music)

- Good night.

(suspenseful music)

(gentle music)

(Daphne knocking)

- Oh Daphne. - Hello, darling.

I saw your light.

- Well, you know, I never realized

how beautiful you look in white.

You look like a bride.

Hmm.

You must have come straight down here.

- Yes, I did.

- Sit down, darling, sit down.

I wanna celebrate.

I made my mind up about something.

Oh, this is wine that I keep for very special occasions.

Faculty birthdays.

(wine sloshing)

It's wonderful the way you just walked in here.

I never expected that.

- Yes, I'd just been talking with Dave.

- I'll always remember you

as you are in this moment, darling.

Smiling at me across a glass of wine.

Cheers.

- Cheers. (glasses clink)

- You came from Dave to me.

I like that.

Because I have something to tell you.

- About Dave?

- No.

No, I know how you feel about him.

I'm not blind, you know?

- Oh, Harold.

If you're jealous of Dave,

I can assure it's quite without reason.

- Without reason you say?

Without reason.

No, that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about.

There's something else.

And this is the perfect place to do it.

- You said you'd made up your mind about something.

- Yes, my darling.

I have.

And we won't be interrupted here.

Now I don't want you to be frightened by what I have to say.

And run away as you did with Edwin.

- But he intended to.

(suspenseful music)

- Edwin killed those women in hatred and revenge.

But I've decided tonight

to make you completely my own for love.

In the full aesthetic moment

of final sacrifice.

(Daphne gasps)

Pain is only a secret name for pleasure, my darling.

And there can be no true sacrifice,

no complete feeling of love,

unless the victim dies.

(dramatic music)

- Dave!

Dave, Dave!

Dave!

- You're mine, Daphne.

No one else's.

Just mine.

(cart thudding)

- No, help, help!

Help, help!

(Harold grunts)

(objects smashing)

(cabinet crashing)

(Harold grunting)

- He really caught this contagion,

this spirit of killing from Edwin.

A strange and ancient illusion that by blood sacrifice

you can reach a more intense communion.

Jealously unbalanced his mind.

But you're safe now.

- Harold is here.

I knew he would be.

I've been looking forward to it.

(suspenseful music)

Now there is just time enough for my escape act.

(box clanking)

(box whirring)

- Good night.

(upbeat suspenseful music)

(upbeat suspenseful music)

(dramatic music)