Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962): Season 7, Episode 30 - What Frightened You, Fred? - full transcript
Fred Riordan is an ex-con who is re-arrested less than 48 hours after his release on parole. He served four years for robbery and on his release, seems like a mild mannered man who is intent on making a go of it. He recounts to the warden and prison psychiatrist the events during his two days of freedom as they try to determine what may have caused him to get drunk and break up a bar in his old neighborhood. The psychiatrist is convinced that something in the outside world frightened him and probes to determine exactly what that was. Little do they know that there is something altogether different taking place.
"ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS"
good evening ladies and gentlemen
we have been trying to track down an
escaped convict
but we seem to have lost him here
where he stopped to take some dancing
lessons obviously
what's worse my friend the hound now
runs with a definite cha-cha-cha
motion it's rather embarrassing
he also insists that i lead and you
can't track down anyone that way
of course it's fine while we're dancing
while i cope with the problem of a
convict at large in a dance school
and a hound who wants to learn the tango
suppose you take up the case of the
sponsor
who merely wants to be liked
WHAT FRIGHTENED YOU, FRED?
it's almost midnight we can check in
no no it's always fried
so we want to spend an extra hour
booking a trunk come on let's move on
the bomb he only got out of jail
yesterday
i set him up at the house and what does
he do he breaks my window
should be a long
time before he breaks
another we're
in for a long night
he's a parole violator
come on let's go
go man
wait outside callahan
welcome home you set a new record
out for exactly 48 hours
i know sir this is
dr cullen prison
psychiatrist
hello glad to meet you doctor what's the
matter with you anyhow
old are you fred 55 doctor
i wish the parole commission would let
me spend some time with these men before
they released
it might help us to discover their
problems this one's given other people a
few problems too
of the past 25 years he spent a total of
almost
15 in one pen or another
why well perhaps on the outside he's a
frightened man
what frightened you fred traffic
buildings the people
we have movies
every wednesday
night he's seen traffic
on people before
that's not the same
as seeing them in
real life is it fred
no sir then you were frightened
i guess so doctor he wasn't frightened
when he left here 48 hours ago
were you fred
i guess not sir
well that's a better outfit than the one
you've been wearing isn't it
yes sir
- Make sure that's all you wear
now on
don't worry sir
this time i've had it
let's pay envelopes
fine for it
86 how much for a
man to earn with four
years of his life is it
no sir
don't forget the instructions about
reporting your parole officer
say that suit
fits like it's been
tailored for you
it was one of the advantages of being
the warden's clerk
and the best one i
ever had fred you can
make more outside
in a week than you've
gotten here for four
years you know that
but who wants an ex-con with my
background i'll
leave that to your
parole officer
there's no reason why you can't
straighten up after all you and i were
raised in the same neighborhood now i'm
running for governor
you'd get my vote warden
bregen i had a vote.
goodbye fred now if
we ever meet again
let's hope it's on the street
it will be so the bus is waiting
you'll be in the city in an hour.
hello kowalski fred fred
reardon long time
no see fella a long time.
that was a jump
trick sticking up that
gas station thanks
for telling me ah
i've been waiting
four years to get your
opinion
i didn't mean that
like it sounded was
it rough
nothing's ever as
bad as you'd expect it
to be look
how about coming
inside for a few brews
i'm out i'm on the road
i even go through
that door and get
caught it'll cost me two years
the back room who's
gonna know i will
suit yourself but
if you change your
mind guys gotta
cut loose a little after
four years i'll let people know you're
around again
if you run into anybody who cares
found a place to stay at
i thought maybe
the old place if mae's
still there
you mean you don't
know something
happened to her
no she's there you
haven't kept in touch
with anybody have you
she wrote a few
times i'm just not much
for answering
yeah i'm like that myself
good luck fred drop
in any time thanks
for watching
Come on
he was the first one you spoke to a
saloon keeper
he was the first one i knew
you refused his
invitation then tell me
why did you go back the next night and
break up the place
i don't know sir something
happened in between.
what made you go back to your
old roaming house a habit pattern
like going home
i guess so doctor.
- like coming back here again.
place i knew that's all
sorry to keep you waiting i would.
- hello may.
- what do you want?
well i just got out i i got no place to
stay.
you still haven't.
- made please i
i need a things
you left her in a
suitcase in the cellar
if the rats haven't
gotten to them
get it get out
you know where to look and
don't slam the door when you leave
oh please may
you got an empty room
the sign's in the window.
for rent to someone who pays
no more freeloaders around here.
a month in advance i've changed me
my parole officer's lining me up a job
i won't make no trouble for you
i've got no place else to go.
let me think about it
one cup of coffee?
- thank you
it's still hot i just had some
you don't look too bad
a little older well fed
and rested.
they say people live longer
in prison, regular hours.
What have you been doing mate?
not waiting for you.
- cream of sugar?
I guess i got used to black.
Is mike still here or harry?
- Nobody left you know.
yeah the only one i saw today was
kowalski not the tavern
he never were loaded
with friends buddy boy.
i wrote you a couple
of letters mate.
I use them to light the fire.
all i'm asking for is a room
to be near somebody i know.
forty dollars in advance
this time he ever gave me any money there
wasn't a cop behind you to take it back
hey.
can't we.
you're a roma fred that's all
someone else isn't there.
i wasn't in prison for it
you were
i'll go downstairs and get my things
what did you do that night friend
and i just uh stayed in
i see.
what time did you go to bed?
- nine o'clock
just when the lights
go out here?
- did you sleep well.
no sir i i kept waking up
about about every half hour
that's how often the cell
guards make their rounds
a sound he's been used to hearing every
night for the last four years
subconsciously you missed
hearing that sound didn't you.
I guess you're right doctor.
What did you do when you woke up?
did you go to the door and check the key.
not to open it but to be
sure that it was locked
you wanted to experience
that same sense of
security you felt in
the cell didn't you faint
well he's going to experience that
security again for the next two years.
people get into habits of living one
when the familiar routine
is disturbed they become
confused and panic you
said he was a good clerk.
- The best.
- And you'd be prepared to use
him again wouldn't you.
- I suppose so..
- A good clerk has a certain
amount of organizational
ability fred an intellect
and intelligence.
Thank you doctor.
Yet even a stupid person occasionally
gets away with a crime for a long time.
but everything you've done
every conviction in that folder
you've been arrested and
booked in a matter of hours
- Yes sir.
- Can't you account for that
why fred.
i don't know sir.
there you are always the
same answer that's why fred
is back again
it's the only safe
place he knows
what was it fred what frightened you out
there
i don't know doctor, i
just, felt like having a drink.
well something made
you want that drink?
something that happened earlier perhaps..
- What did you do?
- Well, i just took a walk.
that's all?
- Yes sir.
- Where did you walk?
no place in
particular just to walk
nothing happened you didn't
see you speak to anyone?
no sir. i was alone all day...
yeah, i'll see if he's here
fred! fred?
dying
- Get wandered on the
phone - Who knows i'm here
Kowalski?
Maybe your parole
officer has a job for you
sounded like a chinese laundry.
hello? yeah this is fred riordan
hello fred welcome home
never mind you'll recognize
the voice in a minute.
tony what... - i said
- Yeah yeah i'm sorry.
- It's wednesday fred
the day i go to visit my
mother's grave every wednesday
song?
i go at two o'clock.
But there's a grave next to hers
that nobody ever seems to visit
cigarette.
somebody named
james fallon.
maybe an old friend of yours
- Who?
- It'd be kind of nice
if somebody showed up.
Like and bring a few flowers
yeah i was figuring on taking
the bus out that way today
be kind of nice kind of thoughtful
so long fred
would you bring
me out here for tony.
don't look at me.
like it inside i'd rather be on the
outside
you'll go up again with
some stupid small time grift
and you know it.
you never did give me a chance
at anything big
you're getting it now.
a thousand bucks a
month for two years
we'll make it a flat
25 grand.
how much did you say?
keep your eyes off me kneel down.
you go on salary tonight
for what?
gonna get drunk tonight fred
you're gonna break
parole
you mean you're gonna,
pay me, just to go back in jail you
notice how many empty
plots there are here
i want to fill one of them.
kelly?
you think i'm crazy
you're good with a knife.
you used one once before fred. The only
job you ever pulled, that you got away with.
how do you know about that
i got where i am by knowing
put the flowers down and act
as if you're fixing up the grave
what did you get for that job
killing a delicatessen owner
they couldn't have been 100 bucks in a
till
- Was there?
- No
this time there's 25 000.
why do i have to break parole?
because the man i
want is behind the walls
and if he ever comes out, i'm finished.
One of your own boys?
He was, i put him in
there to take care of
any of the other boys.
who had to take a fall
make it easy for them
but he stopped playing ball
why can't it be handled
when he gets out?
it'll be too late then.
you can make it look
good you could make it look
like anyone of a thousand
guys could have done it
suppose i'm in a
different cell block
- Suppose i can't get near him.
- Don't worry.
you'll be nearing
who is he
when did he get out
i'd say about the beginning of
november around election day
you have your mind not him
don't look at me i
made him what he is
now he's biting the
hand that feather
building himself up to
put the squeeze on me
25 grand fred
not even for 50.
i could send you to the death
house with a 10 cent phone call
a guy saw you throw a
paper bag down a sewer
the night that delicatessen
owner was murdered
a guy who works for me
there was a knife in the bag fred
i still got it i'll bet your
fingerprints are still on it
- Tony you wouldn't?
- Wouldn't I?
i'm not going to let
him become governor
whose grave do i put
flowers on the next time fred
yours or warden bregenz
i have a feeling you're
holding back on something fred
so do i something did
happen that frightened you
no sir, like i said..
i just took a walk
i didn't see or i speak to anyone
send callahan in
put him to work in the laundry
then i'll reassign him to my office
thank you warden
this is all that is left of
the dance school orchestra
they were playing the twist when it
happened when they began
this was a saxophone i
would say dancing the twist
is like scratching your back on a post
without the post
now for those of you who
wish to practice the twist
this would be an excellent time in fact
if you twist around far enough
you might miss the next commercial
after which i shall waltz back
we don't intend to
turn our convict in
we just want him to
show us how he did it
we shall probably still
be waiting here next week
when we return with another
story. until then.. good night
good evening ladies and gentlemen
we have been trying to track down an
escaped convict
but we seem to have lost him here
where he stopped to take some dancing
lessons obviously
what's worse my friend the hound now
runs with a definite cha-cha-cha
motion it's rather embarrassing
he also insists that i lead and you
can't track down anyone that way
of course it's fine while we're dancing
while i cope with the problem of a
convict at large in a dance school
and a hound who wants to learn the tango
suppose you take up the case of the
sponsor
who merely wants to be liked
WHAT FRIGHTENED YOU, FRED?
it's almost midnight we can check in
no no it's always fried
so we want to spend an extra hour
booking a trunk come on let's move on
the bomb he only got out of jail
yesterday
i set him up at the house and what does
he do he breaks my window
should be a long
time before he breaks
another we're
in for a long night
he's a parole violator
come on let's go
go man
wait outside callahan
welcome home you set a new record
out for exactly 48 hours
i know sir this is
dr cullen prison
psychiatrist
hello glad to meet you doctor what's the
matter with you anyhow
old are you fred 55 doctor
i wish the parole commission would let
me spend some time with these men before
they released
it might help us to discover their
problems this one's given other people a
few problems too
of the past 25 years he spent a total of
almost
15 in one pen or another
why well perhaps on the outside he's a
frightened man
what frightened you fred traffic
buildings the people
we have movies
every wednesday
night he's seen traffic
on people before
that's not the same
as seeing them in
real life is it fred
no sir then you were frightened
i guess so doctor he wasn't frightened
when he left here 48 hours ago
were you fred
i guess not sir
well that's a better outfit than the one
you've been wearing isn't it
yes sir
- Make sure that's all you wear
now on
don't worry sir
this time i've had it
let's pay envelopes
fine for it
86 how much for a
man to earn with four
years of his life is it
no sir
don't forget the instructions about
reporting your parole officer
say that suit
fits like it's been
tailored for you
it was one of the advantages of being
the warden's clerk
and the best one i
ever had fred you can
make more outside
in a week than you've
gotten here for four
years you know that
but who wants an ex-con with my
background i'll
leave that to your
parole officer
there's no reason why you can't
straighten up after all you and i were
raised in the same neighborhood now i'm
running for governor
you'd get my vote warden
bregen i had a vote.
goodbye fred now if
we ever meet again
let's hope it's on the street
it will be so the bus is waiting
you'll be in the city in an hour.
hello kowalski fred fred
reardon long time
no see fella a long time.
that was a jump
trick sticking up that
gas station thanks
for telling me ah
i've been waiting
four years to get your
opinion
i didn't mean that
like it sounded was
it rough
nothing's ever as
bad as you'd expect it
to be look
how about coming
inside for a few brews
i'm out i'm on the road
i even go through
that door and get
caught it'll cost me two years
the back room who's
gonna know i will
suit yourself but
if you change your
mind guys gotta
cut loose a little after
four years i'll let people know you're
around again
if you run into anybody who cares
found a place to stay at
i thought maybe
the old place if mae's
still there
you mean you don't
know something
happened to her
no she's there you
haven't kept in touch
with anybody have you
she wrote a few
times i'm just not much
for answering
yeah i'm like that myself
good luck fred drop
in any time thanks
for watching
Come on
he was the first one you spoke to a
saloon keeper
he was the first one i knew
you refused his
invitation then tell me
why did you go back the next night and
break up the place
i don't know sir something
happened in between.
what made you go back to your
old roaming house a habit pattern
like going home
i guess so doctor.
- like coming back here again.
place i knew that's all
sorry to keep you waiting i would.
- hello may.
- what do you want?
well i just got out i i got no place to
stay.
you still haven't.
- made please i
i need a things
you left her in a
suitcase in the cellar
if the rats haven't
gotten to them
get it get out
you know where to look and
don't slam the door when you leave
oh please may
you got an empty room
the sign's in the window.
for rent to someone who pays
no more freeloaders around here.
a month in advance i've changed me
my parole officer's lining me up a job
i won't make no trouble for you
i've got no place else to go.
let me think about it
one cup of coffee?
- thank you
it's still hot i just had some
you don't look too bad
a little older well fed
and rested.
they say people live longer
in prison, regular hours.
What have you been doing mate?
not waiting for you.
- cream of sugar?
I guess i got used to black.
Is mike still here or harry?
- Nobody left you know.
yeah the only one i saw today was
kowalski not the tavern
he never were loaded
with friends buddy boy.
i wrote you a couple
of letters mate.
I use them to light the fire.
all i'm asking for is a room
to be near somebody i know.
forty dollars in advance
this time he ever gave me any money there
wasn't a cop behind you to take it back
hey.
can't we.
you're a roma fred that's all
someone else isn't there.
i wasn't in prison for it
you were
i'll go downstairs and get my things
what did you do that night friend
and i just uh stayed in
i see.
what time did you go to bed?
- nine o'clock
just when the lights
go out here?
- did you sleep well.
no sir i i kept waking up
about about every half hour
that's how often the cell
guards make their rounds
a sound he's been used to hearing every
night for the last four years
subconsciously you missed
hearing that sound didn't you.
I guess you're right doctor.
What did you do when you woke up?
did you go to the door and check the key.
not to open it but to be
sure that it was locked
you wanted to experience
that same sense of
security you felt in
the cell didn't you faint
well he's going to experience that
security again for the next two years.
people get into habits of living one
when the familiar routine
is disturbed they become
confused and panic you
said he was a good clerk.
- The best.
- And you'd be prepared to use
him again wouldn't you.
- I suppose so..
- A good clerk has a certain
amount of organizational
ability fred an intellect
and intelligence.
Thank you doctor.
Yet even a stupid person occasionally
gets away with a crime for a long time.
but everything you've done
every conviction in that folder
you've been arrested and
booked in a matter of hours
- Yes sir.
- Can't you account for that
why fred.
i don't know sir.
there you are always the
same answer that's why fred
is back again
it's the only safe
place he knows
what was it fred what frightened you out
there
i don't know doctor, i
just, felt like having a drink.
well something made
you want that drink?
something that happened earlier perhaps..
- What did you do?
- Well, i just took a walk.
that's all?
- Yes sir.
- Where did you walk?
no place in
particular just to walk
nothing happened you didn't
see you speak to anyone?
no sir. i was alone all day...
yeah, i'll see if he's here
fred! fred?
dying
- Get wandered on the
phone - Who knows i'm here
Kowalski?
Maybe your parole
officer has a job for you
sounded like a chinese laundry.
hello? yeah this is fred riordan
hello fred welcome home
never mind you'll recognize
the voice in a minute.
tony what... - i said
- Yeah yeah i'm sorry.
- It's wednesday fred
the day i go to visit my
mother's grave every wednesday
song?
i go at two o'clock.
But there's a grave next to hers
that nobody ever seems to visit
cigarette.
somebody named
james fallon.
maybe an old friend of yours
- Who?
- It'd be kind of nice
if somebody showed up.
Like and bring a few flowers
yeah i was figuring on taking
the bus out that way today
be kind of nice kind of thoughtful
so long fred
would you bring
me out here for tony.
don't look at me.
like it inside i'd rather be on the
outside
you'll go up again with
some stupid small time grift
and you know it.
you never did give me a chance
at anything big
you're getting it now.
a thousand bucks a
month for two years
we'll make it a flat
25 grand.
how much did you say?
keep your eyes off me kneel down.
you go on salary tonight
for what?
gonna get drunk tonight fred
you're gonna break
parole
you mean you're gonna,
pay me, just to go back in jail you
notice how many empty
plots there are here
i want to fill one of them.
kelly?
you think i'm crazy
you're good with a knife.
you used one once before fred. The only
job you ever pulled, that you got away with.
how do you know about that
i got where i am by knowing
put the flowers down and act
as if you're fixing up the grave
what did you get for that job
killing a delicatessen owner
they couldn't have been 100 bucks in a
till
- Was there?
- No
this time there's 25 000.
why do i have to break parole?
because the man i
want is behind the walls
and if he ever comes out, i'm finished.
One of your own boys?
He was, i put him in
there to take care of
any of the other boys.
who had to take a fall
make it easy for them
but he stopped playing ball
why can't it be handled
when he gets out?
it'll be too late then.
you can make it look
good you could make it look
like anyone of a thousand
guys could have done it
suppose i'm in a
different cell block
- Suppose i can't get near him.
- Don't worry.
you'll be nearing
who is he
when did he get out
i'd say about the beginning of
november around election day
you have your mind not him
don't look at me i
made him what he is
now he's biting the
hand that feather
building himself up to
put the squeeze on me
25 grand fred
not even for 50.
i could send you to the death
house with a 10 cent phone call
a guy saw you throw a
paper bag down a sewer
the night that delicatessen
owner was murdered
a guy who works for me
there was a knife in the bag fred
i still got it i'll bet your
fingerprints are still on it
- Tony you wouldn't?
- Wouldn't I?
i'm not going to let
him become governor
whose grave do i put
flowers on the next time fred
yours or warden bregenz
i have a feeling you're
holding back on something fred
so do i something did
happen that frightened you
no sir, like i said..
i just took a walk
i didn't see or i speak to anyone
send callahan in
put him to work in the laundry
then i'll reassign him to my office
thank you warden
this is all that is left of
the dance school orchestra
they were playing the twist when it
happened when they began
this was a saxophone i
would say dancing the twist
is like scratching your back on a post
without the post
now for those of you who
wish to practice the twist
this would be an excellent time in fact
if you twist around far enough
you might miss the next commercial
after which i shall waltz back
we don't intend to
turn our convict in
we just want him to
show us how he did it
we shall probably still
be waiting here next week
when we return with another
story. until then.. good night