Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) Never Again (1956) User Reviews

A most unusual episode.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 19 February 2021]

Karen (Phyllis Thaxter) awakens in the hospital...her arm bandaged and she's in bed. But she cannot recall how she's gotten there. And, through the course of her time there, she thinks back to the events that MIGHT have gotten her there.

Soon you learn in the flashbacks that Karen is an alcoholic. During much of the flashback, she's dry...but the underlying issues and problems that get her to drink aren't addressed at all...and you see it's only a matter of time before she drinks again. And, when she does start drinking, she's totally out of control. But how exactly did she end up in the hospital??

This is one of the most unusual episodes I've ever seen. It's not like others, as it lacks the usual 'Hitchcockian' twist and is a pretty straight-forward show about the dangers of alcoholism. And, as such, Hitchcock himself is very restrained and says as much. Well handled.

"I don't think anyone likes me".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 27 July 2021]

This is a bit off the beaten path for Hitchcock fare. Though the story arrives at an ironic twist at the finale, it comes across as more of a cautionary tale, reinforced by Hitch's short but effective closing comments. The transition of Karen Stewart (Phyllis Thaxter) from a recovering alcoholic into a raging drunk after she left the party with Marlow (Jack Mullaney) is a frightful one, and conveys the plight of someone who is truly out of control. Thaxter's performance underscores the difficulty that people with low self esteem and lacking in confidence have in overcoming their demons. This was a memorable episode, and one of the best of the first season.

Harrowing

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 23 March 2022]

What immediately got me sold about "Never Again" was the subject matter. A unique and more serious subject for 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', that was very different for the series up to this point of its run and continued to be. It is also a subject that is as hard hitting as one can get and for the time was quite ground-breaking and daring. Was a little worried on first watch that it would be flashback heavy, a story device that has always been done variably in film and television.

One that thankfully is done very well in "Never Again". An episode that is as harrowing as its subject suggests and really does stand out amongst the usually more suspenseful and ironic episodes of Season 1. While not one of my favourites of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', "Never Again" is very well crafted, interesting and emotionally impactful entry that handles the subject very well. Also think it one of director Robert Stevens' better episodes of Season 1.

"Never Again" is not quite perfect. Not everything resolves enough, which makes one wondering what the point of a few plot points are (the party rejection) and also the logic.

Although Hitchcock's bookending is always entertaining and unmistakably Hitchcock in humour, with such a serious subject it did feel on the slightly out of place side tonally.

However, a lot is great. The production values are solid and atmospheric, the simple location not being claustrophobic or cheap and made more interesting by the photography. "Funeral March of a Marionette" continues to be a memorable main theme for the series. Stevens' direction is beautifully done, even in scenes that could easily have been dull padding.

The harrowing and ahead of the time subject matter is handled with intensity, sincerity and tact, it did break my heart and disturb me in a way not seen a lot to this extent in most of Season 1. The flashbacks don't bog down the momentum, like flashbacks use can do, and are not overused and a good way of going into detail how the situation came about. The script is thoughtful and doesn't have too much fat.

Pretty much almost everything is done extremely well, but other than the atmosphere and emotional impact the best thing about "Never Again" is the poignant performance from Phyllis Thaxter as you have never seen her before.

In summary, very good. 8/10.

Phyllis Thaxter's Most Compelling Performance!!!

[kidboots · 10/10 · 19 June 2012]

Not only was Adela Rogers St. John's flamboyant lawyer father (Earl Rogers was the inspiration for Perry Mason) a heavy drinker, she also had a very close friendship with actor John Gilbert, so she had first hand experience in dealing with alcoholics. Even though I've read her articles in old Photoplays I had no idea she wrote short stories or that she was such a respected journalist who covered the Lindburgh kidnapping trial, the assassination of Huey Long and the abdication of King Edward VIII. Alfred Hitchcock held her in high regard and in a rare serious moment at the end of the program called it one of her most powerful stories and hoped that it would make viewers stop and think.

The story told of Karen Stewart (Thaxter), a recovering alcoholic and her efforts to stay sober around people who don't understand that alcoholism is a sickness and it's victims need help and support. Karen's fiancée, for example, is sympathetic at her apartment but thinks nothing of dragging her off to a party and leaving her to a crowd that are forever plying her with drinks. She makes the acquaintance of a "flakey" young drinker who accidentally confides what his sister thinks of Karen (he doesn't know that she is she!!) - that she is a drunk who cannot be helped!!! That is all she needs to start on a terrible bender. She begins the story from what she believes is a hospital bed but the ending is far more horrifying.

Phyllis Thaxter was always under-rated in my opinion. MGM saw her as a quietly confidant player and ended up using her in sympathetic wife roles. "Never Again" may be her most compelling performance.

Brilliant Cautionary Tale

[rmarb5-1 · 12 December 2008]

An excellent sketch from the first season. Seems to be essaying the cocktail culture of the organizational man. We see the pressures wrought by the Madison Avenue set of the high 50s and how only a few were allowed to feel comfortable there.

Phyllis Thaxter, as the protagonist Karen Stewart, got her start in some Peyton Place type movies of the 1940s and then quickly moved into early television theater, performing multiple stints on venerable TV drama showcases as both the Ford and Motorola playhouses.

She does a spectacular job here as a woman past her youth who does not belong to the "smart talk" of the account exec peers of her fiancé, Jeff, played by a natty Warren Stevens. Her fight to stay whole is beclouded by a desperate descent into drink.

She staves it off through most of the sketch, but the inevitable incursion of an aggressive Madison paramoor, competing for the attentions of Jeff, pushes her over the edge and she goes into a violent drinking rampage.

I'm rooting for Karen until the end, seeing her basic intentions and sincerity as the match for any of those fast-talking ad ladies. And yet she has no sense of how to use that gift to compete. She simply panics and eventually turns to the martini for protection.

Hitchcock often created highly neatened vignettes about murder and personal sabotage, but in this one, he lets all the messiness hang out, the rage and the raw feelings of self doubt, to great effect. It is one of the most shocking of all Hitch's TV efforts because of the way the unprotected self is stripped down to its bare bones to survive, brilliantly demonstrated by Ms. Thaxter.

In the epilogue, the master provides an apologia for the power of the episode, saying he will not go into his usual tongue in cheek bit about the fate of a deserving antagonist. Instead, he suggests this is more of a cautionary outing in the hopes that it will prevent some struggling soul from a similar fate.

Unforgettable.

A Sad Story!

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 20 October 2008]

This is a bit different for this series. It's the story of a neurotic woman who is an alcoholic. It begins as she lies in a hospital bed, trying to put the pieces together of an evening she can't really remember. She has been injured with cuts and just can't remember. We are taken in flashback to the events of the previous days and that evening. She is consumed with jealousy and self doubt and makes life miserable for all around her. Obviously, Hitchcock is going to put a zinger at the end, but this is more "Lost Weekend" or "Days of Wine and Roses" than the usual ironic fare that was this TV show. It is pretty penetrating. At this time, most didn't know what an alcoholic was. Most thought they were those men hanging from lamp poles singing Sweet Adeline. This is really quite well done and quite tragic.

Phyllis Thaxter's one hell of an actress

[glitterrose · 10/10 · 1 July 2022]

Like I said on another review, I like how Alfred's shows touch base on serious topics but the episodes don't preach at the viewers. It's an art that seems lost in today's times.

Phyllis Thaxter is our lead character. Her name is Karen. She's an alcoholic but she's trying to get better. She keeps a ruined dress to keep her on track. I'm assuming that dress was the last time she had gotten drunk and she sobered up and realized she had to do something because this isn't gonna magically get better.

Warren Stevens plays Jeff and I honestly couldn't stand his character. He's the opposite of the husband in 'On the Nose'. I can see where the husband in that story is getting worn out from his wife gambling and he's already told Fran the marriage will be over if he catches her gambling again. Jeff is a character that thinks the worst about Karen. It seems sad to me that her lady friend was kinder and understanding towards Karen than her own boyfriend. No wonder poor Karen's insecure when you're dating somebody like Jeff.

Jeff and Karen go to this party where Jeff will know everybody and Karen doesn't know anybody but Jeff. It doesn't take long for Jeff to disappear with another lady. Your heart goes out to Karen. She's alone at this party and she had also said this smart talk intimidated her. I can put myself in Karen's shoes and know how awkward I'd feel if I felt like I couldn't contribute or follow a conversation because the stuff they're talking about is blowing me out of the water.

Karen is handed a drink and of course Jeff comes out with a snide remark. How about talking to your girlfriend and seeing if she's drunk before just assuming she's been guzzling every drink in sight? Karen loses her temper with the lady Jeff had been talking to and throws the drink she'd been holding at this lady.

Karen and Jeff go back to Karen's place. Jeff acting like a jerk the whole time. Karen settles down a bit and she wants to try going back to the party. It's a disasterous idea but the two go back to the party. Karen has made at least one friend at this party. He's a fellow drunk and he explains he's the brother of the lady Jeff was talking to. This brother let's some stuff slip but he wasn't doing it maliciously. He didn't have a clue Karen's the one dating Jeff. He lets slip that it's known Jeff's girlfriend is a drunk and they never get over it. Karen falls off the wagon in a very hard way. It sounds like now is the time period where Karen and her friend are guzzling every drink in sight going to the many bars around a certain part of town.

Karen and her friend have been tracked down at the bar they're at by Jeff and the sister. The night isn't gonna get any better. I forgot to mention that Karen was so wasted she couldn't remember what had happened. She's in what she thinks is the hospital and her hand has been bandaged. She's been piecing all this together and she's about to get the last couple of pieces of the puzzle. She's not in the hospital, she's in the county jail. She's in there for murdering Jeff and she gives out the most anguished cry after she's told what happened.

I've said this for hour long episodes of Alfred and how it amazes me they pack so much storyline into probably a 42 minute time frame. This is a 30 minute episode so it's pretty incredible to pack this meaty of a story into basically 25 minutes. But everything fits. The writing and acting are top notch. This is another one of my favorite episodes.

Not sure what show some of the other reviewers watched

[americancarioca · 9/10 · 18 December 2017]

Never Again was definitely groundbreaking for its time. Not only did it show alcoholism, but its author and main character were women.

Karen awakens in a strange place, in a bed with her right hand and arm heavily bandaged. She struggles to remember what happened the previous evening and how she ended up there.

Through flashbacks, we see that Karen has recently gotten on the wagon. She is being reassured by a friend as she prepares for a party. She uses a wine glass as an ashtray, not to drink. seeming to have her problem under control. Her boyfriend Jeff shows and she is in a fragile state regardless of how kind, gentle and reassuring he is. She claims he isn't interested in her job since his is seemingly more interesting. The fact that people at the party know about her alcoholism doesn't help the situation. After much coaxing and reassurance from Jeff's side, they go off to the party.

Once at the party, Karen seems to be fine and not at all interested in drinking. However, she soon becomes jealous of Jeff when he goes off with a female associate. She meets a Jerry Lewis type guy briefly who gives her a drink that she doesn't intend to imbibe. However, her insecurities surface and she ends up throwing a drink in the face of Renee (the female host) and running out with Jeff close behind.

Once at her apartment, Jeff, forever the patient one, asks why she did what she did while assuring her that her jealousy is unwarranted. Karen is a mess to the point that she tears her own pearls off her neck. Jeff reveals that no matter what she did or does that he intends on marrying her. She is incredibly happy at this news and when he reminds her that they haven't eaten, she states she'd rather go back to the party. He happily agrees, stating that no one there would expect that from her.

Back at the party, Renee once again greets Karen warmly, having changed her dress and moved on from the incident. Jeff has to mingle for work and the strange young man named Marlow finds Karen again. At first she refuses on the strength that he accidentally reveals that Jeff told Renee (Marlow's sister) that he intended to marry her. However, she soon turns cold again when he also reveals that Renee stated that she was against the marriage due to her drinking - Marlow is an alcoholic, too). This sends her into a drinking binge along with her new friend, comparing where they like to drink.

The next scene shows them both inebriated at a bar. A drunk and disheveled Karen fights the bartender for a bottle when he attempts to cut her off. Jeff then enters with Renee in tow. Karen ignores his pleading for her to leave with him. She fights him and ends up falling and slicing her wrist. Jeff gets her to her feet, then his face goes blurry.

Back at the hospital, a nurse comes in as Karen struggles to remember what happened after Renee and Jeff found her and wonders why Jeff isn't with her. She inquires with the nurse about the hospital that she is in. She is then told that she isn't in a regular hospital. She is in the hospital wing of the jail for killing Jeff with the glass she slit her wrist with. Karen screams in agony at the news.

I thought it was unique for its time especially that it was written by a woman. Hitchcock's normally humorous epilogue was instead a plea to those who saw themselves in Marlow or Karen to seek help. Given the Mad Men like atmosphere back then and the fact that the word alcoholism wasn't even uttered once shows how different things were back then.

The only question I have is why Jeff stayed by Karen's side even when she went off the rails. She didn't seem to be much of a catch without alcohol or with it.

Never Again

[bombersflyup · 1/10 · 13 March 2020]

What the hell was that. The reasons given and then just dismissed. Why does she want to go to the party? Then why does she want to go back? Completely disregarding why she did what she did and then disregarding what he said and then disregarding more of what she said. Bah!

A Glass of Apple Cider, Please

[dougdoepke · 9 February 2016]

A recovering alcoholic, Karen, comes-to in a strange bed with a terrible hangover. Through her clouded mind she struggles to recall what happened the night before. With her supportive husband Jeff, she's been so good at leaving off the juice, so what could have happened. Slowly events come back. It was a party, Jeff's sophisticated co-workers were there. Drinks were everywhere, but she kept saying no thanks. Trouble is she didn't seem to fit in among the guests; worse, why was Jeff paying so much attention to that tall, middle-age woman. The only person paying Karen any mind was this weird guy, Marlowe. Maybe that means she is weird too. Maybe too, that's why she's in this strange bed-- but why is her hand so heavily bandaged. If only she could remember.

That fine actress Phyllis Thaxter specialized in troubled women like Karen , e.g. Bewitched (1947). Here she runs a gamut of emotions, even allowing her good looks to turn haggard and disheveled. The entry's heart is in the right place— a dramatic warning against the destructive effects of alcohol. However, the logic of Karen's rejection at the party, plus Jeff's keeping company with Renee, aren't really accounted for. Thus, the fateful events seem more contrived than necessary. Too bad these holes weren't filled. Anyway, there's a good ironic kicker that certainly underlines the entry's message, narrative flaws or not.

One of the Best

[albixara · 10/10 · 5 June 2022]

This is a unique episode of the venerable series, in that is conveys a message the director evidently saw as of great significance: that alcoholism is a pernicious issue in Western society that must be given serious consideration. There is no cute ending comment. Instead, viewers are left to contemplate the horror of what has occurred.

Just another drink ... sad and tragic result!

[CammieinOz · 9/10 · 8 June 2023]

I've been a fan of Phyllis Thaxter (lead actress in this episode) for a very long time but I believe she was truly underrated. Anyone who has seen this actress in the 1940s movie Bewitched will know what an incredible performance she gave as the tortured woman with multiple personalities. I have to assume that Alfred Hitchcock was fond of her work as she starred in six episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and three of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

This episode is very powerful and intriguing. Karen is a very insecure woman and has a problem with alcohol. When Never Again starts it does appear that Karen is in control but it very soon becomes apparent that she's spiraling out of control.

The story is told mostly in backflashes by Karen. The climax is beyond tragic.

Sir Alfred's monologue is a strong indication of the seriousiness of this episode and alcoholism.