Alfred Hitchcock had plenty of disdain for the Beat Generation and it's very apparent in this entry. Wayne Rogers plays a young university professor who enjoys hanging out in a Beatnik coffee shop in Greenwich Village. As the only one in a suit coat and tie, he's a real "square," but his presence is tolerated because he buys plenty of food and alcohol for the assembled guests. They include a young couple of Beatniks played by Brian Hutton (as Mitch) and good-looking Anne Helm. Both Mitch and his girlfriend are flat broke and their rent is due in a few days. Poor Annie hasn't had a decent meal for the longest time, but Mitch has a great idea to help both of them. Since Mr. Rogers seems to have eyes for Anne, Mitch decides to pimp her out for a while. He also needs some extra cash so he can cut out to San Francisco and start playing some gigs with the local jazzmen. He figures that his girlfriend should be able to at least hit Rogers up for a couple of hundred bucks. After several dates with the supposedly smitten Rogers, Anne returns to their pad with an expensive bracelet which she immediately hands over to her worthless and conniving boyfriend. Mitch is in for a surprise, however, when he takes it over to a local jewelry shop to sell it off. The merchandise is "hot" and before you can say "what a bummer, man," Mitch is arrested for grand larceny. Of course, Ms. Helm is not amused at the turn of events and gives Rogers a good tongue-lashing for his duplicity. Of course, she still thinks this fellow really "digs" her. But what Rogers really digs is defenseless women and our Beatnik girl finds that out a little bit too late. The end result is that "The Big Kick" doesn't seem too kind to young university professors either besides making Beatniks look like leeches and morons. I wouldn't classify this episode as one of Hitchcock's "public services," but he certainly had a point of view about the Beats, and it was not a positive one. This entry was directed with flair and some "groovy" dialogue by Hitchcock veteran Alan Crosland, Jr.
7 Reviews
"Oh baby, you're not a pigeon. You're a chick."
classicsoncall12 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Hitch may have had a disdain for the Beat Generation, but this episode didn't have much of a kind word to say about university professors either. Judy's (Anne Helm) boyfriend Mitch (Brian G. Hutton) should have known better than to make a tactical mistake like bringing a stolen diamond necklace back to the shop it was pilfered from. What was he thinking? I don't think anything in the story could have prepared the viewer for the ending, and I couldn't quite believe it myself when Kenneth (Wayne Rogers) pulled out that knife. Even then, I didn't think he was going to stab Judy. By this time near the end of the series run there were some questionable stories that didn't quite make the grade, and I'd have to say this was one of them.
Old and Hackneyed
Hitchcoc6 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The beat generation, huh! One reason this does not stand the test of time is the archaic sounding slang. I know slang is a part of every generation, so why does it sound so silly here? The thing is that they use this in everyday discourse, not just when they're trying to be part of the gang. For some reason old Wayne Rogers wants to murder these people, not just be intolerant of them. So he is psychotic. It's as simple as that and it destroys any effect his actions have.
Towards the end of the half hour shows, it seems as if they were just phoning a few in.
planktonrules22 April 2021
The story begins with Mitch and Judy broke and hungry, as they are the stereotypical bohemian beatniks. Mitch refuses to work and he has a plan to make fast money. Some square professor (Wayne Rogers) is a lonely man...and Mitch's plan involves Judy vamping him and taking him for all she can. Nice folks, huh? Well, their plan naturally does NOT go off as they planned, as this is "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".
It seems as you watch this episode that whoever wrote it really thought the beatniks were a bunch of lazy, dishonest and pretentious jerks. They don't seem like much else in this show! And, while I didn't mind the way the show made fun of these beat generation folks, the story and the ending seemed very weak....and not all that interesting. A weird and unconvincing show.
It seems as you watch this episode that whoever wrote it really thought the beatniks were a bunch of lazy, dishonest and pretentious jerks. They don't seem like much else in this show! And, while I didn't mind the way the show made fun of these beat generation folks, the story and the ending seemed very weak....and not all that interesting. A weird and unconvincing show.
nicely realized Bloch story
CatTales26 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Like an earlier episode, "Most Likely to Succeed," this story gives clues to its twist ending all along, so the story itself must be entertaining in it's own right. That it does by diving into the alternate reality of Beatnik culture. As usual, we get a parody of a Beat poetry performance, so the weight of the subculture must be carried by actor Brian Hutton's intense performance as the slacker/leech/philosophical musician beatnik who's indoctrinating his girlfriend into the Beat culture. You might turn on close-captions to double-check his Beat jargon. The ending is pure Robert Bloch, whom Stephen King borrowed from frequently.
Despite being synonymous with twist-ending horror stories, there are surprisingly few of Robert Bloch's own original stories in the series. The final season saw two nice adaptations, making me wish Hitch had presented more.
Despite being synonymous with twist-ending horror stories, there are surprisingly few of Robert Bloch's own original stories in the series. The final season saw two nice adaptations, making me wish Hitch had presented more.
Eh
stevenfallonnyc779 October 2022
Watching "Alfred Hitchcocks Presents" is always a gamble. Some episodes are fantastic, some are boring and dull with lots of padding, some have endings you can see a mile away, and some just don't seem to make much sense.
This one has a few of those ingredients, it's boring and dull, and doesn't make much sense. A pretty beatnik chick goes out with a square with money under orders from her beatnik boyfriend, who is a good for nothing lazy bum. He wants his girl to be nice to the square so the square will take care of the rent, and later the expenses for the beatnik couple to hit the coast.
The square has a few tricks up his sleeve though, and then there's the ending. Talk about random, it just comes out of nowhere and is a head-shaker.
This is another AHP episode which really just turns out to be a waste of time. Again, every episode is a gamble.
This one has a few of those ingredients, it's boring and dull, and doesn't make much sense. A pretty beatnik chick goes out with a square with money under orders from her beatnik boyfriend, who is a good for nothing lazy bum. He wants his girl to be nice to the square so the square will take care of the rent, and later the expenses for the beatnik couple to hit the coast.
The square has a few tricks up his sleeve though, and then there's the ending. Talk about random, it just comes out of nowhere and is a head-shaker.
This is another AHP episode which really just turns out to be a waste of time. Again, every episode is a gamble.
Downbeat
darbski24 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
**SPOILERS** As usual, when someone who sees no use for a certain part of society, and then decides to use them as a point in a story, the presenter has some problems. Such as jargon, dialogue, catch phrases; the everyday slang and flow of specialized communication, dig? I didn't remember this one, but I did remember one thing that was central to almost every episode, and that was the psychology that was discussed after each show, in our household, anyway.
In this one Judy plays the babe who for some obscure reason, loves Mitch. Kenny is the working class square who sets up Mitch for a long jail sentence, by shoplifting a valuable bracelet and then watching while Mitch tries to have it valued (by the very shop it was stolen from). Well, they DID get their merchandise back, and unless it was Mitch's first bust, he'll get a minimum sentence, probably 2-4 years. While he's in jail, he'll wonder who and why lovely Judy's life was ended by being knifed in her own apartment (read in "dump"). See, the problem I have is twofold 1) would anyone notice Kenny leaving Judy's after he killed her? 2) if they didn't, how would he be caught? As to 2; Well, he WAS a square in a beat pad, wasn't he? Still he was pretty smart, and most of the beatniks had a problem with the law themselves. Mostly on account of the "heathen-devil weed". Would they tell? Most people who were called "beatniks" were really those who liked the offhand style, and different approach to life (as in: freestyle values, rejection of "Victorian" principles concerning sex, etc..). Most of them held jobs, believe it or not, and were usually just a little outside the normal "lifestyle" of the squares.
We had a "Beat Coffeehouse" in our town called "The Jolly Coachman". My friend and I got in one night and drank espresso, listened to poetry, and were bored out of our skulls. Except for a couple of girls wearing leotard tops with no bras, short skirts and no stockings with ballet shoes. If they hadn't had the windows open we would have died from asphyxiation from all the cigarette smoke. Heady stuff for 2 fourteen year-olds. It was interesting, at least. Of course we learned some of the lingo, and all the slang we could pick up, but we were really interested in rock and roll, and surfer girls. Ah, youth.
Hitch almost always has the perps takin a fall for their misdeeds, even though he almost never tells how or why they're busted. I contend that a LOT of crimes are gotten away with, and of course, when I expressed this point of view, my parents just KNEW I was gonna be a criminal. Nonetheless, this was his version of the "Happy Ending".
In this one Judy plays the babe who for some obscure reason, loves Mitch. Kenny is the working class square who sets up Mitch for a long jail sentence, by shoplifting a valuable bracelet and then watching while Mitch tries to have it valued (by the very shop it was stolen from). Well, they DID get their merchandise back, and unless it was Mitch's first bust, he'll get a minimum sentence, probably 2-4 years. While he's in jail, he'll wonder who and why lovely Judy's life was ended by being knifed in her own apartment (read in "dump"). See, the problem I have is twofold 1) would anyone notice Kenny leaving Judy's after he killed her? 2) if they didn't, how would he be caught? As to 2; Well, he WAS a square in a beat pad, wasn't he? Still he was pretty smart, and most of the beatniks had a problem with the law themselves. Mostly on account of the "heathen-devil weed". Would they tell? Most people who were called "beatniks" were really those who liked the offhand style, and different approach to life (as in: freestyle values, rejection of "Victorian" principles concerning sex, etc..). Most of them held jobs, believe it or not, and were usually just a little outside the normal "lifestyle" of the squares.
We had a "Beat Coffeehouse" in our town called "The Jolly Coachman". My friend and I got in one night and drank espresso, listened to poetry, and were bored out of our skulls. Except for a couple of girls wearing leotard tops with no bras, short skirts and no stockings with ballet shoes. If they hadn't had the windows open we would have died from asphyxiation from all the cigarette smoke. Heady stuff for 2 fourteen year-olds. It was interesting, at least. Of course we learned some of the lingo, and all the slang we could pick up, but we were really interested in rock and roll, and surfer girls. Ah, youth.
Hitch almost always has the perps takin a fall for their misdeeds, even though he almost never tells how or why they're busted. I contend that a LOT of crimes are gotten away with, and of course, when I expressed this point of view, my parents just KNEW I was gonna be a criminal. Nonetheless, this was his version of the "Happy Ending".
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