MovieChat Forums > So Long at the Fair (1951) Discussion > TV remake on Alfred Hitchcock

TV remake on Alfred Hitchcock

posted 17 years ago by DemonPazuzu
16 replies | jump to latest

This wasn't mentioned on any other posts, so I wonder if any of you know that this story was remade/adapted for Alfred Hitchcock Presents series (season 1, 1955)
It was obviously shortened to acommodate the half hour time limitations, and some of the story details were changed quite a bit.

In the Alfred Hitchcock version, Victoria (played by Hitch's daughter Pat) is attending the Paris exposition with her Mother as chaperone. Like the original, the mother arrives feeling ill.

There is no Dirk Bogarde character, and it is the chief of police who helps Victoria unravel the mystery of the missing mother.
Also, she is sent across town to pick up a "special tonic" from a doctor referred by the hotel manager, and is detained there for most of the night.
The other difference is that the mother's room does not disappear, as in the original, but is completely transformed with different furniture, and different wallpaper...the latter being the tipoff to the inspector as to the validity of Victoria's story--I'll say no more, for those of you who haven't seen this version.

It's quite well done, and was my introduction to this tale years ago when I first saw it and found it pretty disturbing.
You can view it on DVD: Alfred Hitchcock Presents Season One. It's called "Into Thin Air".

[–] teefus87 17 years ago

cool it like to see a vartions of this stroy.

Holy smokes 99 channels and nothing's on!
spencer breslin in the kid

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] misspaddylee 17 years ago

"The Big Valley" used this plot in a 1967 episode guest starring Lew Ayres. In the television episode, Victoria Barkely (Barbara Stanwyck) and her daughter Audra (Linda Evans) are travelling when Audra becomes ill. Her disappearance is arranged by cattlemen who fear the illness will burst an economic boom.

"It's as red as The Daily Worker and just as sore."

[–] aldiboronti 16 years ago

The story has been around for over a century in various forms. See Snopes Urban Legends, The Vanishing Hotel Room.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/hotel.asp

[–] mojo2004 15 years ago

Bonanza also used this plot. Ben and Hoss I think came to town with a cattle drive and later it came out that there was an anthrax outbreak and Hoss had gotten sick. To save the town from ruin the people made it look like Ben came to town alone. I might have the details mixed up but that was the jist of the story.

There was also a movie called Bunny Lake is Missing(1965). A woman & her little girl Bunny, move to England where her brother is living.She takes her to school on the first day. Later when she goes to pick her up everyone claims she came to town alone and has no daughter. Even her brother!

Someone also mentioned the movie Dangerous Crossing(1953) with Jeanne Crain and Michael Rennie. She's a newlywed on a passenger ship and everyone claims she came aboard alone. The Captain (Rennie) finally believes her and he finds out what is going on.

reach out and grab Life before Death grabs you!

[–] KrazeeforKittiez 8 years ago

There was also a movie called Bunny Lake is Missing(1965).

Thanks. I recorded it off of TCM;looked up the plot to see if it was worth watching and it sounded like some other movie I have seen. I have also seen the Hitchcock show.

Johnny Carson: "It's been so hot lately that Michael Jackson is wearing a seersucker glove."

[–] kingarthurup 13 years ago

It was also redone on "Bewitched" when the original Darrin (Dick York)disappeared, and was replaced by Dick Seargent. The only one that noticed was me and the other viewers and the cast acted as though nothing had changed.

spooky.

[–] kingarthurup 13 years ago

[–] edsnow215 15 years ago

Thanks for your post, I just watched So Long at the Fair, knew that I'd never seen it before but it was so familiar. I'd be sure I saw it in one scene and then absolutely knew I'd never seen it in other.

Of course I had seen Into Thin Air years ago, very good, will have to see if I have it on DVD or not and watch it again.

So Long was great, loved seeing a young beautiful Jean Simmons and I knew the blond daughter from somewhere, it took imdb again to find out it was Pussy Galore. What my memory gives away, imdb gives back.

thanks

[–] mojo2004 15 years ago

I'd had never seen this film before either and I love Jean Simmons. It's great that TCM is celebrating 15 yrs on the air by having a few viewers come on as guest to share their favorite classic movie.

[–] Harold_Robbins 15 years ago

I've only just caught up with this nice little thriller today, yet as it unfolded it seemed vaguely familiar, especially when all was revealed - I knew the plot had been reused elsewhere, and fortunately I found the reference here on IMDB and don't have to go out of my mind trying to remember which film or mystery novel by which famous author used it. It seemed familiar because I'd seen the Hitchcock re-working within the past 2-3 years. Whew!

"Somewhere along the line the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."

[–] majra 15 years ago

I first watched this film, and years later the A.H. Presents episode. But here's another surprise I had some days ago, I watched a German silent film, Unheimliche Geschichten, and one of the episodes, I think it was the 1st one, also included the vanishing of a person, a young lady in this case, and the reason was the same one as in this film and the tv episode.

[–] marbleann 15 years ago

Yes indeed it is almost the same exact plot. I am over on the Hitchcock Present board because I have to think Hitchcock was writing under a nom de plume. He would get sued for plagiarism if he did not write this and not give credit on his tv show to the real writer.

[–] JLRMovieReviews 14 years ago

I had taped "So Long at the Fair" off TCM and just saw it last night. I knew right away what had happened because I had just seen "Into Thin Air" on my Hitchcock Season 1 dvd set earlier this year. But what got me when I went back to the episode after seeing the movie, was that there was no mention of the original writer of the actual story, just: Teleplay by Marian Cockrell. That shocked me that they weren't giving credit where credit was due. "Fair" was made in 1950 and the episode was made in 1955. So they probably thought Americans wouldn't know the difference. You think?

[–] marbleann 14 years ago

But I believe the Alfred Hitchcock show was made for US TV. And So Long at the Fair had a pretty big star in it, Jean Simmons. I just cannot understand how no one could connect the dots. BUT it turns out So Long at The Fair is a remake of a movie called Midnight Warning. I just received that movie from Netflix and I going to watch it later.

[–] stomaino 8 years ago

As is mentioned in the Trivia section, it's based on an old urban legend. So no one "stole" it from anyone.

Sam Tomaino