Captive Audience (18 Oct. 1962)

A mystery novelist sends a series of weird audiotapes to his publisher. On the first tape, the author boasts that the publisher won't be able to discern if the story he narrates is the ... See full summary »

Director:

Alf Kjellin

Writers:

John Bingham (novel), Richard Levinson (teleplay),

Stars:

Alfred Hitchcock, James Mason, Angie Dickinson

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Himself - Host
James Mason	...	Warren Barrow
Angie Dickinson	...	Janet West
Arnold Moss	...	Victor Hartman
Ed Nelson	...	Tom Keller
Roland Winters	...	Ivar West
Sara Shane	...	Helen Barrow (as Sarah Shane)
Bart Burns	...	Summers
Geraldine Wall	...	Mrs. Hurley
Renee Godfrey	...	Hartman's Secretary
Don Matheson	...	Jack Pierson
Cosmo Sardo	...	The Croupier
Barbara Dane	...	The Folk Singer

Storyline

A mystery novelist sends a series of weird audiotapes to his publisher. On the first tape, the author boasts that the publisher won't be able to discern if the story he narrates is the history of an imminent murder - or a mere fantasy. The author tells of his brief marriage ending when his wife was killed after he lost control of their car. They were kissing, making up after an argument over his wife's staying out all night with a rich old man, the same evening the author was briefly with the man's alluring, young wife Janet. Janet made a pass at the author, who immediately cut the evening short. The author says he fell into a severe depression, declined a needed brain operation, moved from France to San Francisco where he changed his name, then became a mystery writer. The tapes relate how the author eventually ran into Janet , and though she's still married, dived into an affair. When she and the author begin to plan her husband's murder, the publisher calls in another of his ...

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 October 1962 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Revue Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shamley Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Don Matheson's first ever appearance in television or films.

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Soundtracks

"Goodbye, Daddy, Goodbye"
(uncredited)
Performed by Barbara Dane

User Reviews

Mystery writer lives out the plot of his story

This episode deals with a mystery writer (James Mason) who sends a tape copy of a developing story to a publisher. As the publisher and a fellow worker listen to the tapes, they begin to realize that the story teller may be providing a plot based more on fact than fiction. The mystery writer becomes involved with a married woman (Angie Dickinson) and she later tries to get her lover to kill her husband. After hesitating on the murder for hire plot, he realizes that he has been used. The publisher and the fellow worker attempt to notify the woman that her lover is out to get her. But they are too late. The mystery writer is arrested, but is left with no true ending to the story.