Hitchcock Ending

[pemberly]

here's my problem. when i was about...14?, i saw an episode of the old hitchcock tv show in which guy1 bet guy2 at a bar that at 12 or something the next day, guy2's lighter, which he has had for years and years, always dependable, would not light. if it did not light, then guy2 has to die. if it does light, guy2 gets a million dollars or something. so, guy2, thinking he's gonna make a quick buck, accepts the bet. right before he's about to try his lighter, my mom shuts off the tv and tells me i have school the next day and i gotta go to sleep. no!!! this has bugged me for years and years. everytime i remember it, i get annoyed.

has anybody seen this episode of hitchcock? does his lighter light? does the dude have to die? i swear, this episode caused me greater mental anguish than the dude who's life is on the line.

[ghostdarTeal'c]

wow, talk about a haunting past...

too bad i cant help you, pemberly.....i dont think ive seen any of his movies...or if i did i dont know that it's his....hehe

[pemberly]

looks like i forgot all the details and just remembered the gist...

One of the best-remembered of all the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes, "Man From the South" is a typically twisted tale from the pen of Roald Dahl. The scene is Las Vegas, where a middle-aged gent named Carlos (Peter Lorre) approaches a brash young gambler (Steve McQueen) with a peculiar wager. If the young man is able to ignite a cigarette lighter ten times in a row, Carlos will give him a new convertible. But if the lighter fails, the young man will have to sacrifice something of his own -- namely, the little finger of his right hand. "Man From the South" was later redone with José Ferrer as an episode of the syndicated anthology Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, and still later with John Huston as a segment in the multipart pilot film for the 1985 Alfred Hitchcock Presents revival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide (answers.com)

does anybody remember the ending? anybody?

[Lady Zhuge]

I've never seen this episode, but here's the spoiler with context posted by theowinthrop at imdb:

The suspense of the episode is that McQueen thinks that Lorre's bet is really a flight of unreality, but he is sure his great little lighter will work ten times straight in a row. Lorre is very matter-of-fact about the wager, even if the goal is a trifle ghoulish on his part. It is only when McQueen finally gets down to actually performing the action of the lighting of the lighter that he sees how serious Lorre really is. Lorre has McQueen's other arm tied down, and readied for it's thumb to be cut off with a cleaver. But McQueen starts flicking the lighter on. One...two...three...four...five...six...seven....

SPOILER COMING UP.

As McQueen is about to light the lighter an eighth time, a woman comes in and confronts Lorre. She starts berating him about the bet - reminding him that everything he owns is hers, not his. Actually this kills the bet from continuing, as if McQueen wins it Lorre has no title to the car to give it to McQueen. Lorre, like a sullen little boy gives his keys to his wife (the woman who came in - Katherine Squire), and we see only two of her fingers remain on one hand as she picks up the keys. As for McQueen, as he sees that the bet has blown up, he is lighting a cigarette with his infallible lighter, and much to his amazement it fails to light!

Hopefully this relieves some of your anguish, pemberly.

[pemberly]

yay! ooooh, so he would have lost his finger if that woman was a little slower. cool.

[friedwings]

my favorite hitchcock episode is the one where the wife kills her husband with the rack of lamb and then cooks the evidence and feeds it to the unsuspecting cops. classic.