The story line includes video of the Queen Mary. The ending will surprise you.
8 Reviews
Another Hitchcock Gem
bs-9290325 October 2019
Everyone's wrong, it's a delight
Qanqor31 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I can't believe the low scores this episode has received. It's among my favorites (granted, with something as high quality as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, I have many favorites). I've always liked Keenan Wynn and he gives a good performance here. I think it has an excellent snapper ending. And I like the way that the episode title is a pun.
*** SPOILERS BEGIN HERE *** If you haven't seen the episode, do yourself a favor and read no further.
OK, so the other thing I wanted to comment on was just how well directed the whole ending sequence was. Don't you find it eerie and disconcerting the way we see the protagonist dive into the ocean and disappear to speck with just the sound of the ship and the sea, and the overpowering lack of a woman screaming? And that's it, we never see him again, but we can surmise what happens to him. What an awful, scary fate! I just think it's wonderfully done.
*** SPOILERS BEGIN HERE *** If you haven't seen the episode, do yourself a favor and read no further.
OK, so the other thing I wanted to comment on was just how well directed the whole ending sequence was. Don't you find it eerie and disconcerting the way we see the protagonist dive into the ocean and disappear to speck with just the sound of the ship and the sea, and the overpowering lack of a woman screaming? And that's it, we never see him again, but we can surmise what happens to him. What an awful, scary fate! I just think it's wonderfully done.
Interesting but the finale was clumsy.
planktonrules1 April 2021
Keenan Wynn plays an obnoxious jerk who very reluctantly has joined his wife on a once in a lifetime vacation. While they are not rich, she's saved so they can live it up and take a cruise to Italy...and this jerk of a husband complains and complains about having to go! Who wouldn't love a trip to Italy other than a jerk...or perhaps an Italian! But this guy doesn't want to be here. But what he does like it to try to impress his fellow passengers into thinking he's hot stuff...and he's a boorish guy who actually is disliked by some of these passengers. And, to try to impress one of them, he plays a bet which threatens to bankrupt them and ruin the trip. But after losing a small fortune, the guy comes up with a plan....a really dumb and ill-conceived one....one that is so dumb and full of holes it leads to disaster. In fact, as you watch you can't help[ but think this twist at the end is really clumsily written and doesn't quite work.
The gambling man
TheLittleSongbird8 March 2023
Alfred Hitchcock is one of my favourite directors, and has been ever since seeing 'Rear Window' in my teens. While it did have misfires, his series 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' is very interesting and most of the episodes are good and more. He directed seventeen of them himself, and some were wonderful. Standouts being "Breakdown", "One More Mile to Go" and "Lamb to the Slaughter". A few missed, with "Wet Saturday" being one of my least favourite episodes.
While quite liking the premise, which is not an innovative one but anything centering around a serious, relevant issue always peaks interest, "Dip in the Pool" didn't really do it for me. As far as Hitchcock's episodes go, it is a lesser effort and didn't really feel like Hitchcock. It is though nowhere near as much of a misfire as "Wet Saturday", at least this episode didn't have any performance on the same level as "one of the worst of the series" in the way that did.
It is not a mess by all means. Keenan Wynn does do a good job, didn't like his character but really appreciated how he gave the part his all without looking as if he was trying too hard. The production values are slick and atmospheric, with some very effective shots in the final act particularly. Didn't like the ending on the whole, but the photography did effectively give some unease.
Hitchcock's bookending is amusing in a droll way, in a way that is distinctively Hitchcock. The theme music is a classic, "Funeral March of a Marionette" being one of my favourite uses of pre-existing classical music in television (or at least pre-existing classical music used for theme music). It does start off very well, intriguing and fun.
Shame however that "Dip in the Pool" loses its way too early and never recovers. It is severely lacking in suspense, which is disappointing considering that Hitchcock was nicknamed the master of suspense and nowhere does the episode live up to that nickname. Actually had a hard time believing that this was directed by Hitchcock when it could easily have passed for lesser Robert Stevens. It also got really silly and far fetched to an excessive degree in the second half, to the point where it was difficult to take it at face value the dumber his plan got.
Despite Wynn being good, to me the character was just too over the top obnoxious and it badly unbalanced the episode. As well as silly and far fetched, the second half also felt too stretched out and running out of ideas like. The episode does tend to be too talk heavy, and count me in as one of the people underwhelmed by the ending outside of the photography. Some have liked it, but for me although very surprising it was one of the clumsiest ones of Season 3 as well as one of the dumbest.
Rather disappointing on the whole though watchable. 5/10.
While quite liking the premise, which is not an innovative one but anything centering around a serious, relevant issue always peaks interest, "Dip in the Pool" didn't really do it for me. As far as Hitchcock's episodes go, it is a lesser effort and didn't really feel like Hitchcock. It is though nowhere near as much of a misfire as "Wet Saturday", at least this episode didn't have any performance on the same level as "one of the worst of the series" in the way that did.
It is not a mess by all means. Keenan Wynn does do a good job, didn't like his character but really appreciated how he gave the part his all without looking as if he was trying too hard. The production values are slick and atmospheric, with some very effective shots in the final act particularly. Didn't like the ending on the whole, but the photography did effectively give some unease.
Hitchcock's bookending is amusing in a droll way, in a way that is distinctively Hitchcock. The theme music is a classic, "Funeral March of a Marionette" being one of my favourite uses of pre-existing classical music in television (or at least pre-existing classical music used for theme music). It does start off very well, intriguing and fun.
Shame however that "Dip in the Pool" loses its way too early and never recovers. It is severely lacking in suspense, which is disappointing considering that Hitchcock was nicknamed the master of suspense and nowhere does the episode live up to that nickname. Actually had a hard time believing that this was directed by Hitchcock when it could easily have passed for lesser Robert Stevens. It also got really silly and far fetched to an excessive degree in the second half, to the point where it was difficult to take it at face value the dumber his plan got.
Despite Wynn being good, to me the character was just too over the top obnoxious and it badly unbalanced the episode. As well as silly and far fetched, the second half also felt too stretched out and running out of ideas like. The episode does tend to be too talk heavy, and count me in as one of the people underwhelmed by the ending outside of the photography. Some have liked it, but for me although very surprising it was one of the clumsiest ones of Season 3 as well as one of the dumbest.
Rather disappointing on the whole though watchable. 5/10.
"A Dip in the Pool" was one of the more underwhelming eps of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" for me
tavm27 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
As this ep begins, we find Hitch on a ship (the S.S. Hitchcock) telling us he's on vacation. He also tells us the captain told him that switching channels is a dangerous thing. In the actual story, Keenan Wynn is William Botibol, a compulsive gambler. So much so, he's willing to spend nearly all his and his wife's savings at an auction that makes guesses as to how many miles the ship is going to travel for the next day. It seems he miscalculated when the stormy weather did not slow down the ship enough to delay any more scheduled miles. So he decides to pretend to fall overboard in front of a witness to force the boat to stop. Unfortunately, the elderly woman who saw him do it was not of the mentally well...I have to admit, I was only slightly amused by this ep. Maybe it was the slow pace or I just wasn't getting the rhythm of the timing of certain things. Anyway, I was just underwhelmed watching this. And I was surprised Hitch directed this one. Still, "A Dip in the Pool" was still interesting to watch especially having just found out that one of the guests-a Mrs. Renshaw-was played by the original King Kong damsel-in-distress Fay Wray!
Sometimes They Ran Out of Ideas
Hitchcoc6 July 2013
I still don't really understand the contest. Keenan Wynn plays big shot as he and his wife luxuriate aboard the Alfred Hitchcock, an ocean liner. She is really excited about all the historical places they will visit, the beauty spots of Europe. He is interested in gambling, drinking, showing off, and indulging himself. He wears an ugly, checkered sport coat and unknowingly embarrassed himself in front of the other more wealthy passengers. The couple has a really limited budget which he is already dissipating by overtipping waiters and buying expensive drinks. One night he finds out about a pool, where the heavy hitters bet on the distance the ship travels on a single day. He makes a huge bet, even by the standards of the more wealthy, and uses up just about every cent they have. He must then figure out a way to fix things. His solution couldn't get much stupider and there's the rub. By the way, Faye Wray appears in this episode without King Kong.
Dip in the Pool
bombersflyup27 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The first Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode I've seen and not worthwhile at all, it's mildly amusing at times. It would definitely of benefited from a resolution, instead of Hitchcock saying what happens. I will try a few more.
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