Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) The Equalizer (1958) User Reviews

Challenging the man to a duel!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 31 March 2021]

Shortly after the story begins, Eldon (Martin Balsam) and his wife are at some sort of affair for his job. A new salesman (Leif Erickson) is there and following the party, Eldon begins interrogating his wife about whether she thinks the salesman is handsome. It seems that Eldon is jealous and the episode shows no instance where the wife is acting inappropriate in any way with the salesman....which makes it weird when it later turns out she IS. It's as if part of the episode is missing. What follows though is very, very good as Eldon insists that the salesman fight him...even though clearly Erickson is huge and could pulverize the guy. Keep watching...it ends very well and with a nice but tragic twist.

Apart from the missing part where the wife falls for the man (which makes the episode a bit strange), it is a very good episode and one you'll likely remember.

Win at what cost?

[talonjensen · 8/10 · 11 July 2018]

I liked this more than most of the other reviewers. In my mind it is a simple case of a short man (5'7") who has always felt challenged because of his below average height. This rings true with me because I grew up with a similar friend. He did anything he could to compensate, even telling me at age 12 that he would marry a woman much taller than himself, so none of his children would be as short as he was. He did marry a woman 8 inches taller than he was.

In this story there are no sympathetic characters, the little man, the tall man and the wife are all unlikable. In my opinion, this enhances the story, I don't always need to relate or like a character to enjoy a story.

SPOILER: In the case of the story, the little man (mentally and actually) decides he must win at any cost. Of course, he defines winning as he wishes, not to win back his wife, but to hurt the tall man, even if it means his own death.

Updated - I finally saw this, I still have a question

[cpotato1010 · 6/10 · 14 May 2019]

Update - MeTV decided to show this between season 3 episodes 31 and 32. I thought they had skipped it.

Having finally seen this, I was not as impressed as I thought I would be.

The setup seems forced, to give us what we think will be a duel that will allow the little guy an even chance.

It turns out that the big guy really was a bit of a blowhard, and a coward, to boot. Instead of a fair duel, Wayne shoots Eldon from hiding.

Eldon still has the last laugh, as it were, since it is obvious to the police that Wayne did not kill Eldon in self-defense.

The question remains-

Did this in any way inspire the ending of Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino (2008)

Or is it too generic, just another way of the principle character sacrificing themselves, whether for grand or puerile reasons?

Well Done Up to the End

[dougdoepke · 8 October 2010]

That opening scene is a little gem of economy in setting up the story conflict. Note how expertly the script, acting, and direction set up the threat big, handsome Wayne (Erickson) poses to the average looking Eldon's (Balsam) ego and to his wife's (Crane) loyalties. Now Eldon has to prove himself against the bigger man; at the same time, he throws caution and everything else to the wind.

It's a straight drama. There's no horror or mystery, but the premise is compelling as we wonder how the conflict will turn out. The screenplay includes a couple of subtle ironies. However, I'm particularly impressed with Erickson's nicely nuanced egotist— my sympathies began to waver as a result. My only reservation is with an ending that appears to raise more questions than it answers. As a result, it didn't work very well for me. Nonetheless, there's enough trademark suspense to keep you glued.

In passing-- According to IMDb, Balsam's appearance here was the basis for Hitchcock's casting him as the ill-fated detective Arbogast in the classic Psycho (1960).

Slightly above average equalizer

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 4 December 2022]

"The Equalizer" is the tenth of twelve 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes directed by James Neilson. Most of Neilson's episodes of the series were above average, with a few very good to great ones, with "Reward to Finder" being a season high point. He also had the odd disappointment, with "The Percentage" immediately standing out in this regard. Season 3, like the previous two, had its misses, but also had a lot of solid and more (the best outstanding) episodes to make it a solid enough season.

As far as Season 3 goes, "The Equalizer" is somewhere bang in the middle. Not one of the best (i.e. "The Glass Eye", "Reward to Finder" when talking about the previous episodes), and not one of the worst (i.e. "Sylvia"). When it comes to Neilson's episodes, it is again not one of his best or worst. Though a big improvement over "The Percentage". It is a decent, slightly above average episode in my view that starts off very, very well, but loses momentum when running out of gas.

Starting with the good things, Leif Erikson is excellent and gives the character intensity and nuance. Although he is not a likeable character and essentially meant to be the adversary, he was for me actually the most rootable and most interesting character by the end. Martin Balsam gives his all in his role, though the character himself is problematically written. The character chemistry has a good deal of tension and great fun to watch. Hitchcock's bookending is entertainingly droll.

Furthermore, Neilson directs assuredly and seems at ease with the material. Or at least in the first half. "The Equalizer" starts off incredibly well, with great intriguing set up that doesn't take too long and a good amount of suspense. While not lavish, then again that was not needed, the production values are still appealing and have atmosphere. The theme tune is iconic.

However, the second half wasn't as strong. The pace drags as a result of the plotting becoming thinner and the dialogue, that was thought probing and concise, becoming too heavy on the talk. So there was an over stretched feeling later and like the episode was too long.

Do agree about the ending being a let down, very anaemic and vague with more questions than answers, a sort of ending that this viewer does not like especially in a type of story where a well rounded resolution is needed. While not having a problem with Balsam's acting, his character is very annoying and "The Equalizer" in my view goes way too far in making his character as unlikeable as possible by exaggerating his negative character traits. A big mistake as he is the character that was meant to be the at the end of the day rootable one, and it unbalances the story significantly.

Overall, above average but very uneven. Great first half, dull second. 6/10.

Great little story with dramatic irony

[sheepandsharks · 8/10 · 14 May 2023]

This isn't a flashy episode, but it is very well-executed and acted. Martin Balsam is always a joy to watch (appearing in many Hitchcock productions as well as 12 Angry Men), and the supporting cast all play their roles perfectly as well. I do wish more emotional weight had been given to the scenes between the husband (Balsam) and wife (Crane), but there is enough narrative to follow along.

I'm rather shocked -- though mostly amused -- at how all of the reviewers who gave low ratings (and even a couple who gave decent ratings) completely missed the meaning of this episode's ending, despite it being spelled out in the dialogue. Let's just say that "the equalizer" refers to THREE separate things in this story.

The irony and resolution would have hit a bit harder with some script rewrites to punch up the dialogue, but it carries weight regardless -- at least, it does if you're familiar enough with literary techniques to pick up on it.

"... I don't know if that's a warning, or a dare."

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 13 September 2021]

Starting out, I'm pretty sure most viewers can sympathize with Martin Balsam's character, Eldon Marsh. The guy appears to be threatened by a new salesman at his firm who has an eye for the ladies, and one of those ladies is Eldon's wife (Norma Crane). We don't really find that out until near the end of the story, which seemed a little odd, because there's no real indication that the both of them were fooling around. Now unless Eldon had a fatal death wish, I can't understand why he would challenge Wayne Phillips (Leif Erickson) to a gun duel and then not bring one. That's taking his revenge a little bit too far, even if it meant setting up Phillips for a murder charge. Not all these Hitchcock episodes had a rational explanation, and this seemed to be one of them. I understand that Hitch liked Balsam enough to cast him later on in 1960's "Psycho". But I wonder if he gave an off hand nod to actress Norma Crane in that picture by giving his lead actress Janet Leigh the name of Marion Crane.

Flat and Uninspired.

[rmax304823 · 4/10 · 12 May 2012]

I don't believe anyone topped Martin Balsam as an ordinary New Yorker or Leif Erikson as a blustering blowhard but they can't save this unfocused story that ends in a big let down.

Balsam belongs to a golf club and is given to bragging about his prowess on the links, shaking his putter (or whatever it is) and repeatedly calling it his "equalizer" because it allows him to beat men who are bigger and stronger than he is. All the "equalizer" business has nothing whatever to do with the story.

Enter the tall and burly Erikson, an affable, smooth-talking salesman for the same company. Balsam doesn't like him. One of the reasons is that Balsam has developed the conviction that Erikson is boffing Balsam's wife. There is no evidence of this but I suppose it's true because, the wife suddenly admits it in an off hand way towards the end. The revelation comes out of the blue.

By this time Balsam is furious. He gets drunk and picks a fight with Erikson in the club house. He gets decked for his trouble. So he gets the bright idea of challenging Erikson to a duel with pistols on the roof top. Erikson has so far been behaving the way any normal man might -- brushing off Balsam's insults and challenges. "Aww, he's just drunk, that's all." For some reason, though, he accepts the roof top challenge. When Erikson shows up, Balsam advances on him threateningly and Erikson plugs him twice. The surprise ending has Erikson arrested for murder because, in fact, Balsam was unarmed.

And that's it. Jealous man provokes someone into killing him and gets revenge that way. The story might have been enthralling had it been compressed into ten minutes.

Self Destruction

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 27 June 2013]

I don't know what to make of Martin Balsam's character. He is a jealous, arrogant little man. We see that he attempts to dominate his wife, but she seems to have the last word. Along comes Leif Erickson's blowhard salesman, who begins to take a shine to all the attractive ladies in the office. He is a player and doesn't think there's anything wrong with leaping at a chance for a little hanky panky. At first I thought Balsam's wife was innocent, that the story would be about his insane, unjustified jealousy. As it happens, she does shack up with the big lump and then, when confronted, tells Balsam she is leaving him. Now he needs to incite revenge. Unfortunately, he is so unbelievable and such a pest, we begin to feel sorry for his adversary. He levels the playing field by proposing a duel with guns (the equalizer). The result is utterly unsatisfying.

Confused

[utg14 · 4/10 · 28 August 2023]

First off let me say I didn't like this episode. It's one of those Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes where there are no likable characters and nothing fun happens at any time. It leaves me feeling deflated and unsatisfied after watching. That's not good entertainment in my opinion.

That out of the way, I'm very confused by all these other reviewers claiming Balsam's wife cheating on him "came out of nowhere." Literally every scene she had foreshadows it and lends credence to his jealous suspicions. In the opening scene the camera lingers on her reaction as Leif Erickson flirts with some other guy's wife. She's clearly jealous. The following scene where her husband tries to prod her into admitting she finds the guy attractive, we can again see by her acting that she is intrigued by him and is trying not to let on to that fact to Balsam. Then again at the club as she's leaving she lingers around waiting to make eye contact with Erickson, who then follows her out. It's all there. I really don't understand the criticism that this particular part of the story makes no sense, unless it is viewers predisposed to expecting twists getting ahead of the story and being let down when it doesn't go where they wanted. Anyway, the episode stinks. Also to answer the other guy Gran Torino was not the first time that kind of suicidal ending was used, nor was this. I've seen it in plenty of westerns and crime films.