Bang! You're Dead Review - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Cori aka ChrisSCrush · 03-15-2026, 04:28 PM

The 1961 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Bang! You’re Dead” is riveting from start to finish.

The action follows Jackie Chester, a five-year-old boy, played by Billy Mumy. Although only seven years old when this was filmed, Billy was not a newcomer, having eleven acting credits before this episode.

Jackie is discouraged because the neighborhood boys will not let him participate in their war game due to his inferior toy gun. Jackie’s uncle, Rick Sheffield, played by Stephen Dunne, arrives from a trip to Africa, telling Jackie’s parents the country was so dangerous he had to sleep with a gun under his pillow.

Uncle Rick tells Jackie he has a surprise for him later. He then leaves his suitcase open and leaves the room. Wanting his surprise right away, Jackie searches the suitcase and finds Uncle Rick’s gun, which he assumes is the surprise and substitutes for his own. Shortly after Jackie starts for the local supermarket with some money Uncle Rick gave him, Uncle Rick discovers the gun switch. He and Jackie’s parents, Fred Chester, played by Biff Elliot, and Amy Chester, played by Lucy Prentis, begin a desperate search for Jackie to try to prevent a tragedy.

Jackie, who has taken a pocket full of bullets, begins to load the gun. Sometimes he pulls the trigger and it clicks on an empty chamber, and sometimes he just makes a shooting noise. As the search goes on, Jackie continues to load the gun until every chamber is full.

Among notable things about this episode are that it is one of only seventeen episodes directed by Hitchcock himself. As seven-year-old Billy fidgeted, not staying on his mark during a closeup, Hitchcock threatened, “If you don’t stop moving about, I’m going to get a nail, and nail your feet to your mark. And the blood will come pouring out like milk. So stop moving!” Billy was terrified by a threat which sounded serious, not playful, and remembered the incident forever after as “sadistic.” Billy did two more Hitchcock episodes, “The Door Without a Key,” directed by Herschel Daugherty, and “House Guest,” directed by Alan Crosland Jr. Bill Mumy avoided Alfred Hitchcock for years.

Another notable thing I didn’t notice until this, my second viewing, was that Marta Kristen played the Jiffy Snack Girl in the supermarket. Her scene with Billy was almost certainly their first appearance together four years before they played brother and sister in Lost in Space.

When Alfred Hitchcock Presents, sometimes called The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents, debuted on May 5, 1985, “Bang! You’re Dead” was one of the first four stories featured. The plot was much the same except that a young girl found her uncle’s gun instead of a boy. An adult Bill Mumy appeared as a Supermarket Clerk. I saw this when it aired, so decades before seeing the original.

Both versions are excellent. The tension keeps up even for viewers who have seen the episode before. I highly recommend this.

03-15-2026, 04:28 PM	#1
Cori aka ChrisSCrush Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 30, 2001 Location: USA and still trying to be proud of it! Posts: 2,068	Bang! You're Dead Review The 1961 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Bang! You’re Dead” is riveting from start to finish. The action follows Jackie Chester, a five-year-old boy, played by Billy Mumy. Although only seven years old when this was filmed, Billy was not a newcomer, having eleven acting credits before this episode. Jackie is discouraged because the neighborhood boys will not let him participate in their war game due to his inferior toy gun. Jackie’s uncle, Rick Sheffield, played by Stephen Dunne, arrives from a trip to Africa, telling Jackie’s parents the country was so dangerous he had to sleep with a gun under his pillow. Uncle Rick tells Jackie he has a surprise for him later. He then leaves his suitcase open and leaves the room. Wanting his surprise right away, Jackie searches the suitcase and finds Uncle Rick’s gun, which he assumes is the surprise and substitutes for his own. Shortly after Jackie starts for the local supermarket with some money Uncle Rick gave him, Uncle Rick discovers the gun switch. He and Jackie’s parents, Fred Chester, played by Biff Elliot, and Amy Chester, played by Lucy Prentis, begin a desperate search for Jackie to try to prevent a tragedy. Jackie, who has taken a pocket full of bullets, begins to load the gun. Sometimes he pulls the trigger and it clicks on an empty chamber, and sometimes he just makes a shooting noise. As the search goes on, Jackie continues to load the gun until every chamber is full. Among notable things about this episode are that it is one of only seventeen episodes directed by Hitchcock himself. As seven-year-old Billy fidgeted, not staying on his mark during a closeup, Hitchcock threatened, “If you don’t stop moving about, I’m going to get a nail, and nail your feet to your mark. And the blood will come pouring out like milk. So stop moving!” Billy was terrified by a threat which sounded serious, not playful, and remembered the incident forever after as “sadistic.” Billy did two more Hitchcock episodes, “The Door Without a Key,” directed by Herschel Daugherty, and “House Guest,” directed by Alan Crosland Jr. Bill Mumy avoided Alfred Hitchcock for years. Another notable thing I didn’t notice until this, my second viewing, was that Marta Kristen played the Jiffy Snack Girl in the supermarket. Her scene with Billy was almost certainly their first appearance together four years before they played brother and sister in Lost in Space. When Alfred Hitchcock Presents, sometimes called The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents, debuted on May 5, 1985, “Bang! You’re Dead” was one of the first four stories featured. The plot was much the same except that a young girl found her uncle’s gun instead of a boy. An adult Bill Mumy appeared as a Supermarket Clerk. I saw this when it aired, so decades before seeing the original. Both versions are excellent. The tension keeps up even for viewers who have seen the episode before. I highly recommend this.