Very well done. If there were any sort of ironies is that the other Felix Unger, Jack Lemmon from the film version, just a few years later played a hapless drunk in 'Save the Tiger'. Randall was at his best in this episode. Very powerful and really a timeless tale of the woes of alcoholism. You had the whole nine yards , the white collar pressures, the social yen for a drink or two or more in a business situation, and of course the progression of a working stiff gradually falling into the abyss. I believe this episode like so many others from Mr. Hitchcock was a commentary on life as well as a lesson. I also liked the couple of touches of how little people cared for Pervis plight. The bartender at the hotel ultimately wanted some money when he should have cut off Pervis. Pervis coworker smooth talked him just to get some money back on money he laid out for Mr. Pervis. This episode , perhaps showed how people truly are wrapped up in their own petty little lives and perhaps , this is what led Pervis to drink. Interesting fodder. Just a wonderful episode but it was a little draggy at times. I can only imagine that this was a pivotal point in society , when ' The one for the road' transitioned to taboo and lets have a designated driver. I am totally guessing, but come to that conclusion because of Mr. Hitchcocks poignant monologue at the end of the episode. Never the less interesting and an episode to have a 'drink' to.... provided I am not driving of course.
14 Reviews
The morning after the night before
sol-kay13 November 2011
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Excellent depiction of the evils and destructiveness of alcoholism by the "Master" Alfred Hitchcock himself. Hitchcock who does the prologue and epilogue of his hour long drama series even refrains from his usual joking at the conclusion of "Hangover" and seriously tells the audience about what booze can do to you. If like the star of the episode Tony Randell, as Madison Ave advertisement executive Hadley Purvis, you let it get control of your life.
Waking up with a king size hangover Hadley Purvis can't seem to get his bearings straight. Something just isn't right with him. He can't seem to remember what happened to him over the last 24 hours of his life. It's as if that time was erased from his conciseness. It's during the rest of the Alfred Hitchcock episode that Hadley slowly regains his memory and it's to reveal to him the most shocking and destructive 24 hours of his entire life. So shocking that it can drive him back to drink if he can still find any more booze left in his house which he all but consumed.
There's Hadley long suffering wife Sandra, Dodie Heath, who threatened to leave him if he keeps on drinking who just seemed to have evaporated into thin air. Did she finally leave him after his latest bender? There's also the gorgeous Marion, Jayne Mansfield, who Hadley was picked up by at the local ginmill after he was almost thrown out for demanding drinks after the bar's happy hour was over. What was Marion doing in his house? What would happen if Sandra showed up and found her there all alone with him?
Hadley later find out that he was fired from his job at the advertisement agency by making a total jerk of himself at a meeting where he was the feature speaker. Getting smashed on gin and vodka Hadley completely drunk and out of it almost fell on his head trying to push the latest car his agency was promoting! That's while he was too drunk to even stand on his feet much less talk coherently.
***SPOILERS*** The final shock to Hadley's system was this silk scarf that he bought for his wife Sandra to make up for all the trouble he caused her. Hadley didn't even realize that he bought the scarf until he found a receipt for it in his wallet. In Hadley's booze soaked mind the scarf would prove to him and Sandra he was in fact sober. Sober enough to spend his last $10.00 for something else then a bottle of booze. But were is it?
***MAJOR SPOILER*** Checking out his basement Hadley finally finds the scarf that he bought for Sandra as some kind of peace offer to her. He found all right it where he last put It: Tightly wrapped around Sandra's neck!
Waking up with a king size hangover Hadley Purvis can't seem to get his bearings straight. Something just isn't right with him. He can't seem to remember what happened to him over the last 24 hours of his life. It's as if that time was erased from his conciseness. It's during the rest of the Alfred Hitchcock episode that Hadley slowly regains his memory and it's to reveal to him the most shocking and destructive 24 hours of his entire life. So shocking that it can drive him back to drink if he can still find any more booze left in his house which he all but consumed.
There's Hadley long suffering wife Sandra, Dodie Heath, who threatened to leave him if he keeps on drinking who just seemed to have evaporated into thin air. Did she finally leave him after his latest bender? There's also the gorgeous Marion, Jayne Mansfield, who Hadley was picked up by at the local ginmill after he was almost thrown out for demanding drinks after the bar's happy hour was over. What was Marion doing in his house? What would happen if Sandra showed up and found her there all alone with him?
Hadley later find out that he was fired from his job at the advertisement agency by making a total jerk of himself at a meeting where he was the feature speaker. Getting smashed on gin and vodka Hadley completely drunk and out of it almost fell on his head trying to push the latest car his agency was promoting! That's while he was too drunk to even stand on his feet much less talk coherently.
***SPOILERS*** The final shock to Hadley's system was this silk scarf that he bought for his wife Sandra to make up for all the trouble he caused her. Hadley didn't even realize that he bought the scarf until he found a receipt for it in his wallet. In Hadley's booze soaked mind the scarf would prove to him and Sandra he was in fact sober. Sober enough to spend his last $10.00 for something else then a bottle of booze. But were is it?
***MAJOR SPOILER*** Checking out his basement Hadley finally finds the scarf that he bought for Sandra as some kind of peace offer to her. He found all right it where he last put It: Tightly wrapped around Sandra's neck!
Day Of Wine and Roses meets Sid Lumet's The Morning After
searchanddestroy-13 January 2021
I agree when someone else says that this TV story shows the best of Tony Randall, as excellent as Jack Lemmon was in the Blake Ewards 's masterpiece or even Ray Milland in Billy Wilder's LOST WEEK END. This story is so compelling, so character inner deep depiction. Watch out for the conference scene, when Randall speaks to the executives. Poignant, sad, but so powerful, even not at all in the usual ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS manner, I agree about that. But who cares?
"Hangover" will leave you with one....
chuck-reilly4 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Occasionally, Alfred Hitchcock would forgo the usual mystery and suspense formula and give his audience a dose of reality in the form of a public service story. In "Hangover", Tony Randall plays Hadley Purvis, an out-of-control but still functioning alcoholic who also happens to be a top advertising executive. How he functions at all is beyond anyone's guess since Purvis can't occupy any of his time without a stiff drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Despite his wife's admonishments (Dodie Heath as Mrs. Purvis), he continues his merry ways at all hours of the day and night, eventually landing in "hot water" with his company. Soused to the gills, Purvis completely blows an important presentation in front of his firm's biggest client and gets fired in the process. Naturally, that's only the beginning of his problems as Purvis' real "hangover" enters the picture.
At the end of this absorbing tale of woe, Hitchcock does his best to inform the audience that what they've witnessed could happen to anybody, especially if they're drinking as much as Hadley Purvis. Jayne Mansfield is also present in the cast as an attractive and sympathetic girlfriend who can plainly see that Purvis is about to fall into a bottomless abyss. She's lucky to escape with her life, which is more than can be said for Purvis' long-suffering significant other. Of special note is the late Ms. Mansfield short blonde hairdo; she never looked better than she does here. Her acting skills were always under-rated and unappreciated and she handled her difficult role in this episode with a high degree of professionalism. As for Randall, he's highly believable as the drunken and doomed Purvis and delivers a stellar performance.
At the end of this absorbing tale of woe, Hitchcock does his best to inform the audience that what they've witnessed could happen to anybody, especially if they're drinking as much as Hadley Purvis. Jayne Mansfield is also present in the cast as an attractive and sympathetic girlfriend who can plainly see that Purvis is about to fall into a bottomless abyss. She's lucky to escape with her life, which is more than can be said for Purvis' long-suffering significant other. Of special note is the late Ms. Mansfield short blonde hairdo; she never looked better than she does here. Her acting skills were always under-rated and unappreciated and she handled her difficult role in this episode with a high degree of professionalism. As for Randall, he's highly believable as the drunken and doomed Purvis and delivers a stellar performance.
Tony Randall plays a non-nice guy role!
planktonrules1 May 2021
Usually Tony Randall played nice guys in film and TV as well as the lovable nut, Felix Unger. However, his character in this installment of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" is a HUGE departure for him! In "Hangover" he plays an alcoholic...and an occasionally shockingly violent one...something you just don't expect from this actor!
When the story begins, Hadley (Randall) is having cooking sherry for breakfast....a 'morning pick me up'. This is because he has a hangover and his body is craving liquor. When his wife catches him, she tells him he's an alcoholic and she'll leave him next time he gets drunk. While he denies it, he clearly is an alcoholic and soon goes off on a bender...a really bad one. It's so bad that he's blacked out and doesn't have any idea what's happened...who the new woman (Jayne Mansfield) is in his home nor about what happened at the big sales presentation at work. He cannot recall any of it...though through the course of the show he's able to piece things together...and none of them are good!
While I would agree that this episode goes on a bit too long (the switch to the one hour format was, in hindsight, a mistake for the series), it is shocking and makes a big impact. It also shows that Randall could act far beyond the usual 'nice guy' roles. Shocking...definitely...and the end hits you like a brick and nearly had me in tears.
When the story begins, Hadley (Randall) is having cooking sherry for breakfast....a 'morning pick me up'. This is because he has a hangover and his body is craving liquor. When his wife catches him, she tells him he's an alcoholic and she'll leave him next time he gets drunk. While he denies it, he clearly is an alcoholic and soon goes off on a bender...a really bad one. It's so bad that he's blacked out and doesn't have any idea what's happened...who the new woman (Jayne Mansfield) is in his home nor about what happened at the big sales presentation at work. He cannot recall any of it...though through the course of the show he's able to piece things together...and none of them are good!
While I would agree that this episode goes on a bit too long (the switch to the one hour format was, in hindsight, a mistake for the series), it is shocking and makes a big impact. It also shows that Randall could act far beyond the usual 'nice guy' roles. Shocking...definitely...and the end hits you like a brick and nearly had me in tears.
"It's the beginning of the end and you don't know it!"
classicsoncall30 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This was an unusual role for Tony Randall, who you usually associate with affable, good guy characters like Felix Unger from "The Odd Couple". He did a good job here as an alcoholic plateau drinker in this story of an ad executive about to lose his wife because of his addiction. Totally wasted while giving an important sales presentation (did you get a load of that futuristic Colton car?), Hadley Purvis (Randall) is fired by his fuming boss (Tyler McVey), having reached the end of his rope with Hadley's embarrassing performance. The episode traces Hadley's bouts with memory loss following his drinking binges, with one in particular landing him at home with a woman (Jayne Mansfield) he picked up in a bar, while his wife Sandy (Dodie Heath) is nowhere in sight. Attempting to reconstruct events of the past day or two, Purvis is finally met with the grisly realization that his drinking was more than just way out of control. Host of the series, Alfred Hitchcock himself, dispenses with his usually humorous epilog to opine on the curse of alcoholism with a sobering commentary, something he did now and then in the interest of public service.
Jayne Mansfield
CherCee28 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I am watching Hangover right now, and seeing Jayne Mansfield in this episode talking to Tony Randall, I can see a resemblance between Jayne and her daughter Mariska Hargitay. They show her in profile looking up at Tony, and I can see it in her jawline and mouth, especially.
Tony did a great job of portraying someone who is hitting rock bottom hard. He screwed up at his business presentation to a very important client, too drunk up to give a coherent speech and totally ruined it for his company and was fired for it. His wife tried to talk to him about his problem, but he totally ignored her, and *she* paid the price for it. Jayne is good as the woman he picks up at a bar. She looks very sleek and sophisticated, and she is a good actress. All around, a great episode with a sad twist at the end.
Tony did a great job of portraying someone who is hitting rock bottom hard. He screwed up at his business presentation to a very important client, too drunk up to give a coherent speech and totally ruined it for his company and was fired for it. His wife tried to talk to him about his problem, but he totally ignored her, and *she* paid the price for it. Jayne is good as the woman he picks up at a bar. She looks very sleek and sophisticated, and she is a good actress. All around, a great episode with a sad twist at the end.
No Hope for the Future
Hitchcoc7 May 2023
I don't know how to write about this. I have had experiences during my life dealing with alcoholics. It's a disease but it is also a killer of dreams and bodies. Tony Randall is quite the drunk. He has been a successful ad man who has functioned despite being cranked up all the time. His wife has put up with him. His colleagues have given him chance after chance. But eventually the you know what hits the fan. Of course, number one on the hit parade for alcoholics is to blame everyone else and not admit you have a problem. This is really hard to watch as this smug jerk makes no effort to help himself. I feel bad. After seeing "Requiem for a Dream" recently, which drags us through the pit of drug addiction, this just tacks on some more.
Too much of a bad thing
HEFILM14 October 2013
Fans of Mansfield and Randall's comedy work would/will be surprised to see what good dramatic actors they are. Especially Mansfield--though she has a fairly small part here. She's terrific, perhaps the most real she ever was on film.
The episode seems frequently plot less, just scene after scene of Tony getting or being drunk--at first it seems like this might be played for laughs--as the stock music suggests--but it's not.
The whole thing revolves--though it doesn't seem to move at all--around an endless series of flashbacks to how his character literally lost his wife one drunken night. Especially overlong and painful is a scene with him trying to sell an ad campaign for a stupid looking space age car. It is painful to watch Randall in a good way an uncomfortable way in these situations but they just go on and on and on. The stuff involving his work isn't very convincing.
I suppose this is all a kind of Hitchcock DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES but it doesn't really work as you just start to dislike Randall's character and, though the end is horrifying, they just lose any thread of suspense or crime for far too long before that. What little does happen actually gets a bit confusing as each scene goes on for far too long.
You can look elsewhere for better suspense stories and certainly for better addiction dramas. The script is the fault here.
Yes, a shorter running time would have helped. Fans of the lead actors tune in to watch them but you'll tune out before it's over or probably wish you had.
Hithcock's "serious" wrap up comments still contain a grain of humor, as does a funny jab at network TV shows that starts the episode.
The episode seems frequently plot less, just scene after scene of Tony getting or being drunk--at first it seems like this might be played for laughs--as the stock music suggests--but it's not.
The whole thing revolves--though it doesn't seem to move at all--around an endless series of flashbacks to how his character literally lost his wife one drunken night. Especially overlong and painful is a scene with him trying to sell an ad campaign for a stupid looking space age car. It is painful to watch Randall in a good way an uncomfortable way in these situations but they just go on and on and on. The stuff involving his work isn't very convincing.
I suppose this is all a kind of Hitchcock DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES but it doesn't really work as you just start to dislike Randall's character and, though the end is horrifying, they just lose any thread of suspense or crime for far too long before that. What little does happen actually gets a bit confusing as each scene goes on for far too long.
You can look elsewhere for better suspense stories and certainly for better addiction dramas. The script is the fault here.
Yes, a shorter running time would have helped. Fans of the lead actors tune in to watch them but you'll tune out before it's over or probably wish you had.
Hithcock's "serious" wrap up comments still contain a grain of humor, as does a funny jab at network TV shows that starts the episode.
The Hangover
myemail33399928 October 2006
Not the best entry in the hour Hitchcock series. Tony Randall was fine, but this "play" progressed quite slowly; would've been better- suited for one of Hitch's 30 minute episodes a la "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." The single-most redeeming aspect of "The Hangover" was the sight of voluptuous Jayne Mansfield. Shedding her usual gargantuan, stiff hairdo, she sported a short,Italian cut popular at the time. I don't think she ever looked more attractive. Her acting was very decent; actually, I'd say it was quite good.
The show ended with Hitchcock preaching against the evils of alcoholism.This message was quite ironic,I thought, because in the majority of his two series-- hundreds of episodes, I would venture to speculate, one or more characters eventually grabbed a bottle of booze and mixed a drink in their home in suburbia or sat at a public bar and tossed back a few. In its own way, the show PROMOTED drinking/alcoholism-- just as it did smoking (as did many movies and TV shows of that era).
The show ended with Hitchcock preaching against the evils of alcoholism.This message was quite ironic,I thought, because in the majority of his two series-- hundreds of episodes, I would venture to speculate, one or more characters eventually grabbed a bottle of booze and mixed a drink in their home in suburbia or sat at a public bar and tossed back a few. In its own way, the show PROMOTED drinking/alcoholism-- just as it did smoking (as did many movies and TV shows of that era).
Missing the point
rmreddicks5 October 2020
Fun Times With Alcohol
sneedsnood16 May 2015
Even big fans of Tony Randall might not have any patience with this really bad episode. He plays an obnoxious, staggering drunk throughout, and is not the least bit entertaining doing so. Some scenes are apparently meant to be funny, staged back when being an alcoholic was a laughing matter. He wakes up one morning to find Jayne Mansfield in his bed instead of his sourpuss wife, and the rest of the show consists of predictable flashbacks that show us how he drank, drank, drank and drank some more to finally get where he is. Every scene shows him making and drinking martinis, which gets old quickly. Teaming Randall with Mansfield took little imagination, since they played essentially the same roles in "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter" a year or two earlier. Jayne is already on the downside of her career here, looking overweight and not at all attractive in short, short, short hair. This viewer was/is a big Jayne Mansfield fan, finding her far more intriguing and interesting than rival Marilyn, but she makes almost no impression here. Considering the two big stars at hand, this is really disappointing.
Slack Misfire
dougdoepke11 June 2015
Viewers expecting the usual Hitchcock trademarks may be disappointed. There's no suspense, nor guesswork, nor real plot, while an ironic ending is dropped in like an afterthought. Purvis (Randall) is a middle-class alcoholic, no falling down drunk here. Instead, the ad-man finesses his addiction behind a cocktail façade. Showing how this addiction leads to ruin amounts to the storyline, which unfortunately just unfolds rather than builds. Also, much is told through poorly blended flashbacks that muddy story progression instead of clarifying.
Randall, of course, is a natural for these white-collar types. Trouble here is his ad-man shows the addiction without the painful craving. Instead, liquor is always available, so we see inebriated behavior minus the empty craving. That's likely the fault of the script, and is especially glaring since the story's meant to be a warning. Then too, reviewer HEFILM is correct. There's considerable padding within the time frame, especially in Purvis's overdrawn stage presentation. Too bad 50's icon Mansfield's career is on the downgrade that she would accept such a marginal role a hundred lesser names could have filled. Then too, she was a much better actress than her ample measurements would suggest. Looks also like she's trying to reboot with that head-hugging blonde bob.
Anyway, the entry's heart is in the right place, but the narrative's poorly done, and certainly of questionable type for a Hitchcock episode.
Randall, of course, is a natural for these white-collar types. Trouble here is his ad-man shows the addiction without the painful craving. Instead, liquor is always available, so we see inebriated behavior minus the empty craving. That's likely the fault of the script, and is especially glaring since the story's meant to be a warning. Then too, reviewer HEFILM is correct. There's considerable padding within the time frame, especially in Purvis's overdrawn stage presentation. Too bad 50's icon Mansfield's career is on the downgrade that she would accept such a marginal role a hundred lesser names could have filled. Then too, she was a much better actress than her ample measurements would suggest. Looks also like she's trying to reboot with that head-hugging blonde bob.
Anyway, the entry's heart is in the right place, but the narrative's poorly done, and certainly of questionable type for a Hitchcock episode.
A major curiosity piece that tried and failed.
laterthatday-7606117 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Well, what can we say. If you want the ultimate nerdy, fastidious, wimpy Felix Ungar prototype's fantasy, he would go on a bender and wake up the next morning with Jayne Mansfield next to or near him.
That being said, the casting in this out of place Hitchcock episode of the early 60's is fascinating only for the role pick of Tony Randall.
Is he really the type to go down in psychotic flames awash in endless booze binges? I think not. It should have been Richard Conte or some such serious character actor of that period. (Come to think of it, Conte was excellently cast in one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes) Anyway, I agree with some other reviewers about Jayne M. She looked beautiful in that unusual short-short Italian style hair do. Probably was influenced by Jean Seburg's super cute look in the then recently acclaimed French new wave Jean Loc Goddard film "Breathless".
In any event, yes. She was on the down slope and out of "A" list projects. It was crazy to see her so briefly. I swear though I never saw more of her daughter in her eyes then in those short scenes that existed. Very compelling and of course, given her later destiny, sad.
Tony Randall, you were and shall always be the inimitable Felix Ungar. This earlier project was not a high water mark.
Jack Lemmon was somehow later on in his life able to pull it off amazingly, with "Save the Tiger". This Hitchcock episode remains a curiosity piece. And yes, the hour format in this case was a mistake.
That being said, the casting in this out of place Hitchcock episode of the early 60's is fascinating only for the role pick of Tony Randall.
Is he really the type to go down in psychotic flames awash in endless booze binges? I think not. It should have been Richard Conte or some such serious character actor of that period. (Come to think of it, Conte was excellently cast in one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes) Anyway, I agree with some other reviewers about Jayne M. She looked beautiful in that unusual short-short Italian style hair do. Probably was influenced by Jean Seburg's super cute look in the then recently acclaimed French new wave Jean Loc Goddard film "Breathless".
In any event, yes. She was on the down slope and out of "A" list projects. It was crazy to see her so briefly. I swear though I never saw more of her daughter in her eyes then in those short scenes that existed. Very compelling and of course, given her later destiny, sad.
Tony Randall, you were and shall always be the inimitable Felix Ungar. This earlier project was not a high water mark.
Jack Lemmon was somehow later on in his life able to pull it off amazingly, with "Save the Tiger". This Hitchcock episode remains a curiosity piece. And yes, the hour format in this case was a mistake.
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