On viewing "The Jar" in 2008, one can't approximate the impact it had when watching as it originally aired in the 1960's. Gathering around the black and white TV set, much like the group in Wilder's Hollow, a newly formed ritual back then. Like the characters in the story, we speculated what might be in the jar during the commercial breaks (cause you couldn't fast-forward through them back then). And when the story reached its chilling and ultimately satisfying climax, well, let's just say that it was very hard to sleep that night (and for many nights after). The look on Pat Butram's face gives me shivers even now.Today, we can view the brilliance of the story and the acting: the foreshadowing of the drowned kittens and the boy lost in the swamp, the projection of each viewer of his or her own thoughts or fears, the need to NOT know what lies behind the curtain as a way of maintaining a sense of importance and dignity. All the actors are exceptional, from Pat Butram as the hapless lead, Collin Wilcox as his young, faithless wife, Jane Darwell, William Marshall, George Lindsay, Slim Pickens -- each have their moment to shine. Norman Lloyd's direction is subtle and evocative. This is absolutely my very favorite Hitchcock hour episode, one that is highly recommended.

This is my favorite episode to date. The characters are all very intriguing, the the subject matter "what's in the jar?" could have been very cliche, but somehow this short story had all the right punches of suspense at all the right moments. AND unlike some of Hitchcock's episodes, this one has a real ending... not a pointless cliff hanger, or a wimpy anticlimax. It's good. I dig it.