Incident in a Small Jail story
Traveling salesman Leon Gorwald is arrested for jaywalking in a small town and placed in jail with a suspected serial killer. The suspect escapes just before a lynch mob storms the prison, and Gorwald is mistakenly taken to be hanged, but is saved by the sheriff at the last moment. However, the escaped suspect was an innocent man, and Gorwald is the real killer. Directed by: Norman Lloyd. Story by: Henry Slesar.
8 total · 4 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| crime against the public | major | Leon was jailed for jaywalking and attempted bribery of a police officer. In his monologue, Alfred Hitchcock jested about parking violations. |
| law enforcement | major | A small town sheriff and his deputy were dealing with two prisoners and an angry mob. |
| serial murder | major | Leon was revealed to be the twisted serial slayer of young women. |
| vigilante justice | major | A lynch mob stormed the county jail to administer its own justice to a suspected serial killer. |
| bribery | minor | Leon was jailed for jaywalking and attempted bribery of a police officer. He later tried to bribe the sheriff of the jail. |
| coping with a pedantic authority figure | minor | In the opening scene, Leon was arrested for jaywalking by an overzealous police officer. |
| ironic twist of fate | minor | Leon was about to be lynched in place of the man that the mob actually was after, was saved by the hair of his chin, and then revealed to be the actual culprit after all. |
| picking up a hitchhiker | minor | After his release from jail, the mild-mannered traveling salesman Leon picked up a hitchhiking young woman. Little did she know he was a serial killer. |