["Alfred Hitchcock" theme music]
- Good evening.
Has anyone seen a
steeple run by here?
Horseback riding is
an exhausting sport.
Actually, the riding isn't
tiring, it's getting up here.
The ladder broke twice.
As for getting down,
everyone assures me
that will be no problem.
This horse has thrown
its last five riders.
While I continue with
the steeple chase,
you shall witness a story
about a very strange
type of resort hotel.
It offers a unique service
to a very select clientele.
But first we have
another one-minute egg,
laid by the golden
goose of television.
[siren wailing]
[horn honking]
[people chattering]
[siren wailing]
[dramatic music]
[people screaming]
[people chattering]
- Good afternoon, Mr. Manners.
My card, sir.
I am Mr. J. Smith, of the
Thanatos Palace Hotel.
- How'd you get in?
- The door was unlocked.
I just walked in.
You'll be interested in
what I have to tell you.
- I'm interested in
nothing, go away.
- How's your leg?
- Why do you ask?
- I was afraid you might
have broken it in your fall.
- How dare you.
Leave my house.
- Your house?
- Of course it's mine.
- Isn't the bank foreclosing?
- No.
No, no.
- Isn't the only reason
they haven't foreclosed
to give you a chance to recover
from your ill-fated
suicide attempt?
- Are you from the bank?
- As I told you.
My name is J. Smith, of
the Thanatos Palace Hotel.
I've come to sell
you a great service.
- I'm not interested
in vacations.
- Oh, we wouldn't offer
anything so stupid as a vacation
to a man who's just
tried to k*ll himself.
- Please go away, I haven't
the energy or the will
to force you to leave,
but in decency--
- In decency I've come to you.
With decency I offer you
dignity and self-respect.
The return of your right
to hold your head high.
To walk strong.
- You're a salesman,
nothing but a salesman.
- You still want to die?
- I will not discuss it.
- But not on a lonely,
windswept ledge, like a freak,
with all the world
to gape at you.
- I never saw them.
- [Smith] With the painful
agony of miscalculation.
- [Robert] Please, stop.
- But to die in repose.
To die in comfort and luxury.
To die with a soul
at ease, unafraid,
with no chance of error.
- You're from a cemetery,
commercial cemetery,
you're selling crypts and tombs.
- I sell you an easy death.
- There's no easy suicide.
- You have only to lie
in the sun and play golf.
We will handle all the
details of your death.
- k*ll me?
- Peacefully, painlessly.
- m*rder?
- Suicide is m*rder.
- But it's my life.
- [Smith] It's still your life.
- You can't turn a
nightmare into a dream.
- On cool evenings
after warm days,
in gardens, in croquet courts.
After horseback
riding, swimming.
After you've relaxed,
and don't fear it.
- Fear it?
You think I was afraid?
I was on that ledge, I was
ready to destroy myself.
- But you hesitated.
You waited.
Unsure, uncertain.
In doubt, alone, dying alone.
- But why?
Why would that place--
- The Thanatos Palace Hotel.
- [Robert] Why would
you do that for me?
- We're a public service.
- There must be more.
- Oh, for money, of course.
We have a fixed fee.
No extras, all facilities
come under one flat rate.
Sports, tennis court,
pool, steam baths,
and of course, your
death, for a flat $1000.
- My suicide note.
I had it pinned to my body.
I had it there to tell the
world why I wanted to die.
- [Smith] Our
contract is required.
- No one read it.
They didn't care what I wanted.
- And you also sign a
note absolving the hotel
of the consequences of
any unfortunate accidents.
- Did they?
- I will leave this brochure
for your inspections.
[Robert sighs]
- When I wanted to live,
no one cared if I died.
But when I wanted to die,
everyone wanted me to live.
Why?
- Oh, I'm sorry, sir,
that's a controversial
philosophical or
theological matter.
We don't take sides in
controversial subjects.
We're a hotel.
Now, if you wish our
service, please have
a check ready for me tomorrow.
[somber music]
- Is it everything you say?
- It's even more than
the brochure claims.
We're modest.
[door closes]
[suspenseful music]
- [Driver] There it is.
Thanatos.
- Very good, Mrs. Shaw.
Very good.
Welcome to Thanatos.
My name's Borchter.
General manager, maitre
d'hotel, maitre d'cuisine.
Delighted to see you.
I hope you'll like your room.
Since you didn't state
a preference, we put...
- Is she here for
the same reason I am?
- Certainly.
Since you didn't
state a preference,
we put you on the side
facing the golf course.
It's quite private.
- So young, so much
to look forward to.
- Peaceful death is the
most beautiful gift of life.
- And that woman.
- Mrs. Shaw.
- What about her?
- We never discuss one guest's
personal life with another.
- When will it be done?
- In your sleep.
- I want it done, but I'm
afraid I might never sleep.
- Well when you're
relaxed, at ease,
when you've lost your
dread, you'll sleep.
When you trust us.
You'll sleep when you realize
we wish you only the best.
You will sleep.
- She's beautiful.
Tell me something about her.
[gentle music]
And all I thought
of on the ledge
was that I wouldn't have
to face another day.
But everything was wrong.
- Why?
- Because I meant it
to be a solitary act,
and yet I picked a public place.
[soft piano music]
Whose chair am I
taking at your table?
- A man.
- Do you think of him?
- No.
- Does anyone here miss
anyone else when they leave?
- I don't know.
- It's a perfect
world of detachment.
No obligations.
I suppose just making
the decision to die
is the difference.
- You've made yours?
- [Robert] Why yes, haven't you?
- I've been here six months.
- Six months?
That's impossible.
Borchter said that...
Why, he hasn't
set a time for me.
- He never sets a
time until he feels
a guest's truly at peace.
Until he welcomes death.
- And you've waited six months.
- Well, the wine
steward is a guest,
he's been here three months.
- [Robert] He works here?
- [Ariane] In exchange
for his room and board.
- He changed his mind
after he arrived.
- For Borchter, one
cannot just want death.
It must be a kind
of love, a passion.
- You love life more than death.
- No.
No, why do you say that?
- Six months and you
can't make up your mind.
You yourself say that one
should have a passion for death.
- [sighs] Yes.
- Anything less means that
you should return to life.
- No one is allowed
to leave here.
- [Robert] Do you want
your freedom from Thanatos?
- All I want is to
be unafraid of death.
- Well, why are with afraid?
What is it?
We've come here to die.
- It isn't the dying we fear.
It's the exact moment of
death that terrifies us.
- Yes, that's it, that exact...
When is that moment?
- [Ariane] I don't know.
- Where?
- They don't tell you.
- [Robert] How?
- Please.
- We must find it, we must.
- They don't tell you.
Though in time,
you'll lose your fear.
For some, like me,
it takes months.
For others, only days.
Let me help you.
[gentle music]
Let's help each other.
- I don't want dinner.
I've gotta get out of this room
- Wait for me outside.
I'll tell the maitre d'
to cancel our dinner.
[mysterious music]
He'd like to cancel dinner.
- A problem?
- No no.
I'm sure he'll be ready
in three days at the most.
- Are you certain?
- Have I ever failed you before?
[mysterious music]
[somber music]
- We'll have to talk
in a private place.
- There's no one here.
- Away from the
hotel, out there.
[suspenseful music]
- [Man] Do you have a pass?
- For what?
- To walk in the hills.
- [Robert] Why?
- A safety rule
of Thanatos, sir.
- I've walked in hills before.
- [Man] For the
protection of our guests.
- I'm the judge of
what protection I need.
- These hills are
particularly dangerous.
- You're not going
to stop me from--
- Please.
Please?
[somber music]
- We're prisoners.
- We are.
- We have to do something.
- Don't struggle,
don't fight them.
- I came here of
my own free will.
Borchter can keep the
money, I have a right
to leave of my own free will.
- Do you really want to leave?
- No one has the
power of life or death
over me unless I
want it, no one.
- But if you make
too much trouble,
if they see you too
agitated, they have methods
to calm you down.
- I thought they
only k*lled a guest
when he was content to die.
- Yes, but sometimes, they
use drugs and sedatives,
for the person's own good.
Borchter knows what's best.
- I want to save your life.
- Why?
- Weren't you
trying to save mine?
- Only because I knew
what it would mean
if you argued with the riders.
- You drew me away, weren't
you trying to protect me?
- You could've made
it difficult for me.
- All right, then we won't
see each other anymore.
- No!
- Such a quick and
positive reaction.
- Just, no.
- You care.
- Only in a way.
- But you do.
- They'll wonder why
we've stayed out so long.
- You seem so eager
to please them.
- Only to avoid trouble.
- To prove something.
- [Ariane] Nothing.
Nothing at all.
- Are you the one?
- The one?
What do you mean?
- You're the one
they've sent to k*ll me.
- No.
No!
- [Robert] When I'm not
on guard, without warning.
- Oh, please stop.
- [Robert] A knife.
- Not any way.
- With poison at a quiet
meal, talking of love
and tenderness.
- Listen, hear me.
- And then my death.
- I'm the same as
you, I'm a prisoner.
- [Robert] Just tell me
what you want, tell me.
- I want you to
stop caring for me.
- Well, what difference
could that make?
- Because.
Because.
Because it makes me care.
- [Robert] And then?
- Love can't stop our deaths.
Love can't save our lives.
- But the promise
of it makes us want
to fight for our lives.
- Other men only
wanted me to love them
until I made their death easier.
To ease their own pain.
I was a thing, not a person.
But you could be
my will to live.
- Mrs. Shaw.
Mr. Borchter asked me to
look for you and Mr. Manners,
and say that if you wish
to dance this evening,
the orchestra will be
leaving in an hour.
- Thank Mr. Borchter,
and tell him--
- Tell him that we
appreciate his concern.
Can we get away from here?
- Let's dance a little first.
- I can't.
- Please.
- Ariane, I've got to tell ya.
- Wait.
- I've got to tell ya that
you could be my will to live.
- Don't say that.
Don't say that now.
We're being watched.
You don't know.
- Didn't you hear what I said?
- Yes, I heard you.
I heard you.
Oh, there's so much more.
There's so much you don't know.
- Only know what I see now.
Only know what I feel now.
We've got to escape.
- Oh, we can't risk it.
What time we have,
we must take here.
- I wanna stay with you
in a place that's alive.
I want to live with
you, to be alive.
- The riders are in the
hills day and night.
- Don't you want to find a way?
Don't you want your life?
- Yes.
Yes I do.
Yes.
- You're spending more
time with this one
than you did with the others.
- It's necessary.
- I can't wait too long.
- Well maybe he has more
money to buy his time.
- No.
No, he had to borrow the fee.
He squandered a fortune,
desperately trying
to destroy himself long
before he arrived here.
- I need one or two more days.
- Are you becoming
personally attached to him?
- Of course not.
- You'd be of no use
to me if you were.
- I said I wasn't.
- You make them care too
much, then they cause trouble.
If you let them cause trouble,
they'll be of no
value to Thanatos.
- Give me one more day.
- All right.
Otherwise, I'll have to turn
it over to someone else,
and you'll lose that
amount of credit
toward your board and room.
- Are you threatening me?
- Hmm.
I've never forced anyone to
do anything, you know that.
I'm proud that even in
what I offer people,
they welcome the final act.
- He used to ride
horses a great deal.
- I don't understand.
- I mean, he saw
the stable and asked
if we could go horseback riding.
That was something
he loved to do,
something he dearly loved.
Made him feel free and happy.
- If it speeds up the process.
I'll write you a pass.
[gentle music]
- Thank you, it'll help.
All of us.
- Ariane.
His room is reserved
for another guest
who arrives the
day after tomorrow.
- We have come to
the halfway point,
and now we must turn
around and go back.
We shall proceed with the
second half of our journey
after this word from our
stations, local and otherwise.
- Here's our pass.
- They just left.
You better go.
You have your instructions.
- You don't want them to see
us following them, do you?
- Of course not.
- It'll take them
a lot longer to get
where they're going
than it'll take us.
- He's an odd man, this one.
- I guess.
- He'll be trouble.
- Not for me or my riders.
- You enjoy your
work, don't you?
- The money's good.
- And easy?
- For both of us, Mr. Borchter.
[dramatic music]
- What is it?
Ariane?
- Forgive me.
- Why did you stop?
- [Ariane] Because.
- Yes?
- Don't look at me,
I can only tell you
if you don't look at me.
A man like you, not all
men, but a man like yourself
makes sharp and vivid decisions.
Right or wrong, good
or bad, love or hate,
nothing between life or death.
But some of us wait
for other things,
other people to make
our decision for us.
And I thought when I
came here to this place,
that all my decisions
would be made for me,
there'd be no alternatives,
no choice to make,
and then I found out,
if you were in doubt,
Borchter would let you
buy more time with money,
or services, if you
didn't have the money.
I bought my life by
being a companion
to many men who were guests.
Borchter would have me
bring them happiness.
But you are the first man
who brought happiness to me.
[somber music]
- What do you expect now?
- Whatever you want.
- k*ll you?
To love you.
[gentle music]
[suspenseful music]
- The guards are all around us.
- So far, they only know
we're riding for pleasure.
[suspenseful music]
It's no use, we
need more of a plan.
- They'll report us to Borchter.
- And?
- He might try to do
away with you for this.
- Why?
- Well, people who want
to come to Thanatos
never mention the
place to anyone,
but people running away from
it would report everything.
- Think he might try to
get rid of me tonight?
- He might, he could.
- You too?
- I don't think so.
- How is it done?
- A sedative is given to the
person at night, a strong one,
and then in his sleep,
a lethal gas comes in
through the small vents
along the baseboard.
- The method never changes?
- No, never.
[tense music]
- But precisely where
does your chest hurt?
- There.
I was injured there
once playing polo.
- It could also be referred
pain from the back,
a dislocated vertebrae.
- When I wheeled the
horse, I felt a sharp pull,
like a tendon.
That's it.
- And there?
- Could it be a fractured rib?
- I doubt it.
Tape, please.
You should keep this
on for a few days.
- If it's necessary.
- Of course.
It hurts when you move?
- Very much.
- I can give you some
pills to relieve the pain
so that it won't interfere
with your daily activities.
- No, the tape is enough.
- But sleep will be difficult.
- Yes, muscular pain does
increase at night, doesn't it?
- Why suffer discomfort
when it's unnecessary?
I would like Mr. Manners
to have a sedative tonight.
[ominous music]
[footsteps approaching]
[knocking on door]
- One moment.
[knocking on door]
- Your sedative the
doctor ordered, sir?
- Yes.
[suspenseful music]
[tape ripping]
Good morning, Mr. Borchter.
- You needn't have
taped up these vents
if you weren't ready.
- I didn't realize it
until the sleeping pill
was given to me.
- And you awakened
after you took it?
- Shall I return the
pill to the infirmary?
- That won't be necessary.
If we'd known, or
if you'd let me know
you were so unresolved, I would
never have given
the instructions.
Have a pleasant day.
[somber music]
- He knows.
- He found the tape?
- Yes.
- Then he'll try
to k*ll me tonight.
- We've got to get out.
- We tried.
We tried.
- There must be others
who feel the way we do.
- Well, I don't know.
- What other guests are
there who've been here
longer than the usual time?
- Well, there's Devereau,
the wine steward.
- [Robert] Yes, who else?
- What do you want them for?
- To overpower the
riders, one at a time.
We'll just be a little
party, going for
a barbecue in the hills.
- Borchter would
never let you go.
- No, he's caught
by his own devices.
He wants even me to
receive his happiness
and kindness until the end.
He's sure of his system.
- He has never failed.
- Very interesting colors.
Once in the hills, when we
are innocently cooking dinner
over an open fire, a
Thanatos rider will approach.
He'll be k*lled.
And then we'll put out our
fire and move to another place,
closer to the rim.
Each new fire will
bring a rider.
The death of each Thanatos rider
will bring us closer to life.
- One is watching us.
What if it fails?
- Just get me the right people.
Love me, trust me, cannot fail.
- But if it fails.
- It'll be better
than this pathetic
whimper of life you live here.
This pathetic death
I've picked for myself.
If it fails, the decision will
be made for us in the hills.
A violent one, but with dignity.
Quickly, but at least
with a last sweet taste
of fighting for life.
- There's Devereau.
- We'll need him and
five or six others.
- When?
- Towards sunset.
The darkness will help us.
[somber music]
- Barbecue in the mountains
is a wonderful idea.
I should've thought of it.
- It's only good if
everyone enjoys it.
- I'm sure they will.
- I've never been to
the mountains at sunset.
I hear it's beautiful.
- A lovely idea, Mr. Borchter.
- Thank you.
[horse snorting]
- A lovely spot.
- Haven't been in the
woods since I was a kid.
- First man I ever knew,
the only man I ever loved,
we met in some woods like this.
- Why do they go on
with these things?
Why don't they just do
it and get it over with?
- You don't have to pretend
anymore, no one can hear us.
- Hear us?
- Yes, the Thanatos riders.
You don't have to make it
seem like nothing has changed.
- Seem?
- What do you mean?
- Set up the fire.
You didn't tell them the
real reason they're here?
- I just couldn't.
- Why not?
- I thought it would be
better to get them here
and then you could tell them.
I'm sorry.
I'm not very strong, I told
you that, you know that.
I helped in the way I could.
- Listen, come closer.
There isn't much time.
You were picked for this
trip because all of you
have one strong belief, that
you made a terrible mistake
coming to the
Thanatos Palace Hotel.
- Mistake?
- That you're all unhappy
with your decision.
That you wanna
live, to be alive.
- Silence.
- [Man] Shut up!
- Coming to Thanatosis
the most wonderful thing
that's ever happened to me.
Greater than the love I lost.
- What's that?
- How dare you
outrage our decency.
How dare you defile
what is pure.
- They're hopeless.
Come quickly.
Let's go.
Let's go, Ariane.
[suspenseful music]
[somber music]
- Death makes even an
ugly soul beautiful.
- You mustn't feel
bad, Mrs. Shaw.
This is what he really wanted.
I promised him he'd
die only when he was
no longer afraid of death.
As long as I let him fight
for life, he wasn't afraid.
Oh, I'd rather have
done it my way.
Well.
Some people are like that.
Come.
It's time to go.
- The operators of
the Palace Hotel
and failure to pay
their gas bill.
They all received
substantial sentences.
There was an unhappy cl*max
to my riding experience.
My horse had an accident.
He fell, on me.
Broke my leg.
There was a doctor
present, but unfortunately,
he was the horse's, not mine,
and his only recommendation
was that they sh**t me.
Now, for those of
you who are too busy
to spend an hour
watching our next show,
we shall give you
a capsule version.
It follows this
uncut commercial.
[mischievous music]
[dramatic music]
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