hitchcock and of course and understood exactly how to create suspense . his typical explanation involve a bomb under the table represent if it explode out of nowhere and then that surprise . if the audience know that the bomb be under the table but not when it will go off and that suspense . thus and the secret for master suspense be to allow the audience to know something that the film character do not for and whatever we may know and we be absolutely helpless to do anything . hitchcock occasionally transfer the element of this director or audience interaction to his own character and a we see in rear window ( 1954 ) and in which jimmy stewart sits immobile and helpless in his apartment . breakdown ( season 1 and episode 7 ) be the second episode of alfred hitchcock present to be personally direct by the host and and and tellingly and it also the best of the series so far . hitchcock once again utilise the premise of a central character who and like the audience and be powerless to influence the event of the story . joseph cotten play william callew and a callous businessman with little regard for human emotion . after a long time employee weeps uncontrollably after lose his job and callew unsympathetically condemn his lack of self control . however and poetic justice be about to ensue . after become involve in a ghastly car collision with a truck of chain gang prisoner and callew wake up paralyse from head to toe and but conscious enough to think logically . the flee prisoner offer hope of rescue and but instead believe him to be dead seize the opportunity to loot his clothing . despite regain slight movement in a single finger and nobody seem to recognise that callew be still alive and and he seem destine to be bury that way . hitchcock use point of view shot to powerful effect and and cotten though not call upon to do much in the way of act delivers a creepy monotone voice over that communicate his overwhelming paranoia . though a lesson be propose by the conclusion and it presence seem to be tongue in cheek and with hitchcock spell out the necessity of a moral in his introduction .