Paul Henreid directed three 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes prior to "Enough Rope for Two". They being "Vicious Circle", "A Little Sleep" and "Silent Witness", of those three only "A Little Sleep" was good to me. This is through no fault of Henreid, the other two just didn't have particularly good stories. Orher than Henreid directing, the other interest points were seeing a much younger Steven Hill and Jean Hagen as a character very different to the one she plays in 'Singin in the Rain'.
"Enough Rope for Two" could have been much better, the premise was one that could have gone either way because the set up sounded intriguing but even reading the synopsis gave me a strong inkling that the episode could be potentially implausible. Which it sadly was. "Enough Rope for Two" is a long way from being one of the worst 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes, but it is one of the weaker ones for me of Season 3, which settled much quicker in quality than the previous two, and one of the small handful of disappointments from the season's mostly very solid first quarter.
There are good things here. The acting is the best aspect, with Hill doing a sterling job in a steely, charismatic performance. Hagen is every bit as good, being both beguiling and unsettling without overdoing it. Steve Brodie brings the right amount of intensity to his role. Absolutely loved the character interaction and chemistry. Hitchcock's bookending is entertainingly droll.
It looks quite good visually, with the mineshaft bottom shots particularly impressing. Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette" still delights, there are moments of suspense and the ending is surprisingly ironic and wonderfully so.
Just wish however that the story was better, it is just too implausible with too many loose ends and things left vague which really affected the coherence. Not just the storytelling but also the character motivations, some of which being quite stupid and lacking in logic. A longer length would have helped, which would have meant that things would be more fleshed out.
Not only is the implausibility very strong, the routine-ness is too. There are moments of suspense, but only moments that are too outweighed by the too many senseless and silly ones that distracted so much. Henreid's direction generally is uninspired and the episode would have benefitted from a tighter pace, more surprises and dialogue that had more edge and less over heated melodrama.
Concluding, underwhelming. To be seen for the acting but not an episode to see if wanting to see a good story. 5/10.