Alfred Hitchcock Presents1955

[introduction]

Alfred Hitchcock:
Good evening, students of the macabre. This evening's lecture has as its text the short story "De Mortuis" translated from the Latin. This means "about the dead." At the risk of being facetious, I would like to point out that Latin is a dead language. Thank you. It is rewarding to know that there are still a few students interested in achieving high marks. If you can't hear me in the back of the room, please raise your hand and adjust the volume control. Regrettably, the author wrote only his title in Latin, and did the story in English. Writers are always compromising to attain commercial success. I shall leave it to your judgment as to whether or not it would have sounded better in Latin.