Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) 1.27

Help Wanted

starring John Qualen, Lorne Greene

written by Stanley Ellin, 

directed by James Neilson

Mr. Crabtree (John Qualen) accepts a job working for a mysterious man (Lorne Greene) who hires him to work in an office by himself and write reports. The mysterious employer visits Mr. Crabtree in his office one day and explains to him that he has a new assignment for him. He wants him to kill a man.

Mr. Crabtree doesn't know what to say. He really needs the money he's been making. His wife is sick and needs an operation. The employer has it all figured out. He explains to Mr. Crabtree how it will work. It's foolproof according to his employer but Mr. Crabtree has his doubts.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.26

Whodunit

starring John Williams

written by C. B. Gilford, Francis Cockrell, Marian Cockrell

directed by Francis Cockrell

Author Alexander Arlington (John Williams) arrives in heaven where he learns he was murdered. He has no memory of the incident. He writes mystery novels and desperately wants to know how it happened and who did it. The archangel Wilfred, who is checking Alexander in offers to let him relive his last day on Earth so that he can find out who did it and why. Alexander accepts the offer and moments later wakes up in his bed  the morning of the day he was murdered.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.25

There Was an Old Woman

starring Estelle Winwood

written by Marian Cockrell, Jerry Hackady, Hal Hackady

directed by Robert Stevenson

Frank and Lorna Bramwell smell an opportunity when they learn about Monica Laughton, a rich elderly woman who lives in town. They go to see her but she seems to be hallucinating all sorts of things, including other guests in her home and the body of a relative for whom she says they are holding a funeral.

Frank gets increasingly agitated with the Mrs. Laughton. They wind of staying the night. Mrs. Laughton promises to be more cooperative in the morning. 

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.24

The Perfect Murder

starring Hurd Hatfield, Mildred Natwick

written by Victor Wolfson, Stacy Aumonier

directed by Robert Stevens

Brothers Paul (Hurd Hatfield) and Henri make plans to murder their Aunt Rosalie (Mildred Natwick) after she inherits a tidy sum of money. Paul is much more proactive than Henri but both of them contribute to the murder attempt. Paul's eagerness to do away with his aunt causes him to be a bit too over confident and costs him dearly.

Thoughts

This was fun although I don't think it had enough of a twist for me to call it a favorite. I very much enjoyed the performances by the two lead actors. I'm not sure if everyone would agree with me. 

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.23

Back for Christmas

starring John Williams

written by John Collier, Francis M. Cockrell

directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Herbert Carpenter (John Williams) and his wife Hermione are getting reading to leave England and travel to the United States where they will spend sometime near Los Angeles. Hermione tells everyone that they will be back for Christmas. Herbert has other plans. He goes ahead with those plans and travels to the United States alone. Everything seems fine until he learns that his wife made some plans that she didn't tell him about.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.22

Place of Shadows

starring Everett Sloane

written by Robert C. Dennie

directed by Robert Stevens

Ray Clements goes to a monastery looking for a man who stole some money from him. Clements intends to kill him when he finds him. Father Vincente (Everett Sloane) and Brother Gerard try to convince Clements to give up his quest for revenge. Clements leaves after he gets the money back but not long after that he is attacked and badly injured by another man, Floyd Unser.

Clements shoots and kills Unser. Clements returns to the monastery and asks for help. The police are looking for him. Clements confesses to Father Vincente and Brother Gerard. He tells them the story of what happened after he left the monastery. He admits that they were right about killing. The police decide to leave Clements be considering that Clements only shot Under in self defense.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.21

Safe Conduct

starring Claire Trevor

written by Andrew Solt

directed by Justus Addiss

American journalist Mary Prescott (Claire Trevor) is returning by train from a country that is behind the Iron Curtain when she meets professional soccer player Jan Gubak. He convinces her to sneak a watch across the border for hum. His sister is in Munich and in need of an operation. The watch is a family heirloom that he hopes to sell once the train gets to Munich in the hopes that the sale will raise enough money to pay for the operation. 

Gubak pulls a fast one and calls her out for trying to smuggle the watch. They are both held by the authorities until it is determined that the watch isn't valuable. They are both released at that point and allowed to get back on the train. Jan stops by to see her again. This time with another item that he wants her to smuggle out. This time it is really something of value, the memoirs of the organizer of an anti-communist group who recently died in prison. 

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.20

And So Died Riabouchinska

starring Claude Rains

written by Ray Bradbury, Mel Dinelli

directed by Robert Stevenson

Police Detective Krovitch discovers something stranger than murder when he investigates the death of a man named Ockham whose body was found in the basement of a theater. Krovitch learns that Ockham was there to see John Fabian (Claude Rains), a ventriloquist. Alice, Fabian's wife, was having an affair with Mel Douglas, his manager. That wasn't why Ockham came to see Fabian or why Ockham was murdered. 

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.19

The Derelicts

starring Robert Newton, Phillip Reed

written by Robert C. Dennis, Terence Maples

directed by Robert Stevenson

Inventor Ralph Cowell (Phillip Reed) murders the eccentric Alfred J. Sloane, his business partner, to whom he owes $10,000 and 50% of the profits he has made for the sale of his invention. Cowell leaves Sloane's body in the park where they met to talk business, thinking that no one will know that it was he who did it. Peter J. Goodfellow (Robert Newton), a person of no fixed abode, sees Ralph murder Sloane and finds the IOU that Cowell signed.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.18

Shopping for Death

starring Jo Van Fleet

written by Ray Bradbury

directed by Robert Stevens

Retired insurance salesmen Clarence Fox and Elmer Shore try to convince Mrs. Shrike (Jo Van Fleet) that she could get murdered.

Thoughts

I'm not sure what to make of Clarence and Elmer. What makes them, Clarence in particular, such busybodies? In the end it seems that Clarence was right. Mrs. Shrike gets it in the end, but how did Clarence know? What made him spot her in the first place?

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.17

The Older Sister

starring Joan Lorring, Carmen Matthews, Polly Rowles

written by Robert C. Dennis, Lillian de la Torre

directed by Robert Stevens

Reporter Nell Cutts (Polly Rowles) visits Lizzie Borden (Carmen Matthews) one year after she was acquitted of murdering her parents with an axe. Nell wants the truth from Lizzie. She first meets Emma (Joan Lorring), Lizzie's younger sister. Emma is in a rush to leave town but feels obliged to answer Ms. Cutts' questions.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.16

You Got to Have Luck

starring John Cassavetes, Marisa Pavan

directed by Robert Stevens

Escaped convict Sam Cobbett (John Cassavetes), forces Mary Schaffner (Marisa Pavan) to help him while her husband is in town buying groceries. He is so concerned over his own safety that he doesn't pick up on the fact that she is deaf but able to read lips. His luck runs out after he has her answer the phone when her mother calls.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.15

The Big Switch

starring George Mathews, Beverly Michaels

directed by Don Weis

Sam Dunleavy (George Mathews) makes plans to kill Goldie (Beverly Michaels), his ex-girlfriend. He's sore at her for starting to date another guy while he was out of town, trying to avoid the police. Sam is being watched by the police but he gets some help from Barney, an old friend who owns a nightclub. Barney agrees to be Sam's alibi while he sneaks out of the club and kills Goldie.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.14

A Bullet for Baldwin

starring John Qualen, Sebastain Cabot, Phillip Reed

directed by Justus Addiss

A file clerk named Stepp shoots and kills Nathaniel Baldwin, his boss, after Baldwin fires him. They are the only ones in the office at the time. Stepp closes up the office and goes home. He expects that he will get arrested. The next day at 10:30 AM he gets a call from the office asking him why he isn't in yet. He is surprised but rushes into the office. Baldwin is there and looks very much alive.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.13

The Cheney Vase

starring Patricia Collinge, Darren McGavin

directed by Robert Stevens

Lyle Endicott (Darren McGavin) is fired by his boss. He wiggles his way into a job as a caretaker for Martha Cheney (Patricia Collinge), an elderly artist who is confined to a wheelchair. She has a vase that is extremely valuable. He wants to get his hands on the vase. He takes over her life in the hopes of stealing the vase, killing her (if necessary), and selling it to someone in Germany (who is willing to pay top dollar for it).

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.12

Santa Claus and the 10th Ave. Kid

starring Barry Fitzgerald, Virginia Gregg

Five-time convict Harold Sears (Barry Fitzgerald) is given a job (while on parole) as a department store Santa Claus. He doesn't really care for the job but he does it. Clementine Webster (Virginia Gregg), his parole officer, does her best to encourage him to he honest and avoid things that will get him sent back to prison. One of the kids who comes to see him, the 10th Ave Kid, isn't buying Sears act. Sears sees that the kid is headed for trouble and tries to do him a favor but in doing so Sears almost gets himself locked up again.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.11

Guilty Witness

starring Judith Evelyn, Kathleen Maguire, Joe Mantell

directed by Robert Stevens

Stanley (Joe Mantell) and Dorothy Crane (Kathleen Maguire) wonder about their upstairs neighbors, Ben and Amelia Verber (Judith Evelyn), who always seem to be fighting. The Cranes start to wonder even more after the Verbers stop fighting and Ben is nowhere to be found. Sgt. Halloran, a homicide detective, comes around asking questions but in the end it is Stanley who solves the mystery and finds Ben Verber, by accident.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.10

The Case of Mr. Pelham

starring Tom Ewell, Raymond Bailey

directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Albert Pelham (Tom Ewell) tells Dr. Harley (Raymond Bailey), an acquaintance, about how someone has been impersonating him. Pelham only knows that there's someone out there impersonating him because people keep telling him about encounters they have had that he cannot recall. After several near misses Pelham finally catches up to his double, who looks just like him. 

Peterson, Pelham's valet, sees them both together but assumes that the second one to show up, the original, must be the fake because he is acting strange.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.09

The Long Shot

starring Peter Lawford, John Williams

directed by Robert Stevenson

Charlie Raymond (Peter Lawford) takes a job driving Walker Hendricks (John Williams),  an Englishman, from New York to San Francisco. He considers robbing the bloke but along the way he discovers that Hendricks is about to inherit $200,000. Charlie murders Walker, drives over him with the car, while they are in the desert in Nevada. He makes it to San Francisco and tries to impersonate Hendricks only to learn that the police are already on to him.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1.08

Our Cook's a Treasure

starring Everett Sloane, Beulah Bondi

directed by Robert Stevens

Ralph Montgomery (Everett Sloane) starts to suspect that Mrs. Sutton (Beulah Bondi), his housekeeper, might be trying to poison Ethel, his wife. He also thinks that Mrs. Sutton is really Mrs. Andrews, the housekeeper for whom the police are searching in connection with the poisoning of a few women.