Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Season 5 (1959)

A goodhearted man picks up an old guy, his adult son and daughter hitchhiking, but they steal from him every chance they get.

A woman reveals to her rich, invalid husband dependent on a respirator, that she's planning to painlessly murder him, but he may have a surprise for her.

Myra Jenkins has quite a menagerie in her home: birds, a turtle, a monkey, a chameleon and on and on. She is quite devoted to them, usually at the expense of her husband Hermie. Their neighbor, George Bay, is always telling Hermie how much he misses his late wife and that since since she's died, all he ever does is travel, go fishing and drink beer. All of this sounds pretty good to Hermie who hatches a plan to get his wife a new pet that may not be very cuddly and lovable but may give him the way out that he desires. Little does Hermie realize the predicament he is ...

A crime boss gives a new employee an assignment to kill another man, but the intended victim tempts him with another offer.

In the future year of 1980, life expectancy has increased dramatically and J.J. Bunce provides an essential service. He approaches John Treadwell and informs him that his elderly mother-in-law, now in her 80s and who lives with him full-time, will live at least another 32 years. Bunce's offer is quite simple: he will dispose of her for a fee. Initially Treadwell rejects the suggestion out of hand, but at home, the old lady is becoming ever more demanding. In the end, he accepts Bunce's offer but he does wonder what his own children might do when the time comes.

A married man captures a gunman who tried to rob him and his mistress, but to avoid a scandal, he contemplates whether to let him go or kill him.

Mental suggestions and odd behavior have some people believing a special delivery of quick-growing mushroom spores may be an invading life form.

A very rude traveling salesman forces a truck off the road, causing a delay in emergency care for an injured young man, who dies.

Mr. Laffler invites Mr. Costain to join him for dinner at a private club that he describes as a very special experience. To his disappointment, Laffler is informed that the house specialty, a lamb dish, is not being served. They continue to visit the club and one evening, the famous dish is served. It also happens that a long-time member has resigned. What, if anything, do the two events have in common?

In the Civil War, Union soldiers hang a Confederate farmer for sabotage. The rope breaks and he falls into a river. He swims to safety and begins walking home. Disoriented, he's glad to see plantation staff who guide his befogged travel.

While on a date, a new teacher of European literature at an all-girl college observes one of her students leaving a nightclub with a man and follows them. What could go wrong?

In a Las Vegas casino, an unpleasant little man hopes to use a young man's wish to impress the young woman he has just met to pressure the young fellow into accepting a macabre bet.

Carpius owns an antique shop in Cyprus and is quite excited to hear that a local monastery may be in possession of a very valuable icon. Knowing that a client would pay a fortune for it, he arranges to visit the monastery to steal the icon. During the robbery, Carpius kills a praying monk but claims it was an accident. The Abbot says he will forgive him, but as he has sinned he must pray for forgiveness. Only then does Carpius understand what the Abbot has in mind.

Living in the remote tropics are two oil explorers, one of whom is married to a very attractive woman. One night, she tries to stab her husband and he is convinced by his partner that she is sick with tropical fever. They agree that she needs to see a head shrinker. En route to the doctor however, she convinces her husband's partner to help her kill the husband. Fortunately, the husband's trusted manservant is also with them and protects his master's interests in a very unusual way.

Matt Thompson is bludgeoned to death with a pipe wrench and suspicion immediately falls on 59-year-old Phil Canby. The wrench belonged to Canby and he was there that evening fixing a leaky sink. The real problem however is that Canby is in love with Thompson's 19-year-old daughter, Sue, and they plan on getting married; everyone knew Matt Thompson was violently opposed to their relationship. Canby maintains his innocence throughout and the local Sheriff, who finds it very hard to believe that the mild-mannered Canby would do such a thing, investigates. In the end, the...

When Capt. Ernest Fisher learns that Milton Potter has been released from prison after serving his 15-year sentence, he tells his subordinates about this very strange case. Potter was a bookkeeper for a bank. He did his work well and was reliable but people knew very little about his private life. When it's determined that he embezzled $200,000 he is eventually sent to jail. No one can quite believe that he was really the type to steal, and he never tells anyone what happened to the money. After his release, Fisher visits him and incredibly, Potter tells him he's not ...

When a young boy reports a mob-beating to the police, and his father does not encourage him, he is adversely affected for the rest of his life.

Anne has just been acquitted in court and her uncle, Charles Underhill is not a happy man. He feels that her brush with the law will reflect badly on him and is of the view that the only reason she got off was because of his reputation as an upstanding citizen. Underhill doesn't think much of young people, questioning their constant attempt at rebellion. On the way home he has a problem with his car and is assisted by a teenager, Len, who then asks for a ride to the next town. Len is constantly talking about reform school and his "friend" who is good with a knife. ...

Sofie Winter hires mediums in an attempt to contact her late husband, who died six years previously. Her son Hubert, who feels somewhat overwhelmed by his doting mother, decides to ask his actress-girlfriend to impersonate a medium and she convinces Sofie that her husband misses her and the time has come for her to join him. Sofie meticulously plans her departure and on what is intended to be her final evening, lets her son in on the final elements of her plan.

Thomas Craig is feeling pretty good about himself. His rich uncle has just died and knowing that he is the only living relative, expects to inherit the family fortune. He's thrown for a loop however, when his uncle leaves everything to his pet dog for the balance of its lifetime, with the inheritance going to Thomas only after the dog's passing. Thomas' gold-digging girlfriend, Judy, decides it's time to speed up the dog's demise, with humorous consequences. Visiting a psychiatrist, she comes to the conclusion that there is only one way in the current circumstances ...

Steven is working on his novel when into his apartment walks an attractive woman, soaking wet. She's with Steven's neighbour, Jimmy Dolan, who's a bit of a playboy. Jimmy is a PR man for a major studio but has only limited talent so he needs Steven's help to write material about Betsy Blake, a long-time Hollywood star who recently drowned and who has a major movie being released. Steven's work gets Jimmy a big raise from the studio and ensures Betsy's last movie will be a big hit. But it turns out Betty hasn't drowned. What's a PR man to do?

Jamie and Ben McMahon have brought a civilized attitude to a rough and tumble mining town. Although both strongmen in their own rights, they preach brotherly love and turning the other cheek. One day, in walks the Little Man, a strange little fellow who challenges the McMahons and says that his powers are far greater than theirs. To the shock of everyone present, he proves his point and the local folk think they are dealing with the devil incarnate. There is however, far more to this than meets the eye.

John Crane is attending a coroner's inquiry and remembers the events that brought him there. John lives with his mother Claire and they are obviously very close. While on holiday, he meets Lottie and falls in love for the first time in his life. When his mother visits, it's obvious she and Lottie do not like one another. Lottie suggests that they take Claire up to the waterfalls to enjoy the view. He knows exactly what Lottie has in mind, and resolves the situation. He awaits the decision of the coroner's jury.

Mrs. Blythe goes to spend a weekend at her cottage. She hasn't been there since her husband died the year before. Stopping at the general store, she's told that a patient has escaped from the local mental institution. Once at her cottage, she meets Madeleine who says she had seen a dangerous looking man nearby. Madeleine is obviously upset and wants to leave, but Mrs. Blythe begs her to stay. She agrees, but with dire consequences.

After locating the killer of his wife, a man hires his 41st detective to set up a meeting so he can kill the male suspect.

Richard Musgrave, a business man of middle years, starts a sea voyage and recognizes one of the other passengers as his partner of many years ago who was presumed dead. However, the gentleman is going by the name of Mr. Kyser and not Mr. Jan Vander Klaue. Musgrave works himself into a frenzy of guilt over a mistake he made all those years ago and takes drastic steps to try and force Kyser into admitting his real identity.

Charles Cavender suffers from terrible insomnia. He hasn't had a good night's sleep in months and has lost a number of jobs as a result. He visits a psychiatrist and recounts a recurring dream he has about the death of his wife, who died in a house fire. Cavender's brother-in-law, Jack Fletcher, blames him for his sister's death and it's determined there is link between that and the insomnia. Cavender feels threatened but decides to pay him a visit to clear the air. However, things don't quite go as planned.

Bert Haber is an old-time piano player, and he and Georgia who sings, have proven to be a very popular nightclub act. Problems arise when a gangster, 'Little Dandy' Dorf, takes a liking to Georgia but she wants no part of him and pours a drink over his head. Soon after, Bert is threatened when someone suggests he get an insurance policy. Things come to a head a few weeks later when Bert is approached by a police officer who has information and suggests that he is in need of protection. Bert doesn't quite realize who he needs protection from, however.

Joe Helmer is having serious financial problems. He's been out of work for some time and his unemployment insurance has run out. Walking home after unsuccessfully trying to get a loan, he comes across a well-to-do gent, apparently dead on the sidewalk. Joe takes the man's wallet and flees. It's only when he gets home that he finds a revealing note in the man's wallet.

Helen Parch shares a party-line telephone with several others. She likes to talk on the phone quite a bit but also listens in on others. She's warned by the police one day that a Mr. Miller, with whom she once shared the party line, has broken out of prison and that her life may be in danger. Years before, Miller needed to contact a doctor when his wife was ill, and Helen refused to get off the line. Miller's wife died and he turned to a life of crime. Now he may be after Helen.

Professor Herbert Morrison is on death row awaiting his sentence to go through. His lawyer is trying to get a last-minute stay of execution but the professor says he doesn't want a reprieve.

Charlotte Hope arrives into the peaceful lives of the Wellington household to act as a governess of their children. She's a somewhat brash, opinionated and iconoclastic lady who boldly announces she uses the "Schartz-Metterklume method" for teaching.

Henry Taylor visits the town of Kirkland where, three years before, a bank employee, Arnold Mathias, had been convicted of stealing $200,000 from the bank where he worked. None of the money has been found and Mathias always maintained his innocence. It would appear that Mathias had recently been killed in an attempted prison escape and Taylor visits the bank manager telling him he's an author researching a book on the robbery. It turns out that Taylor is after something altogether different and all is not altogether what it seems.

Two kidnappers think they have made their escape when they hijack a tanker in the dry desert, leaving the occupants and a female victim behind to die.

Ray Marchand is married to an older woman but he is quite attracted to Nyla Foster, a very attractive college student spending the summer working at her father's fishing camp. She tells Ray that her father would never leave her alone with him - so he should stop by on Mondays, when her father goes into town for supplies. When Nyla hears that Ray's wife can't swim, they start thinking that an "accident" might be in order, so Ray decides to take up fishing, his wife's favourite pastime. His plans don't quite work out, however.