Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) Help Wanted (1956) User Reviews

A very good remake.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 18 February 2021]

"Help Wanted" is a remake of an episode from "Suspense" a few years earlier. I've seen both and think "Help Wanted" is a bit better. Some of this might be because John Qualen was so good in it....and this was his third "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" appearance in season 1.

Mr. Crabtree (Qualen) was fired from his last job due to his age. And, since then, he's had a horrible time trying to find work. To make matters worses, his wife is ill and needs surgery. So, when he receives a letter from one prospective employer offering work, he takes it...even though what he's going to do and why make no sense at all.

I'd say more about the plot but I don't want to spoil the suspense. All in all, a very good episode...well handled and very interesting from start to finish.

Only a Pawn in the Game

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 20 October 2008]

This is a bit remindful of Conan-Doyle's "The Red-Headed League." It involves a man who is a bit desperate for employment who takes a job where he goes to work all by himself and carries out his orders. He is confused but his wife is ill and he is always paid right on schedule. He continues to do what is asked of him until one day a man comes to him and asks him to commit a murder. At first he is absolutely opposed to it, but when a large cash settlement is involved it gets him to thinking. He is a little milquetoast and a rule follower, but he has been given a chance to prosper. As it turns out, there are a series of twist from this point on and it has a pretty satisfying ending. This involves one of those moral decisions that many are forced to make at times. It's a good episode that starts slowly and then picks up steam.

Desperate Means To An End

[DKosty123 · 8/10 · 3 June 2011]

A man named Crabtree is laid off by his employer because he is told he is too old. He nearly beats up the manager delivering the message. This all happens before the episode but we find this out during the episode. Crabtree has an ill wife who needs an operation and treatments. Crabtree, desperate for money to help pay for his wife puts his resume out in the faint hope of getting another job.

Then one day he receives a phone call from Mr. X. Even after telling X the truth behind his leaving, X hires him and sets him up in a private office and pays him to send reports to him. It is too good to be true. Then X drops the bomb on him- he needs to murder a man to get his money for his wife's operation.

Lorne Greene plays Mr X perfectly in this one. The story is clever and well written like most of this series. The ending is open, did the right man get killed?

Strange, but engrossing, with a classic Hitchcock plot twist at the end

[BobCanter7 · 9/10 · 6 February 2020]

The premise of this strange little episode is highly unrealistic, but solid performances by the veteran John Qualen and an almost creepy Lorne Greene carry the story. That, plus the trademark Hitchcock plot twist at the end makes it worth watching. One of my favorite episodes.

Spare, but Solid

[dougdoepke · 18 March 2016]

Well, it's all pretty mysterious. Middle-age unemployed Crabtree (note the name) with a sick wife suddenly gets a lucrative job. All he has to do is sit in a tiny office, copy corporation names, and mail the list each week to a box office. So who cares that his employer remains anonymous as does the purpose of the list. Is he being set up, but if so, for what.

Qualen's perfect as Crabtree, just the right inoffensive look and manner. Greene too shines, with his commanding look and demeanor, even without a Bonanza hairpiece. Good also to see regulars like Baer and Atterbury pick up a payday, even for brief walk-on's. In fact, had I looked closer at the cast list I might have figured out the upshot. Incidentally, note how Director Neilson ups suspense by withholding a facial view of Mr. X. The storyline is pretty spare, but the 30-minutes remains a solid Hitch entry, with Crabtree's inspired final line.

I HAVE A LITTLE JOB FOR YOU.....

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 2 November 2022]

Can't get enough of this episode! 10 Stars.

Robert C. Dennis wrote this fantastic dark comedy. Dennis had the imagination. He wrote for years at Warner Brothers/ABC tv, all the top shows of the 50s and 60s, later for BATMAN. Our hero.

Enter the "quiet man", aka Mr. Crabtree (well played by John Qualen), who needs money (fast!) to pay for his wife's operation. He turns to the help wanted ads and meets Lorne Greene, known to him as MR. X? And with a remarkably sinister voice... Greene was a radio announcer back in the day.

The secret here is Mister X needs someone to casually "kill" another someone --no questions asked, but done in such an ingenious way. Of course, the payout is not a sure thing, unless Crabtree accepts the terms of the agreement. Mr. X is a smart cookie, as he also has dirt on Crabtree. Get it?

John Qualen appeared in more than 100 films in his long career, often as a chump who is taken advantage of. Sound familiar? He became famous in the 30s playing the father of the Dionne Quintuplets in several films about their extraordinary lives, also one of the legendary cast of CASABLANCA.

By the way. The $100 a week salary for the job, equals about 1200 dollars today. Not bad!

About as good as it gets for ultra black comedy, and one memorable installment in the classic tv series. If you haven't seen this one, it's must see tv. Best of SEASON 1, which is a box set to treasure. Episode 27 remastered/Universal Studios. 2005 release.

A spiral of blackmails, in a city setting

[Cristi_Ciopron · 8/10 · 21 September 2009]

HELP WANTED, with John Qualen and Lorne Green, directed by James Neilson, a Teleplay by Robert C. Dennis, based upon the Mary Orr and Reginald Denham adaptation of a story by Stanley Ellin, is a sneaky story of blackmail, of double and even triple blackmail, whose protagonist, Crabtree, is a soft—spoken oldster in dire need of bucks. This mild oldster is unemployed, has an ill wife in need of hospitalizing, and someone finally hires him to write press surveys; the employer is pretty discreet, but generous.

The hirer is blackmailed; he blackmails Crabtree, offering him money for a murder he should commit. Crabtree kills, accidentally, the wrong guy—and hence he turns to blackmail his employers so as to keep the money ….

HELP WANTED is one of the city episodes—as opposed to the town ones, that seem more numerous. Other than that, the guy playing Crabtree (--John Qualen, I should presume--) looks like an overambitious impersonator of Grigore Vasiliu Birlic—they even might of been of the same age.

On the intro, daddy Hitchcock is in a playful disposition, as usually, and looking for a good job ….

"You are to kill a man for me."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 25 July 2021]

The reason for Crabtree's (John Qualen) firing would never pass muster today; he'd be able to sue and get enough of a settlement for for his wife's operation, though it would take time and a good lawyer. This one had a perfectly good Twilight Zone type ending that had a double consequence. First for Crabtree taking out the wrong guy (though it looked accidental), and also for Mr. X (Lorne Greene), now that his secret was in the hands of the intended victim. I don't blame Crabtree for being so secretive on one hand, but being he was put in such a conflicted situation, I wondered why he wouldn't have discussed the terrible proposition with his wife (Madge Kennedy). I had to marvel at how generous Crabtree felt a hundred dollar a week salary was. Just goes to show you how the good old days sometimes weren't by today's standards.

In want of help

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 16 March 2022]

"Help Wanted" is the first episode of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' to be directed by James Neilson, who later went on to direct eleven more episodes of the series of varying success. It is also John Qualen's second lead actor appearance on the series, his first being the very good "A Bullet for Baldwin", which he was great in. The premise was not overly exciting, but have seen many things with things that don't sound exciting but the execution turns out to be solid.

As far as Season 1 goes, "Help Wanted" is not one of the best (i.e. "Breakdown", "And So Died Riabouchinska") or one of the worst (ie. "Triggers for Leash", "Shopping for Death"). It is somewhere around solid middle, an episode that does a lot right, more so than wrong, but at the same time there's something that other episodes of the season and show had that is lacking here. Solid and enjoyable, if slightly on the bland side would be my way of summing "Help Wanted" up.

Shall begin with what could have been done better. The story is very slight and is rather slow going to begin with. It could have done with more suspense perhaps too.

The ending to me came over as easily foreseeable, silly and anti-climactic.

On the other hand, much is great. First and foremost, the pitch perfect performance of Qualen who has the right amount of intense, tortured demeanour. Lorne Greene stands out in support, very commanding. Neilson directs with assurance if not always with distinction. Hitchcock's scenes are typically intriguing and dry humoured.

Production values have nice style and atmosphere. The main theme is one that stays in the mind for a while, so in keeping with the style of the series and one that will be easy to recognise even to those that are not usually classical music listeners (due to hearing popping up in adverts every now and then). The script is tight enough and provokes thought, while the story shines best in the complex character writing for the lead character. The mystery also intrigues enough.

In conclusion, pretty good if not great. 7/10.

The Joke's on you

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 4 April 2012]

***SPOILERS*** Ironically broadcast on April Fool's Day-April 1, 1956- this Alfred Hitchcock episode has to do with a man Mr. Crabtree, John Qualen,in desperate need of money for his bed ridden wife Laura's, Madge Kennedy, hip replacement operation.

Fired from his accountant job at Stone/Baker where he worked for over 30 years because he was considered to be too old at age 52 Mr.Crabtree gets himself hired by answering a newspaper add by the mysterious Mr. X, Lorne Green, at an astounding $100.00-that's about $750.00 in 2012 dollars- a week! What impressed Mr.X most about Crabtree's work ethic's was that he took a swing at his boss when he handed him his pink slip! That in Mr. X's twisted mind showed promise in Crabtree's ability to do the job for him. It takes a while for Mr.X to reveal the true nature of his job to Crabtree which has nothing at all to do with the daily and boring reports that he sends him which in fact Mr. X burns before he reads them. It all has to do with a hit-job that Mr.X has meticulously planned for this man who's been blackmailing him for the last five years!

Crabtree who at first is reluctant to carry out the hit by pushing the intended victim out of his office's 20 floor window soon has second thoughts about it. That's when Mr. X tells him that after he does the guy in he'll mail him a years salary of $4,800.00- That's about $37,000.00 in 2012 dollars-in advance and never have to deal with him again. That's more then enough money to pay for his wife's treatments as well as for her hip operation!

***SPOILERS*** What in fact happens the day that Crabtree was to meet and kill Mr. X's blackmailer turns out to be,if you can call it that, a blessing in disguise for him. Not only does he get the job, or hit-job, done but ends up, with at first not knowing it, screwing Mr.X at the same time! Crabtree now has to live with what he did but it's Mr.X the guy who thought he covered all the bases in distancing himself from the crime who's the one who'll end up paying for it big time for the rest of his life!

Help Wanted

[bombersflyup · 2/10 · 10 March 2020]

It's a spot no one knows what they'd do unless in it. Mr Crabtree gets paid, but Mr X knows his name and address and is going to want the money back, when he finds out the blackmailer hasn't been killed or paid. So Crabtree killed someone for nothing and no one gets anything. Quality police work as well.. Did you see anything? No. Okay. Suicide note, must be legit. Weak.

Pretty decent episode despite a rather silly ending.

[b_kite · 7/10 · 24 November 2019]

Mr. Crabtree is an elder man who has just been let go from his previous job due to his age. With his wife Mrs. Crabtree in poor health. He receives a call from an employer to whom he had written, and the employer sends his secretary to discuss the job with Crabtree. He gets the job and soon is making good money and living the good life. However one day he is paid a visit by his boss the mysterious Mr. X who wants Crabtree to do a new job for him for a whole years salary. That job murder a man. There's not to much to say about this one it's a fine little story that isn't to hard to understand even if a bit on the predictable side. It still doesn't ruin it though as John Qualan making his third and final appearance in the series is really enjoyable to watch, he plays the whole innocent guy role really good. A surprise appearance from Lorne Greene pre-Bonanza was a fun surprise as well. Like said the ending is a bit predictable, and oddly played off in a silly sorta way despite the situation that's just occurred.