Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) Our Cook's a Treasure (1955) User Reviews

Is the new maid a murderer?!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 15 February 2021]

The episode begins with Ralph (Everett Sloane) talking with their new maid (Beulah Bondi). Later, Ralph reads about some serial killing cook....and he starts to believe their cook MIGHT be the murderer. He particularly believes it when he starts having stomach pains and assumes she's poisoning him. What's going on here? Is the maid a killer? Is Ralph a dunderhead? What??

While not all of this episode made a lot of sense (such as why didn't he call the police about his concerns???), it is enjoyable, has a nice twist and you get to see two excellent veteran actors (Sloane and Bondi) work their craft. Well worth seeing.

This Episode's a Treasure

[Archbishop_Laud · 8/10 · 5 July 2013]

This is one of the better episodes from Season 1. Not that it stretches any boundaries or anything, but it's exactly what this series is supposed to do.

Hitch is tasting wines and one has arsenic in it ("very good, really, that is if you like a very dry wine"). The episode itself is based on a story by Dorothy Sayers.

We begin with some bickering between a husband and his cook, Mrs. Sutton. She offers to make him lamb curry for dinner (who says all 50's cuisine was bland?).

The papers are filled with stories about a murderous housekeeper who is on the loose, and the husband begins to wonder whether Mrs. Sutton is this woman. Did she put arsenic in his cocoa? He takes a sample to the lab (can you still do that? Just call a lab and ask for a poison test?).

I love the ending and the final shot.

Arsenic on small portions, Hitch explains !!

[elo-equipamentos · 8/10 · 23 July 2019]

Alfred Hitchcock's Presents is a fabulous series due the introducing of Hitch permeated of the British's humor, he explains how to perceive a poisoned red wine on three cups, he drinks all them, start the episode where a successful business man, has a strong stomach problems, in the meantime nearby the city has an unknown housekeeper who had poisoned many former employers, largely exposed on newspaper, his odd housekeeper Mrs. Sutton recently hired fits perfectly in a profile this serial killer, then he took a cocoa's sample to be analyzed on laboratory, there the doctor explains that can be arsenic, just on small portions is imperceptible, back at home he fired the suspect old woman, But, However, therefore, although, something is wrong.... Hitch is back closing the episode with more cynicism about what's poisoned wine that he drank on opening episode, the master pleased me entirely even is few lines!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5

Well-Crafted Mini-Thriller

[Snow Leopard · 15 February 2006]

This well-crafted mini-thriller adapts a Dorothy L. Sayers story very nicely into the half-hour television show format, and it is also helped considerably by Everett Sloane's leading performance. It sets up the tension efficiently, adding some good touches as things play out. Hitchcock's opening and closing remarks, full of his morbidly dry sense of humor, also contribute to a very good episode.

The story stars Sloane as an easygoing businessman who starts to experience unexplainable attacks of indigestion, at about the same time that authorities are on the lookout for a deranged, murderous housekeeper. Sayers's story makes perceptive use of human psychology, and Sloane's performance is important in bringing this out. The last part features some good twists that work quite well. If you watch it a second time, you can then follow the ways that viewer perceptions are cleverly steered in one direction, while keeping open some other possibilities that are less obvious, but just as well-founded.

It's a good combination of story, adaptation, direction, and acting, making for an above average episode of this classic anthology series.

Beulah Bondi is Definitely a Treasure!!

[kidboots · 10/10 · 12 February 2012]

Not only does "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" give viewers TV of the highest standard from the past, where else would you be able to see two superlative actors in the same half hour show!!

Everett Sloane brought class and talent to the early days of TV - his ruthless boss in Rod Serling's "Patterns" was powerful stuff. Here he portrays a different type altogether. His Ralph is convinced from the start that his new cook (Beulah Bondi) is Mrs. Andrews, the poisoner police are looking for. She is dour, taciturn, doesn't fold his newspaper properly and keeps a huge pot of cocoa ever at the ready to give to Ralph morning and night. He is constantly unwell and often has stomach aches so he lets no grass grow under his feet when he sees a picture of the wanted woman in the paper and reasons it could have been his cook 10 or 15 years before. He takes his cocoa in to be analyzed and the results startle him. He promptly fires the cook but a conversation on the stairs with her makes him realise he may have got rid of his only ally.

Beulah Bondi has brightened up many a movie for me, whether it is her grim Emma Jones from "Street Scene" (1931) to "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine"(1936). Among the poker players are also names from the past - Gavin Gordon and Walter Woolf King.

the Poison?

[AvionPrince16 · 8/10 · 9 January 2022]

An interesting story about a women who killed with poison. I enjoyed the story and we learn new things trough the story and we see the revelations and a twist a the end because we learn something very unexpected and that was pretty surprising. I enjoyed the episode.

While I managed to guess the twist. This is still a very entertaining little tale.

[b_kite · 7/10 · 2 October 2018]

A succussful real estate agent Ralph Montgomery (Everett Sloane) hires a cook Mrs. Sutton (Beulah Bondi) only to learn the police are searching for a woman posing as a cook who's responsible for the deaths of three people. He suspects his new help is the culprit after discovering his cocoa has been laced with a fatal dose of arsenic. But, is his cook really the culprit?.

While I guessed the twist to this one as soon as a character walked into frame in the first three minutes of the story, this is still a very entertaining little tale that builds off of the suspense of Sloane's character more and more getting obsessed with the fact he thinks his cook is this killer, after having horrible stomach pains at work and discovering someone is trying to slowly poison him to death. Of course SPIOLERS she isn' t, but, the episode really makes good use of its 25 minutes, building this story up nicely for a good if rather predictable conclusion. Sloane is very good here, and Hitchcock's narratives are great as well.

Deception & Drawing False Conclusions

[DKosty123 · 8/10 · 26 April 2010]

The new cook makes great cocoa, as her new bosses are drinking it by the cup. Meanwhile, another cook who has been poisoning people is at large with the police in a major woman hunt. There is so much paper coverage that one can only suspect that there is a relationship between them.

This is a little known cast but it is a gem of a script. As we move along to the lab test finding the poison Arsenic in the cocoa & the subsequent dismissal of the cook, we can only believe that she is the one the cops are after. Maybe, it is just possible she is doing it because she read about the other woman in the paper & has sympathy? Then again, could the lab test be wrong? Why is your spouse starts making you cocoa every night? Is it time to check the Life Insurance coverage? What about the treasure that lurks in the kitchen instead of being packed away in a treasure chest?

There is a lot of mystery here.

"I wouldn't stay here anyway."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 13 July 2021]

You can tell a lot of the stories that Alfred Hitchcock presented were made for a simpler time, when viewers didn't question the lack of logic that went into the scripts. Like the idea of a serial murdering housekeeper identified as Mrs. Andrews, could remain undetected for so long, even with an early picture of the woman printed on the front page of a newspaper. Surely, someone would have recognized her by name or reputation to inform authorities of her whereabouts. But not here, as businessman Ralph Montgomery (Everett Sloane) agonizes over the presence of one Mrs. Sutton (Beulah Bondi) who he's hired as a housemaid a month earlier, about the time the Andrews murderess claimed her last victim. Other convenient coincidences are dropped into the story to help make the connection, including a long neglected jar of arsenic in Montgomery's workshop which he completely forgot about. The payoff for this program is one of those expected twists that veteran observers of Hitch and Serling's 'Twilight Zone' would come to savor. I just wonder why Montgomery never caught on about his wife and the drama coach.

It's a treasure alright

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 2 February 2022]

"Our Cook's a Treasure" is the second episode of the 44 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes series regular director Robert Stevens directed, the first being the excellent "Premonition". Beulah Bondi was one of the great character actresses in her day and was always worth watching. "Our Cook's a Treasure" is also notable for being based on a short story by Dorothy L. Sayers, a very good one at that and lends itself well to an episode of this length or similar.

It must have been very daunting following on from one of Season 1's, and the series', best entries "Breakdown" and be as good. While not quite on the same level as that episode "Our Cook's a Treasure" is still extremely good and one of the best outings of the first half of the season. As well as continuing the back on track quality seen from "Salvage", after a three episode dip in quality beforehand. A very strong example of why 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' was such an interesting series.

Not much wrong here actually, it just doesn't quite have the same extra something that made "Breakdown" so special. With it not being as creepy or suspense-laden for instance. The plot twist is well executed and clever, though it didn't leave me floored as such.

Having said all of this, "Our Cook's a Treasure" is well crafted visually, with some stylish and atmospheric shots on display. Stevens' direction is accomplished and is more inspired than his still solid direction in "Premonition", he has a good sense of style and keeps the momentum and tension going enough. The music is suitably haunting and have always loved the series' choice of theme tune, suggested by Hitchcock favourite Bernard Hermann and a good move.

Furthermore, Hitchcock's bookending at this point became better and better generally with each episode. These scenes varied in the series, some rambled and others were wonderfully droll and acerbic, the latter being the case here. He also has a priceless wine tasting scene. The script is thought-provoking and taut enough and considering that the source material is a short story the episode fares better than most in the series of lending itself well to not having a long running time. A lot happens without being too much and there isn't any fat. The characters are psychologically fascinating.

Everett Sloane is excellent, bringing class and edge to a challenging role from a psychological standpoint. Bondi is every bit as excellent, suitably unsettling and one is throughout unsure of whether she is guilty or not. The supporting roles are solidly filled.

Concluding, extremely good. 9/10.

One Of The Family-Spolier Alert

[kyrn123 · 6/10 · 12 July 2021]

This episode was basically remade in an hour format on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour called One of the Family. Same premise, a strange, mysterious nanny turns up and her employer's believe she is the killer nanny talked about in the newspaper and on the radio. Arsenic is found in the workshop of the husband (strange place for that) so of course the gruff old nanny must be putting arsenic in their hot chocolate. They drink a lot of hot chocolate! As in both stories the nanny, strange as she might be in not the culprit. I suppose in 1955 it might have been more of a who done it but we've seen this story over and over again. Today's viewer is much more sophisticated and you can easily guess what's going on long before it's explained.

Don't Drink That Cocoa!

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 3 October 2008]

Once again we are at the mercy of Hitchcock's manipulations in a retelling of a Dorothy Sayers short story. Women are being bumped off by serial killer who poisons them. A man has a seemingly loving relationship with his younger wife. He reads the paper each morning, looking for further news of this murderer. His wife, meanwhile, an aspiring actress, continues to go to rehearsals and express her love for him. The housekeeper/cook who prepares the food comes under suspicion. It would be perfectly natural for her to be the killer. Meanwhile, the man becomes sicker and sicker and realizes that something untoward is going on. He finally fires the old woman, thinking that this will solve the problem. What happens after he confronts her is what this is all about. As usual, there is a wonderful vignette with Hitchcock as a wine taster coming to realize that the arsenic he has drunk was actually in mosquito poison. Well, you have to see it. These were often the highlights of the shows.

The maid a serial poisoner?

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 11 May 2022]

A serial-murderer maid is on the loose in the city. Ralph becomes suspicious of his wife Ethel's housemaid Mrs. Sutton. Based on a Dorothy Sayers' story, this is a nicely-crafted thriller that is engaging enough, though it's odd why Ralph didn't contact the police about his concerns. However, this is fiction and characters don't normally do the sensible things, and if they did well we would be thrilled or entertained. Nice twist at the end, though I sort of guessed.

Our Cook's a Treasure

[bombersflyup · 3/10 · 13 February 2020]

A nice little twist at the end, but pretty ho hum getting there. Sloane decent, but needs a lot more than this.

An Entertaining Stomach Ache

[dougdoepke · 29 July 2010]

More classic Hitchcock. So what's causing aging businessman Sloane's indigestion. Must be the grouchy old housekeeper Bondi who may be the serial poisoner the cops are looking for. She certainly looks the part. Good thing he's got a devoted young wife and helpful blonde secretary. Then again maybe it's just bad food. What's he to do besides take a Tums.

Getting a good cast was a big reason for the series success. This first year entry is no exception. Sloane's perfect since his character looks like he was born with a stomach ache; ditto Bondi's character who looks capable of anything, especially fixing a lethal dose of cocoa. Also, don't miss Ward's Cheshire cat grin that's so distinctive.

In my book, putting crime into the white-collar suburbs is a classic mark of the series and resonated, I expect, with a 1950's audience. Happily, this 30-minutes remains an entertaining dose of suspense instead of steaming cocoa, along with an amusingly memorable very last shot.

Odd makeup by Leo Lotito Jr.

[tadcook-1 · 8/10 · 8 June 2022]

Very odd. In the early scenes Everett Sloane's character has a very noticeable bad makeup job. Notice how on his left side, the face has black character lines that look as if they were applied with a black felt tipped pen. Leo Lotito Jr was in charge of makeup, and had a very long career as a makeup artist in the motion picture industry. The only explanation I can imagine is that perhaps this would not look the same in 1955 low-resolution television, but now is obvious on my HDTV.

HOW ABOUT A CUP OF TEA THAT WILL MAKE YOU SLEEP?

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 6 February 2024]

This is the reason why Hitch used Robert C. Dennis to write so many episodes. He could truly spin a yarn.

Your typical Hitchcock dark comedy, all the way.

10 Stars.

Also a salute two unforgettable screen actors. Everett Sloane plays businessman Ralph Montgomery, suspicious of his new cook, Mrs. Sutton (played best by Beulah Bondi).

This type of role was Bondi's style for decades, and in some classic films. Everett Sloan, not to be forgotten for CITIZEN KANE, as Bernstein. Just watching these two greats play off each other is a treat, especially if you are a movie buff.

Comes the terrifying headline, all about a cook accused of poisoning her employers. Could Mrs. Sutton be that fiend? You'd be surprised.

Dennis did a fine job, coming up with two very distinct and interesting characters, and in a duel of wits. Also look for veteran actors Gavin Gordon as George and Walter Woolf King as Dr. Pritchard.

Considering the cast, this had to be a tribute to old time Hollywood. Hitch must have had a lot to talk about with this talented cast behind the scenes.

For late night mystery fans. SEASON 1 EPISODE 8 remastered.

Our Cook's a Treasure

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 30 December 2022]

Ralph (Everett Sloane) has taken on a new cook. Mrs Sutton (Beulah Bondi) cooks a nice lamb curry that Ralph finds hard to resist.

Although Mrs Sutton cannot help reading the morning newspaper before Ralph and he does not like his paper creased.

At work Ralph gets a serious bout of indigestion and his actress wife is worried about him.

When Ralph reads headlines of a woman on the run who is suspected of poisoning people. He gets nervous and suspicious about Mrs Sutton. Ralph even takes his cocoa to be analysed in a laboratory.

Of course the story is about whether the nice old Mrs Sutton is a poisoner or not. If it is not her, then it can only be one other person, someone who is spending a lot of time with her new co-star.

It does rob the story of a lot of suspense especially when the photo in the newspaper looks nothing like Mrs Sutton.