User Reviews

'Alfred Hitchcock Presents': "I'll Take Care of You" (1959)

Opening thoughts: Although Robert Stevens was the most frequent 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' director, with 44 episodes to his name, he was also one of the most inconsistent (Paul Henreid to me was also variable) which can be seen in Season 4. A vast majority of his episodes were well worth watching, though there were misses. "I'll Take Care of You" also has Ralph Meeker in his last of four appearances on the series, and also 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' favourite Russell Collins' seventh appearance of nine.

"I'll Take Care of You" is very good and nearly great, with many great things and little wrong. Not just of Stevens' output but also for 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' in general. It is not one of Stevens' best 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' episodes and it is also not one of his worst (nowhere near in the case of the latter). Actually put "I'll Take Care of You" somewhere around high middle in ranking, doing a very good if not exceptional job with a premise worthy of Hitchcock.

Bad things: There is very little wrong here as said. Low budget does show at times, especially in the threadbare looking sets and editing that doesn't always flow.

Good things: Meeker and Collins are both extremely good however, did not think that Meeker overacted at all and he is in a type of role where it was easy to do so. The chemistry is strong. Count me in as another person who liked the ending very much, it was a shock to me and what very nearly came close to being unsatisfying was given a very clever and wacky twist.

While the production values aren't perfect, the photography is suitably moody and has some elegance. Hitchcock's bookending is suitably ironic and the theme music has lost none of its devillish quality. The episode is quite talky in spots, especially early on, but it didn't feel overly so and it all intrigued. The story never stops being compelling and has some nice suspense, never coming over as draggy.

Concluding thoughts: Concluding, liked it a lot.

8/10.

John Forbes (Ralph Meeker) is a guy who has ample reason to be happy. He's a successful used car dealer and lives in a nice house. But things aren't so great, as Forbes' wife is god-awful. She spends money faster than he can earn it and when he tells her he can't, she simply couldn't care less. You get the impression that she is planning on spending everything and then leave him to find some other sucker. Well, she overplayed her hand and John realizes there's only one good option...kill her! Now I am NOT advocating murder...but I certainly sympathized with him...as did the script.

Through this process, John has received some help from his seemingly loyal employee, an old man nicknamed 'Dad'. But following the 'accident' that killed the wife, Dad starts making blackmail demands on John.

I loved this episode. The twist at the end is great and it ended in a most atypical way. Too often on this show, in the end the criminal is caught or Hitchcock gives some stupid epilogue about crime not paying and the guy was ultimately caught. Well, not here....and I really thought this was a dandy episode with a wonderful twist.

City dweller Forbes (Meeker) with aging helper (Collins) runs a struggling used car lot, while supporting an unappreciative wife (Fraser).

So, how are those rowdy teenagers going to figure into things and what's with the shrewish wife. Fifteen minutes into the entry and I'm still not sure where it's going, but knowing Hitch, I know there'll be a good payoff. And there is.

One secret of the series success is expert casting. Getting the cocksure Meeker, sly old Collins, and everybody's grandma Moore, helps energize the episode. There're also a couple of good touches. Using a real car lot instead of a studio set lends good local color. But what I really like are the carnival crowds. Director Stevens could have just let the extras walk through the scenes. But he doesn't. Instead he or someone devised little bits of crowd business that are fun and colorful—like the two teens stuffing themselves like teens.

Catch that last delicious scene with its twist on a twist and so sweetly done too. Good sneaky episode.

The students bought the car for the carnival to be hit with a sledgehammer for $50. At the carnival he states 3 shots for 50 cents. So they would need to sell 100 tickets, and the car would be hit 300 times with a sledgehammer, just for them to break even.

I don't buy the conclusion with the cops making the arrest. There's no motive, so they obviously have the wrong guy.

I really enjoyed this episode. So many of the shows in this series are based on fundamental greed. This one is really fun. I like the protagonist. He has suffered long because of a marriage made in hell. This has caused him to trust people to compensate for his unhappiness. We see him as a poor sucker who just can't catch a break. Finally he acts. Granted, it is the ultimate crime, but we know how far he was driven. The nice thing about this episode is that we are really kept in the dark all the way. We trust the "nice" people, but these are Hitchcock stories.

Incidentally, I've decided to ignore Hitchcock's little moments at the conclusion of the show where he tells us that the characters who managed to escape were ultimately punished. I wonder if this was a code thing or a literal commitment to "crime does not pay." If taken as gospel, it ruins many episodes.

I'll be honest, I didn't understand this episode, primarily in its final-resolution. Everything was fine until it reached the denouement at the carnival. I'd already gotten-lost on the back & forth conversations re: the headlight. The real problem, I think, was the ambient-noise of the carnival, which covered-up some crucial-dialogue. I just didn't get it. Enjoyed the episode for awhile, it moved-along nicely with unpredictable--and, for a time, directionless-plotline. I like Ralph Meeker but I seem never to be able to watch him without thinking how-closely he resembles & sounds like Vic Morrow of the later-in-the-60's "Combat" TV-series fame, to me, at-least. This, of course, not his fault. I DID feel he overacted somewhat in this episode, in order to convey anger & frustration. Yes, he was experiencing some serious financial & marriage-problems but nevertheless appeared a little too-over-the-top manic in his reactions & behavior. Even still, he remained a sympathetic-character throughout, so I give him credit for that. The only-other, relatively-minor, negative to this episode, was the portrayal of the male-teenagers, shown in stereotypical-fashion as loud, boisterous, hyperactive-kids, probably-older in real-life than the age-group they portrayed. Although these were "harmless" teens, trumpeting a worthy-cause, not hoodlums, they created unnecessary-movement & rather-irritating, overlapping-dialogue, tsk-tsk. I simply never-understood the connection between the beat-up old-jalopy they bought for $50 for their carnival and its relation to the crime. The past-his-prime, old-man-assistant at the car-lot, called "dad" by soft-hearted-owner-Meeker, was likably-sly & close-mouthed. The finale simply was beyond-me due to ambient-noise and confusing-actions & reasoning of the police, as well as "dad's"-wife's final-comments in the fade-out, etc., resulting in a disappointing viewing-experience, amounting to a complete-zero. I know I could re-watch the episode for possible-clarification but won't bother. Proceed at-your-own-risk with this clunker!