Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) Servant Problem (1961) User Reviews

An okay episode...and it's hard to know who to root for in this one!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 17 April 2021]

"Servant Problem" is odd in that it's the second episode in the row about a man who has walked out on his marriage. In this case, however, Kerwin left his wife more than 20 years ago!

The story begins with Kerwin in his apartment...preparing for a dinner party. When the doorbell rings, however, it's none of his guests but his wife...and she's not going to leave! He does convince her to stay away during the party, but she does make a brief appearance...and Kerwin's fiancee is suspicious of who this other woman might be. What is Kerwin to do with his wife?!

This is just an okay episode with an okay twist. I do think the show made it hard to care about anyone in the episode and the finale was very much what I expected.

"How did I know you were going to amount to anything?"

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 22 February 2022]

Forget about the twist ending. What I want to know is how a guy like Kerwin Drake attracts a dish like Sylvia Colton. Actor John Emery was twice the age of actress Joan Hackett in the story and looked every bit of it. Hitchcock's stories often contained such an age disparity and I have to wonder if it was a restriction of the times regarding the talent pool available for these anthology series. I don't think that kind of casting would ever happen today unless there were an outstanding reason for it. Anyway, the third principal in this episode was a hoot and a half. Jo Van Fleet was as obnoxious and grating as a wife could possibly be, and the twenty or so years that passed since Drake left her only added to her caustic demeanor. I'm pretty sure Drake didn't have murder on his mind when he went to Molly's (Van Fleet) apartment, but when his temper got the better of him, well... excrement happens! The thing is, you just never know what you don't know. No more dinner parties at Drake's.

Puff Pastry

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 31 May 2021]

Not much here. A man who waked out on his wife 22 years ago has her return, interrupting his affluent lifestyle. He tries to get rid of her but she is persistent. A confrontation is coming. But it turns out that a misunderstanding sinks the whole kaboodle. Not one of my favorites.

average

[talonjensen · 6/10 · 23 April 2018]

The acting is good, the writing average, but the ending twist is disappointing. I usually rate the ending twists highly if I don't correctly predict them, but, in this case, I still found it poor. I predicted a different twist, which was more entertaining to me.

The wife did a good job as an annoying person, very close to a couple I actually met when I was much younger.

KNOCK, KNOCK AT THE DOOR!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 18 March 2023]

Murphy's Law is at the door, and it's campy fun. Hitch had to have given the green light on this one, just for the surprise ending. Wait and see.

Ever dapper John Emery, who reminded me of a poor man's John Barrymore!, plays Kerwin, a famous author, the toast of the town -- only to have the nagging wife he parted with (some 20 years earlier), show up at his doorstep at precisely the WRONG moment. Here's the thing... if the guy wasn't so successful, would this have happened in the first place? Not a chance!

The cherry on the top is Jo Van Fleet, playing Molly, the uncouth wife who will not take NO for an answer. Kerwin has no choice but to pass her off as his maid! Van Fleet was at her best in offbeat, quirky roles, somewhat in the tradition of Thelma Ritter or Shirley Booth. She has fun with this part, and it shows.

The supporting cast is to be credited, such as Bartlett Robinson as George and a young Joan Hackett as Sylvia. Hackett was a former fashion model.

Since this was filmed at the same studio (REVUE/UNIVERSAL), listen for some familiar background music bits from LEAVE IT TO BEAVER. And it fits!

Watching Emery slowly lose his cool, if not his mind is the whole show. Reportedly, Emery was good friends with Zachary Scott (who also appeared on Hitchcock's show), and saved him from drowning. A super trivia bit.

Recommended. SEASON 6 episode 34 1961 CBS/Universal dvd box set.

Wife Problem

[telegonus · 5/10 · 28 October 2017]

Servant Problem is a fair entry in the Hitchcock show, of more interest as a reflection of the changing times, as for its story's quality, which is routine. It's 1961, the era of Mad Men and the dawn of Camelot. The half-hour Hitch series began in the mid-Fifties, and one can see how much the times had changed since its beginning in this entry more than in most.

A successful author, played by John Emery, is planning to have a few friends and business associates over to celebrate the publication of his new book. While preparing for their arrival he is intruded upon by a blast from the past: his ex-wife, whom he hasn't seen in twenty-two years, and dressed like a nightclub floozy of an earlier era, and talking like one, too.

The ex-ux is flamboyantly played by Jo Van Fleet, and while I wouldn't call the performance of this brilliant actress outstanding, her presence, her coarseness and bad manners, are realized with such larger than life energy,--like a cross between Apple Annie and Auntie Mame--as to make the episode feel like a comedy whenever she's on hand.

Set in Manhattan, and taking place entirely indoors, this one's like a chamber piece. The action, of which there is very little, consists mostly of people sitting or standing, walking up and down stairs. It's somewhat of a challenge to watch, with an unsurprising ending, and the prospects for the future of its main character not looking rosy.

Not a fully great ep but Joan Hackett shines

[bnelso-23793 · 8/10 · 21 September 2018]

Spoilers

I also predicted a different ending for this. I thought the beautiful and talented Joan Hacket as the writer's foxy girlfriend,Sylvia, was going to be in the last scene. Probably the other poster did too. My probable shared view ends there.

Joan Hacket's scene where she gets a temporary brushoff is a scene worth watching over and again. This great talented appealing beauty is worth it in about every show she does. She is better more beautiful and appealing than the haggish, overrated Jo Van Fleet. Fleet can actually make you turn channels.