Alfred Hitchcock Presents
De Mortuis
TV Flash files “De Mortuis” as hour 42 of 268 in the TV Flash guide — Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962) on CBS/NBC, season 2, episode 3, aired 1956-10-14, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E03: listed hour 42 of 268 in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents guide, hour 3 of 39 in season 2. It aired 1956-10-14 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Fog Closing In” (S02E02). Next is “Kill with Kindness” (S02E04).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Clarence Rankin's promiscuous wife Irene cheats on him constantly. Sadly, he knows nothing about it. One day, two of Clarence's friends stop by his house. They see him filling a large hole in his basement with cement. Since they don't see Irene, they believe that Clarence has found out about her cheating and killed her. Instead of going to the police, they talk to Clarence. They tell him that, given her cheating, his actions were probably justified. Clarence denies everything and says that his wife is on a trip. His friends leave after saying they will keep quiet. Later, Irene returns. Now knowing the truth, Clarence asks her to come down to the basement.
Viewer FAQ
Where does De Mortuis sit in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents guide?
S02E03 is listed hour 42 of 268 — hour 3 of 39 in season 2, season 2 episode 3.
When did Alfred Hitchcock Presents S02E03 air?
De Mortuis aired 1956-10-14 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Hitch's hosted half-hours rather than assuming he directed the lot. Sample the dry intros and the snap endings; the silhouette is the franchise.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Alfred Hitchcock Presents made the director himself the franchise: silhouette, dry intro, murder with a wink, and closings that sometimes 'corrected' crime to soothe censors. Watch it in 2026 as branded anthology swagger — Joan Harrison's engine, Hitch's persona, and twist endings as moral architecture you can still hum.
Calendar first: CBS, October 2, 1955. Then a later NBC window. Original half-hour run through 1962 — **268 episodes, seven seasons** — before the expansion as *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* (1962–1965). That is not nostalgia cosplay. That is a branded anthology with a host who was the franchise, a silhouette you could hum, and a weekly drop of murder with a wink. Rex can keep the three-network hymn. This was already a logo, a window, and a closing card that sometimes reversed the crime to soothe Standards & Practices.
Filed against
- Alfred Hitchcock as Host
Alfred Hitchcock made himself the franchise on Alfred Hitchcock Presents — silhouette, dry intro, murder with a wink, closings that sometimes “corrected” crime to soothe censors. Branded anthology swagger, Joan Harrison’s engine, twist…