Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Ikon of Elijah
TV Flash files “The Ikon of Elijah” as hour 169 of 268 in the TV Flash guide — Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962) on CBS/NBC, season 5, episode 16, aired 1960-01-10, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E16: listed hour 169 of 268 in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents guide, hour 16 of 38 in season 5. It aired 1960-01-10 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Man from the South” (S05E15). Next is “The Cure” (S05E17).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Carpius obtains a copy of a valuable ikon and wishes to switch it with the original. He goes to the monastery where it is kept and tries to steal it. He is discovered by a monk whom he then kills. Other monks hear the commotion and capture Carpius. Carpius pleads for forgiveness. The archimandrite tell him that forgiveness is only possible through prayer. Carpius gets down on his knees and prays. Behind him the monks lock the door. They want him to pray there for the rest of his life.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Ikon of Elijah sit in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents guide?
S05E16 is listed hour 169 of 268 — hour 16 of 38 in season 5, season 5 episode 16.
When did Alfred Hitchcock Presents S05E16 air?
The Ikon of Elijah aired 1960-01-10 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…