Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Letter of Credit
TV Flash files “Letter of Credit” as hour 189 of 268 in the TV Flash guide — Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962) on CBS/NBC, season 5, episode 36, aired 1960-06-19, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E36: listed hour 189 of 268 in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents guide, hour 36 of 38 in season 5. It aired 1960-06-19 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Schartz-Metterklume Method” (S05E35). Next is “Escape to Sonoita” (S05E37).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A man named Henry Lowden calls William Spengler and asks for information for a book he's writing. Spengler is a president of a bank and Lowden wants information on an unsolved crime. Lowden is interested in a man named Mathias who was shot after attempting an escape from prison. Spengler tells Lowden that Mathias stole a half million dollars from the bank which has not been recovered. Later, Lowden's investigation reveals that Spengler was in fact the robber. Spengler offers to cut him in. Lowden refuses and calls the police. He was not a writer; rather, he was the prison guard who shot Mathias, an innocent man framed by Spengler.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Letter of Credit sit in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents guide?
S05E36 is listed hour 189 of 268 — hour 36 of 38 in season 5, season 5 episode 36.
When did Alfred Hitchcock Presents S05E36 air?
Letter of Credit aired 1960-06-19 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…