Four Star Playhouse
Overview
Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine.
Blake Edwards was among the writers and directors who contributed to the series. Edwards created the recurring character of illegal gambling house operator Willie Dante for Dick Powell to play on this series. The character was later revamped and spun off in his own series starring Howard Duff, then-husband of Lupino.
The pilot for Meet McGraw, starring Frank Lovejoy, aired here, as did another episode in which Lovejoy recreated his role of Chicago newspaper reporter Randy Stone, from the radio drama Nightbeat.
Episodes
S01E02 Dante's Inferno
Willie Dante owns a bar and gambling house called Dante's Inferno. One night, the wife of an acquaintance tells Willie that her husband has threatened her. Willie comforts her and sends her home, but she...
S01E04 Backstage
An actor named Paul is out on an evening stroll when he sees a young woman attempting to jump off a bridge. After a struggle, he discovers her name is Amy and she is homeless....
S01E05 Welcome Home
A notorious criminal returns to his home town after 15 years away, and a young man wants to join him in notoriety and, probably, death at the hands of police.
S01E07 The Officer and the Lady
A reformed pickpocket in Paris obtains the purse of an attractive woman. He reads a letter telling about her dying son, and he decides to grant the boy's wish to meet his father.
S01E09 Man on a Train
William encounters an old acquaintance, John Dwerrihouse, on a train with 75,000 pounds. Only later did William learn that Dwerrihouse had disappeared four months earlier after embezzling 75,000 pounds from the train company.
S01E10 Trail's End
A famous marshal of Dodge City sets out in search of the murderous Sonoma Kid and runs into a tragedy of the desert.
S01E14 The Man Who Walked Out On Himself
After separating from his wife, a wealthy clubman is about to marry a much young woman -- whereupon his mirror image walks out on him in disgust.
S01E17 The Ladies On His Mind
A psychiatrist listens to his female patients go on about their troubles. As they talk, he imagines himself within each of their stories.
S01E18 To Whom It May Concern
A bank employee mails a letter to his boss confessing to stealing $7000 and includes the stocks he bought with the money. As he puts a gun to his head, he sees in the paper...
