Four Star Playhouse

2,6

1952

6.7 / 10

Episodes

EP 1: Finale

Steve Carlyle is an actor who can't find work because his famous nearly identical cousin Roger takes measures to keep him from get...

EP 2: The Squeeze

Another of the great Willie Dante stories. Stan, the son of the DA, is a secret gambler. He loses big in Willie's joint and pays b...

EP 3: A Place Of His Own

The Commander, a mildly brain injured war hero, lives with his greedy family. All he wants is his own house, while all they want i...

EP 4: Love At Sea

A journalist's wife who, while alone on a sea voyage, becomes the center of male attention....

EP 5: The Witness

A suave attorney is hired to defend a man on trial for robbery and murder. The attorney finds the real culprit and solves the mys...

EP 7: Search in the Night

A newspaper reporter is intrigued as to why a woman hired a dive team to retrieve her purse from the Chicago River....

EP 8: Moorings

A sickly aging shipping magnate falls in love with a blind mother....

EP 9: The Hard Way

Vic breaks the bank at Willie's gambling hall, and Willie unknowingly pays him off with counterfeit money. When Vic threatens him,...

EP 10: For Art`s Sake

Ted Parker enlists his friend Addy, a famous art expert, into an elaborate ruse to portray his budding love interest as a break-ou...

EP 11: The Girl On The Park Bench

A beautiful, intelligent, and politically savvy young woman takes up residency in the city park to protest the Mayor's decision to...

EP 12: The Room

A doctor encounters suspicion and a dark secret when he rents a house in Cuba....

EP 13: A Man Of The World

Predictable Andy Bush is taking a train to his annual three week vacation without his wife. A young woman in trouble approaches hi...

EP 14: The Gift

Businessman Carl Baxter is a good boss for 364 days a year, but his memories of his estrangement with his son causes his mood to c...

EP 15: House For Sale

A woman visits an isolated house expecting to meet with the realtor. Instead, she encounters a murderer who's escaped from a menta...

EP 16: The Test

A test pilot learns that it's possible that his sick daughter could have polio, just before he tests a new military plane....

EP 17: The Bad Streak

An honest professional casino owner runs into bad luck with impending insolvency or sale of his property. He also runs into his ""...

EP 18: A String of Beads

Joan Robinson works as a governess for a wealthy family. She attends a party thrown by her employer and, although she is an attrac...

EP 19: Indian Taker

A comedy of errors about an insurance executive’s wife. At a party, the impulse suddenly comes over her and she proceeds to steal ...

EP 20: Second Dawn

A blind man has a chance for surgery to restore his sight, but it may last for just a few minutes....

EP 21: The Gun

A police detective returns home to his family one morning only to have his meal interrupted by a constant stream of people: the mi...

EP 22: The Bomb

An engaged couple and the woman's former suitor take shelter in an abandoned house, too late to notice an unexploded bomb. Their r...

EP 23: Meet McGraw: Long Count

McGraw, a private eye, is hired by Lila Lamont to protect her from her threatening husband Louis....

EP 24: Detective`s Holiday

A detective (Dick Powell) takes a trip to a cabin in the woods to get away from it all. A man, his wife, and his two kids entertai...

EP 25: Operation In Money

The chief teller of a bank openly embezzles a large sum of money to extort a pay raise from the bank's board of directors....

EP 26: Lady of the Orchids

An architect's wife endangers his career when she is involved in a car accident. While on a ride to a roadhouse, she accidentally...

EP 27: The Book

A stranger tussles with John over a library book and is struck and killed by a passing car. John discovers a message in the book a...

EP 28: A Study In Panic

Wise-guy newspaperman Fred Jordan writes a column making fun of "normal" men who panic during a fire. Soon afterward he gets a let...

EP 29: Masquerade

A costume ball during the New Orleans Mardi Gras turns sour when the family hosting the festivities discovers that their cousi...

EP 30: Village In The City

An artist turns detective to find out who murdered his favorite model and left the body in his studio....

EP 31: The Doctor and the Countess

A famous plastic surgeon is recruited to severely disfigure the face of a beautiful countess, in order to relate to her husband, w...

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.

  • en
  • Drama, Comedy,

Episodes >>

Finale

Episode 1

Steve Carlyle is an actor who can't find work because his famous nearly identica...

The Squeeze

Episode 2

Another of the great Willie Dante stories. Stan, the son of the DA, is a secret ...

A Place Of His Own

Episode 3

The Commander, a mildly brain injured war hero, lives with his greedy family. Al...

Love At Sea

Episode 4

A journalist's wife who, while alone on a sea voyage, becomes the center of male...

The Witness

Episode 5

A suave attorney is hired to defend a man on trial for robbery and murder. The ...

A Matter Of Advice

Episode 6

now-playing-animation

Search in the Night

Episode 7

A newspaper reporter is intrigued as to why a woman hired a dive team to retriev...

Moorings

Episode 8

A sickly aging shipping magnate falls in love with a blind mother....

The Hard Way

Episode 9

Vic breaks the bank at Willie's gambling hall, and Willie unknowingly pays him o...

For Art`s Sake

Episode 10

Ted Parker enlists his friend Addy, a famous art expert, into an elaborate ruse ...

The Girl On The Park Bench

Episode 11

A beautiful, intelligent, and politically savvy young woman takes up residency i...

The Room

Episode 12

A doctor encounters suspicion and a dark secret when he rents a house in Cuba....

A Man Of The World

Episode 13

Predictable Andy Bush is taking a train to his annual three week vacation withou...

The Gift

Episode 14

Businessman Carl Baxter is a good boss for 364 days a year, but his memories of ...

House For Sale

Episode 15

A woman visits an isolated house expecting to meet with the realtor. Instead, sh...

The Test

Episode 16

A test pilot learns that it's possible that his sick daughter could have polio, ...

The Bad Streak

Episode 17

An honest professional casino owner runs into bad luck with impending insolvency...

A String of Beads

Episode 18

Joan Robinson works as a governess for a wealthy family. She attends a party thr...

Indian Taker

Episode 19

A comedy of errors about an insurance executive’s wife. At a party, the impulse ...

Second Dawn

Episode 20

A blind man has a chance for surgery to restore his sight, but it may last for j...

The Gun

Episode 21

A police detective returns home to his family one morning only to have his meal ...

The Bomb

Episode 22

An engaged couple and the woman's former suitor take shelter in an abandoned hou...

Meet McGraw: Long Count

Episode 23

McGraw, a private eye, is hired by Lila Lamont to protect her from her threateni...

Detective`s Holiday

Episode 24

A detective (Dick Powell) takes a trip to a cabin in the woods to get away from ...

Operation In Money

Episode 25

The chief teller of a bank openly embezzles a large sum of money to extort a pay...

Lady of the Orchids

Episode 26

An architect's wife endangers his career when she is involved in a car accident....

The Book

Episode 27

A stranger tussles with John over a library book and is struck and killed by a p...

A Study In Panic

Episode 28

Wise-guy newspaperman Fred Jordan writes a column making fun of "normal" men who...

Masquerade

Episode 29

A costume ball during the New Orleans Mardi Gras turns sour when the family ho...

Village In The City

Episode 30

An artist turns detective to find out who murdered his favorite model and left t...

The Doctor and the Countess

Episode 31

A famous plastic surgeon is recruited to severely disfigure the face of a beauti...