The Philco Television Playhouse

Season 3

During its 8-year run, the show began with Broadway adaptations hosted by Bert Lytell, then featured Book-of-the-Month Club novels, and later varied content. It briefly changed names and alternated with other programs.

Where to Watch The Philco Television Playhouse • Season 3

56 Episodes

  • High Tor
    E1
    High TorVan Dorn is getting the hard sell from businessmen wanting to buy his mountain, High Tor, for commercial use. When the group becomes trapped by a landslide, Van Dorn goes for help and encounters a Dutchwoman who's been haunting the mountain for two centuries.
  • The Long Run
    E2
    The Long Run
  • Dear Guest and Ghost
    E3
    Dear Guest and GhostA mother receives help with her troublesome kids from a friendly ghost.
  • The Touch of a Stranger
    E4
    The Touch of a StrangerA scientist's life has been destroyed by another man's greed and takes out his anger on three innocent strangers, implicating them in his own death.
  • The Vine That Grew on Fiftieth Street
    E5
    The Vine That Grew on Fiftieth StreetSeeds planted in a New York City backyard grow into a magical plant that brings happiness to those living near it. Formerly unpleasant neighbors turn into caring, warm-hearted individuals.
  • A Husband for Mama
    E6
    A Husband for MamaThe three children of a widowed woman scheme to get their mother a new husband, setting their sites on a middle-aged doctor.
  • Portrait in Smoke
    E7
    Portrait in SmokeA debt collector searches for the woman who saved him from an armed holdup; he wants her to have a $1000 reward. As he talks with those who knew her, he learns that she was a siren with a couple of murders to her credit.
  • The Gambler
    E8
    The GamblerA scathing denunciation of gambling and feudal aristocrats of the 19th Century, this story relates how Philip, a young medical student, bargains away his career for the unsure success of high gambling stakes. His caution turns to uncontrollable greed when he learns that money can buy women and quick fame. His destiny is bound to Theresa's, a beautiful young woman who has been mortgaged in marriage for her stepfather's debt, and to her wealthy grandmother's, who chooses to gamble away her fortune so there will be no inheritors.
  • The Power Devil
    E9
    The Power DevilA young attorney involves himself in many shady deals as he pursues political ambitions. His wife speaks up and demands he clean up his act. The threat of disbarment also contributes to his final decision.
  • The Man Who Got Away With It
    E10
    The Man Who Got Away With It
  • I'm Still Alive
    E11
    I'm Still AliveA mousy teacher at a small school had written a swashbuckling story filled with international spies and adventure. Unbeknownst to him, the story is sold to a newspaper as a true account of his life. Suddenly, femme fatales and real gangsters are paying him visits.
  • Torch for a Dark Journey
    E12
    Torch for a Dark JourneyA Czech scientist escapes from Prague with the aid of an American industrialist, who wants to hire him for his personal benefit. The scientist is followed by a former student, now a fanatic Communist, who insists that the scientist must return to his own country to work for the People's Republic. The scientist must decide whether to return or abandon his countrymen and accept personal freedom in America.
  • Wacky, the Small Boy
    E13
    Wacky, the Small Boy
  • Bonanza
    E14
    BonanzaThe residents of a Western ghost town won't admit that their gold rush "boom town" days ended long ago.
  • Decoy
    E15
    Decoy
  • The Pupil
    E16
    The PupilA tutor hired to instruct an uncontrollable 10-year-old soon recognizes the child's problem: it's his parents. The boy has had never received any affection from his negligent mother and father.
  • Leaf out of a Book
    E17
    Leaf out of a Book
  • The Symbol: Jefferson Davis
    E18
    The Symbol: Jefferson DavisThree decades in the life of the Confederate president are covered by three women: each of his two wives, and his daughter.
  • The Lost Diplomat
    E19
    The Lost Diplomat
  • Confession
    E20
    ConfessionThe final confession of the highest degree. A compelling story, told by the eyes of the beholder.
  • The Great Escape
    E21
    The Great EscapeThe story of the biggest POW-camp escape of World War II.
  • A Matter of Life and Death
    E22
    A Matter of Life and Death
  • Kitty Doone
    E23
    Kitty DooneA faded movie star schemes to keep her career at all costs.
  • Let Them Be Sea Captains
    E24
    Let Them Be Sea CaptainsHorace Greeley, volatile editor of The New York tribune, and Margaret Fuller, the mid-19th century feminist and first woman employed on the newspaper's staff.
  • The Man Who Bought a Town
    E25
    The Man Who Bought a TownA butcher purchases the town he calls home to preserve its quiet lifestyle.
  • No Medals on Pop
    E26
    No Medals on PopA young boy believes his father deserves a medal for being in the war and is heartbroken when he finds out the truth and how his father disgraced the family.
  • The Dark Corridor
    E27
    The Dark CorridorThe story of the Marr family which is made up of a dominant mother who bates everyone, the vacillating son, his wife, and the blind son. Then a new maid arrives, a maid who has served a term in prison as an accessory to a murder.
  • Bulletin 120
    E28
    Bulletin 120In Mississippi in 1915, Dr. Joseph Goldberger works with a test group of convicts and discovers that pellagra is caused by a dietary deficiency and not infection.
  • Parnassus on Wheels
    E29
    Parnassus on WheelsIn 1900's New England, Helen McGuill buys a horse-drawn, traveling bookstore, "Parnassus," from its owner, Roger McGuill. Roger travels with Helen in the beginning of her book-selling odyssey, and out of that comes adventure and romance.
  • Routine Assignment
    E30
    Routine AssignmentA reporter gets a confession of robbery from a man only to have the man then deny his guilt in a complex twist of events.
  • Hour of Destiny
    E31
    Hour of Destiny
  • The Birth of the Movies
    E32
    The Birth of the MoviesDrama on the career of D.W. Griffith. Producer Fred Coe briefly talks with Lillian Gish before and following the drama.
  • Mr. Arcularis
    E33
    Mr. ArcularisAfter undergoing important surgery, Mr. Arcularis goes on a long ocean voyage - where increasingly strange things occur.
  • A Secret Island
    E34
    A Secret IslandA vicious woman is determined to see her niece wed for money and social position instead of for love.
  • The Visitors
    E35
    The VisitorsA young boy's disappearance when his mother remarries leads to a mystery when he is found and has forgotten who he is.
  • Justice and Mr. Pleznik
    E36
    Justice and Mr. PleznikThe story of a naturalized immigrant's first experience with jury duty.
  • Rescue
    E37
    Rescue
  • The Adventures of Hiram Holliday
    E38
    The Adventures of Hiram HollidayA mild-mannered proof-reader goes on a world tour, and demonstrates several esoteric skills whilst undergoing exciting adventures.
  • The Fast Dollar
    E39
    The Fast DollarA humorous tale of life in a small town and its impact on a would-be confidence man.
  • Operation: Airlift
    E40
    Operation: AirliftThe story of the Berlin airlift, when the Western Allies organized the Berlin Airlift to carry supplies to the people in West Berlin. The success of the airlift humiliated the Soviets claiming that such a thing would never work.
  • Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal
    E41
    Dr. Hudson's Secret JournalWidower Dr. Hudson lives with his daughter and housekeeper and keeps his medical practice success by using the Good book as guidance.
  • The Plot
    E42
    The PlotWidower Dr. Hudson lives with his daughter and housekeeper and keeps his medical practice success by using the Good book as guidance.
  • Case History
    E43
    Case HistoryA sleuthing psychiatrist probes a murder in his fiancee's home and stirs up a hornet's nest with his future in-laws.
  • I Want to March
    E44
    I Want to MarchThe year is 1915 and the suffragettes cause a stir in the home of a zoology professor as his wife takes up the banner of "women's rights".
  • Pretend I Am A Stranger
    E45
    Pretend I Am A StrangerThe story of a British soldier and his buddy's widow as the two grow closer in their grief.
  • Television Story
    E46
    Television StoryA covetous young actress' career means more to her than marriage to a middle-aged actor who turns to TV after a successful career in other facets of show business only to find that his wife influences his work there.
  • The Return
    E47
    The ReturnAn amnesia victim is told by his alleged stepfather that he is heir to a fortune. When his so-called family greet him with reserve, however he gets busy to iron out the unreal problem.
  • Ephraim Tutt's Clean Hands
    E48
    Ephraim Tutt's Clean HandsLawyer Tutt refuses to cross the street for a $5 million account, but goes clear to Pottsville to draw up a will for Jim Lawton, staying there until he successfully contests a claim to a woman's farm.
  • Come Alive
    E49
    Come AliveAn arrogant woman whose self-centered tactics cause endless grief for her secretary, husband, sister and anyone who comes into contact with her.
  • Night at the Vulcan
    E50
    Night at the VulcanWhen an actor is murdered backstage, the cast of the production become the suspects, seems the actor had plenty of enemies.
  • This Time Next Year
    E51
    This Time Next YearThe ghost of Ulysses S. Grant materializes every year at the same time, at his tomb, Grant's Tomb.
  • Women of Intrigue
    E52
    Women of IntrigueIn this tale of Communist intrigue set in England, a man who works for the foreign office disappears.
  • The Wayward Season
    E53
    The Wayward SeasonA composer's reaction to his daughter's marriage to a middle-aged man brings changes in his own life.
  • The Spur
    E54
    The SpurAfter the assassination of President Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth leaped to the stage below, his spur became entangled in the American flag draping the balcony causing Booth to break his leg.
  • By-Line for Murder
    E55
    By-Line for MurderA bitter assistant foreign editor of a London newspaper commits murder in the newspaper office after being passed over yet again for a promotion.
  • Requiem for a Model A
    E56
    Requiem for a Model AAfter buying a very used car, a writer uncovers some very unusual items under one of the seat cushions. The story of the vehicle's former owners is told via flashbacks.

Cast of Season 3

  • Bert LytellSelf - Host
  • Robert Alan AurthurWriter / Producer

 

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