CTVA US Anthology - "Four Star Playhouse" (Four Star/CBS) Season 1 (1952-53)

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 Season 1 (CBS) (1952-53)
Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive

with contributions by: Jim Brent, Tom Alger, Sal Crisanti, Rina Fox

references:
TV Guide / Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive


############# Four Star Playhouse ############
############## season 1 1952-53 ##############
##############################################
  Four Star Playhouse alternated with season 2 of
Amos 'n' Andy.
   CBS Thursday 8:30-9:00pm Eastern (30 min)

 

2.6 [33] The Amos 'n' Andy show: THE ENGAGEMENT RING
18Sep1952 CBS Thur
 

1.01 [--] Four Star Playhouse: MY WIFE GERALDINE  

25Sep52  CBS Thur

Written by Larry Marcus  

Directed by Robert Florey

Guest Stars:  

Charles Boyer

Porter Hall

Una Merkel

Noreen Nash

Don Dillway

William Boyett

Barbara Woodell

Jim Hayward

Synopsis:
The story concerns the plight of a man who invents a wife and then is accused of murdering her. [JB]

 

2.7 [34] The Amos 'n' Andy show: ARABIA
02Oct1952 CBS Thur

 

1.02 [--] Four Star Playhouse: DANTE'S INFERNO no. 1

09Oct52  CBS Thur

Starring

Dick Powell ....... Willie Dante

Regis Toomey ....... Lt. Manny Waldo

Virginia Grey

Marvin Miller

Synopsis:
Dick Powell portrays the owner of a swank restaurant which offers gambling.

 Trouble arises when a beautiful woman patron insists that she is about to be murdered. [JB]
*Note: This & subsequent episodes featuring Dick Powell as investigator

Willie Dante became the basis for the 1960 series "Dante"

with Howard Duff in the lead.

 

2.8 [35] The Amos 'n' Andy show: KINGFISH SELLS A LOT
16Oct1952 CBS Thur

 

1.03 [--] Four Star Playhouse: THE LOST SILK HAT   [verified on film]

23Oct52  CBS Thur

An Official Films Presentation (c) 1952
By Lord Dunsany
Television Play by Ronald Colman and Milton Merlin
Directed by Robert Florey
Executive Producer Don W. Sharpe
Produced by Ronald Coleman (with an 'e') on film
Starring
Ronald Coleman (with an 'e')......... Caller
Richard Whorf .......... Poet
Jay Novello ............ Clerk
Tudor Owen ............. Laborer
Leo Britt .............. Policeman
*
Production Supervisor, Ruby Rosenberg
Photography, Les White, A.S.C.
Assistant Director, Nate Barragar
Art Director, Ralph Berger
Edited by, Samuel E. Beetley, A.C.E   [DM]

Synopsis:
Ronald Coleman portrays an Englishman who calls on his love, gets into a quarrel with

her and leaves without his hat. He faces the dilemma of returning for it or being

seen in the street bareheaded. [JB]

 

2.9 [36] The Amos 'n' Andy show: THE RACE HORSE 
30Oct1952 CBS Thur

1.04 [--] Four Star Playhouse: BACKSTAGE

06Nov52 CBS Thur

Starring 

Charles Boyer ........ Paul
Hillary Brooke ....... Miriam
Marcia Henderson ..... Amy
Louis Heydt .......... Lt. Albert
Florence Bates ....... Ottilie
Will Wright .......... Willie
Hugh French .......... Evan
Rhys Williams ........ Stage Manager
Percy Helton ......... Pan Handler (as Percy Hilton)
Cecil Cunningham ..... Woman 

Synopsis:
Charles Boyer portrays an actor whose role in preventing a suicide

leads to a myriad of complications. [JB]

 

2.10 [37] The Amos 'n' Andy show: COUSIN EFFIE'S WILL
13Nov1952 CBS Thur

 

1.05 [--] Four Star Playhouse: WELCOME HOME

20Nov52   CBS Thur

Written by Blake Edwards

Directed by Robert Florey

Starring

Dick Powell ....... Eddie White

David Holt ....... Chuck Stern

Howard McNear ....... Mr. Stern

Claire Carleton

Russ Conway

Herb Ellis

Maudie Prickett

Herbert Heyes

Synopsis:
A fugitive from the police returns to his hometown after a 15-year absence. [JB]

 

2.11 [38] The Amos 'n' Andy show: RESTITUTION 
27Nov1952 CBS Thur

 

1.06 [--] Four Star Playhouse: THE ISLAND   

04Dec52   CBS Thur

Written by John & Gwen Bagni

Directed by Robert Florey

Starring

David Niven

George Macready

Dianne Foster

Walter Sande

Robert Cabal

Synopsis:
A dramatic saga of a rebellious physician on an island in the South Pacific. [JB]

 

2.12 [39] The Amos 'n' Andy show: THE ANTIQUE SHOP
11Dec1952 CBS Thur

 

1.07 [--] Four Star Playhouse: THE OFFICER & THE LADY  

18Dec52   CBS Thur

Written by Leonard St. Clair  

Directed by George Jenkins

Starring  

Allen Jenkins

Charles Boyer

Andrea King

Lonnie Thomas

Alphonse Martel

Louis Mercier

Synopsis:

An incurably ill child's desire to see his father brings about a great

transformation in the character of a knavish officer. [JB]

 

2.13 [40] The Amos 'n' Andy show: CHRISTMAS SHOW 
25Dec1952 CBS Thur

 

1.08 [--] Four Star Playhouse: KNOCKOUT

01Jan53   CBS Thur

Starring  

Broderick Crawford

Buddy Wright

Ted DeCorsia

Ron Hargrave

Lucille Barkley

Synopsis 1:

A young middleweight boxer finds at the height of his career that

his championship fight has been fixed. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
The story of the career of a young middleweight from the time his trainer first spots

him to his first chance at the championship. [JB]

 

2.14 [41] The Amos 'n' Andy show: THE BIRTHDAY CARD
08Jan1953 CBS Thur

 

1.09 [--] Four Star Playhouse: MAN ON THE TRAIN

(verified on film) (NOT "Man on A Train")

15Jan53   CBS Thur

Screenplay by John & Gwen Bagni  

Directed by Robert Florey

Starring  

David Niven ....... William Langford

Alan Napier

Alex Frazer

Lowell Gilmore

Jean Willes

Walter Kingsford

Rhys Williams

Reginald Sheffield

Gordon Richards

David Tgursby

Synopsis:
A man is returning from India by train when a talkative stranger sets the stage

for robbery and murder by boasting of a fortune in a briefcase. [JB]

 

2.15 [42] The Amos 'n' Andy show: THE BALLET TICKETS
22Jan1953 CBS Thur


1.10 [--] Four Star Playhouse: TRAIL'S END

29Jan53  CBS Thur

Adapted by Blake Edwards & Harold Shumate

from the Shumate story  

Directed by Robert Florey

Starring  

Dick Powell

Jean Howell

Lee Van Cleef

Richard Hale

Synopsis:
A famous marshal of Dodge City sets out in search of the murderous Sonoma Kid

and runs into a tragedy of the desert. [JB]

 

2.16 [43] Amos 'n' Andy: ANDY GETS MARRIED
05Feb1953 CBS Thur


1.11 [--] Four Star Playhouse: SOUND OFF, MY LOVE  (film)

12Feb53  CBS Thur
Original Screenplay by John and Gwen Bagni
Directed by Robert Florey
Starring
Merle Oberon ............ Martha
Gordon Oliver ........... Bill
Barbara Billingsley ..... Betty
James Seay .............. Storekeeper
Larry Dobkins .... Doctor
Ottola Nesmith .......... Mrs. Mull
Alix Talton .... Maria
*
Production Supervisor, Ruby Rosenberg
Director of Photography, George E. Diskant, A.C.E
Assistant Director, John Pommer
Art Director, Ralph Berger
Film Editor, Samuel E. Beetley, A.C.E
Miss Oberon's Wardrobe by, Orry-Kelly   

Synopsis 1:

A woman buys a hearing aid, just in time to hear her husband plot her murder. [DM]

Synopsis 2:
A woman’s pride, coupled with the loss of her hearing,

causes a bewildering change in her private world. [JB]

 

2.17 [44] The Amos 'n' Andy show: LEROY'S SUITS 
19Feb1953 CBS Thur

 

1.12 [--] Four Star Playhouse: THE MAN IN THE BOX

26Feb53   CBS Thur

Written by John & Gwen Bagni

Directed by Robert Florey

Starring       

Charles Boyer

Patricia Morison

Dorothy Green

Harry Bartell

Christine Larson

James Craven

Herbert Heyes

Isabel Randolph

Todd Karnes

Synopsis:
Charles Boyer plays four roles in this story of a director and his woes. [JB]

 

2.18 [45] The Amos 'n' Andy show: SEEING IS BELIEVING
05Mar1953 CBS Thur

 

1.13 [--] Four Star Playhouse: NO IDENTITY

12Mar53   CBS Thur

Directed by Robert Florey

Starring  

David Niven

Frances Rafferty

Tommy Rettig

Synopsis:
A young boy fights to win his foster mother’s love. [JB]

 

2.19 [46] Amos 'n' Andy: ANDY FALLS IN LOVE WITH AN ACTRESS
19Mar1953 CBS Thur

 

1.14 [--] Four Star Playhouse: THE MAN WHO WALKED OUT ON HIMSELF

26Mar53  CBS Thur

starring

Ronald Colman

Synopsis:
When his image in the mirror walks out on him, our hero’s troubles begin. [JB]

 

2.20 [47] The Amos 'n' Andy show: SUPERFINE BRUSH
02Apr1953 CBS Thur

 

[--] 09Apr53 Dante’s Inferno #1 (Repeat, original air date 09Oct52) [JB]

 

2.21 [48] The Amos 'n' Andy show: KINGFISH AT THE BALLGAME 
16Apr1953 CBS Thur

 

1.15 [--] Four Star Playhouse: THE LAST VOYAGE  

23Apr53   CBS Thur

Written by John & Gwen Bagni

Directed by Robert Florey

Starring

Charles Boyer

Walter Sande

William Leicester

John Alvin

John Harmon

Ray Walker

Regis Toomey

Jack Lambert

Synopsis:
A sea captain en route to the Orient discovers that a time bomb has been planted on his ship. [JB]

 

2.22 [49] Amos 'n' Andy: THE KINGFISH FINDS HIS FUTURE
30Apr1953 CBS Thur

1.16 [--] Four Star Playhouse: NIGHT RIDE

07May53   CBS Thur

Starring  

David Niven

Rhys Williams

Christine Larson

Synopsis:
Five people, one a murder, are trapped on a subway. [JB]

 

2.23 [50] The Amos 'n' Andy show: SAPPHIRE'S SISTER
14May1953 CBS Thur

 

1.17 [--] Four Star Playhouse: THE LADIES ON HIS MIND

21May53   CBS Thur

Written by Milton Merlin

Directed by Robert Florey

Starring  

Ronald Colman

Benita Hume

Patricia Morrison

Hillary Brooke

Elisabeth Fraser

Alix Talton

Synopsis:
A psychiatrist has difficulty in remaining detached when treating beautiful women. [JB]

 

2.24 [51] Amos 'n' Andy: MR. JACKSON COMES TO TOWN
28May1953 CBS Thur

 

1.18 [--] Four Star Playhouse: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

04Jun53   CBS Thur (04Jun53) (Amos & Andy finale episode 11Jun53)

starring

David Niven

Ned Glass

Martha Wentworth

Synopsis:

A timid and conscientious bank employee devotes his spare time to the study of

 stocks and bonds until the cruel hand of fate enters his life. [JB]

 

2.25 [52] Amos 'n' Andy: THE ADOPTION (final CBS broadcast)
11Jun1953 CBS Thur 8:30pm Eastern

 

1.19 [--] Four Star Playhouse: SHADOWED

18Jun53   CBS Thur

Adapted by Seeleg Lester & Merwin Gerard

from the Mary Synon story

Directed by Robert Florey

Starring

Dick Powell

Francis Dee

Robert Johnson

Tyler McVey

William Walker

Raymond Largay

Dan Riss

Harry Cheshire

Charles Seel

William Forest

Synopsis:

A politician who would like to be a Senator finds himself in a dilemma when

his past comes forward to injure his chances in the election. [JB]

 

1.20 [--] Four Star Playhouse: MR. BINGHAM  

25Jun53   CBS Thur

Starring  

David Niven

############# Four Star Playhouse ############
############### end of season 1 ##############
##############################################

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