The Philco Television Playhouse

1948 - 1956 NR 1h 00m 7.6

This live dramatic series featured original stories and adaptations of novels, plays, etc., during its eight-year run. During the first year, the show was sponsored by the Actor's Equity Association, and featured adaptations of Broadway...

This live dramatic series featured original stories and adaptations of novels, plays, etc., during its eight-year run. During the first year, the show was sponsored by the Actor's Equity Association, and featured adaptations of Broadway plays and musicals. Bert Lytell, the former President of the Association, acted as host. During the second season, an agreement was made with the Book-of-the-Month Club, and the plays were adaptations of current novels. Starting in the third season, the television plays were adaptations of plays, novels, dramas, etc., by known and unknown authors. The title of the show was changed to "Repertory Theatre" (1949) for episodes 1.29 to 1.31 and "Arena Theatre" (1949) for episodes 1.32 to 1.38. Effective with episode 1.39, the original title was used. Starting with the fourth season, this show alternated weekly with "The Goodyear Theatre" (1951); starting in the eighth season, this program alternated with "The Goodyear Theatre" (1951) and "The ALCOA Hour" (1955).

The Philco Television Playhouse background

Episodes:

Episode 1 Dinner at Eight

1. Dinner at Eight

Aired: Oct 3, 1948

Affluent Millicent and Oliver Jordan throw a dinner for a handful of wealthy ...

Episode 2 Rebecca

2. Rebecca

Aired: Oct 10, 1948

A self-conscious bride is tormented by the memory of her husband's dead first...

Episode 3 Counsellor-at-Law

3. Counsellor-at-Law

Aired: Oct 17, 1948

Successful attorney has his Jewish heritage and poverty-stricken background b...

Episode 4 Angel in the Wings

4. Angel in the Wings

Aired: Oct 24, 1948

An understudy for a stage show's star takes over when an accident circumvents...

Episode 5 Street Scene

5. Street Scene

Aired: Oct 31, 1948

Twenty-four hours elapse on the stoop of a Hell's Kitchen tenement as a micro...

Episode 7 Camille

7. Camille

Aired: Nov 14, 1948

A Parisian courtesan must choose between the young man who loves her and the ...

Episode 8 An Inspector Calls

8. An Inspector Calls

Aired: Nov 21, 1948

In 1912, an upper crust English family dinner is interrupted by a police insp...

Episode 9 I Like It Here

9. I Like It Here

Aired: Nov 28, 1948

Willie is a refugee who works as a houseman at a professor's home. He's a swe...

Episode 10 Suspect

10. Suspect

Aired: Dec 5, 1948

20 years ago, a Scotswoman was accused of an ax murder and let off with the i...

Episode 11 Parlor Story

11. Parlor Story

Aired: Dec 12, 1948

An ambitious professor wants to become President of his university. He is soo...

Episode 12 A Christmas Carol

12. A Christmas Carol

Aired: Dec 19, 1948

The skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve.

Episode 14 Ramshackle Inn

14. Ramshackle Inn

Aired: Jan 2, 1949

An old maid librarian has saved her money for twenty years, in order to buy a...

Episode 15 Cyrano de Bergerac

15. Cyrano de Bergerac

Aired: Jan 9, 1949

Embarrassed by his large nose, a romantic poet/soldier romances his cousin by...

Episode 16 Papa Is All

16. Papa Is All

Aired: Jan 16, 1949

The members of a Pennsylvania Dutch family rise up against against the overbe...

Episode 17 Pride and Prejudice

17. Pride and Prejudice

Aired: Jan 23, 1949

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have five unmarried daughters, and Mrs. Bennet is especia...

Episode 18 Dark Hammock

18. Dark Hammock

Aired: Jan 30, 1949

In a remote part of Florida, Coral Platt, a sinister woman has married a man ...

Episode 22 St. Helena

22. St. Helena

Aired: Feb 27, 1949

On St. Helena, the exiled emperor Napoleon Bonaparte is grim when his faithfu...

Episode 23 The Druid Circle

23. The Druid Circle

Aired: Mar 6, 1949

An embittered professor comes near to wrecking the lives of a young man and y...

Episode 24 Quality Street

24. Quality Street

Aired: Mar 13, 1949

A fresh young beauty becomes an old maid waiting for her suitor to return fro...

Episode 25 Dinner at Antoine's

25. Dinner at Antoine's

Aired: Mar 20, 1949

The murder of a woman at a dinner party unveils a multitude of twists and tur...

Episode 26 Becky Sharp

26. Becky Sharp

Aired: Mar 27, 1949

Set against the background of the Battle of Waterloo, Becky Sharp is the stor...

Episode 30 Burlesque

30. Burlesque

Aired: Apr 24, 1949

Vaudevillians Skid and Bonnie are partners onstage and off -- until success c...

Episode 31 Macbeth

31. Macbeth

Aired: May 1, 1949

Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that...

Episode 32 Romeo and Juliet

32. Romeo and Juliet

Aired: May 15, 1949

In Shakespeare's classic play, the Montagues and Capulets, two families of Re...

Episode 34 It Pays to Advertise

34. It Pays to Advertise

Aired: Jun 12, 1949

The son of a rich soap manufacturer gets himself in predicaments trying to pr...

Episode 35 Summer Formal

35. Summer Formal

Aired: Jun 19, 1949

A charming young girl comes to live in a household of an elderly priest. Jen...

Episode 36 Jenny Kissed Me

36. Jenny Kissed Me

Aired: Jun 26, 1949

A charming young girl comes to live in a household of an elderly priest. The ...

Episode 37 Dark of the Moon

37. Dark of the Moon

Aired: Jul 3, 1949

A witch boy named John who falls in love with a beautiful girl named Barbara ...

Episode 38 For Love or Money

38. For Love or Money

Aired: Jul 10, 1949

A young woman shows up during a thunderstorm at the country home of a famous ...

Episode 40 You Touched Me!

40. You Touched Me!

Aired: Jul 24, 1949

The adopted son of a drunken former sea captain returns to the household as a...

Episode 41 The Fourth Wall

41. The Fourth Wall

Aired: Jul 31, 1949

The life of a middle-aged couple has become too complacent and empty.

Episode 42 Enter Madame

42. Enter Madame

Aired: Aug 7, 1949

In this comedy, a self-absorbed opera diva works to save her marriage once he...

Episode 44 Pretty Little Parlor

44. Pretty Little Parlor

Aired: Aug 21, 1949

A little soirée is interrupted by a murder and the guests are all suspect in ...

Episode 45 Three Cornered Moon

45. Three Cornered Moon

Aired: Aug 28, 1949

Nellie Rimplegar has to tell her grown children that due to her bungled handl...


Main Cast

Info about The Philco Television Playhouse

Current Status: Ended

Network: NBC

Genres: Drama