Four Star Playhouse

- Season 4

(1955)

In the Australian Army in North Africa in WW2, a military deserter is ordered executed, for a murder he probably did not commit. Disgraced Captain Adams is ordered to lead the firing squad, in exchange for restoration of his own honor. Adams struggles with his detestable assignment.

A reporter meets with a 100-year-old woman to ask about her life in the Old West. Her family keeps insisting she lived an upright and charming life in those frontier days, but she remembers the torrid affair she had with notorious outlaw Laramie Cole.

A reformed card sharp is recruited to unmask a suspected poker cheat among a group of wealthy gamblers. He finds it difficult to be impartial when the suspect enthusiastically befriends him.

A particularly bad review causes a Broadway actress to scheme to humiliate the drama critic.

A former sheriff, Will Sonnett, known for his fast draw shows up in Mesa to see an optometrist; he's become nearsighted and badly needs glasses. Also in town is a punk gunfighter who wants to make a name for himself. Knowing Sonnett has vision problems, he challenges the lawman to a duel.

In Hell, the administrating office is hopelessly out of date and incompetent, so Satan enlists the help of an exceptionally aggressive and heartless businessman to modernize the place. He installs an IBM system and soon it's the picture of efficiency, much, it turns out, to the businessman's regret.

A milquetoast employee at a novelty company is overlooked by everyone from his boss to the woman he crushes on. But after being suckered by a shady tailor into getting a shockingly garish suit, he's whistled at by woman and mistaken for a gangster. His newly found self-confidence fits him well.

Ann marries wealthy Richard and moves into his family mansion. Richard accidentally killed his first wife in a marital conflict, and Ann's presence in the mansion confuses him and causes flashbacks.

Alan moves to America when his wife dies, leaving his young daughter with her grandmother in Paris. When he returns after five years, his daughter has difficulty believing that he loves her.

A man who is stressed over the affairs of his business walks out and goes on a surreal train ride to the nonexistent town of Meadbrook.

Diana finally leaves her playboy husband and moves to an apartment in New York. Soon after arriving at her new place, she finds herself locked in with no electricity and very little food. Gradually Diana becomes unhinged which is the goal of the husband and his girlfriend who booby-trapped the place to send her over the edge.

Billie hires an odd man as the new pin boy at her bowling alley, but quickly fire him because of his violent outbursts. Only then does she learn he's a murderous psycho who escaped from prison. That's why she's so terrified when he shows up at the alley one night when she's all alone.

Upset that his 25 years of service for the company are unappreciated, Henri treats himself to an expensive night on the town, on the company's dime. He then comes to his senses, distraught that his embezzlement will be discovered.

While traveling alone in a train compartment, an elderly, wealthy, wheelchair-bound man (Cedric Hardwicke) is confronted by a younger man (David Niven), whom he had double-crossed over twenty years ago. The younger man, now bent on revenge, tells the elderly man that he intends to kill him when the train passes through an upcoming tunnel. A battle of wits ensues.

An employee catches attractive Mrs. Raymond making a pass at Willie, then Mr. Raymond comes to the club with a gun to get even. Willie shoots him in self defense, but Willie is framed when Mr. Raymond's gun disappears.

Sheila and her brother engineer a gas leak to kill her husband so they can split the insurance money. Overhearing the plot is the husband's invalid father, but it's no concern because he can't speak or write. Sheila doesn't realize he is able to communicate with his nurse through his eyes.

The chancellor of a foreign university gives newspaperman Frank Carstairs a document to smuggle out of the country. He anticipates being charged with treason by the totalitarian government and he wants the free world to know he did not willingly join their side. Meanwhile, Frank carries on an affair with a sexy foreign spy who seems to be playing both sides of the fence.

Suave restaurateur-gambler Willie Dante rebuffs the attempt of racketeers to cash in on his gambling activities. He appears to change his mind, however, due to the influence of a beautiful woman.

The first mate on a merchant ship has been waiting for years to take command of the ship. When the elderly captain makes a mistake at a time when the ship is in danger, the first mate sees his chance to command.

At a particularly vulnerable time in her life, Carol is wooed by charming David. They fall in love, but Carol then learns that David is married. He says that he will get divorced for her, but Carol is visited by David's wife.

A police detective travels to Borneo looking for an American who murdered his wife for a huge insurance payoff. There are only three Americans there, all on a rubber plantation, but none fits the physical description. Once his cover is blown, the detective comes clean and tells the men he thinks none of them are his man. But he knows the killer is a wine connoisseur and he uses that to set a trap.

A prison warden desperately tries to prove that a man scheduled for execution is innocent.

A playwright driving to Los Angeles gives a lift to a young woman heading to her father's ranch. Upon arriving, he's locked up and expected to marry the girl or be killed. The writer's unwittingly being used as a stand-in for the man she's being fooling around with.

Emily is an invalid who needs a caretaker. Her husband leaves her home alone one day, and she begins to stew over the low regard that he has for her. He, on the other hand, resents the opportunities that he's missed because of Emily.

An older husband tests the marital fidelity of his amorous young wife by anonymously sending her flowers from "a secret admirer".

Steve's the successful writer of a couple of junky TV Westerns. On a train trip back to Los Angeles, he bonds with the young girl seated beside him. The lonely child's honest talk makes him realize that he's sold out his integrity for money, but it's not too late to get his life back on track.

An undercover agent is dispatched to the anti-communist underground to search for an important contact. But when he's caught by the red Chinese, he's tortured in various ways for important information by a mysterious renegade white man who leads them known by the nom de guerre "Sampan Joe".

Ted attacks old enemy Walter in a fit of rage. Stunned at the realization that Walter is dead, he hears a woman on the phone who overheard their conversation. Ted needs to find this woman and keep her from telling the police anything.

Two con men target a naive young oilman from Texas. They visit Willie's gambling hall, and the con men threaten Willie. He decides to get revenge, and teach a lesson to the oilman.

A young widow, who is in denial that her husband has died, moves in with her brother-in-law's family down on the farm. Her city ways and manners clash with the simple, pious life of the farmers.

A teacher wanting to leave his unfulfilling job needs money to write the book he's dreamed of. A stranger enters and makes an unusual offer: $10,000 to take a physical for a dying man so he can get life insurance to take care of his widow when he passes on.

Ruthless dictator Mendoza summons a priest when 300,000 people in his country announce that they will pray for him to die at 1:42 that day.

In an effort to escape her past, a woman takes a job in a plant.

Philip Benton is entertaining thoughts of moving on from his wife, who has been in a sanitarium for five years. Just as he is starting a new relationship with his secretary, he receives news that his wife is better and will be released.

An experienced writer is in the middle of a professional slump when he is inspired by the story of an old long lost friend. While his career is reviving, he seems to be hindering the acting prospects of his novice young girlfriend.

While her husband is laid up in a farm house with a broken leg, Nina sees a prowling burglar. She calls for help, but the hired hand that she calls for is the burglar - and he's also a murderer.

Fresh out of prison, blackmailer Gus Anderson intends to use Willie's casino to launder his victims' money. To insure his cooperation, Gus' thugs are holding one of Willie's waiters hostage. Glamorous singer Betty Maxwell shows up at Dante's, as scheduled, to lose at blackjack and avoid having a risqué photo of her mailed to the tabloids. Knowing that Lt. Waldo will but his casino yet again, Willie invites to cop over to watch Gus violate his parole.

More interested in his career than in his duty as a physician, a noted doctor intentionally misdiagnoses a patient in an Asian city so he could get back to the U.S. and accept a major award. When his wife realizes that he abandoned a town needing his help to fight a Plague outbreak, she demands a divorce.

A military hero becomes circumspect as his wife expects their first child. In battle, he jumps into a protective hole instead of forging to the front of the line. His company nicknames him Yellowbelly, and he loses the respect of his men.

Actress Grace Markham's job consists of being the stand-in for movie star Marion Clayton. Unable to accept that she's supremely untalented, Grace instead becomes embittered and blames the leading lady's popularity for her own dead-end show business career.

A man is assigned to force a small-town newspaper out of existence.