Four Star Playhouse

Four Star Playhouse Cast

Series Description

The Four Star Playhouse TV show was a 30 minute anthology series on CBS featuring action, comedy, and drama shows. The cast of those shows was lead by four huge stars of the day who took turns appearing on a rotating basis (see cast list).

Cast List (Alternating Stars):

Dick Powell
Charles Boyer
Ida Lupino
David Niven

Trivia

Originally, Joel McCrea and Rosalind Russell were supposed to be two of the stars on Four Star Playhouse. They both pulled out of the project very early on so Ida Lupino and David Niven took their spots.

You might notice by the episodes' air dates below that the Four Star Playhouse only aired every other week during the first season. That's because it shared its time slot with the "Amos 'n' Andy Show". Amos 'n' Andy was not renewed for the next season and the Four Star Playhouse began airing each week.

While most of the episode had original characters, Dick Powell did portray a nightclub owner named Willie Dante in several episodes of the Four Star Playhouse. Those episodes were so popular that, in 1960, NBC aired a series based on that character titled, "Dante" but it only lasted one season. The series may have done better if NBC could have gotten Dick Powell to play the lead but the starring role went instead to actor Howard Duff.

The Four Star Playhouse didn't have any major competition in its time slot until the 1954/55 season when ABC aired the Kraft Television Theatre and NBC broadcast the "Ford Theatre" in its slot.

Powell, Boyer, Lupino, and Niven were the predominant stars of the Four Star Playhouse episodes but they weren't the only ones. Some of the episodes starred Ronald Colman, Joan Fontaine, Frank Lovejoy, Merle Oberon, and Teresa Wright.

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

Season 1

  1. My Wife Geraldine (9/25/1952)
  2. Dante's Inferno (10/2/1952)
  3. The Lost Silk Hat (10/23/1952)
  4. Backstage (11/6/1952)
  5. Welcome Home (11/20/1952)
  6. The Island (12/4/1952)
  7. The Officer and the Lady (12/18/1952)
  8. Knockout (1/1/1953)
  9. Man on a Train (1/15/1953)
  10. Trail's End (1/29/1953)
  11. Sound Off, My Love (2/12/1953)
  12. The Man in the Box (2/26/1953)
  13. No Identity (3/12/1953)
  14. The Man Who Walked Out On Himself (3/26/1953)
  15. The Last Voyage (4/23/1953)
  16. Night Ride (5/7/1953)
  17. The Ladies On His Mind (5/21/1953)
  18. Mr. Bingham (6/4/1953)
  19. Shadowed (6/18/1953)
Season 2
  1. Finale (9/24/1953)
  2. The Squeeze (10/1/1953)
  3. A Place Of His Own (10/8/1953)
  4. Love At Sea (10/15/1953)
  5. The Witness (10/22/1953)
  6. A Matter Of Advice (10/29/1953)
  7. Out of the Night (11/5/1953)
  8. Moorings (11/12/1953)
  9. The Hard Way (9/10/1953)
  10. For Art`s Sake (11/26/1953)
  11. The Girl On The Park Bench (12/3/1953)
  12. The Room (12/10/1953)
  13. A Man Of The World (12/17/1953)
  14. The Gift (12/24/1953)
  15. House For Sale (12/31/1953)
  16. The Test (1/7/1954)
  17. The Bad Streak (1/14/1954)
  18. A String of Beads (1/21/1954)
  19. Indian Taker (1/28/1954)
  20. Second Dawn (2/4/1954)
  21. The Gun (2/11/1954)
  22. The Bomb (2/18/1954)
  23. Meet McGraw: Long Count (2/25/1954)
  24. Detective`s Holiday (3/4/1954)
  25. Operation In Money (3/11/1954)
  26. Lady of the Orchids (3/18/1954)
  27. The Book (4/1/1954)
  28. A Study In Panic (4/8/1954)
  29. Masquerade (4/15/1954)
  30. Village In The City (4/22/1954)
  31. The Doctor And The Countess (4/29/1954)
Season 3
  1. Man in the Cellar (9/30/1954)
  2. Never Explain (10/7/1954)
  3. Interlude (10/14/1954)
  4. The Wallet (10/21/1954)
  5. The Adolescent (10/28/1954)
  6. The Contest (11/4/1954)
  7. Vote Of Confidence (11/11/1954)
  8. My Own Dear Dragon (11/18/1954)
  9. Marked Down (11/25/1954)
  10. Meet A Lonely Man (12/2/1954)
  11. Bourbon Street (12/9/1954)
  12. A Championship Affair (12/16/1954)
  13. The Answer (12/23/1954)
  14. Go Ahead And Jump (12/30/1954)
  15. A Bag Of Oranges (1/6/1955)
  16. Stuffed Shirt (1/11/1955)
  17. Breakfast in Bed (1/20/1955)
  18. The Good Sister (1/27/1955)
  19. A Kiss for Mr. Lincoln (2/3/1955)
  20. Fair Trial (2/10/1955)
  21. The Wild Bunch (2/17/1955)
  22. Tusitala (2/24/1955)
  23. The Returning (3/3/1955)
  24. Eddie`s Place (3/10/1955)
  25. Henry And The Psychopathic Horse (3/17/1955)
  26. Nightmare At Lark Cottage (3/24/1955)
  27. The Girl On The Bridge (3/31/1955)
  28. The Collar (4/7/1955)
  29. Madeira, Madeira (4/14/1955)
  30. With All My Heart (4/21/1955)
  31. The House Always Wins (4/28/1955)
  32. Uncle Fred Flits By (5/5/1955)
  33. Alias Mr. Hepp (5/12/1955)
  34. Trudy (5/26/1955)
  35. Broken Journey (6/2/1955)
  36. The Executioner (6/9/1955)
  37. The Frightened Woman (6/23/1955)
  38. Award (6/30/1955)
Season 4
  1. The Firing Squad (10/6/1955)
  2. The Face of Danger (10/13/1955)
  3. Let the Chips Fall (10/20/1955)
  4. Full Circle (10/27/1955)
  5. A Spray of Bullets (11/3/1955)
  6. The Devil to Pay (11/10/1955)
  7. Here Comes the Suit (11/17/1955)
  8. Looking Glass House (11/24/1955)
  9. The Thin Red Line (12/1/1955)
  10. A Place Full of Strangers (12/8/1955)
  11. One Way Out (12/15/1955)
  12. Dark Meeting (1/5/1956)
  13. Magic Night (1/12/1956)
  14. Tunnel of Fear (1/19/1956)
  15. High Stakes (1/26/1956)
  16. The Listener (2/2/1956)
  17. Safe Keeping (2/9/1956)
  18. No Limit (2/16/1956)
  19. Command (2/26/1956)
  20. Once to Every Woman (3/1/1956)
  21. Red Wine (3/8/1956)
  22. To Die at Midnight (3/15/1956)
  23. Desert Encounter (3/22/1956)
  24. The Case of Emily Cameron (3/29/1956)
  25. The Rites of Spring (4/5/1956)
  26. Autumn Carousel (4/12/1956)
  27. Wall of Bamboo (4/19/1956)
  28. Touch and Go (4/26/1956)
  29. A Long Way From Texas (5/3/1956)
  30. That Woman (5/10/1956)
  31. The Other Room (5/17/1956)
  32. One Forty-Two (5/24/1956)
  33. Beneath the Surface (5/31/1956)
  34. Watch the Sunset (6/7/1956)
  35. Second Chance (6/14/1956)
  36. Woman Afraid (6/21/1956)
  37. The Stacked Deck (6/28/1956)
  38. Distinguished Service (7/5/1956)
  39. Yellowbelly (7/12/1956)
  40. The Stand-In (7/19/1956)
  41. Success Story (7/26/1956)

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