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Screen Directors Playhouse Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
35 Episodes 1955 - 1956
Episode 1
Meet the Governor
Wed, Oct 5, 195530 mins
A backwoods lawyer's race for the governor's office is thwarted by mainstream opponents who dig up dirt from his past.
Episode 2
Day Is Done
Wed, Oct 12, 195526 mins
During the 1951 rout of the American army in Korea, a battle-hardened sergeant tries to reinvigorate his men with a bugle picked up by the side of the road.
Episode 3
A Midsummer Daydream
Wed, Oct 19, 195526 mins
A shy, lonely man meets the girl of his dreams, a clerk in a marriage license bureau, but his resolve is tested when a slick gambler arrives to vie for her affections.
Episode 4
Arroyo
Wed, Oct 26, 195526 mins
A sleepy New Mexico town is shocked when a woman arrives after her wagon train was destroyed by Indians. Meanwhile, a pair of mysterious strangers displaying obvious hostility cause problems for the self-appointed judge who runs the town.
Episode 5
Want Ad Wedding
Wed, Nov 2, 195525 mins
A naval officer on leave in a strange city places a newspaper advertisement requesting guests at his wedding to a young servicewoman, and the staff of a department store jumps into action to help with the arrangements.
Episode 6
Life of Vernon Hathaway
Wed, Nov 9, 195526 mins
A daydreaming man discovers that his imagined adventures are happening in real life.
Episode 7
The Final Tribute
Wed, Nov 16, 195530 mins
The town's new cold-hearted doctor's demeanor is the complete reversal of their beloved old physician, and his nurse attempts to teach the new man proper bedside manners.
Episode 8
The Brush Roper
Wed, Nov 23, 195526 mins
An old rancher, a spinner of tall western tales of his former derring-do to impress his young grandson, decides to capture a dangerous bull single-handed.
Episode 9
Tom and Jerry
Wed, Nov 30, 195526 mins
A priest tries to save a marriage that appears to be headed for the rocks in time for Christmas.
Episode 10
Rookie of the Year
Wed, Dec 7, 195530 mins
A reporter recognizes a hot young baseball player as the son of a former famous - and infamous - ballplayer who was accused of throwing the World Series.
Episode 11
Lincoln's Doctor's Dog
Wed, Dec 14, 195526 mins
During the dark days of the Civil War, a doctor gives a dangerously exhausted President Lincoln a puppy to buoy his spirits.
Episode 12
The Silent Partner
Wed, Dec 21, 195526 mins
Kelsey Dutton once was a great name of silent comedies. But, for all his talent, sound made him redundant a quarter century before. Now he is no more than a face in the crowd. And a sad one at that! At the moment, Kelsey finds himself in a bar where he is brooding over a beer. The TV is on for both Barney, the barman, and Selma, a movie fan, want to see a program airing the Academy Awards ceremony. Which they do, not without being disturbed by a group of noisy fellows. At a time appears on the screen the famed director Arthur Vail, who takes advantage of his being presented the statuette to pay homage to a forgotten actor without whom he would not be recognized as he is tonight. An amazing performer by the name of... Kelsey Dutton.
Episode 13
The Titanic Incident
Wed, Dec 28, 195526 mins
A married pair of gamblers try to fleece a wealthy British nobleman while sailing on the Titanic's fateful cruise, but she begins to have misgivings as she becomes attracted to the dashing gentleman, frustrating her husband's goals.
Episode 14
Hot Cargo
Wed, Jan 4, 195626 mins
After marrying the captain of a tramp steamer in Hong Kong, a barmaid falls in love with a harbor policeman, but her frustration with her meager life leads her to contemplate a quicker way to the wealthy life.
Episode 15
It's Always Sunday
Wed, Jan 11, 195626 mins
The Rev. Charles Parker is a good guy: teaching baseball to boys, tearing his sweater but not caring, planting flowers before finishing his sermon for the next day. The hobo telegraph (words on the back side of a billboard near the tracks) says he's the town's softest touch. George, a tramp, gets to Parker's house and thinks the reverend, torn clothes and all, is a fellow hobo. Charles invites George in, fixes him lunch and, after a discussion about trust, gives George $10, the keys to the car of his daughter's boyfriend, and tells George to pick up roses for the Parkers' anniversary. Hours pass and George hasn't returned. Did the reverend believe his own sermon and trust the wrong man?
Episode 16
No. 5 Checked Out
Wed, Jan 18, 195625 mins
A young deaf woman, Mary (Teresa Wright), resigned to a life alone, opens her family's motel, Deep Lake Cabins, to a pair of men, Barney (William Talman) and Willy (Peter Lorre), not realizing they are desperate crooks who are using one of her remote cabins for a hideout. Because of his brother's recent illness, Mary's father Jarvis (Ralph Moody) must leave her in charge of his motel business. She is a teacher at a deaf institute in the city but he hopes for her to meet someone to marry. Years ago, her fiancé broke up due to her disability. Her father still laments the fact he hasn't enough money to send her to a specialist. Two men in a car stop in front at the motel office. One of the men, Barney talks Mary into renting him a cabin two weeks before opening. In the cabin, Barney asks Willy why he ended up killing someone during their recent robbery. Barney was the getaway driver. He asks Willy about getting "out," but is told there is a nationwide manhunt for them. Mary offers to take Barney fishing the next day and he accepts. He soon discovers her deafness while out at the lake. He is charmed by her but seems desperate to get away from his ruthless partner. He and Mary go fishing again the following day. She gains in confidence and says she hopes to meet another man some day, and thanks him for his friendship. He makes it clear to her he is "no good" and has made some irreversible decisions in life, though it is clear he is attracted to Mary. She asks him to fetch coffee from her nearby car, which he plans to use to flee. But he first plans to disable his partner in crime. However, Willy had already been spying on the couple fishing and confronts him nearby. Willy shoots Barney, who falls but then returns fire, killing Willy before he can harm Mary, who is nearby. Barney tries to return to her, but is unable. Before he dies, he tosses her car keys from his hand.
Episode 17
Prima Donna
Wed, Feb 1, 195625 mins
A famous singer discovers a newsboy with vocal talent, but he would rather play baseball than develop his singing skills. She'd like to persuade his parents of his potential, but confusion arises when they arrive to discuss the matter.
Episode 18
Cry Justice
Wed, Feb 15, 195626 mins
Jim Wheeler has turned to alcohol because his law partner Gil Foster has earned more respect and good standing in the small Missouri town where they practice law, and Gil has become engaged to June, his former girlfriend. When Jim disappears, blood and other evidence found in his cabin point to Gil as a killer. Even though only minor charred remains are ever discovered, the circumstantial evidence causes him to be arrested and convicted of murder by his former friends and neighbors. After ten years in prison, Gil is freed and remains determined to find Jim and clear his name.
Episode 19
Affair in Sumatra
Wed, Feb 22, 195626 mins
On a rubber plantation in Sumatra, a woman of mixed Dutch and Indonesian parentage must choose between her people and the doctor she loves.
Episode 20
One Against Many
Wed, Mar 7, 195626 mins
Internationally known veterinarian and pathologist Dr. John R. Mohler devoted his life to development of the livestock industry as head of the Agriculture Department's Bureau of Animal Industries. To avoid a statewide epidemic of "hoof and mouth" disease in California in 1924, he is forced to advocate the destruction of over 100,000 head of cattle. When the campaign ends, and the possible epidemic seems thwarted, another outbreak occurs from a different source. This time, a whole new part of the population resists until it realizes the impact the disease poses to the state's economy.
Episode 21
It's a Most Unusual Day
Wed, Mar 14, 195626 mins
A married couple take in a nightclub show starring songwriter Jimmy McHugh and are prompted by his melodies to relive their past.
Episode 22
Sword of Villon
Wed, Apr 4, 195626 mins
Dashing and roguish French adventurer-poet Francois Villon learns of a plot to assassinate King Charles VII and gathers his followers to stop the plot and save the king's life.
Episode 23
Markheim
Wed, Apr 11, 195626 mins
A narrator says that years before writing "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a story about good and evil at war within a man. On Christmas Day, the solitary Markheim watches the maid leave a shopkeeper alone in his shuttered store. Markheim knocks, explaining that he must buy a present for his fiancée. The avaricious shopkeeper looks away, and Markheim commits a violent crime. Now, he must find the man's money before the maid returns. At first he feels anguish and despair, then he searches. A stranger enters the room and offers a bargain. Does the stranger's identity matter, and will Markheim take the deal? The bell rings at the door; the maid has returned.
Episode 24
Claire
Wed, Apr 25, 1956
Dr. Stanley Wayne carries his new wife, Vera, across the threshold. They've married following the death of his first wife, Vera's friend, who drowned while Vera, who can't swim, was unable to go for help. Vera settles in, redecorating to put her own stamp on the place, encouraged by her husband and by Kate, the family cook. The only creature that seems to object is Claire, the dead woman's cat. While friendly to everyone else, Claire trips Vera, musses her new dress, and wails at night. After a party, Dr. Wayne leaves to see a patient, and Vera decides it's time to take care of Claire.
Episode 25
A Ticket for Thaddeus
Wed, May 9, 195630 mins
A Polish refugee and new citizen gets involved in a slight car accident, but he doesn't fully understand American life, and believes he will be sent to a concentration camp.
Episode 26
The Dream
Wed, May 16, 195630 mins
In 1887 France, a mother is starting to become worried about her young son. He has a recurring dream in which he looks for his dead father. His mother gets worried even more when he tells her that he has met a wealthy nobleman who wants to take him aboard ship for a trip to the West Indies.
Episode 27
What Day Is It?
Wed, Jun 6, 1956
A husband-and-wife dance team works smoothly onstage, but backstage it's one long fight because the wife is observing a "special date", and the husband can't remember what it is.
Episode 28
Every Man Has Two Wives
Sun, Jun 3, 1956
In the spring, when one gentleman's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of a former love, his wife decides to take drastic action. She and hubby make a trip back to the old home town, determined to come face to face with his childhood sweetheart.
Episode 29
Partners
Wed, Jul 4, 1956
A young orphan boy who has always wanted to be a rodeo rider meets and befriends his idol, world champion rodeo rider Casey Tibbs.
Episode 30
White Corridors
Wed, Jul 11, 195626 mins
As her friend suffers from a violent appendicitis attack, Ellen takes her to a London hospital in the dead of night. Despite the night nurse's reticence, her friend is taken into care. Two surgeons are on call this night and one of them performs the operation. But Ellen's relief is short-lived for, while leaving the hospital, she surprises an alarming conversation about what the hospital's real activities are. Feeling threatened, she takes refuge in the room of a patient and to her horror she realizes the man is dead! Worse, he has just been operated on by one of the two surgeons on duty. Obviously one of them is a manic killer but which one?
Episode 31
The Carroll Formula
Wed, Jul 18, 1956
A college professor accidentally comes across a formula that can reduce the size of anything.
Episode 32
Apples on the Lilac Tree
Wed, Jul 25, 195626 mins
After years of cooking and cleaning as a stay-at-home husband, William Tyler earns his PhD and is offered a college teaching position, allowing his breadwinning wife Maggie to quit her job as a high-level secretary at a swimwear company. Out of practice in the kitchen, Mrs. Tyler learns that a wife's domestic duties are harder than they seem.
Episode 33
The Bitter Waters
Wed, Aug 1, 195626 mins
At the beginning of the 20th century, a rich American boy touring Europe with his uncle stops at a trendy German resort and meets a pretty young girl who is there with her mother, a widow. The young couple fall for each other, until the young girl's mother's past begins to have an effect on their relationship.
Episode 34
The Day I Met Caruso
Wed, Sep 5, 1956
A ten-year-old girl meets famed opera singer Enrico Caruso on a train between Boston and New York. She admonishes him for his extravagant lifestyle, but she is softened up somewhat when Caruso begins to sing arias from her favorite operas.
Episode 35
High Air
Wed, Sep 12, 195630 mins
A father and his estranged son, both tunnel workers in New York City, are forced to deal with each other during a dangerous collapse.