Climax!

Season 1

This was an anthology series that presented a different story and different set of characters on each episode. It ran from 1954 to 1958 and featured Casino Royale of James Bond fame, which led to two theatrical movies of the same name.

Where to Watch Season 1

38 Episodes

The Long Goodbye
E1
The Long GoodbyePrivate Detective Philip Marlowe decides to help out a friend Lennox when his wife is found brutally murdered. Marlowe winds up in jail accused of her murder and tries to solve the case after his release.
The Thirteenth Chair
E2
The Thirteenth ChairWhen his friend is murdered, Edward Wales sets out to capture the killer. He stages a seance and invites 13 people, any one of who may have killed the dead man, but it ends in chaos when the killer strikes again during a blackout.
Casino Royale
E3
Casino RoyaleAmerican spy James Bond must outsmart card wiz and crime boss LeChiffre while monitoring his actions. The first dramatization of a James Bond novel.
Sorry, Wrong Number
E4
Sorry, Wrong NumberA neurotic invalid whose only contact with the outside world is her phone. One night, because of a crossed wire, she hears plans for a murder which turns out to be her own. Her frantic efforts to get help and her growing terror and realisation of the truth chill you to the bone.
The Gioconda Smile
E5
The Gioconda SmileThe death of his crippled wife causes upheaval for the husband and his mistress. Only his family friend believes in his innocence.
The After House
E6
The After HouseA steward aboard a yacht thinks his job is easy sailing until the dream voyage turns into a nightmare. The ship's officer is thrown overboard and another is hacked to death who is next.
An Error in Chemistry
E7
An Error in ChemistryA carnival huckster ingratiates himself with an elderly farmer and his naïve daughter; she soon falls for her new suitor and marries him, only to wind up dead shortly afterwards, the husband quick to confess.
Epitaph for a Spy
E8
Epitaph for a SpyAn unsuspecting Iron Curtain refugee is used as a pawn by two French traitors while he is at a resort in France.
The White Carnation
E9
The White CarnationA woman receives some mysterious white carnations, which seem to be an innocent gift but lead to terror.
Nightmare in Copenhagen
E10
Nightmare in CopenhagenThru romantic eyes she knew not what he was.
The Bigger They Come
E11
The Bigger They ComePrivate investigators Cool and Lam become involved in this suspenseful tale of thugs, thieves and legal chicanery.
Escape From Fear
E12
Escape From FearAn American engineer in Germany crosses over into the Soviet Zone on business and becomes entangled with the secret police.
The Mojave Kid
E13
The Mojave KidThe Mojave Kid is warned to stay away from a small town feud.
The Leaf Out of the Book
E14
The Leaf Out of the BookThe story revolves around two women, one a successful career woman, the other an ambitious girl. After giving the daughter of an old friend a job, the successful businesswoman realizes the drawbacks of her generosity.
The Valiant Men
E15
The Valiant MenLt. Comm. Knowles is assigned to skipper the USS Hamilton from England back to New York. While he and his crew celebrate New Year's Eve 1943, an unknown danger lurks nearby.
The Box of Chocolates
E16
The Box of ChocolatesA hated columnist becomes involved in murder after receiving an innocent-looking box of chocolates with a note from the manufacturer asking him to try them.
South of the Sun
E17
South of the SunThey were strangers to each other, even the married ones, and they all dreamed in human ways. But the least of these eight persons did something about his little dream. In so doing, he bound the strangers in an intimate circle, whether they knew it or not. He touched them all in passing and changed their lives and dreams forever, according to their own choices. In one turn of the earth something happened.
The Great Impersonation
E18
The Great ImpersonationThe action of this tale of intrigue and espionage takes place in the jungles of East Africa in 1914. The destinies of Germany and Great Britain are dependent upon one man whose decision is influenced by one of the two women in his life.
The Darkest Hour
E19
The Darkest HourAn ex-cop is released from San Quentin after five years and sets out on revenge against the men who framed him for manslaughter.
The Champion
E20
The ChampionThe famous story deals with a boxer whose rise to fame has been at the expense of friends and associates. Through flashbacks, we see how Midge Kelly rose from the Chicago slums to a world championship.
Private Worlds
E21
Private WorldsTV version of the ahead-of-its-time film Private Worlds (1935), starring 'Claudette Colbert' repeating her role as a very caring psychiatrist facing discrimination in a mental hospital because she's female. Also has a much more progressive view of mental illness than usual in the era. Based on a story by the novelist Phyllis Bottome (_Mortal Storm, The (1940)_.
Flight 951
E22
Flight 951A doctor forsakes the medical profession following a court trial where he was the defendant. Now a successful businessman travelling under an assumed name, he must decide between keeping his secret and saving the eyesight of a fellow passenger.
The First and the Last
E23
The First and the LastThe threat of scandal, revolving around the death of a man in London, prompts an ambitious lawyer to disregard both legan and moral principles. His concern for his own career puts an innocent man's life in jeopardy.
The Deliverance of Sister Cecilia
E24
The Deliverance of Sister CeciliaA courageous nun suffers ordeals while trying to escape from behind the Iron Curtain.
No Stone Unturned
E25
No Stone UnturnedA Scottish student has the historical Stone of Scone stolen from Westminster Abbey. His purpose is to get England to recognize Scotland's independence.
A Farewell to Arms
E26
A Farewell to ArmsAn American, in the Italian Army during World War I, who meets a nurse and falls in love with her. Together they try to find a haven from the turbulence around them.
The Unimportant Man
E27
The Unimportant ManThe life of an ordinary, mild-mannered man is changed when he identifies the murderer of his employer's brother.
The Dark Fleece
E28
The Dark FleeceA gold miner returns to his righteous California hometown, circa1857. He has great wealth, but also a burdened conscious; he has killed a man.
To Wake at Midnight
E29
To Wake at MidnightAll the pent-up prejudices and hatreds of postwar Europe are revived when a Nazi lieutenant recovers consciousness in a British hospital after being in a coma for years.
The Dance
E30
The Dance
Wild Stallion
E31
Wild StallionA handsome, devil-may-care fortune hunter [from South America] makes his home with a well-to-do Southern family. He is attracted at first to the daughter, until he discovers the mother is the one who holds the key to the family fortune.
The Escape of Mendes-France
E32
The Escape of Mendes-France
The Healer
E33
The HealerA brilliant surgeon, burdened with a self-centered wife and a beautiful heiress who's in love with him, becomes tormented by doubts about his ability after losing a patient during a difficult operation.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
E34
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeTold through the Journal left by Dr. Jekyll after Mr. Hyde is killed in the opening scene. This is a bare bones production, but is very stylish never the less. The classic search of man's Duality. More subtle and sublime then the more famous versions.
One Night Stand
E35
One Night StandIn 1937, the members of a jazz ensemble come to the aid of one of their colleagues who is stricken with tuberculosis.
Edge of Terror
E36
Edge of TerrorA small town banker and his family are threatened with death if he identifies the leader of the gang that tried to rob his bank.
Fear Strikes Out
E37
Fear Strikes OutA young major league baseball player, Jimmy Piersall (Tab Hunter), battles mental illness and a harsh upbringing to succeed as a Boston Red Sox outfielder. Based on the memoir of the same title by Piersall. Made into a movie in 1957 starring Anthony Perkins as Piersall.
Deal a Blow
E38
Deal a BlowA teenage boy gets into a dispute with an abusive movie theater manager Mr. Grubbs. The boy's father Tom Ditmar accepts the manager's somewhat twisted version of the incident and doesn't give his son a chance to explain his side of the matter.