The Philco Television Playhouse

Season 2

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.

Where to Watch Season 2

45 Episodes

  • What Every Woman Knows
    E1
    What Every Woman KnowsA Victorian Scotswoman of far-reaching ambition. Using her supposedly frail feminine wiles, she maneuvers her fatuous husband into a successful political career. He rises to a parliamentary seat, never quite realizing that he hasn't done it alone.
  • Pride's Castle
    E2
    Pride's CastlePride Dawson was one of those "Robber Barons", who started out his life in rags and turned his life to riches and women. His contempt for human decency or moral restraint left him ruthless and corrupt. He falls for Sharon O'Neill who is a woman filled with so much goodness in her soul, as much as he has evil in his.
  • The Little Sister
    E3
    The Little SisterA woman from Kansas comes to Marlowe to help find her missing brother.
  • The Lonely
    E4
    The LonelyAn engaged Air Force lieutenant goes on a ten-day furlough to Scotland with a female friend. Their understanding is that the trip will be purely platonic; instead, they fall madly in love. At his first opportunity, the lieutenant flies back to America to break the news to his fiancé and family.
  • The Queen Bee
    E5
    The Queen BeeA conniving and devious Southern socialite who manipulates the lives of those around her with tragic results.
  • Something's Got to Give
    E6
    Something's Got to GiveA couple of New England housewives disrupt their marriages by becoming an early morning radio team.
  • The Last Tycoon
    E7
    The Last TycoonA 1930's brilliant and efficient movie mogul and the story behind the Hollywood Dream Factory.
  • Because of the Lockwoods
    E8
    Because of the LockwoodsThe Lockwoods are patronising toward their former neighbours, the Hunters, who are now living in the poorer district in town. The Hunters are saved from despair from the help of a young junk dealer named Oliver Read, who teaches the Lockwoods a lesson in humanity.
  • Damion's Daughter
    E9
    Damion's DaughterA theater owner's daughter discovers his father's true nature and is shaken by the discovery. She moments jealousy backstage to expose him.
  • The House of Seven Gables
    E10
    The House of Seven GablesWith the ownership of Seven Gables, the opulent family estate, at stake, a man frames his brother for murder.
  • The Promise
    E11
    The PromiseA husband and wife are drifting apart due to different goals in their individual careers.
  • Medical Meeting
    E12
    Medical Meeting
  • The Wonderful Mrs. Ingram
    E13
    The Wonderful Mrs. IngramA female psychiatrist visits the home of a famous woman novelist and discovers unhappiness aplenty. She learns the novelist's ambitions and vanity are causes of the trouble.
  • Mist on the Waters
    E14
    Mist on the WatersBlackmail terrorizes a couple because of an accident which was a terrible tragedy.
  • The Beautiful Bequest
    E15
    The Beautiful BequestThe story of a spoiled and jilted young novelist of intellectual pretensions, who is freshened up and made marketable and happy again by design of his sporting publisher.
  • The Strange Christmas Dinner
    E16
    The Strange Christmas DinnerA modern day Ebenezer Scrooge refuses to close his store on Christmas Day.
  • In Beauty Like the Night
    E17
    In Beauty Like the NightA British pilot who lost his sight during the Second World War deals with the problems caused by the injury.
  • Little Boy Lost
    E18
    Little Boy LostAn English poet searches for his son whom he has never seen. The child disappeared shortly after his mother was killed by the Gestapo.
  • Bethel Merriday
    E19
    Bethel MerridayA small-town girl named Bethel Merriday is determined to become an actress.
  • Murder at the Stork Club
    E20
    Murder at the Stork ClubA wealthy matron is murdered at the Stork Club and the suspect list is growing.
  • The Marriages
    E21
    The MarriagesIn England in the 1890s, Colonel Chart, a widower with four children, falls in love with a charming, wealthy American widow, Mrs. Churchley, but his 27-year-old spinster daughter Adela contrives to ruin the relationship. She also turns two of the other three children against their intended stepmother and spoils the widow's plans to help Adela's brother Godfrey out of an unpleasant situation.
  • Uncle Dynamite
    E22
    Uncle DynamiteUncle Fred wants Pongo to marry Sally Painter, an unsuccessful American sculptor. They had been engaged but she broke it off when Pongo refused to smuggle jewellery into America for a friend of hers.
  • The Sudden Guest
    E23
    The Sudden GuestA New England spinster Miss Leckton disregards her neighbours' cry for help and assistance during a hurricane. She resents the intrusion, especially since her neighbours happen to be Jews.
  • Ann Rutledge
    E24
    Ann RutledgeThe short life of Ann Rutledge, Abraham Lincoln's one true love who passed away at age 22 of typhoid fever.
  • A Letter to Mr. Priest
    E25
    A Letter to Mr. PriestAn attorney, voted most likely to succeed in college, looks back on his life.
  • Hometown
    E26
    HometownMitchell Hickok, an author from the country, comes to New York for a publicity build-up for his book. He meets a glamorous woman, who introduces him to the nightlife of Manhattan. He soon tires of cafés, cocktail parties, and public appearances, and returns to his simple way of living in the country and Eileen, his childhood sweetheart.
  • The Life of Vincent Van Gogh
    E27
    The Life of Vincent Van GoghThe tragic life story of the tormented artist.
  • The Uncertain Molly Collicutt
    E28
    The Uncertain Molly CollicuttA flirtatious woman has a difficult time settling down to her marital responsibilities.
  • The Trial of Steven Kent
    E29
    The Trial of Steven KentA jury foreman seeks to wreak personal vengeance on the murder defendant.
  • The Second Oldest Profession
    E30
    The Second Oldest ProfessionAn idealistic newspaper editor battles with his stubborn publisher.
  • Nocturne
    E31
    NocturneIn London in 1910, two sisters, Jenny and Emmy Blanchard, must support and care for their widowed, invalid father. Jenny, the younger, pretty sister, seeks to escape from the depressing reality of her poverty-stricken home, while Emmy, the older, plain sister, finds comfort and eventual happiness by serving their ailing father. At the end, both are engaged: Jenny will marry Keith Reddington and Emmy will wed Alf Rylett.
  • Dirty Eddie
    E32
    Dirty EddieDirty Eddie is a sleek black pig with a fat movie contract and Hollywood isn't too happy about it.
  • The End is Known
    E33
    The End is KnownA department store tycoon comes home and is nearly hit by a falling body. He then learns the suicide jumped from his apartment. A mystery surrounds a suicide.
  • The Man in the Black Hat
    E34
    The Man in the Black HatA gambler has nothing to lose as his shady past with women and cards catch up to him.
  • The American
    E35
    The AmericanAn American travelling in Europe finds clashes between the two cultures.
  • The Feast
    E36
    The FeastA seaside resort hotel brings together an odd assortment of people: a frustrated married couple, four young lovers, children and an grouchy old miser.
  • Brat Farrar
    E37
    Brat FarrarIdentical twins concoct a plan to defraud an insurance company and collect a large sum of cash.
  • The Charmed Circle
    E38
    The Charmed CircleA poverty-ridden student feels out-of-place among his wealthy fraternity brothers. He eventually falls in love with a rich girl and leads a revolt against the President of the fraternity house.
  • Semmelweis
    E39
    SemmelweisStory of the great physician who saved millions of lives due to his discovery of the cause of childbed fever (puerperal fever) and eliminated its danger by prescribing the absolute sterlization of all instruments and the cleanliness of all persons coming in contact with the mother.
  • Sense and Sensibility
    E40
    Sense and SensibilitySisters left poor by the death of the family matriarch search for suitable husbands in Georgian England.
  • The Bump on Brannigan's Head
    E41
    The Bump on Brannigan's HeadA bonk on the head turns a grouchy hothead into the sweetest man in town. Brannigan runs for mayor of his small town--and wins--with his "love everybody" campaign. He even wins over the crooked newspaper publisher.
  • Anything Can Happen
    E42
    Anything Can HappenA Russian emigrant to America finds a new language, and strange manners bewildering but tries mightily to adapt to his new homeland.
  • Hear My Heart Speak
    E43
    Hear My Heart SpeakA shell-shocked WWI ex-soldier is unable to speak though doctors say the problem isn't physical. Tired of completing with his overbearing, doting mother, the woman he loves begins to withdraw from his life. It's then that he regains his ability to talk.
  • The Reluctant Landlord
    E44
    The Reluctant LandlordGeorgi, a kindly and honest immigrant from the Georgian area of Russia, experiences many difficulties as he tries to adapt to his adopted country. He works hard to make a place for himself in America, all the while fighting with the English language and the strange customs of an alien people.
  • The Tentacles
    E45
    The TentaclesA young wife fights to free her husband from the control of his manipulative and controlling father.

Cast of Season 2

  • Bert LytellSelf - Host
  • Robert Alan AurthurWriter / Producer

 

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