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The Best Episodes of The Philco Television Playhouse

Every episode of The Philco Television Playhouse ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Philco Television Playhouse!

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...
Genre:Drama
Network:NBC

Best Episodes Summary

"What Makes Sammy Run?" is the best rated episode of "The Philco Television Playhouse". It scored 8/10 based on 13 votes. Directed by Fred Coe and written by Paddy Chayefsky, it aired on 4/10/1949. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "A Young Lady of Property".

  • What Makes Sammy Run?
    8.0/1013 votes
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    #1 - What Makes Sammy Run?

    Season 1 Episode 28 - Aired 4/10/1949

    The story of Sammy Glick, the man with a positive genius for being a heel, who runs through New York's East Side, through newspaper ranks and finally through Hollywood, leaving in his wake the wrecked careers of his associates; for this is his tragedy and his chief characteristic-his congenital incapacity for friendship.

    Director: Fred Coe

    Writer: Paddy Chayefsky

  • A Young Lady of Property
    8.0/1011 votes
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    #2 - A Young Lady of Property

    Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 4/5/1953

    Wilma a 15-year-old girl has dreams of becoming a movie star but after her mother's death she is sent to live with her aunt, her father is too weak and unreliable. She wishes to be back at her home with her father.

    Director: Vincent J. Donehue

    Writer: N/A

  • Marty
    7.9/10362 votes
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    #3 - Marty

    Season 5 Episode 23 - Aired 5/24/1953

    Marty Pilletti is a 36 year-old butcher who lives with his mother. His brothers and sisters are all married and his dear mother - along with several other of her friends - is always asking him why he doesn't find a nice girl and get married. The truth is Marty is lonely and would like nothing better. He has very low self-esteem however and admits to his mother that he's ugly and no one wants him. He's tired of going to the Saturday night dance with his buddies and then going home more depressed than he was when the evening started. At one of those dances he meets ...

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • A Man is Ten Feet Tall
    7.6/1024 votes
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    #4 - A Man is Ten Feet Tall

    Season 8 Episode 3 - Aired 10/2/1955

    Axel, secretly AWOL from the army, joins a black waterfront worker in his fight against bigotry.

    Director: Robert Mulligan

    Writer: N/A

  • The Death of Billy the Kid
    7.4/1018 votes
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    #5 - The Death of Billy the Kid

    Season 7 Episode 23 - Aired 7/24/1955

    How Pat Garrett hunted down and killed the legendary outlaw Billy The Kid.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The House in Athens
    7.3/106 votes
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    #6 - The House in Athens

    Season 5 Episode 27 - Aired 7/5/1953

    Three people are thrown together by the death of a man.

    Director: Delbert Mann

    Writer: N/A

  • A Christmas Carol
    6.8/1014 votes
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    #7 - A Christmas Carol

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/19/1948

    The skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve.

    Director: Fred Coe

    Writer: N/A

  • Star in the Summer Night
    6.7/1057 votes
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    #8 - Star in the Summer Night

    Season 6 Episode 25 - Aired 8/22/1954

    No description available

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Way of an Eagle
    6.3/1015 votes
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    #9 - The Way of an Eagle

    Season 5 Episode 24 - Aired 6/7/1953

    The story of John J. Audobon and his wife Lucy.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Bethel Merriday
    6.0/101 votes
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    #10 - Bethel Merriday

    Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 1/8/1950

    A small-town girl named Bethel Merriday is determined to become an actress.

    Director: Delbert Mann

    Writer: N/A

  • Ann Rutledge
    6.0/101 votes
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    #11 - Ann Rutledge

    Season 2 Episode 24 - Aired 2/12/1950

    The short life of Ann Rutledge, Abraham Lincoln's one true love who passed away at age 22 of typhoid fever.

    Director: Gordon Duff

    Writer: N/A

  • Leaf out of a Book
    6.0/101 votes
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    #12 - Leaf out of a Book

    Season 3 Episode 17 - Aired 12/31/1950

    No description available

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Sisters
    6.0/101 votes
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    #13 - The Sisters

    Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 12/30/1951

    The lives of two sisters are disrupted by a psychopath who appears claiming to be their godson.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Rich Boy
    6.0/101 votes
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    #14 - Rich Boy

    Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 2/10/1952

    This well-received adaptation of the 1924 F. Scott Fitzgerald short story starred Gene Lyons as rich playboy Anson Hunter, who realizes too late that he has wasted his life by allowing the one woman he truly loved (Kelly) to slip out of his grasp.

    Director: Delbert Mann

    Writer: N/A

  • Run Like a Thief
    5.5/102 votes
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    #15 - Run Like a Thief

    Season 6 Episode 26 - Aired 9/5/1954

    Alexander has been a faithful employee of Madame Pollard as maitre d' at her elegant resort. Eager to introduce his protege Rob, things go wrong when his wife Della finds an expensive bracelet lost by Pollard and begs to keep. The police are called and Alexander's dreams of his future begin to crumble.

    Director: Jeffrey Hayden

    Writer: Sam Hall

  • Dinner at Eight
    NaN/100 votes
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    #16 - Dinner at Eight

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/3/1948

    Social-climbing Mrs. Oliver Jordan, whose husband's firm is in financial trouble, feels obligated to reciprocate hospitality for a visiting British aristocratic couple by arranging a small dinner party. The guests are chosen both to impress--a faded stage star, a well-known if over-the-hill alcoholic actor--and to meet certain social obligations. This means the necessary inclusion of a philandering doctor and his wife, and a gauche, nouveau-riche couple who are loathed but powerful.

    Director: Fred Coe

    Writer: N/A

  • Rebecca
    NaN/100 votes
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    #17 - Rebecca

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/10/1948

    Brooding and moody Maxim deWinter returns from an extended trip to the continent with a young bride, less than a year after the tragic death of hi first wife, Rebecca. The staff of Manderley, his country home, including Mrs Danvers the housekeeper who rules over the house, are still devoted to their former mistress, the socialite Rebecca and they find it difficult to accept the new, shy Mrs deWinter who is inexperienced running a large home.

    Director: Fred Coe

    Writer: N/A

  • Counsellor-at-Law
    NaN/100 votes
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    #18 - Counsellor-at-Law

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/17/1948

    An upscale Manhattan attorney torn between his greedy practices of insider trading and embezzlement and his desire to help the working-class Jews from his old neighborhood.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Angel in the Wings
    NaN/100 votes
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    #19 - Angel in the Wings

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/24/1948

    An understudy for a stage show's star takes over when an accident circumvents the stars performance. The understudy takes over and brings down the house.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Street Scene
    NaN/100 votes
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    #20 - Street Scene

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/31/1948

    Abraham Kaplan lives with his family in a row house populated by a kaleidoscope of characters looking to break out of poverty. Kaplan's revolutionary, socialist views grate against some of his neighbors.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • This Thing Called Love
    NaN/100 votes
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    #21 - This Thing Called Love

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/7/1948

    A professional couple marry and the wife insists on celibacy for three months to see if they really are compatible or not. The husband tries to lure her with all kinds of excuses and tricks to the marital bed.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Camille
    NaN/100 votes
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    #22 - Camille

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/14/1948

    Camille, a beautiful courtesan and Armand Duval, a young man in the foreign service, are in love. Their relationship jeopardizes his career and prevents the marriage of his sister into a ""respectable"" family, if Duval marries Camille. Camille becomes ill and dies.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • An Inspector Calls
    NaN/100 votes
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    #23 - An Inspector Calls

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/21/1948

    When Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family, his startling revelations not only shatter the very foundations of their lives, but challenge us all to examine our consciences.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • I Like It Here
    NaN/100 votes
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    #24 - I Like It Here

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/28/1948

    Willie is a refugee who works as a houseman at a professor's home. He's a sweet and lovable man even when he's interfering in other people's lives. The Professor's daughter is in love with Brad, a young lawyer. Of course, Willie sees fit to give Brad all kinds of advice.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Suspect
    NaN/100 votes
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    #25 - Suspect

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/5/1948

    20 years ago, a Scotswoman was accused of an ax murder and let off with the ignominious Scottish verdict of Not Proven. She changes her name and lives down her past, but when her son becomes engaged, his fiancée's godfather spots the mother and recognizes her. In his efforts to trap her, and hers not to be trapped trouble arises.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A