The O. Henry Playhouse

The O. Henry Playhouse was an early American anthology television series which featured television adaptations of short stories written by 19th-century author O. Henry and primarily set in New York City. The series was both hosted and narrated by Thomas Mitchell,^[2][3][4] who portrayed the title character,^[5] and featured several television and film stars during its run such as Maureen Stapleton, Charles Bronson, DeForest Kelley, Lisa Montell, Otto Kruger, Max Showalter and Ernest Borgnine.^[6]

The O. Henry Playhouse
Written by	Irving H. Cooper Donald Hyde George Waggner Albert Isaac Bezzerides Mary McCarthy Al C. Ward Dale Wasserman
Directed by	George Waggner Bernard Girard Frederick Stephani Felix Feist Peter Godfrey Anton M. Leader Les Goodwins Marshall Grant Kenneth G. Crane
Narrated by	Thomas Mitchell
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	39
Production
Executive producers	Jack J. Gross Philip N. Krasne
Producer	Donald Hyde
Cinematography	Hal McAlpin
Editors	Kenneth G. Crane Asa Boyd Clark
Running time	30 min.
Production company	Gross-Krasne Productions^[1]
Original release
Network	Syndication
Release	late 1956 (late 1956) – varied by market (varied by market)

The series was syndicated and began running on a handful of stations late in 1956.^[7] With the sale to General Cigar Company of Baltimore in May 1957, the series was contracted to 188 markets.^[8] According to Billboard's "Pulse Film Ratings" The O. Henry Playhouse generally received television ratings around 10.0 for its only season and ranked in the middle of the "Syndicated Film Drama Shows" category.^[9]

DVD release

Unseen for decades and largely forgotten, The O. Henry Playhouse has recently received a DVD release. Classic Flix, a rental and retail site with a home video label,^[10] has restored thirty-nine episodes of the series and is releasing them in three installments during 2021-22.

The web site for the DVD release features plot summaries of each episode, along with links to online texts of the original stories so viewers can compare O. Henry's writings and the television adaptations. The site also includes cast and crew information for each episode and a video sample from the episode. The overall description of the series recounts its unusual story telling method:

Veteran character actor Thomas Mitchell stars in each episode as writer O. Henry himself as he relates his stories to his publisher, his barber, a bartender, or the cop on the beat. In some episodes, O. Henry meets his characters as he discovers firsthand the story he will later write. This rather unique story telling method is made possible by the fame of the author himself and the O Henry audience's desire to learn where each story came from.^[11]

Several years before the DVD release Ron Hall, an entrepreneur specializing in public domain video material,^[12] related how he received a large collection of original 16mm prints of the series. He posted a video sample of the "Two Renegades" episode, along with general discussion of the series' history, copyright status, number of episodes, and sometimes unexpected casting.^[13]

Episodes

Series 1

#	Title	Writers	Original airdate
01	"The Reformation of Calliope"	George Waggner	23 January 1957 (1957-01-23)	#1.01	N/A
Director: George Waggner
02	"Man About Town"	George Waggner	30 January 1957 (1957-01-30)	#1.02	N/A
Director: George Waggner – Includes plot elements from "An Unfinished Story"
03	"Sam Plunkett's Promise"	Donald Hyde	6 February 1957 (1957-02-06)	#1.03	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard — Based on "The Theory and the Hound"
04	"Two Renegades"	Irving Cooper	13 February 1957 (1957-02-13)	#1.04	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
05	"The Marionettes"	George Waggner	20 February 1957 (1957-02-20)	#1.05	N/A
Director: Peter Godfrey
06	"Fog In Santone"	George Waggner	27 February 1957 (1957-02-27)	#1.06	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
07	"Hearts and Hands"	Irving Cooper	6 March 1957 (1957-03-06)	#1.07	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
08	"Blackjack Bargainer"	Irving Cooper	13 March 1957 (1957-03-13)	#1.08	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
09	"The World And The Door"	George Waggner	20 March 1957 (1957-03-20)	#1.09	N/A
Director: Peter Godfrey
10	"The Guilty Party"	Irving Cooper	27 March 1957 (1957-03-27)	#1.10	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
11	"A Ramble In Aphasia"	Irving Cooper	3 April 1957 (1957-04-03)	#1.11	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
12	"Fourth in Salvador"	George Waggner	10 April 1957 (1957-04-10)	#1.12	N/A
Director: George Waggner
13	"After Twenty Years"	Donald Hyde	17 April 1957 (1957-04-17)	#1.13	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
14	"A Trick of Nature"	Donald Hyde	24 April 1957 (1957-04-24)	#1.14	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
15	"Sisters of the Golden Circle"	William Kozlenko (adaptation); Donald Hyde (written for tv)	1 May 1957 (1957-05-01)	#1.15	N/A
Director: Peter Godfrey
16	"Hygeia at the Solito"	Donald Hyde	8 May 1957 (1957-05-08)	#1.16	N/A
Director: Felix Feist
17	"Only The Horse Would Know"	Al C. Ward (adaptation); Donald Hyde (written for tv)	15 May 1957 (1957-05-15)	#1.17	N/A
Director: Anton M. Leader
18	"The Atvatism Of Jon Tom Little Bear"	Irving Cooper	22 May 1957 (1957-05-22)	#1.18	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
19	"Georgia's Ruling"	Mary McCarthy	29 May 1957 (1957-05-29)	#1.19	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
20	"The Fool Killer"	George Waggner	5 June 1957 (1957-06-05)	#1.20	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
21	"One Dollar's Worth"	Irving Cooper	12 June 1957 (1957-06-12)	#1.21	N/A
Director: George Waggner
22	"Christmas by Injunction"	Donald Hyde	19 June 1957 (1957-06-19)	#1.22	N/A
Director: Felix Feist
23	"The Roads We Take"	Irving Cooper	26 June 1957 (1957-06-26)	#1.23	N/A
Director: George Waggner
24	"Vanity And Some Sables"	George Waggner	3 July 1957 (1957-07-03)	#1.24	N/A
Director: Peter Godfrey
25	"The Sphinx Apple"	Irving Cooper	10 July 1957 (1957-07-10)	#1.25	N/A
Director: Les Goodwins
26	"Wit's End"	Seymour Roth (adaptation); Donald Hyde (written for tv)	17 July 1957 (1957-07-17)	#1.26	N/A
Director: Anton M. Leader
27	"Girl"	Albert Isaac Bezzerides	24 July 1957 (1957-07-24)	#1.27	N/A
Director: Peter Godfrey
28	"Hypotheses Of Failure"	Irving Cooper	31 July 1957 (1957-07-31)	#1.28	N/A
Director: George Waggner
29	"Hiding of Black Bill"	Irving Cooper	7 August 1957 (1957-08-07)	#1.29	N/A
Director:George Waggner
30	"Between Rounds"	George Waggner	14 August 1957 (1957-08-14)	#1.30	N/A
Director: George Waggner
31	"Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen"	Irving Cooper	21 August 1957 (1957-08-21)	#1.31	N/A
Director: Frederick Stephani
32	"The Emancipation of Billy"	Donald Hyde	28 August 1957 (1957-08-28)	#1.32	N/A
Director: Frederick Stephani
33	"A Madison Square Arabian Knight"	Irving Cooper	4 September 1957 (1957-09-04)	#1.33	N/A
Director: Frederick Stephani
34	"The Lonely Man"	Donald Hyde	11 September 1957 (1957-09-11)	#1.34	N/A
Director: Kenneth G. Crane — Based on "The Last of the Troubadours"
35	"The Buyer from Cactus City"	Donald Hyde	18 September 1957 (1957-09-18)	#1.35	N/A
Director: Les Goodwins
36	"A Service Of Love"	Mary McCarthy	25 September 1957 (1957-09-25)	#1.36	N/A
Director: Bernard Girard
37	"The Tale Of The Tainted Tenner"	Irving Cooper	2 October 1957 (1957-10-02)	#1.37	N/A
Director: Marshall Grant
38	"The Murderer"	Donald Hyde & Irving Cooper	9 October 1957 (1957-10-09)	#1.38	N/A
Director: Frederick Stephani
39	"The Lotterman Affair"	Donald Hyde & Al C. Ward	16 October 1957 (1957-10-16)	#1.39	N/A
Director: Frederick Stephani
N–A	"Series One Episode Unproduced (Tobin's Palm)"	George Waggner	1957 (1957-N/A)	#N/A	TBD
N–A	"Series One Episode Unproduced (The Count And The Wedding Guest)"	George Waggner	1957 (1957-N/A)	#N/A	TBD
N–A	"Series One Episode Unproduced (The Gentle Grafter)"	Dale Wasserman	1957 (1957-N/A)	#N/A	TBD

References

1. "The O. Henry Playhouse (dramatic anthology)". The Media Management Group. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
2. Shulman, Arthur; Youman, Roger (1966). How Sweet It Was — Television: A Pictorial Commentary (PDF). New York: Bonanza Books, a division of Crown Publishers, Inc., by arrangement with Shorecrest, Inc. p. 233. ISBN 978-0517081358. OCLC 36258864.
3. McNeil, Alex. Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. (pg. 611) ISBN 0-14-024916-8
4. Becker, Christine. It's The Pictures That Got Small: Hollywood Film Stars on 1950s Television. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2008. (pg. 244) ISBN 0-8195-6894-5
5. Steinbrunner, Chris and Otto Penzler, ed. Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976. (pg. 197) ISBN 0-07-061121-1
6. "US TV - Occasional Wife to Ozzie's Girls". Memorable TV US Shows. MemorableTV.com. 2002.
7. "O Henry Sold In 23 Markets". Billboard. October 6, 1956. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
8. "O Henry to Gen. Cigar". Billboard. May 13, 1957. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
9. "Pulse Film Ratings For October". Billboard. December 30, 1957. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
10. "About Us". Classic Flix. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
11. "Celebrating The O. Henry Playhouse". Retrieved February 13, 2022.
12. "Festival Films: Public Domain Specialists for Over 30 Years". Retrieved February 13, 2022.
13. Hall, Ron (March 29, 2015). "Strange Case of O. HENRY PLAYHOUSE". Retrieved February 13, 2022.

Further reading

• Castleman, Harry and Walter J. Podrazik. Harry and Wally's Favorite TV Shows. New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1989. ISBN 0-13-933250-2
• Borgnine, Ernest. Ernie: The Autobiography. New York: Citadel Press, 2008. ISBN 0-8065-2941-5

External links

• The O. Henry Playhouse at IMDb  
• The O. Henry Playhouse at https://www.ohenryplayhouse.com/
• The O. Henry Playhouse at CVTA with episode list