Robert Aldrich

Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine. Blake Edwards was among the writers and directors who contributed to the series. Edwards created the recurring character of illegal gambling house operator Willie Dante for Dick Powell to play on this series. The character was later revamped and spun off in his own series starring Howard Duff, then-husband of Lupino. The pilot for Meet McGraw, starring Frank Lovejoy, aired here, as did another episode in which Lovejoy recreated his role of Chicago newspaper reporter Randy Stone, from the radio drama Nightbeat.

Adventures in Paradise is an American television series created by James Michener which ran on ABC from 1959 until 1962, starring Gardner McKay as Adam Troy, the captain of the schooner Tiki III, which sailed the South Pacific looking for passengers and adventure. USA Network aired reruns of this series between 1984 and 1988. The plots deal with the romantic and detective stories of Korean War veteran Troy. The supporting cast, varying from season to season, features George Tobias, Guy Stockwell, and Linda Lawson.

A two-bit promoter tries to take a women's wrestling team to the top.

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Violent crime caper set in 1930s Kansas in which a gang kidnap an heiress and attempt to recover a ransom. However, the scheme is jeopardised when the leader falls in love with their beautiful captive.

12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.

China Smith was a 1950s television adventure series starring Dan Duryea. The television show takes place in Singapore. Much of the cast and crew also worked on the film World for Ransom, which is considered an extension of the television program. Director Robert Aldrich had also directed two episodes of the series. The title character was a soldier of fortune wearing a white suit living in Singapore who would face danger and excitement every week. The series was made with a two-year gap; the first 26 episodes being filmed in Mexico, the second 26 episodes were shot in 1954-1955. In 1959 Daffy Duck played China Jones a parody of Duryea's character.

A football player-turned-convict organizes a team of inmates to play against a team of prison guards. His dilemma is that the warden asks him to throw the game in return for an early release, but he is also concerned about the inmates' lack of self-esteem.

A former vaudeville child star viciously torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.

Meek busboy Little Pinks is in love with an extremely selfish nightclub singer who despises and uses him.

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season.

An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.

A cargo aircraft crashes in a sandstorm in the Sahara with less than a dozen men on board. One of the passengers is an airplane designer who comes up with the idea of ripping off the undamaged wing and using it as the basis for a replacement aircraft they need to build before their food and water run out.

Hotel de Paree is a Western television series that aired on the CBS Friday schedule from October 2, 1959, until June 3, 1960, under the alternate sponsorship of Liggett & Myers and Kellogg's. The show starred Earl Holliman as Sundance, a gunfighter just released after seventeen years in prison. In the first episode, he is in Georgetown, Colorado, where he kills the town villain and is then urged by the citizens to become the marshal. He accepts the job and also becomes a part owner of the Hotel de Paree, owned by two French women, Annette Deveraux, played by Jeanette Nolan, and her niece, Monique, portrayed by Judi Meredith, relatives of the man whom he had earlier killed. Sundance wore a string of polished silver discs in the band of his black Stetson, which often blinded his adversaries. During the brief run of the series, Sundance dealt with assorted antagonists and maintained flirtations with both of the Deveraux women. Sundance also befriended a local shopkeeper, Aaron Donoger, played by veteran Western performer Strother Martin. The program was filmed at CBS Studio Center. Guest stars included Philip Abbott, Theodore Bikel, Sebastian Cabot, Russ Conway, Dennis Cross, Walter Coy, Royal Dano, King Donovan, Brian Donlevy, Jack Elam, Leif Erickson, Ron Hayes, Allyn Joslyn, Don Keefer, Nora Marlowe, Martin Milner, Read Morgan, Gregg Palmer, John M. Pickard, Judson Pratt, Darryl Richard, Peter Mark Richman, Vic Tayback, and Peter Whitney.

One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.

After the American Civil War, mercenaries travel to Mexico to fight in their revolution for money. The former soldier and gentleman Benjamin Trane meets the gunman and killer Joe Erin and his men, and together they are hired by the Emperor Maximillian and the Marquis Henri de Labordere to escort the Countess Marie Duvarre to the harbor of Vera Cruz.

Lot leads his people to a fertile valley adjacent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, hotbeds of vice and corruption ruled by the merciless Queen Bera. When Lot orders a dam to be busted in order to prevent the destruction of the cities by the attacking Helamites, the queen, in gratitude, allows Lot's people to settle in Sodom. Soon, however, the veneer of civilization begins crumbling as Lot and the Hebrews become corrupted by the Sodomites.

After fierce war chief Ulzana and a small war party jump the reservation bent on murder and terror, an inexperienced young lieutenant is assigned to track him down.

A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.

Battle of the Bulge, World War II, 1944. Lieutenant Costa, an infantry company officer who must establish artillery observation posts in a strategic area, has serious doubts about Captain Cooney's leadership ability.