Climax! (1954)
Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.
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When she loses her job, Gwen Dacres seeks economical lodgings in a boarding house run by a mysterious old woman, Mrs. Garr. Strange noises and incidents disturb Gwen's peace of mind. Gwen is attacked and Mrs. Garr disappears and is later found dead. Gwen starts to investigate and uncovers a twenty year old mystery.
A song plugger making his daily rounds meets an attractive young singer in a recording executive's waiting room and, by passing himself off as her manager, begins climbing to the top of the music world.
In Texas, during the 1880's, cattlemen resent the intrusion of homesteaders on their grazing lands. When cattleman Mannon Tate's brother is sentenced to hang for the murder of a homesteader, Tate makes a desperate attempt to prevent the execution. Believing the sheriff is allied with the farmers, Tate takes him and his wife hostage.
A young heiress marries a dancer after a whirlwind courtship, but soon comes to suspect he's responsible for the mysterious disappearance of his former dancing partner.
Leo Carson a businessman who worked his way up from machinist's helper to owner of a million-dollar business. He realizes too late that the important things in life, his family have chosen destructive lifestyles and his own mistakes have caused harm to everyone else.
A detective is assigned to investigate a series of murders in which the killer left a heart-shaped tattoo on each of his victims.
Engineer Frank Colby and his staff have developed a nose cone capable of launching into outer space.
In trying to clean up the local bookmakers, the Washington, D.C. Police department becomes convinced that members of the force are accepting payoff money. Lt. Todd Thoman is assigned the task of discovering the crooked cops.
A large Manhattan law firm hires the tireless dedicated Timothy Colt, the young lawyer. As he rises in the firm the opportunity to see the conflict between ethics and ambition are upon him. His disillusionment and the constant dishonesty shakes him to his foundations of belief against the bitter cynical conquest of his new great world.
While on a date with her boyfriend a woman runs into her erratic estranged husband. Later that night two ruffians beat up the boyfriend and kidnap the woman.
In Rome, an American actor and his wife come upon an Italian street urchin who appoints himself their guardian angel and after awhile begins trying to cajole them into adopting him permanently.
The story of Murder Inc. and the 1957 barber shop rub-out of mob czar Albert Anastasia. Anastasia had an appeal that belied his reputation for brutality and impetuosity. He had a sense of confidence and presence, and because he was so sure of himself he was at ease with other people.
Four days before his movie is to be released, singing idol Johnny Spain is killed in an airplane crash. His press agent decides he must dig up some publicity to make the up-coming movie pay-off. He pressures Julie, a young starlet, to pose as Spain's secret love.
Trapped in a crossfire of human emotions, a hospital chief surgeon fights his own conscience to decide the fate of two men. He must weigh the possible sacrifice of one life for another. Drawing on years of experience, he defies the pressures of time and personal fear to face one crucial moment of judgment.
A singer orders a copy made of an antique cross for an old friend of hers, a priest. While she is in the jewelry store to pick up the cross, the store is held up by a masked gunman who steals the cross and makes his escape. The thief resembles the priest's brother. Then the third brother, a policeman, is assigned to investigate the case.
Facing a personal crisis on a coast-to-coast flight, an airline hostess appeals for help to a doctor on the plane, but he claims he's too busy to see her.
While on the trail of a black-market ring in Tokyo, an undercover man runs across a murder. During the investigation he begins to date a pretty Japanese dancer, which upsets his American girlfriend.
Medical student tries to help depressed neighbor.
A woman returns to the cottage owned by her late husband and tries to settle in, but a body is discovered in the living room and she is accused of murder.
On a snowy Christmas eve, police detective Ed Brooks hopes to be able to get away early. But a call comes in that a prowler, who has murdered several women, has struck again.
Among the people seeking shelter from a flood at a rundown Southern hotel are a man accused of murder, the deputy sheriff to whom he's handcuffed, a compassionate young social worker, a preacher, and the hotel owner's disturbed wife who claims she's a countess.
Two fugitives, hoping for a life of ease and respectability, leave for Australia to buy a sheep ranch, not knowing they're being followed by a blackmailer.
A ruthless gossip columnist who's been receiving threatening letters asks for police protection and then, in a panic attack, barricades himself in his apartment.
A man wakes up with a hangover one morning believing he is responsible for a murder. All he can remember is standing over a body holding a broken bottle in his hand. The girl in love with him is convinced he is innocent and helps him try to prove
A college professor tries to help an ex-GI with a history of mental illness whose anxiety over low grades caused him to cheat on his final exam.
Drama about the men who struggle to move rivers and dig tunnels.
An American newspaperman in West Berlin and an East German freedom fighter in the anti-Soviet underground are in love with the same woman, in whose apartment the freedom fighter takes refuge after being wounded.
Tom Gardener invites the invalid widow of a man he accidentally killed to live with himself and his wife, unaware that her facade of sweetness and gentleness conceals a scheme to destroy his marriage.
A criminal lawyer makes a desperate gamble to defend a boy charged with murder. Risking his career, his love, even his health, he faces an even greater terror when he finds his own guilty conscience is on trial.
As she's leaving to meet her daughter at the airport, a psychoanalyst receives a phone call from one of her patients, who tells her he's just killed a man. When the two women return home the patient, who is waiting for them, pulls a gun, forces the daughter into a room, and locks the door.
When a man with the reputation of a fast gun turns up in a small New Mexico community, the townspeople, including the man's son, want no part of him. Then two brothers who have vowed revenge on the gunfighter ride into town.
The technical notes say that this television drama was in black and white. But I remember its being broadcast in color, one of the very few broadcasts in color at that time. I remember because my father was trying out, on loan, a new color television set, and we saw this broadcast as a test of the color quality of the broadcast and of the set. The quality was good for this broadcast, as I recall, but not for all broadcasts.
A forest fire spreads with fury, threatens a town with destruction, and brands a boy a murderer.
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Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.
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