''The O. Henry Playhouse'' was an early American

anthology television series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a ...

which featured television adaptations of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

written by 19th-century author O. Henry and primarily set in New York City. The series was both hosted and narrated by Thomas Mitchell, who portrayed the title character, and featured several television and film stars during its run such as

Maureen Stapleton Lois Maureen Stapleton (June 21, 1925 – March 13, 2006) was an American actress. She received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, in addition to ...

, Charles Bronson, DeForest Kelley,

Lisa Montell Lisa Janti (born July 5, 1933), known as Lisa Montell when performing as a Hollywood actress of the 1950–60s, later shifted her career to one of advocacy and service to various disadvantaged groups and to her adopted religion, the Baháʼí Fa ...

, Otto Kruger,

Max Showalter Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...

and

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...

. The series was syndicated and began running on a handful of stations late in 1956. With the sale to General Cigar Company of Baltimore in May 1957, the series was contracted to 188 markets. According to ''

Billboard's ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'' "Pulse Film Ratings" ''The O. Henry Playhous''e generally received television ratings around 10.0 for its only season and ranked in the middle of the "Syndicated Film Drama Shows" category.

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, 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.

Several years before the DVD release Ron Hall, an entrepreneur specializing in

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

video material, 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 A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

status, number of episodes, and sometimes unexpected

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...

Episodes

Series 1

References

External links

* *''The O. Henry Playhouse'' at https://www.ohenryplayhouse.com/
''The O. Henry Playhouse'' at CVTA with episode list
{{DEFAULTSORT:O. Henry Playhouse, The First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Period television series 1950s American anthology television series 1957 American television series debuts 1957 American television series endings New York City in fiction O. Henry

DVD release

Episodes

Series 1

References

Further reading

External links