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.
Climax! (Season 1)
The Long Goodbye (Episode 1)
Writer: E. Jack Neuman
Air date: 1954-10-07
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Private Detective Philip Marlowe decides to help out a friend Lennox when his wife is found brutally murdered. Marlowe winds up in jail accused of her murder and tries to solve the case after his release.
The Thirteenth Chair (Episode 2)
Writer: Walter Newman
Air date: 1954-10-14
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: When his friend is murdered, Edward Wales sets out to capture the killer. He stages a seance and invites 13 people, any one of who may have killed the dead man, but it ends in chaos when the killer strikes again during a blackout.
Casino Royale (Episode 3) 6.0
Writer: Charles Bennett
Air date: 1954-10-21
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: American spy James Bond must outsmart card wiz and crime boss LeChiffre while monitoring his actions. The first dramatization of a James Bond novel.
Sorry, Wrong Number (Episode 4)
Air date: 1954-11-04
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A neurotic invalid whose only contact with the outside world is her phone. One night, because of a crossed wire, she hears plans for a murder which turns out to be her own. Her frantic efforts to get help and her growing terror and realisation of the truth chill you to the bone.
The Gioconda Smile (Episode 5)
Air date: 1954-11-11
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The death of his crippled wife causes upheaval for the husband and his mistress. Only his family friend believes in his innocence.
The After House (Episode 6)
Air date: 1954-11-25
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A steward aboard a yacht thinks his job is easy sailing until the dream voyage turns into a nightmare. The ship's officer is thrown overboard and another is hacked to death who is next.
An Error in Chemistry (Episode 7)
Writer: David Dortort
Air date: 1954-12-02
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A carnival huckster ingratiates himself with an elderly farmer and his naïve daughter; she soon falls for her new suitor and marries him, only to wind up dead shortly afterwards, the husband quick to confess.
Epitaph for a Spy (Episode 8)
Air date: 1954-12-09
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: An unsuspecting Iron Curtain refugee is used as a pawn by two French traitors while he is at a resort in France.
The White Carnation (Episode 9)
Writer: Raymond Chandler
Air date: 1954-12-16
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A woman receives some mysterious white carnations, which seem to be an innocent gift but lead to terror.
Nightmare in Copenhagen (Episode 10)
Air date: 1954-12-30
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Thru romantic eyes she knew not what he was.
The Bigger They Come (Episode 11)
Air date: 1955-01-06
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Private investigators Cool and Lam become involved in this suspenseful tale of thugs, thieves and legal chicanery.
Escape From Fear (Episode 12)
Air date: 1955-01-13
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: An American engineer in Germany crosses over into the Soviet Zone on business and becomes entangled with the secret police.
The Mojave Kid (Episode 13)
Air date: 1955-01-27
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The Mojave Kid is warned to stay away from a small town feud.
The Leaf Out of the Book (Episode 14)
Air date: 1955-02-03
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The story revolves around two women, one a successful career woman, the other an ambitious girl. After giving the daughter of an old friend a job, the successful businesswoman realizes the drawbacks of her generosity.
The Valiant Men (Episode 15)
Air date: 1955-02-10
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Lt. Comm. Knowles is assigned to skipper the USS Hamilton from England back to New York. While he and his crew celebrate New Year's Eve 1943, an unknown danger lurks nearby.
The Box of Chocolates (Episode 16)
Air date: 1955-02-24
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A hated columnist becomes involved in murder after receiving an innocent-looking box of chocolates with a note from the manufacturer asking him to try them.
South of the Sun (Episode 17)
Air date: 1955-03-03
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: They were strangers to each other, even the married ones, and they all dreamed in human ways. But the least of these eight persons did something about his little dream. In so doing, he bound the strangers in an intimate circle, whether they knew it or not. He touched them all in passing and changed their lives and dreams forever, according to their own choices. In one turn of the earth something happened.
The Great Impersonation (Episode 18)
Air date: 1955-03-10
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The action of this tale of intrigue and espionage takes place in the jungles of East Africa in 1914. The destinies of Germany and Great Britain are dependent upon one man whose decision is influenced by one of the two women in his life.
The Darkest Hour (Episode 19)
Air date: 1955-03-24
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: An ex-cop is released from San Quentin after five years and sets out on revenge against the men who framed him for manslaughter.
The Champion (Episode 20)
Writer: Rod Serling
Air date: 1955-03-31
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The famous story deals with a boxer whose rise to fame has been at the expense of friends and associates. Through flashbacks, we see how Midge Kelly rose from the Chicago slums to a world championship.
Private Worlds (Episode 21)
Air date: 1955-04-07
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A woman doctor probes the twisted minds of her patients in a mental institution.
Flight 951 (Episode 22)
Air date: 1955-04-21
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A doctor forsakes the medical profession following a court trial where he was the defendant. Now a successful businessman travelling under an assumed name, he must decide between keeping his secret and saving the eyesight of a fellow passenger.
The First and the Last (Episode 23)
Air date: 1955-04-28
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The threat of scandal, revolving around the death of a man in London, prompts an ambitious lawyer to disregard both legan and moral principles. His concern for his own career puts an innocent man's life in jeopardy.
The Deliverance of Sister Cecilia (Episode 24)
Air date: 1955-05-05
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A courageous nun suffers ordeals while trying to escape from behind the Iron Curtain.
No Stone Unturned (Episode 25)
Air date: 1955-05-19
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A Scottish student has the historical Stone of Scone stolen from Westminster Abbey. His purpose is to get England to recognize Scotland's independence.
A Farewell to Arms (Episode 26)
Air date: 1955-05-26
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: An American, in the Italian Army during World War I, who meets a nurse and falls in love with her. Together they try to find a haven from the turbulence around them.
The Unimportant Man (Episode 27)
Air date: 1955-06-02
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The life of an ordinary, mild-mannered man is changed when he identifies the murderer of his employer's brother.
The Dark Fleece (Episode 28)
Air date: 1955-06-16
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A gold miner returns to his righteous California hometown, circa1857. He has great wealth, but also a burdened conscious; he has killed a man.
To Wake at Midnight (Episode 29)
Air date: 1955-06-23
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: All the pent-up prejudices and hatreds of postwar Europe are revived when a Nazi lieutenant recovers consciousness in a British hospital after being in a coma for years.
The Dance (Episode 30)
Air date: 1955-06-30
Runtime: 60 min
Wild Stallion (Episode 31)
Writer: DeWitt Bodeen
Air date: 1955-07-07
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A handsome, devil-may-care fortune hunter [from South America] makes his home with a well-to-do Southern family. He is attracted at first to the daughter, until he discovers the mother is the one who holds the key to the family fortune.
The Escape of Mendes-France (Episode 32)
Air date: 1955-07-14
Runtime: 60 min
The Healer (Episode 33)
Air date: 1955-07-21
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A brilliant surgeon, burdened with a self-centered wife and a beautiful heiress who's in love with him, becomes tormented by doubts about his ability after losing a patient during a difficult operation.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Episode 34) 7.0
Writer: Gore Vidal
Air date: 1955-07-28
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Classic Stevenson tale of a scientist whose experiments into the duality of man transform him into the misshapen, murderous Mr. Hyde.
One Night Stand (Episode 35)
Air date: 1955-08-04
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: In 1937, the members of a jazz ensemble come to the aid of one of their colleagues who is stricken with tuberculosis.
Edge of Terror (Episode 36)
Air date: 1955-08-11
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A small town banker and his family are threatened with death if he identifies the leader of the gang that tried to rob his bank.
Fear Strikes Out (Episode 37)
Air date: 1955-08-18
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: True story of ballplayer battling mental illness and domineering father.
Deal a Blow (Episode 38)
Air date: 1955-08-25
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A teenage boy gets into a dispute with an abusive movie theater manager Mr. Grubbs. The boy's father Tom Ditmar accepts the manager's somewhat twisted version of the incident and doesn't give his son a chance to explain his side of the matter.
