Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
TV ShowEnded

Orson Welles' Great Mysteries

6.7 / 10
1973
1 season
26 episodes
MysteryDrama

Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries is a British television anthology series produced by Anglia Television for the ITV network and broadcast between 1973 and 1974. The series presents standalone adaptations of classic mystery, crime, and supernatural stories drawn from literary sources including Dickens, Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Balzac, Maugham, O. Henry, and others. Each episode is framed by original introductory and closing sequences performed by Orson Welles, who serves as the series’ host and sole recurring on-screen presence. These segments, written and directed by Welles (uncredited), function as stylized narrative framing devices rather than dramatic participation in the stories themselves. The dramatic content of each episode is performed by separate casts and directors, with no continuing characters or serialized narrative, establishing the series as a unified television anthology rather than a collection of standalone films.

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Cast

Seasons

  • Ep 1

    1.Captain Rogers

    01-09-197325m

    The respectable owner of a quiet inn in 18th century England is blackmailed by a grubby stranger, who knows he is secretly the notorious pirate Captain Rogers.

  • Ep 2

    2.The Leather Funnel

    08-09-197325m

    When a young man discovers a curious funnel made of leather, he has a presentiment that it was once used as an instrument of torture

  • Ep 3

    3.A Terribly Strange Bed

    15-09-197325m

    Charles Faulkner, a young American gambler in Paris, should have left the casino after striking it lucky. Why the devil did he accept to sleep in the casino's guest bed? This was t...

  • Ep 4

    4.La Grande Breteche

    1.0
    22-09-197325m

    A Spanish officer, captured by the French during the Peninsular War, is imprisoned at the country house of an elderly aristocrat with a bored young wife - whose lover he becomes, w...

  • Ep 5

    5.The Dinner Party

    29-09-197325m

    Blake is a brilliant accountant, but does he deserve a promotion to the board of directors? It all depends on the suitability of his wife. His bosses attend a small dinner party gi...

  • Ep 6

    6.Money to Burn

    06-10-197325m

    A French girl in London finds herself in the awkward position of owing money to a Soho crime boss. But when she pays him off, he contemptuously sets fire to the money. Why?

  • Ep 7

    7.In the Confessional

    13-10-197325m

    An old tramp takes refuge in a church, and, concealed within the confessional, overhears things of great interest.

  • Ep 8

    8.Unseen Alibi

    20-10-197325m

    Dean Stockwell stars as the victim of an elaborately staged murder frame centering around a lover's rendezvous.

  • Ep 9

    9.Battle of Wits

    27-10-197325m

    A psychological drama pitting a brilliant headmaster against a vengeful actor in a deadly game.

  • Ep 10

    10.A Point of Law

    03-11-197325m

    A lawyer cannot stop a middle-aged spinster from making a fool of herself with a young fortune-hunter, but he can stop the fellow from getting his hands on her money.

  • Ep 11

    11.The Monkey's Paw

    10-11-197325m

    An old army sergeant, back in England after long service in India, shows some old friends a strange possession he's acquired - a monkey's paw which can make wishes come true.

  • Ep 12

    12.The Ingenious Reporter

    17-11-1973

    Reporter Harry Langley pretends to be the murderer of unidentified women to boost sales with a special report from prison. But once arrested, the authorities seem to be convinced t...

  • Ep 13

    13.Death of an Old-Fashioned Girl

    24-11-1973

    A jealous wife faces complications stemming from her artist husband's obsession with his ex-wife.

  • Ep 14

    14.For Sale - Silence

    01-12-1973

    Businessman Pennington is bribed by a Mr. Briggs due to an extramarital affair. But it seems that Briggs has underestimated his opponent and the tables might be turning.

  • Ep 15

    15.The Inspiration Of Mr. Budd

    08-12-1973

    How did Mr. Budd become a top-class West End hairdresser after such humble origins in a suburban barbershop? Well, one day, a stranger came in for a shave and a haircut.

  • Ep 16

    16.An Affair of Honour

    15-12-1973

    India: After secret plans for the defence of a harbour are secretly copied, British General Sanderson tasks officers Bruce and Rolfe with convincing the apparent traitor Fanshaw to...

  • Ep 17

    17.Farewell to the Faulkners

    22-12-1973

    The masquerade is over when a murdered man turns up alive in the guise of his wife.

  • Ep 18

    18.The Power of Fear

    29-12-1973

    A handyman, finding that a number of middle-aged housewives require him for rather more than his professional services, turns to blackmail.

  • Ep 19

    19.Where There's a Will

    05-01-1974

    A letter opened in error provides rather dangerous knowledge concerning a murder case.

  • Ep 20

    20.A Time to Remember

    12-01-1974

    Zigorin, a top Russian spy, has defected to the West. But is he really Zigorin or an impostor?

  • Ep 21

    21.Ice Storm

    19-01-1974

    An "Ice Storm" traps a woman with a potential thief masquerading as one of three experts invited to view a collection of valuable manuscripts.

  • Ep 22

    22.Come Into My Parlour

    26-01-1974
  • Ep 23

    23.Compliments of the Season

    02-02-1974

    A penniless man tries to claim a reward from a millionaire at Christmas, and finds it's not as easy as he thought it would be.

  • Ep 24

    24.Under Suspicion

    09-02-1974

    A pianist on an international tour is forced to spy for the secret police to avoid being detained.

  • Ep 25

    25.Trial for Murder

    16-02-1974

    During a murder trial in 19th-century England, one of the jurors begins to have mysterious hallucinations - has he seen a ghost?

  • Ep 26

    26.The Furnished Room

    23-02-1974

    A young man's month-long search for a missing girl ends in a haunted room of a boarding house.

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