DECISION (1958) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

DECISION (1958) – This was a half-hour anthology series that aired as a summer replacement for The Loretta Young Show. It ran 13 episodes, with several episodes serving as pilots for potential new series.

I. THE VIRGINIAN – Pilot for the later series of the same name. This western was based on the Owen Wister novel and starred James Drury and Jeanette Nolan, both of whom starred in the series. Lee J. Cobb replaced Robert Burton as the Judge. Dan Blocker played Salem in this pilot. The story dealt with attempts to sabotage the Judge’s plan to bring a railroad spur to Shiloh Ranch.

II. FIFTY BEAUTIFUL GIRLS – Barbara Bel Geddes starred as a taxi dancer who bravely serves as bait for a crazed killer who has been murdering ladies in her profession. Also starred Edward Andrews and Royal Dano.

III. THE DANGER GAME – Pilot for a potential spy series. Ray Danton starred as the intelligence agent assigned to thwart an assassination attempt on a missile expert in the far east. Danton posed as a singer for his cover. 

IV. THE TALL MAN – Written by Aaron Spelling, this pilot starred Michael Rennie as T.J. Allan, former military officer turned private investigator in 1869 St. Louis, MO. Ignore the plot outline listed on IMDb. This episode really dealt with Allan working to recover $50,000 stolen in a train robbery by the Dawson Gang. Also starred Harry Dean Stanton, Ellen Corby and Henry Brandon. 

V. SUDDEN SILENCE – Barbara Stanwyck portrayed Irene Frazier, wife of a U.S. Marshall (Jeff Morrow) who is away on an assignment. While she is taking care of their ill son, a deadly criminal shows up, intent on killing her husband.

VI. INDEMNITY – This pilot starred Richard Kiley as insurance investigator Paul Scott. In this story he investigates the disappearance of a $250,000 payroll from an armored car. Two of the three guards also disappeared. Myron Healey and Ruth Lee were in the cast.   

VII. STAND AND DELIVER – Louis Hayward portrayed a swashbuckling highwayman in 17th Century England in this pilot. While plying his trade he takes the time to save an innocent young man from the gallows. Also starred Adrienne Corri and Allan Cuthbertson. 

VIII. NIGHT OF THE STRANGER – Valentina Cortese starred as a psychiatrist being chased by a hulking escaped mental patient (Mike Lane). She is forced to hide with an accommodating stranger (George Sanders).   

IX. FEAR HAS MANY FACES – A Korean War veteran (James Whitmore) who was forced to shoot a fellow soldier for desertion during the conflict is still haunted by the incident years later. He and his wife (June Lockhart) begin receiving eerie phone calls from someone claiming to be the slain soldier. 

X. HIGH AIR – William Bendix starred as Joe Redman, a construction worker whose crew is building a tunnel under the Hudson River. His son, Joe Jr. (Dennis Hopper), is on the same crew despite his father’s efforts to warn him away from such hazardous work. Only one of them will survive.

XI. MARKHEIM – Based on the Robert Louis Stevenson story. Ray Milland plays a desperate man who murders a shopkeeper during Christmas in 1800s England. He wrestles with his conscience and with paranoia as he contemplates robbing the dead man. Also starred Rod Steiger.

XII. MAN AGAINST CRIME – Pilot for a series starring Darren McGavin as lawyer Dan Garrett. In this story he defends a young gang member accused of killing a youth from a rival gang. Charles Grodin was in the cast.

XIII. MAN ON A RAFT – Pilot episode for the later Michael Shayne series. Shayne was a private investigator hired to determine the exact date of a man’s death in order to settle an inheritance. Richard Denning would play the detective in the series. This episode also starred Diane Brewster and Merry Anders. 

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