Philco Television Playhouse
The Gambler
TV Flash files “The Gambler” as hour 98 of 256 in the TV Flash guide — Philco Television Playhouse (1948–1955) on NBC, season 3, episode 8, aired 1950-10-29, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E08: listed hour 98 of 256 in the Philco Television Playhouse guide, hour 8 of 56 in season 3. It aired 1950-10-29 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Portrait in Smoke” (S03E07). Next is “The Power Devil” (S03E09).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A scathing denunciation of gambling and feudal aristocrats of the 19th-century, this story relates how Philip, a young medical student, bargains away his career for the unsure success of high gambling stakes. His caution turns to uncontrollable greed when he learns that money can buy women and quick fame. His destiny is bound to Theresa's, a beautiful young woman who has been mortgaged in marriage for her stepfather's debt, and to her wealthy grandmother's, who chooses to gamble away her fortune so there will be no inheritors.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Gambler sit in the Philco Television Playhouse guide?
S03E08 is listed hour 98 of 256 — hour 8 of 56 in season 3, season 3 episode 8.
When did Philco Television Playhouse S03E08 air?
The Gambler aired 1950-10-29 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Marty (May 24, 1953, Rod Steiger) — the teleplay that became the anthology-to-Oscar dream — then sample other surviving Coe/Mann hours.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Philco Television Playhouse is Chayefsky's kitchen-sink live plays: ordinary lives, extraordinary telecasts, Marty with Rod Steiger before the Oscar film. Watch it now as the rise of intimate realist TV drama — Fred Coe's shop, Delbert Mann, and the anthology-to-Hollywood dream in one sponsor's title.
The close-up is a butcher's loneliness, not a gown — kitchen-sink light, live cameras, ordinary lives getting extraordinary writing. NBC's *Philco Television Playhouse* (1948–1955), 256 episodes across seven seasons, Fred Coe's shop, directors like Delbert Mann, Paddy Chayefsky's *Marty* telecast May 24, 1953 with Rod Steiger. A kitchen sink as an Oscar machine. The Philco/Goodyear tandem nights made anthology drama a dual-sponsor prestige ritual. The timeline can call domestic realism mid. The silhouette was a…