Four Star Playhouse: A Championship Affair (1954)
Season 3, Episode 12
8/10
Worth seeing even if the story is a bit odd...
18 October 2010
This is from "Four Star Playhouse"--a show that consisted of four top Hollywood stars who alternated who starred in each teleplay--the other three got that particular week off from the show. Actually, there were five stars, Ida Lupino and Joan Fontaine and Merle Oberon ended up switching roles in the show as the fourth star. The other three were David Niven, Charles Boyer and Dick Powell--some really disparate actors who seemed to have little in common.

This particular episode stars Charles Boyer--an incredibly suave and talented actor. However, the plot seemed really, really weird....after all, it's just about the game of Bridge. Boyer plays a world-famous Bridge player who has come to town for a tournament. An ex-lover of his contacts him--trying to get Boyer to deliberately throw the game so her lover can win and gain self-respect. You also find out that the husband's boss has promised him a big promotion if he wins!! This just seems weird and I can't imagine any job offering this...unless the job is writing a Bridge column or representing a playing cards company!! Weird.

As to whether or not Boyer will help her, this is uncertain during much of the show. However, what IS certain is that Boyer is bitter at having lost the lady to her idiot husband--and he'd love to get revenge or get her back--even after all these years. The resolution was very entertaining and interesting...though, as I said, the story itself was strange because a simple game of Bridge took on epic proportions! Heck, James Bond's Bridge games seemed less epic! Interesting and well-acted--this one is worth seeing.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed