Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
- 1973 – 1974
- Ended
- Mystery · Drama
- ~25m / ep
- 1 season
- 6.8/10
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.
Latest: Season 1 · 1973
View all seasonsE1. Captain Rogers
Sep 1, 1973 · 25m
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.
E2. The Leather Funnel
Sep 8, 1973 · 25m
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
E3. A Terribly Strange Bed
Sep 15, 1973 · 25m
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 to be the most horrible night he had ever lived.
E4. La Grande Breteche
Sep 22, 1973 · 25m
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, with deadly consequences.
E5. The Dinner Party
Sep 29, 1973 · 25m
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 given by the Blakes to check her out.
E6. Money to Burn
Oct 6, 1973 · 25m
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?
+20 more episodes — open all seasons to browse every episode.
