# Orson Welles Great Mysteries

Orson Welles Great Mysteries is a British television series originally transmitted between 1973 and 1974, produced by Anglia Television for the ITV network.
The series is an anthology of mystery stories. Each episode is introduced by Orson Welles, the only regular actor in the series, whose appearances were confined to the introductory and closing sequences. In the opening titles, Welles appears shown in silhouette walking through a hallway towards the camera, smoking a cigar and outfitted in a broad-brimmed hat and a huge cloak. When he actually appears on-screen to introduce the episodes, his face is all that is shown, in extreme close-up and very low lighting.
| No. in series | Title | Directed by | Starring |
| 1 | "Captain Rogers" | Alan Gibson; Orson Welles | Donald Pleasence; Joseph O'Conor; Willoughby Goddard; Kevin Stoney; Donald Gee; Daphne Heard; Alan Bennion |
| 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. ||||
| 2 | "The Leather Funnel" | Alan Gibson; Orson Welles | Christopher Lee; Simon Ward; Jane Seymour; Ralph Arliss |
| A young man talks with the uncle of the girl he wants to marry, and is told a strange story about a curious funnel made of leather. While falling asleep next to the device, he has a presentiment that it was once used as an instrument of torture. (Based on a story by Arthur Conan Doyle) ||||
| 3 | "A Terribly Strange Bed" | Alan Cooke; Orson Welles | Rupert Davies; Colin Baker; Edward Albert; Hugo De Vernier; John Slavid |
| 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. ||||
| 4 | "La Grande Breteche" | Peter Sasdy; Orson Welles | Peter Cushing; Susannah York; Morag Hood; Marc Zuber; Pauline Delaney |
| A Spanish officer, captured by the French during the Peninsular War, is imprisoned near the country house of an elderly aristocrat with a bored young wife - whose lover he becomes, with deadly consequences. (Based on a story by Honoré de Balzac) ||||
| 5 | "The Dinner Party" | John Robins; Orson Welles | Joan Collins; Anton Rodgers; Peter Cellier |
| 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, and Mrs Blake seems to be a lower class, loud, obnoxious woman. Or is everything as it seems? ||||
| 6 | "Money to Burn" | Alan Gibson; Orson Welles | Victor Buono; Isabel Dean; Olga Georges-Picot; Glyn Owen |
| A French girl in London finds herself in the awkward position of owing money to an old friend of her father's, who would prefer a much... closer relationship with her. As she pays back her due in installments, he contemptuously keeps setting fire to the money after accepting it. Why? (Based on a story by Margery Allingham) ||||
| 7 | "In the Confessional" | Peter Sasdy; Orson Welles | José Ferrer; Shane Rimmer; Milo O'Shea; Phil Davis; Julie Dawn Cole |
| An old tramp, while stealing from the donation boxes, gets locked inside a church, and, concealed within the confessional, overhears the details of a grisly murder. But not everything is as straightforward as it seems... ||||
| 8 | "Unseen Alibi" | Mark Cullingham; Orson Welles | Dean Stockwell; Joss Ackland |
| Jerry Norton arrives to London from America, following instructions by the actress he wants to marry, arriving at a hotel room... and finding a murdered man inside. The police arrives as he tries to leave, and soon he finds out he is the main suspect - in the murder of the husband of the woman he wanted to marry! (Based on a story by Bruce Graeme) ||||
| 9 | "Battle of Wits" | James Ferman; Orson Welles | Ian Bannen; Brewster Mason |
| At the end of the semester, college professor Richard Lumsden is getting ready for vacation - and retirement. However he is interrupted by an angry parent of a student, blaming him for his son's suicide after he was expelled for stealing. The man makes it clear he wants to murder Lumsden and frame his death as a suicide, and the professor engages his to-be-murderer in a battle of wits to convince him he cannot make it look believable for the police... (Based on a story by Maisie Sharman ||||
| 10 | "A Point of Law" | Peter Sykes; Orson Welles | Alec McCowen; Anna Massey; Roland Culver; Michael Petrovich; Michael Gover |
| 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. (Based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham ||||
| 11 | "The Monkey's Paw" | Alan Gibson; Orson Welles | Michael Kitchen; Megs Jenkins; Patrick Magee; Cyril Cusack; Robert James |
| 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 three wishes come true, but with a horrible cost. (Based on the original story by W. W. Jacobs ||||
| 12 | "The Ingenious Reporter" | Carey Harrison; Orson Welles | David Birney; Geoffrey Bayldon; James Maxwell; Anthony Ainley; John Cater; James Mellor; Neil Wilson; Peter Madden; Pam St. Clement; Eamonn Boyce |
| Ambitious reporter Harry Langley pretends to be the murderer of unidentified woman, to boost sales with a special report from prison. But once arrested, the authorities seem to be convinced that he is indeed the killer - because the victim has been identified as his fiancee! ||||
| 13 | "Death of an Old-Fashioned Girl" | Alan Gibson; Orson Welles | Carol Lynley; Francesca Annis; John Le Mesurier; Anne Stallybrass; Jack Shepherd; Jon Laurimore |
| After the wife of a famous artist is stabbed to death, the police investigate four people connected to the case and present in the building when the murder happened - the artist himself, his gallery manager, his old friend and fellow artist, and the latter's wife. From their recollection emerges the image of a shrewd and manipulative woman, who ingrained herself into the artist's life, destroyed his previous marriage and drove the wife to suicide, and then completely took over his life and financial situation, alienating him from his friends. It seems everyone had a reason to kill her, but perhaps, it wasn't any of them who held the knife... ||||
| 14 | "For Sale - Silence" | Peter Sykes; Orson Welles | Ed Deveraux; Jack Cassidy |
| Successful businessman Pennington has an affair in a dingy motel, and is then contacted and bribed by a Mr. Briggs, who in a very businesslike fashion, outlines his demands. But it seems that Briggs has underestimated his opponent, and the tables might be turning... ||||
| 15 | "The Inspiration of Mr. Budd" | Peter Sasdy; Orson Welles | Donald Donnelly; Hugh Griffith; Glynn Edwards; André Maranne; Neville Barber; Robert La Bassiere, Guy Deghy |
| How did Mr. Budd become a top-class West End hairdresser after such humble origins in a suburban barbershop? Back when years ago, he was running a small barbershop, he gets an eccentric customer who wants a shave and to dye his flaming red hair to a new color. As Budd chats with his client and reads the news, he realizes the eccentric man is a fugitive murderer - and that his own life is in danger too... (Based on a story by Dorothy L. Sayers) ||||
| 16 | "An Affair of Honour" | Alan Bromly; Orson Welles | Harry Andrews; Jeremy Clyde; Michael Gambon; Jenny Hanley |
| In the years of British ruled India, the secret plans for the defense of a harbor have been copied, and with only three people having access to the key, General Sanderson tasks officers Bryce and Rolfe with convincing the apparent traitor Fanshaw to "save his honour" by committing suicide, rather than going through an embarrassing court martial. Complicating matters is that Bryce used to be in love with Fanshaw's wife, but promised her that this would not come between their friendship. ||||
| 17 | "Farewell to the Faulkners" | Peter Sykes; Orson Welles | Keith Baxter; Jane Baxter; Kenneth Gilbert; John Ringham |
| The Faulkners were an odd family - two spinsters living in a large mansion, served by one maid, with their only relative being their young brother, married but living elsewhere. When one night one of the sisters suddenly disappears without a trace - leaving her clothes behind - everyone is puzzled, but the remaining sister refuses to call the police, thinking on the family's good name - as there has been cases of insanity in the family before. A private detective hired finds nothing, and a few months later the other sister disappears in the same manner, too. The police are now alerted and begin to investigate - and soon it is revealed these two were not the first disappearances in the family. ||||
| 18 | "The Power of Fear" | Peter Sasdy; Orson Welles | Don Murray; Shirley Knight |
| Mrs. Brenner, wife of a successful lawyer, is home alone, awaiting the plumber. The man however, acts more than intrusive, and uses false excuses to go to the bathroom and bedroom, inspecting things while she is waiting elsewhere. When it comes to matters of payment, Mrs. Brenner is shocked when he insists to get 1000$ in cash - or he will start rumors about an extramarital affair, since he spent so much time in her house and knows intimate details about her bedroom. He also reveals he has blackmailed other women in the suburbs and they have all paid him. Mrs. Brenner is given one day to come up with the money, but she is torn about paying for his silence, or somehow punishing this disgusting, abrasive creep. ||||
| 19 | "Where There's a Will" | Michael Gilbert; Orson Welles | Richard Johnson; Hannah Gordon; Bill Maynard; Sheila Raynor; Robert Cartland |
| When local lawyer Bruce Sexton reads in the newspaper that a client of his has died, he has the will opened, and he and his partner Theresa Prentice find a letter to be opened only after his death confessing to the murder of a local prostitute known to have been blackmailing rich clients. However, the client suddenly calls them as it turns out only a similarly named relative of his has died. Sexton, torn by duty to the client and morals, informs the police without revealing who confessed to the murder, but things get complicated when the police - and his partner - start to suspect him of being the murderer... ||||
| 20 | "A Time to Remember" | Peter Sykes; Orson Welles | Patrick Macnee; Charles Gray; Patrick Barr; Alan Browning; Nell Curran |
| Businessman Charles Foster is visited by MI6 agents in his office. They take him to an army base, where he is led in to meet a man he eventually recognizes as Mikhail Zigorin, a Soviet general, whom he befriended at the siege of Berlin 30 years ago. Apparently, he has defected to the West. However, MI6 is unsure whether this man is the real Zigorin, or a double sent to be a mole in their organization. Foster lists various characteristics and mannerisms he recalls of Zigorin, but at the end, he settles for one true test of the validity of his claims... ||||
| 21 | "Ice Storm" | Alan Gibson; Orson Welles | Claire Bloom; Thorley Walters; Robert Beatty; Brian Wilde; Donald Eccles; Barry Jackson; George Malpas |
| When Sheila Parnell is phoned by her employer and warned that one of the three experts who are arriving to view his collection of valuable old manuscripts has been replaced by a thief, she is worried... and then when call is interrupted and she receives news that her employer has been found dead, she is terrified. But the road is snowed in by a blizzard, and the murderer has cut the phone line, so apart from the curmudgeonly driver who does not believe her story, she has no-one to rely on but herself, as she tries to listen to the three experts talk and find out which one of them could be the murderer... ||||
| 22 | "Come Into My Parlor" | Peter Sasdy; Orson Welles | Anne Jackson; Dana Wynter |
| Famous pianist Vivian Carson is in Naples, and she has spent considerable time and effort to find and invite older actress Marcia Loredo - and also to find and procure some yellow powder on the black market that causes a deadly disease, fatal in 6 weeks... As an unsuspecting Marcia arrives and wonders why she was invited, a tale of old love is brought to the fore, as Vivian still harbors resentment towards Marcia for seducing the man she once loved. But was that now-dead man truly as important to her as she remembers him, and is the memory worth to murder someone over it? ||||
| 23 | "Compliments of the Season" | Philip Saville; Orson Welles | Eli Wallach; Hildegard Neil; Ed Bishop; Preston Lockwood, Michael Brennan, Andy Bradford |
| A british millionaire's spoiled little girl loses her ragdoll, and buying her new dolls does not make her happy, so the parents put out an ad for a 25Ł return award money for the doll. Having been buried by the family dog, the doll is found by a drunken tramp, who takes it with him to a pub, pretending it is a high class lady, to the amusement of the audience. Two lowlifes frequenting the pub realize the doll is worth money, and force the tramp at knifepoint to return it, planning to take the money from him later. But, his uncanny knowledge of the paintings in the house impresses the lady of the house enough that she has him driven home by car, so he avoids the robbers. ||||
| 24 | "Under Suspicion" | Peter Sasdy; Orson Welles | Janice Rule; Kenneth Haigh; Dinsdale Landen; Julie Crosthwaite |
| Madam Freya, a famous pianist who long ago left her country and is thus legally not a citizen of any country, is currently on tour in a South American country troubled by a rebellion, living in a hotel and often visited by friend and lover Jorge Vega. On the day of her last concert before her departure, a member of the country's secret police visits her, and recruits her against her will to spy on the hotel room next door, which serves as a drop-off point for rebel messages. Freya does not want to help, but is forced to do so when her passport is confiscated. She is instructed to signal the secret servicemen by playing a different type of music on her piano in case the courier is innocent, or guilty. To her shock, she sees Jorge Vega arriving that day, who says goodbye and instructs her to deliver a manuscript to a friend in another country. As he leaves, Freya plays the music for guilty, and Vega is arrested and shot when he tries to escape. The agent scolds Freya, as they found nothing on Vega, meaning he was innocent. However, Freya reveals she gave him up not because he was a traitor - but because he saw her coming out the room of Senora Zerlina, a young lady of ill repute, and realized he has been cheating on her all this time. The agent, angry at the failure, finds the manuscript and opens it, revealing that Jorge was not just a cheating lover, but ALSO the rebel contact, and was about to have Freya smuggle the message out of the country for him. ||||
| 25 | "Trial for Murder" | Peter Sykes; Orson Welles | Ian Holm; Jennie Linden; Lindsay Ingram; John Savident; Barry Stanton; Edwin Finn |
| In the 19th century, Charles Stubbs is a perfectly ordinary citizen, until one day, he sees a terrifying spirit of a murdered old man appear to him. Shortly thereafter, he is summoned to be head of the jury on a murder trial, where a man called Higgins is accused of murdering an old man after he was caught cheating with his wife. Stubbs does not want to attend, but when the ghost appears to him again, he decides to accept the task. At the trial, Higgins complains about Stubbs being on the jury, despite the two never having met - since it is revealed that the apparition of Stubbs holding a noose appeared to him in jail every night. During the trial, both Stubbs and the defense lawyer, as well as a prostitute trying to provide an alibi for Higgins, keep seeing glimpses of the ghost, and eventually even the last opposing jury member is convinced of Higgins' guilt, and he is found guilty. Later, when Stubbs reads in the papers about Higgins' execution, the ghost appears to him a final time, nodding thanks, then fading away, having been put to rest. Based on a short story by Charles Dickens. ||||
| 26 | "The Furnished Room" | Alan Gibson; Orson Welles | Irene Worth; Clarence Williams III |
| A young man's months-long search for a missing girl ends in a haunted room of a boarding house. ||||

## Parody

Welles' introductory sequence was parodied by Benny Hill (as "Orson Buggy") in an episode of his television program.

## Availability

The home media rights are held by ITV Studios. In 2019 Network released half of the series on Region 2 DVD as Volume 1 in the UK.
Volume 2 released Oct 26th 2020.