The crimes are notable, and the criminals are presented unflinchingly. Such notorious villains as Lizzie Borden and Jesse James are joined by forgotten felons who have been unearthed "from the records and newspapers of every land...from every time." Lou Merrill stars as your host, Thomas Hyland. This "connoisseur of crime, student of violence, and teller of murders" seems to savor the grisly details of each dark deed, eagerly anticipating the wrongdoer's downfall.

Produced and Directed by Elliott Lewis, with scripts by Morton Fine and David Friedkin, and with the perpetrators portrayed by Larry Thor, Joseph Kearns, Georgia Ellis, William Conrad, Betty Lou Gerson, and more, Crime Classics is a masterful balance of wit and tension.

The 20 digitally remastered episodes include: The Crime of Bathsheba Spooner 06-15-53; The Shockingly Peaceful Passing of Thomas Edwin Bartlett, Greeengrocer 06-22-53; The Checkered Life and Sudden Death of Colonel James Fisk 06-29-53; The Shrapnelled Body of Charles Drew, Senior 07-06-53; The Terrible Deed of John White Webster 07-13-53; The Death of a Picture Hanger 07-20-53; The Final Day of General Ketchum 07-27-53; The Dread Events Surrounding Mr. Thrower's Hammer 08-03-53; The Axe and the Droot Family and How They Fared 08-10-53; The Incredible Trial of Laura D. Fair 08-17-53; The Alsop Family and How It Diminished and Grew Again 08-24-53; Your Loving Son, Nero 08-31-53; The Torment of Henrietta Robinson and Why She Killed 09-07-53; The Bloody, Bloody Banks of Fall River 09-30-53; The Hangman and William Palmer 10-07-53; The Seven Layered Arsenic Cake of Madame Lafarge 10-14-53; Billy Bonney — Bloodletter 10-21-53; John Hayes, His Head, and How They Were Parted 10-28-53; Raschi Among the Crocodiles and the Prank He Played 11-04-53; The Crime of Bathsheba Spooner (Audition) 12-03-52