From 1951, for a few years American producers turned to Europe to film some series, perhaps because they wanted to show the folks back home some different backgrounds, but more importantly because labour was cheaper!
The experiment was largely, though not completely, abandoned, when it became evident from producers like Douglas Fairbanks and the Danzigers that filming based in Britain was a simpler, less complicated option. However some filming continued in Europe as part of an attempt to include authentic location footage in a series, for example the 1957 Charlie Chan includes some filmed sequences in Paris, Brussels and Venice. Then there were some pilot shows, one starring William Russell, who went to Italy in 1959 to make a pilot called A Man of the World. King of Diamonds, from Harry Alan Towers (1960) which was definitely made, had scenes shot in Antwerp. But the heyday of these Euro-series must have been in the early to mid 1950's
Note- a few Douglas Fairbanks Presents were made in Germany and Italy also.
Picture- Richard O'Sullivan with Ronald Howard in the 1954 Sherlock Holmes series
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Foreign Intrigue / Overseas Adventure / Dateline Europe
These films are chiefly of interest because of the location shooting that was done, initially in Sweden, but then in other European capitals, including Paris and Berlin. In all producer Sheldon Reynolds claimed episodes were shot in nine countries.
His method of production is fairly self evident when watching. He once explained his technique:
"I work backwards. When I see an exciting-looking balcony overhanging a sinister-looking street- I have my leading player jump!" After examining the rushes, if it is "as exciting as I anticipated, I begin a story which will make use of the sequence." Considering the primitive techniques available, the dubbing of sound, where attempted, in these external scenes, is commendable.
Apart from the stars and Sheldon Reynolds, most of the cast and production crew were locals, but it is fair to say that their English language is not at all bad. John Padovano was assistant director, and Sheldon Reynolds' right hand man. He also acted as a journalist (Tony Forrest) in some of the stories, throughout the run of the show, thus providing a slight cohesive link between them all.
I found this a tedious, humourless series. Perhaps the dull post war backdrops are rather dreary in themselves.
In all, an incredible 156 stories were made.
1951-3 series
with Jerome Thor as Robert Cannon
1953/4 series
with James Daly as Michael Powers
1954/5 series
with Gerald Mohr as Christopher Storm
Pictured above - Sheldon Reynolds
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1951-53 series with Jerome Thor as Robert Cannon, and/or Sydna Scott (Thor's real life wife) as Helen Davis4 Paris Train - Bob and Helen are on the train from Paris to Rome to find the only Nazi surviving who was involved in the Nazi wartime atomic research. But Andre Polev, "the master spy," also wants to capture the top secret files, and the Nazi turns up dead in Cannon's compartment
6 Search for a Telephone- After a night at a Brussels club where he chats with Laurent, Bob Cannon is kidnapped by Richard Hegel because of quarter of a million dollars worth of industrial diamonds. Cannon escapes, and there follows a curious mixture of murder and comedy in Laurent's hotel, as Cannon is chased by Hegel's cronies, but by feigning lunacy escapes their clutches
7 At the Airport - A journalist in Zurich is killed, his naked body lying by the lake. Cannon retraces "the path of death" to Munich, walking "in a dead man's shoes." Indeed, one of Cannon's shoes has been secretly filled with heroin. He waits for it to be collected, and it needs his mate Tony to rescue him from the ensuing danger
9 Flea Market - Cannon is looking for The Flying Cat who knows about counterfeit US dollars. His path leads to a Paris fleamarket
12 Berlin to Frankfurt - Bob Cannon is flying to Frankfurt. On board are two prisoners on their way to jail. One gets loose and becomes the original hijacker. When the pilot refuses to turn the plane round, he is shot dead. It's as well Pierre the other prisoner happens to be a pilot, and he takes the controls but also flies on to Frankfurt. Bob punches the hijacker and the stewardess shoots him. A few nice touches in this otherwise routine drama
13 The Letter - Secretary to Kestler, the Minister of the Interior, is shot dead during a safe robbery in which a letter is stolen, which is to be used to blackmail the minister. The price of its return? He must join his country with an anti-Western alliance. Bob Cannon tracks down the man who's "sitting with all the trumps," the thief, Zimmer. The final scene contains a dramatic exposure of the crooked politician behind Zimmer
15 Radio Message - All flights cancelled to prevent two spies leaving the country. Bob Cannon is the only man allowed to transmit messages, so one spy contacts him. "A million dollars is cheap" for secrets not to be radioed out of the country, but being a spy, he doublecrosses Cannon and sends the message anyway. But he's been doublecrossed in turn because his radio message is blocked and after a chase round the radio studios he's shot
17 Food Hijacking- Ex-journalist Hans Bender gives Cannon the lowdown on a gang hijacking Western aid to Berlin. There's a tense scene as Mrs Bender is chatted up by the gang, awaiting her husband's return home. She is eventually snatched to ensure his silence and Cannon is tricked into seeking refuge in the home of the gang leader. But though the determined Hans is shot, he shoots the boss in a melodramatic conclusion
18 Sun Lamp - Double agent Damon is on the train to The Hague on which Bob Cannon is also travelling with Eric whose despatch case with secret plans is stolen. Bob is given the job of negotiating its return, and with the aid of an infra red lamp he shows up the real traitor
19 The Living Corpse- Martin (John Padovano) is on death row. In an interview with Bob Cannon, he protests his innocence like they all do. He never murdered Lautrec, and what's more, this man is still living.. With "no finesse," the real killer is rounded up
20 Steel Baron- A 600 year old castle on the Rhine provides an impressive backdrop in a story that lacks action. A baron lives here in some style with his nephew Otto and niece Lisa. Before the war he'd made his fortune as a steel baron, and now he wants to be reinstated as a director of the company. Robert Cannon is to furnish an objective report. Lisa accuses her uncle of murdering her father, and a botched attempt to kill her reveals the murderer. The baron is accidentally killed so Cannon's research proves redundant
25 Sleepy Village - Shoe clerk Paul Bundy "tried to forget the past and start a new life," but inheriting $117,000 is not a recipe for anonymity. Helen Davis' story turns into the tragedy of a war informer: "it's a jungle world, Miss Davis." (no Jerome Thor)
29 The Noose - Back in 1947 Colonel Rhone, a Nazi, had been hanged, but now Felix claims to have seen him alive in Stockholm. Robert Cannon probes and learns Dr Lindgaard's "anaesthetical hypnotism" might be behind the pseudo hanging- or is he being "too imaginative?" Behind it all lurks the spectre of the return of the Nazis, but in the end, after a rooftop chase, the Colonel meets a poetic death
31 Committed to Memory- Cannon is sent behind Commie lines to obtain info from Brenner a top scientist. That's the easy bit, but now he has to memorise a huge document, with help from local agent Blane. Wald, Chief of Security Police, gets wind of it all, and warns Cannon he "will be dead in two days"
33 Sawmill - A Polish scientist has discovered an incredible way of turning wood pulp into high protein food- and now he is scared. The commies demand he returns to his native land. A tense fight in a sawmill decides the issue
46 The New Order - Cannon claims he was held prisoner by a convicted Nuremburg war criminal who was supposed to have commited suicide
47 Diamonds - Van Roon, Amsterdam police chief, asks Bob Cannon to buy a one carat smuggled diamond. Having purchased it, he is approached by a stranger, Curien (Giselle Preville), to deliver a birthday present for her sister in Paris. It's only a cheese, and at Orly Airport, Bob gives it to Marjetta and is rewarded with $100. Leader of the smugglers, Keston, then entrusts Bob with a more valuable cargo, hidden in a typewriter ribbon. But Bob's cover is exposed, so a bomb is planted in the machine. On the Paris flight, a thief nicks the typewriter, he is found, the bomb defused, the smugglers captured, and they all live happily etc
48 Paris - By the Seine, Claire confronts Otto Wessler, accusing him of killing her husband Peter during the war. Otto is in France for a meeting aimed at seeing the Old Germany "rise again... the word Nazi will be respected again." In his evil frenzy, he attempts to strangle her, and she winds up in hospital. Bob Cannon is back from holiday in Cannes, and thwarts this Nazi revival while Claire, attacked in her bed by Otto, silences the evil killer
49 Free Germany - (with Sydna Scott) Factfinders of Free Germany expose ex-Nazi criminals still at large. Bob Cannon obtains an exclusive interview with their leader, The Voice. However this scoop doesn't come off, Cannon is tricked and finds himself accused of killing The Voice's entourage. However Bob clears his name by exposing one of his own colleagues
51 Gold - This adventure stars Bernard Farrel as reporter Steve Godfrey. He probes the background of Andre Sokoloff (Lou van Burg), "a magician with gold," though the Finance Minister wants to know where all his earnings are hidden as "we don't believe in magic." A barber introduces Godfrey to Sokoloff's ex-wife who reveals he's a swindler living with his floosie Irene (Dora Doll), and Godfrey is thus able to expose him and recover his hidden fortune in gold
56 The Code Room - In the Paris Foreign Office, Robert, a clerk, steals a master code book which he wants to sell for ten million francs. But the enemy only offer him a fraction of that, so his fiancee Marie approaches Bob Cannon, offering to sell him the book for two million. Bob pays up but then finds himself under suspicion of stealing it. Evading arrest, he tracks down Marie who is spending the money on flash new clothes
60 Linetski Forest - An exciting and intriguing story with a dramatic conclusion. An investigation into the alleged massacre of six hundred POWs in 1940. Cannon tracks down an eyewitness called Anton Storm who is now confined to an asylum. Posing as an amnesiac, Cannon gets to see the shattered Anton and persuades him to draw the location of the corpses which noone has yet been able to identify. But an old Nazi is determined the truth will never be known
65 Science Conference - An important scientist flees from an oppressive regime seeking asylum. He promises to identify spy Ugo Elbe, "the world's greatest expert at disguising himself." Just how clever he is, soon becomes evident. Police fail to catch Elbe, but Helen Davis shows them the way. (No Jerome Thor in this story)
72 The Villardo Legend - Count Philip Kuhl lives in his Spanish mansion with his brother ex-Nazi Achille and his adopted daughter Odette. He is about to expose Spanish fascists to Robert Cannon, when a dagger lands in his neck. And for once, the butler really has done it
74 Stolen Bid - A sealed bid for runway construction, The Arabian Project, is stolen, and Helen Davis tracks down the thief thru a ticket to the opera. A superintendent of a building had found it in a waste bin. She does recover the plans from his tenant, but is chased along very deserted streets. Exposed is a "melodramatic" traitor inside the organisation (No JT)
75 The Coffin - In the divided city of Wurtenburg, Cannon is charged with escorting the body of journalist Max Wyler out of the Eastern sector. But Cannon becomes a pawn in a spy game, a game of double bluff on the train
76 The Camera - An American photographer called Russ Jones is shanghaied by French subversives in Paris, but later released. Bob Cannon is lured by brunette Nicole into the hands of the traitors who have planted a bomb in Jones' camera. This will explode when he takes his next picture- at an important conference
77 Diamond Bullet - A double agent, model Gerda Martinez, uses Cannon to smuggle diamonds from Paris to Brussels
78 Operating Room - The car in which the PM is travelling crashes, and the PM is rushed to a new hospital that ironically he has only just officially opened. Erik the surgeon is blackmailed into "allowing him to die," but the good doctor can't delibrately botch it up
To series with James Daly . . . Foreign Intrigue menu
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1953/4 series starring James Daly as Michael Powers, and/or Anne Preville as Pat Bennett.84 Hall of Justice - There's a "watertight" case against racketeer Derek Savage, who seems unperturbed when he's arrested: "there will be no conviction." His confidence is based on the theft of vital documents from the safe of the police chief (Gregoire Aslan)
86 The General Staff - Karl Weimer (Eugene Deckers) escapes from the Berlin War Criminals' Prison. Michael Powers tails his brother, then Helly his girl friend to find where Weimer is hiding: "our world is to be born again," he claims, as the spectre of neo fascism rears its head. His gunning down, watched by his parents, is a poignant final scene
87 Blackmail - After a long chase though Paris, Leon Prager is finally wounded but not killed. His story is worth "big money," and Michael Powers tries to help, but at the doctor's Prager dies. Then the villains chase Powers, but Miss Bennett saves him- never learned what that scoop was
90 The Star of Ghiza - This is the name of a club where Michael Powers goes in search of Akmet, brother of a girl who had died in Mike's arms. Their father is an influential ruler of a Middle East state. Powers races with the enemy to get to Akmet first, for he is carrying vital information...
93 The Badger Game- Maria, the wife of politician Hans drowns. His rival Veldac tries to frame him claiming it was suicide, as a result of Hans' affair with a Miss Manners. Julian was an eyewitness to the drowning, which was a genuine accident, but he is frightened off by Veldac's bullies, and he's "the only person who can stop this big lie." So Hans prepares to resign, but Powers tracks down Julien and thus Veldac is exposed as a blackmailer
94 Fire Bombs - Pat (Anne Preville) is to interview Prime Minster Gordean, but finds a bomb in her hotel room. Putting it in the bath stops that ticking noise. The search is on for Pat and Inspector Larman to find the other five fire bombs planted by a carpenter. A waiting game flushes out the perpetrator who just can't allow himself to be blown up also. Pat bravely diffuses the bomb
96 Disaster Relief - Food and clothing for relief victims is partly destroyed in a warehouse fire, so the surviving donations are sent urgently, avoiding customs formalities. But Powers finds these goods have been switched, uncovering a plot to smuggle rifles for a revolution
97 Geiger Counter - 30 million francs is stolen from a bank
103 International Finance - Zachary Enterprises are to be sold. Michael Powers interviews the boss, eccentric invalided recluse Andre Zachary, competing with rival Pat Bennett for the scoop. In Zachary's castle he finds two more mysteries, a prisoner and a little girl (Tyne Daly in her tv debut) whom nobody knows anything about
105 Prophecies - A blind old shoemaker predicts the death of various government officials. He is being used by Feo his unscrupluous son so that rebels can seize power. Michael Powers is captured, as is the shoemaker, but Feo sees the light in time to save them at cost of his own life, only just in time to prevent a high up official from starting his revolution
106 Overlord of Narcotics - The arrest of key middleman Johnny Hubert is the opportunity to nail the overlord Burt. But jailed Hubert is knifed and so Powers tries his own methods, which involves making a play for Burt's attractive 'secretary'. Burt gets so riled he tries to do her in too, which is sufficient to make her testify "enough to hang him."
108 Mountain Climbing - Brita, the PM's daughter, is taken for an Alpine climb by a guide called Mansell, an escaped convict. The plan is to persuade her father to pardon a cold blooded murderer. Michael Powers rolls around in the snow to foil the plot
109 Kidnapping - Cabinet secretary Philips has received a death threat, unless he votes against Allied bases being installed in his country. In front of Michael Powers, he is kidnapped, and later reporter Nancy is also snatched. The mysterious Mr Black tips off Powers, but when the case is almost solved, Powers surprises everyone by accusing Philips of organising his own kidnap!
110 The Brotherhood - A flaming torch is the symbol of the fascist Brotherhood, whose aim is to conquer all Europe. Michael Powers interviews Annette, fiancee of Peter, an innocent teacher killed by the organisation. Peter's diary can expose them and Annette knows where it is hidden, but the leader of The Brotherhood is following...
117 The Tourist - A witness is to testify against smugglers. Their leader, Harry Vignes, mistakes an old friend of Michael Powers for the witness, and thus Mike ends up trying to protect the innocent and scatty Elsa. She's very nearly snatched at the Seafarer Restaurant and again on a sightseeing tour. Mike protects her by kissing her, which she rather likes, and by ruining her best hat, which she definitely doesn't. "You're such a forceful personality," she swoons at him. Once she is safe, he finally escapes her clutches by that well worn excuse... he's married
To Series with Gerald Mohr . . . Dateline Europe menu
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1954/5 series (also known as Cross Current) starring Gerald Mohr as Christopher Storm, proprietor of Hotel Frontier in Vienna.Some stories have a passing resemblance to Bogie's movies with Lorre and Greenstreet, but the connection is only fleeting.
118 Forged Plates - Michael Powers (James Daly) asks Storm to help catch Tommy (Gregoire Aslan), a black marketeer "to whom death is less than a threat." He's got the plates to make perfect US passports, but Storm persuades a femme fatale to hand them over.
This first story with Gerald Mohr sees him as a stylish George Raft imitator, though his sparkle was soon to wear off as the series progressed
120 The Boxing Game - Fritzi has returned to his hometown of Vienna for a boxing match, but Michael Powers knows his last bout in Paris nearly killed him.
His manager Raoul is using him to scoop a huge bet on his opponent winning. Christopher Storm gets a doc to check Fritzi out in this noirish film with
such iconic lines as "even the smell was more pronounced," and "in oysters, a grain of sand can unravel itself into a pearl." With Powers, Storm puts a stop to the swindle and thus saves Fritzi's life
121 Confidence Game - A guest at the Frontier Hotel, Mr Hodge, is a victim of Delacruz's poker swindle. He's tricked into thinking he's killed one of the gamblers.
Christopher Storm hunts down 'Snow White and Her Four Crooks' in a Stockholm hotel
124 International Robbery - Tense drama of a bank robber who hides out in an apartment holding a mother and daughter hostage. Storm's dilemma- "I knew where he was and I couldn't do anything about it." But he tries to persuade the robber's girlfriend to betray him
131 Speed Demons - Misleading title! Driving his Merc, Chris Storm knocks down Marie who has stepped out into the road. She's not badly hurt but Chris helps her back home, Flat 317. But when he calls again, a different woman is living there, calling herself Marie.
A minor mystery, almost interesting for a moment, develops most unconvincingly
132 Spy Ring - Grete tricks Chris Storm in Copenhagen into a dinner date. Her boyfriend Jens hides secret film in Chris' raincoat belt. Chris flies home to Vienna, aware of the scheme. Back in his Frontier Hotel, Jens demands the film, at gunpoint, then kidnaps Chris to use as a shield. However Grete has followed on, tired of Jens' two timing, and after a gunfight the spies conveniently shoot each other
133 Appointment at Five- Mr Graham Marble has an appointment at the Westbahnhof Cafe at 5pm, but his secretary, Miss Steiner,
overhears two men planning to kill him at this meeting. Try as she will, frustratingly she can't contact him, but maybe Chris Storm can. It's urgent, Storm learns, as
Marble is involved with smuggling commies out from the Iron Curtain. Matters aren't improved when Storm is knocked down by a truck, and lands in hospital, and given a sedative.
A corny storyline, that has doses of excitement... and irritation
134 Wayward Brother - Martin Fenner's crowd "spell trouble and lots of it," and young Teddy steals a consignment of morphine that they deem theirs. Chris helps Hilda, Teddy's older sister, but she is kidnapped by Fenner, who is "no gentleman"
138 Diamond Allergy - Jan can't wait to marry Helene Anderson, but they haven't the money. Jan's chance comes, when he sees a thief who has stolen a necklace from Hans Meijer, drop it when he's pursued. Jan picks it up and hides it
in the bedside cabinet in room 105 of the Frontier Hotel. When he returns to retrieve it later, a Miss Norah Phipps is occupying the room.
Chris Storm is suspicious of Jan, and goes as far as checking up on him with Helene.
In time, he prevents Jan from removing the stones, instead catching the real thief in this unusually romantic little tale
139 A Game of Chance - A guest, Barbara, leaves behind a valise containing $75,000. As she's a model, Chris Storm traces her thru a fashion house, putting a stop to her husband's blackmail racket
140 Pearl Necklace - Lotte steals the necklace of her companion Mme Schiller in order to help her poor brother. But she thinks better of it, and Chris Storm helps
return the necklace by posing as a waiter at Mme Schiller's party. There are a few tense moments as Storm is nearly found out
142 Two Men from Zurich - In Zurich Chris Storm meets his date, Penelope (Naomi Chance) in her flat, but she's surrounded by stolen furs. "Put her under lock and key," orders Storm, "and send the key to me." As the crooks attempt to get revenge for the loss of their furs, just whose side is the enigmatic Penelope on?
146 The Diplomat- Jan, a diplomat, has to take important documents to his country. Chris draws off his pursuers by posing as Jan and leading a couple of spies "a merry chase" round Vienna, then by plane to Stockholm. What is dully routine develops a goodish twist as Chris' life is saved by one of the spies, beautiful too
149 Little Romeo - Two teenagers are sold dope in Storm's hotel by Little Romeo. When they are killed in "an auto accident," Chris sets out to bust the boss behind the racket
151 Miss Fortune - A nice part for Martine Alexis as Claudine, a loyal secretary to the owner of a profitable Riviera casino. But the owner's brother Karl is helping himself to the profits.
Actually, so is she, and she makes a run for it to Zurich, thence to Vienna, where she stops off at Chris Storm's hotel. There she falls for a rich diplomat Lauritz, but Karl finds her and blackmails her. She lures him to a lonely
cabin, stabbing him with some scissors. But it ends in tears, lots of tears
154 First Blush - Shana had been threatening to kill her business partner Kurt, and now she's found him dead. Chris helps her, questioning singer Conchita, and Kurt's shady contact Eridatti to whom he owed money.
But neither of these is the killer, as a stick of lipstick leads Chris to the real murderer, to whom he has earlier innocently sent Shana for safe keeping...
155 Delores - "Gentle as a baby" is Delores, a circus elephant, but has she trampled to death the clown?
Chris and Tony help the owner, Tina, who had been going to marry the clown. So to trap the killer, Tony's engagement to Tina in announced.
This draws Toto the knife thrower into a chase round the circus, he finishes under Delores' giant hoof
156 Runaround - $10,000 for The Plans, that's what Unger offers Chris Storm. "That's very funny," 'cos he has no idea what plans! But Chris follows an elaborate trail to an injured man who stole those plans. For $1,000,000 now, Chris has the chance of selling The Plans, but then the thief is shot and there's a mad scramble for, you'll never guess, The Plans
To Overseas Adventure menu
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Filmed in Cinetone Studios Amsterdam, and starring Robert Alda as Major William Morgan (1954)
1 Mission Assassin - In Naples for an International Peace Conference, a delegate needs Morgan's protection. With the aid of an old war buddy, he defeats the plan of The Gangster King
2 Mission Chopin - Talented pianist Helene van Loon (Agnes Bernelle) is assigned to "checkmate" a prominent Budapest impressario, "a dangerous enemy agent." But whose side is she really on?
3 Mission Firebird - Major Morgan takes the place of an ex Nazi ace to destroy a rocket in Czechoslovakia
4 Mission M - Major Morgan impersonates a gangster who has flown into Amsterdam to work for the subversive International 57.
He contacts Yvonne, a skater, who provides Morgan with his contact with Tolstoy. But she turns out to be a French agent, and is warned, "you will be
under the ice before morning." Morgan is exposed as an imposter also, and tied up, but he gives the alarm and police and spies shoot it out
21 Mission Windmill - In this film, to destroy files that would send 3,000 Dutch to concentration camps, Major Morgan impersonates Major von Richter to infiltrate Nazi HQ. He's invited to stay at a splendid Dutch castle where he exposes the collaborator in Group Orange who has betrayed previous agents on this mission. His cunning enables the files to be blown up in a bombing raid
TO Euro Crime Series Menu
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1 The Case of the Cunningham Heritage
2 The Case of Lady Beryl 3 The Case of The Pennsylvania Gun 4 The Case of The Texas Cowgirl 5 The Case of The Belligerent Ghost 6 The Case of The Shy Ballerina 7 The Case of The Winthrop Legend 8 The Case of Blind Man's Bluff 9 The Case of The Harry Crocker 10 The Mother Hubbard Case 11 The Case of the Red Headed League 12 The Case of The Shoeless Engineer 13 The Case of The Split Ticket | . . |
14 The Case of the French Interpreter
15 The Case of the Singing Violin 16 The Case of the Greystone Inscription 17 The Case of The Laughing Mummy 18 The Case of The Thistle Killer 19 The Case of The Vanished Detective 20 The Case of The Careless Suffragette 21 The Case of The Reluctant Carpenter 22 The Case of The Deadly Prophecy 23 The Case of The Christmas Pudding 24 The Case of The Night Train Riddle 25 The Case of The Violent Suitor 26 The Case of The Baker Street Nursemaids | . . |
27 The Case of The Perfect Husband
28 The Case of The Jolly Hangman 29 The Case of The Imposter Mystery 30 The Case of The Eiffel Tower 31 The Case of The Exhumed Client 32 The Case of The Impromptu Performance 33 The Case of The Baker Street Bachelors 34 The Case of The Royal Murder 35 The Case of The Haunted Gainsborough 36 The Case of The Neurotic Detective 37 The Case of The Unlucky Gambler 38 The Case of The Diamond Tooth 39 The Case of The Tyrant's Daughter |
This series of 39 films was shot in Paris studios under the aegis of executive producer Sheldon Reynolds and Nicole Milinaire. Although many actors based in France were used, such as Eugene Deckers, a number of British actors made the journey across the Channel to appear, which for me is really the fascination of the series.
These were new and rather mundane adventures of Conan Doyle's hero, Ronald Howard in the title role trying his best. Also featured were H Marion Crawford as Dr Watson ("now really Holmes, you've gone too far"), and Archie Duncan, who makes an entertaining idiot out of Inspector Lestrade. My favourite episode: #20 The Careless Suffragette, by a narrow head from #9 Best moment: Perhaps the crazed Michael Gough in #27, calmly telling his wife he 's going to murder her. Moment of Glory: Paulette Goddard guest stars in #2- how on earth did they manage that? Dud episode: #34 The Case of the Royal Murder Note-
Unlikely though it sounds, this series was premiered on British TV only in 2006, on Sky's late Bonanza Channel.
Dvds of all 39 stories can be purchased from some outlets.
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1 "The Case of the Cunningham Heritage"
After this long but interesting introduction to the main characters, the first case begins when we also meet a baffled Inspector Lestrade who is typically "completely stuck," not for the last time, as a mother finds her daughter-in-law Joan (Ursula Howells) holding the knife which has killed her rich husband Peter. "You're completely stymied," observes SH to poor Inspector L, though frankly, it needs no deduction to notice that! The problem is L can find no motive for Joan killing her husband. But when it's shown she inherits everything, L makes a swift arrest.
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3 "The Case of The Pennsylvania Gun"
Burleston Manor Sussex, according to Dr Watson's encyclopedic knowledge of railway timetables, nearly four hours from London! There, Squire John Douglas is murdered, found in his study, his head blown off.
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4 "The Case of the Texas Cowgirl"
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5 "The Case of the Belligerent Ghost"
It's "absolutely fantastic" but Dr Watson has been given a black eye. And who punched him? A ghost! Sherlock listens as Watson pours out his sorry story. He'd been helping a man who'd had a heart attack whilst walking in the street. Dr W had carried Albert Higgins back to his digs at 19 Hooper Street, but on arrival, Albert was dead. After a pint to steady his nerves, Dr W been walking along Spender Street when he'd bumped into a man- it was Higgins! That's when he'd received his black eye.
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6 "The Case of the Shy Ballerina"
SH's violin playing is getting on DrW's nerves, so they decide to go for a walk. But DrW discovers he has someone else's coat, but whose is it? In a pocket is a cryptic note Twelves Heros with Broken Feet. Written by a woman observes SH, but it appears to be nonsense.
. . . . . . . . 7 "The Case of The Winthrop Legend"
As SH mulls over the Dietrich case, Harvey Winthrop (Ivan Desny) seeks the great man's aid. Harvey's elder brother John (Peter Copley) is heir to the family fortune, but if he dies, Harvey inherits, and "his life has been threatened." Threatened in an unusual way, for the family legend states that pieces of eight presages death, and gold dubloons imminent death. That has happened to John, and their father suffered the same fate when he fell down the stairs at Winthrop Manor thirty years ago. Since then the place has been empty, but now John is going there for a kind of reunion.
Note- Inspector Lestrade absent.
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8 "The Case of Blind Man's Bluff"
A jolly sing-song in a pub turns ugly when a sailor argues with a Cockney barmaid over a mysterious claw. "Maybe I need some air," cries Faraday (Gregoire Aslan in a tiny role) before he is stabbed in an alleyway.
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11 "The Case of the Red Headed League" . . . . .
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13 "The Case of The Split Ticket" -
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14 "The Case of The French Interpreter" -
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Orient Express (1953) -Made by Thetis Film Cinetelevision, produced by John Nasht
Uppercut (aka The Gladiator) -
Filmed on location in Italy. The train is approaching Rome, and manager Dan (Patrick Crean) is warning his boxing protege Freddie (Steve Barclay) about the dangers of overconfidence. For Freddie, "the most famous fighter in the world," has never lost a fight yet but the knowing Dan is only too aware that he could "go down the drain," his head turned by money or dames. For Freddie is something of a ladies' man.
In Rome Freddie's Italian father looks up an old friend whose daughter Anna (Nadia Gray) Freddie is soon making eyes at. "Are all Americans as sure of yourself as you?" she asks him naively, as he wines her at a nightclub. Freddie is so enwrapt with her he forgets about an important news conference, which makes "the reporters sore."
Training begins in earnest next day, though Freddie's mind is elsewhere. As Dan comments, "you can't mix late nights with a girl on the brain and a big fight." Anna is persuaded to call off their pre-fight date.
The fight sequence is too long, with Freddie the clear loser. Sore at Anna's apparent rejection he tells her "I don't need your help." His dad though is glad his son has been taught a bit of a lesson: "you're getting too big for your own good." He helps Freddie face up to his feelings and encourages him with "you work at it hard enough, you could be a winner." Now Freddie is man enough to patch things up with dad, and then with Anna.
Euro Crime Series
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Paris Precinct (1955) -An interesting series filmed in Paris with Louis Jourdan as Inspector Beaumont and Claude Dauphin as Balbec.
"Based on cases from the official files, and filmed with the co-operation of the Paris Police Department."
7 The Actress- The newspaper headlines read 'First Lady of Paris Stage to wed her Director Tomorrow," but today she's shot through the heart in her dressing room. The police conduct interviews with:
* Marie the personal maid, who found the body when she went to give Michelle her final curtain call.
* Jean Paul an actor, on stage at the time of the killing.
* Her fiance, Poiret (Roger Treville) who had "moulded" her. He'd been in his office when the murder had been done. His ex-wife Georgette (Madeleine Robinson), once his leading lady, was jealous of Michelle.
* The understudy, who claims the happy couple had been arguing that night.
The murder weapon arrives anonymously through the post - it's Poiret's revolver!
Beaumont puts on "a little show" as the last act of the play is reenacted. At the end, Poiret is arrested even though privately Beaumont has declared he's not guilty. This action elicits a theatrical monologue from the real killer.
The story ends with an effective scene without any words, as the police escort the killer away.
8 The Cemetry (on 16mm film) - Old Marie interrupts a thief and is murdered. Her son Antoine discovers her body when returning home after finishing his night work as a taxi driver. He'd kept warning his mother not to keep all her cash in the house. The concierge Sara (Maximilienne) says Marie had a habit of talking to strangers. One is traced to a Boucherie, who claims she knew Marie and that Marie and her son often quarrelled over her late husband's will
Police Headquarters - A gendarme picks up a scruffy looking man swaying on the edge of the Seine. Roger Vezenay (Marcel Dalio) has plenty of money. He says it's the ransom for his seven year old boy- the kidnappers have demanded half a million francs to be paid at 10.30am.
Balbec takes Vezenay's place, but at the drop-off cafe he's phoned, ordered to go to the Eifel Tower. Once there, a message is handed to him by a stranger who's promptly arrested rather ostentatiously. "You were careful when you arrested him?" queries a hopeful Balbec. Our tour of Paris takes us next to St Lazarre station. The railway police think Balbec looks suspicious so Beaumont has to intervene just as the station announcer's voice booms up that there's an urgent call awaiting at the Information Desk. Balbec is told to get a 32 bus, which he does. It all seems rather odd observes Balbec- the voice on the phone "sounds like Vezenay himself." The uneventful bus trip takes him to the Champs Elysees. Still nothing. So the police question Vezenay. He's in hospital where a doc solves the case- "there was no kidnapping," he explains to the incredulous policemen. So it was all an excuse to show us round Paris!
Euro Crime Series
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starring Buster Crabbe as Captain Mike Gallant
The first series was filmed in Morocco, but a second series was made in Italy. Barbara Shelley stated that she appeared in five stories in this latter series.
1.5 Camel Race - Fuzzy unwittingly places a bet with the robbers of a mining company's payroll. He bets on Josephine, the legionnaire's best camel, but as Fuzzy is doped he loses the race and the stake. But Gallant's 80,000 bet on a return race results in the crooks unwisely trying to nobble Josephine, instead they get a deserved kicking from her. So this time Fuzzy is the victor, and the cash he is paid which turns out to be the stolen payroll
1.6 Esprit de Corps - Private Jan Novak, a bad tempered Pole (John Nash), is transferred to Gallant's batallion. He's a top field soldier but a bad legionnaire. He starts badly by brawling in a bar over a girl, and is very unpopular in camp, but on patrol, tracking escaped prisoners at a lonely oasis, he's wounded and rescued by his mates. That surprises him, teaching him a lesson in comradeship
1.7 Carnival in Zagora - Old pal Carla Robinson (Norma Eberhardt), for whom Gallant had got a suspended sentence, has got herself a boyfriend (Robert Christopher) who is involved with the shooting of a vizier, in a plot to secure oil rights. A reformed Carla gets Cuffy to warn Gallant of the scheme (Not sure of the relevance of the title, maybe this is a different episode?)
1.10 The Prayer Rug- General 'Ironfist' is to present an Arab dignitary with a prayer rug, but it is stolen. Captain Gallant has but four hours to retrieve it. For some reason it's worth ten million francs. Blonde Monique puts him on to a limping Arab, the clever oh so clever thief
1.15 Revenge - Now where have we seen this plot before? Aru Mettler (Bob Christopher) swears revenge on the man who has put him behind bars, ie Captain Gallant, "I'm gonna kill him." 8.30pm and if you're still awake, a bullet is fired. And another. "Where do you want it Captain?"
1.16 As Long as There Will be Money - Gallant has to defend Bennet, accused of killing The Wise Man, against an angry mob lead by Wise Man's less wise son. Bennet escapes and Gallant has to catch the real killer and rescue Bennet from the crazed mob
1.20 The Dagger of Judah - Pte Jean Martell refuses to see his parents, "I sure feel sorry for his mother," notes Cuffy. But Jean relents and they order him to do another crime, kidnap a prince. But Cpt Gallant joins their gang also to trap the brains behind the operation
1.21 The Lady from Zagora - Eric Gastin, managing director of Intercontinental Engineering, locks secret revolutionary aircraft plans "worth millions" in his safe, but his secretary removes them. Captain Gallant pursues her to the border and with all guns blazing, grabs the papers in time
1.27 Ransom - George Langton helps Cuffy buy a wallet, and Cuffy nearly repays the favour by preventing Langton's kidnapping. But not quite, and Commodore Langton stumps up the cash for his nephew's ransom, £10,000. Captain Gallant tracks down the kidnapper via his ex-girl Charlene who spills the beans and warns that George has kidnapped himself. Gallant soon rounds up the naughty nephew
1.28 The Legion is Our Home - Cpt Johann Schmidt is reluctant to take his leave in town, something about his spending three years of the war here. Jeannine was his girl, and they are finally reunited, to the anger of her brother Marcel, who, because he was injured in the war, still hates Germans. Makko, jealous of Jeannine, frames Schmidt for Marcel's murder, but Mike Gallant trusts his men and finds a clue, a keyring, that points to the real killer. Makko makes a run for it, taking Jeannine, but the legion always get their men, well, something like that
1.36 The Boy Who Found Christmas - Cuffy has never seen snow, and had been promised a trip to USA for Christmas, but Gallant can't get leave. Cuffy is disappointed again when a camel train with presents and a real Christmas tree fails to show up, so he rides off into the desert to find it. Alone at night, at an oasis, he is scared, but his Legionnaire pals find him and Uncle Mike teaches the lad about peace and goodwill, showing him the first Christmas of all- aaah
2.3 The Long Night - "I don't like it," remarks The Colonel, when Mrs Drexel, Cuffy's aunt, demands to take Cuffy home with her. "I won't go," cries the lad in an unusually emotional tale, complete with violin music. To the cold desert Cuffy runs away (again) with his friend, who falls and breaks a leg. Uncle Mike sends out a search party, the pair are safe and sound and the aunt is so impressed with the legionnaire's devotion, she abandons her plan
2.6 Rodeo - Manuel Gonzalez wants to marry singer Franca (Mara Lane), but brawls with a sergeant and ends up in the guardhouse. A disillusioned Gonzalez deserts, and even more serious, the safe with the legionnaire's pay has been emptied. Gallant is assigned to "bring him back," while Cuffy's stages a rodeo ro raise money so the couple can get married. But Fuzzy accidentally exposes the payroll thieves enabling the marriage to go ahead. After all this, Cuffy has to conclude with "Love's mush!"
2.11 Cuffy's Good Deed - A mother desperately wants to trace her son Renate who joined the Legion four years back. Could he be the one lying in the infirmary after being badly wounded when a patrol were all but wiped out? Cuffy helps mum get reunited with him, while Gallant rides around getting revenge or maybe justice for the massacre. The ending is rather a poignant one
2.21 Dr Legionnaire - Two scouts lead Gallant's expedition into a trap, though natives only want a doctor to treat a sheik who seems terminally ill. Cure him, or be killed, the sheik's brother pronounces. "We'll have to operate immediately." Gallant prevents the wicked brother from trying to ensure the operation fails
To Euro Crime Series