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, perhaps because it was evident from producers like Douglas Fairbanks 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, including King of Diamonds, from Harry Alan Towers (1960) which was definitely made, this had scenes shot in Antwerp. And the same year William Russell went to Italy to make a pilot called A Man of the World. 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: from the very longrunning Overseas Adventure (see Foreign Intrigue) #106
To UK Crime Menu
To 1950's Film Dramas Menu
To Main TV Menu
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Foreign Intrigue / Overseas Adventure / Dateline Europe -I found this a tedious, humourless series.
In all, an incredible 156 stories were completed!
These films are chiefly of interest because of the location shooting that was done, initially in Sweden, but then in other
European capitals, especially Paris. In all 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 the producer 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.
1951-3 series
with Jerome Thor as Robert Cannon
or Sydna Scott as Helen Davis
with James Daly as Michael Powers
1954/5 series
starring Gerald Mohr as Christopher Storm
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1952 to 1953 serieswith Jerome Thor as Robert Cannon, and/or Sydna Scott (Thor's real life wife) as Helen Davis
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
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 The Code Room
20 Steel Baron
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)
28 Ghost in the Valley - Back in 1947 Colonel Rhone, a Nazi, had been hanged, but now Felix claims to have seen him alive. Bob Cannon probes and learns 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 there's a poetic death for the Colonel
33 Sawmill
46 The New Order - Cannon claims he was held prisoner by a convicted Nuremburg war criminal who was supposed to have commited suicide
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)
74 Stolen Bid - A sealed bid for The Arabian Project is stolen, and Helen Davis tracks down the thief thru a ticket to the opera. She does recover the plans but is chased along very deserted streets. Exposed is a "melodramatic" inside the organisation (No JT)
77 Diamond Bullet - A double agent, model Gerda Martinez, uses Cannon to smuggle diamonds from Paris to Brussels
To series with James Daly . . . Foreign Intrigue menu
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1953/4 seriesstarring James Daly as Michael Powers (1953/4)
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)
87 Blackmail - The story is one long quite exciting chase though Paris. Prager has a scoop for Powers, but the baddies are in hot pursuit
97 Geiger Counter - 30 million francs is stolen from a bank
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."
To Series with Gerald Mohr . . . Dateline Europe menu
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1954/5 series
starring Gerald Mohr as Christopher Storm, proprietor of a Viennese 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
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?
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
To Overseas Adventure menu
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Secret File USAFilmed 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
21 Mission Windmill - 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 |
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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. Dud episode: #34 The Case of the Royal Murder Note- the series is available on dvd from some outlets.
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. . . . . - Made in West Berlin, Steve Holland starred in this low budget, low thrills series of 39 dark stories.1 The Planet of Death - "You'll murder every man you send to Tarsis." The curse of Belphegor falls on anyone landing on this dead planet. But as "the defence of the galaxy" depends on gravitational experiments being conducted there, our brave Mr Flash must travel to this Planet of Death 8 The Breath of Death - Flash and Dale zoom in the Skyflash to prison planet Gemini to patch up an oxygen purifier. "One of the worst criminals in the universe," No 34, escapes and stows aboard for the return trip. While Ground Control are forced to consider blowing up Skyflash, Flash is compelled to land on a poisonous planet where he and 34 have to hold their breath. A fight. Flash, naturally, has the bigger lungs, and "disintegrator guns" just save Skyflash from annihilation. "Thank heaven!" 10 Return of the Androids - Flash and his buddies hold the secrets of how the robots known as Androids used to be made. Forcing Flash to reveal all will enable an evil Queen take over (shock horror) the galaxy! "Androids - destroy. Attack GBI headquarters!" 17 The Lure of Light - "Can a human being survive at a speed faster than the speed of light?" Evil Queen Credentia wants that secret in order to go back in time to reverse the result of the war she lost, and thus become Queen of the Universe. But it's Flash who braves that epic first journey, thwarting her wicked plan 19 Race Against Time - A ray machine forces Flash to make an emergency landing on Planet Epsilon 30. Waiting are three criminals, who act more like the Three Stooges 21 The Brain Machine - Cmdr Richards and Dr Zarkov cause an explosion on Neptune. Flash clears their names by exposing the Witch of Neptune and her fiendish "brain recorder" which is able to "make every living human bend to her will." Richards and Zarkov end up as dummies (OK, so they always were) as the Witch flees with their secrets. (to be continued) 22 Struggle to the End (part 2) - An electronic memory file holds the secrets of what Dr Zarkov and Cmdr Richards once knew: "their mind's a complete blank!" Learning the secret of matter transference, Flash swears to catch the "mad witch of Neptune" before she rules the galaxy: "I have made the greatest conquest of all" 24 Saboteurs from Space - Flash's craft is "sucked thru space into a trap" whilst machines on Earth are paralysed by an "electronic distorter." But good old Flash foils the attempt to kidnap top scientists 25 The Forbidden Experiment - Electrosillion is wanted on a remote planet by an old colleague of Dr Zarkov, but it's a trap and he's captured by a growling fiend known as The Lion Man. Flash to the rescue, but with all the animals in the jungle at Lion Man's disposal, surely Flash can't succeed? 36 Deadline at Noon - Isis, Osiris and other planets are blown up by an enemy that "has sworn eternal war against the Earth," where an early intimation of Climate Change is the result of a bomb being placed way back in 1953 by the evil planet's representative, who speaks, unsurprisingly, with a German accent. "In one hour, your precious earth explodes," he warns. Dr Zarkov's time machine leads Flash to, where else?, Berlin ("the inhabitants may be hostile") and there's a long chase sequence set around the rubble of West Berlin. With a mere two secs to go the bomb is defused 39 The Subworld Revenge - 1,500 miles inside the earth's core, the evil Zaldo plans to fire his deadly machine that'll turn the earth into a ball of fire. Flash is caught by Zaldo's magnetic field- "poor Flash... and soon it'll be poor us!" Euro Crime Series |
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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) -Made in Paris Studios starring Louis Jordain and Claude Dauphin. The Cemetry
Euro Crime Series
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Euro Series Menu . . . To Main TV Menu