My favourite stories: (Mark Saber) 2.12 A Hatful of Trouble / (Saber of London) 4.11 Uncle William.
Favourite moment: in 5.3 Cousin from Montreal, Garry Thorne becomes a teddy boy, of sorts, in an attempt to make the series more with-it.
The worst story, I say is: 4.23 Come Out Fighting. This Clemens story seems to have been cobbled together in a hurry, and Donald Gray is hardly in it.
Click here for Brief Biographies of the stars of this series.
Click here for Memories by Robert Arden ('Bob Page' in series 4) .
Please note that I do not sell dvds/videos.
Further Note- Tom Conway first played Mark Saber, in a series made in USA by quite different personnel.
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Series 1:
This is admittedly rather stodgy, though Michael Balfour as Barney adds a welcome touch of humour as Saber's assistant.
The unknown Theresa Thorne played Saber's eager secretary.
This series was shown in USA from December 1955, but perhaps because
Series 2
was an improvement, it was this series that marked Mark Saber's debut in Britain.
There's a hint of romance as Saber employs new secretary Stevie. A critic at the time praised Diana Decker's acting as Stevie as "very clever." The series he described as "a very promising set of crime stories with simple, though neatly-laid plots."
Series 3:
Mark sadly lost his secretary, but gained Pete as assistant, Neil McCallum proving himself a brilliant actor,
and not surprisingly was signed up by ABC.
Gordon Tanner as Larry, his replacement for the remainder of this series, was
distinctly average.
However, with Donald Gray now confident in his
role,
Series 4
proved the best with Robert Arden an ideal foil
as Saber's assistant, Bob Page.
With the series scheduled for the axe,
the final efforts in
Series 5
are OK, but the little known Garry Thorne as helper Eddie never seems to have his heart in it.
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DEATH NEEDS NO CANE
Counterfeit £5 notes are flooding London.
The mastermind eliminates all evidence by killing the printers, so at the start a French crook Pierre
(Jacques Cey in an uncredited role) is shot dead in Paris. A similar fate awaits McMichael in Edinburgh.
Inspector Parker collects numerous descriptions of the crook - all agree he's a middle aged man walking with a limp, and he uses a cane. But the rests of the details vary wildly.
Joseph Stewart, the driver who had delivered the notes McMichael had made is traced too late, he is found dead. However his co-driver is able to confirm the description of the man who had paid Joe for the job... with a limp, walking with a cane. A bartender provides exactly the same description.
Miss Dolly Day (Sandra Dorne) is caught spending some of the notes.
Saber ponders her character - "She might be dumb, but... (significant pause)...."
She doesn't realise they are forged notes and her boyfriend is traced, Willie Peabody. Yes he walks with a limp and uses a cane. But he seems innocent.
So under Mark's persuasive questioning, she is persuaded to reveal
from where she got the cash... a "Mr.Smith" (surprise!) in Eaton Gardens.
Saber gets Barney to break in to Smith's flat, under the nose of Inspector Parker and much to his chagrin.
But there was no need to break in, for once inside they find a George Bartholomew (Patrick Holt) no sign of a cane or even a limp. He is a librarian working for Smith, who has gone to Paris. Bartholomew is about to take his leave when the ever suspicious Saber rumbles the villain. This is Smith. Inspector Parker looks suitably bewildered. But it is Smith, for he makes a dash for it. Quick as a flash, most unbritish-like, Saber shoots the crook, I suppose it's a kind of rough justice
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DEADLINE FOR MURDER
I am going to kill you. Your days are numbered.
Thus reads a letter to George Baxter (John Stuart). He's joint owner of a jewellery business, and he suspects his partner and erstwhile friend Charles Donaldson
of sending this, the latest in a series of threatening notes. He disappeared a couple of weeks ago, after accusing George of falsifying the company accounts.
Barney decides George must be nuts. Why hasn't he called the police? Because they were friends, is the explanation.
Saber suspects Donaldson's wife Diana (Sandra Dorne), an ex-actress, even though she claims she doesn't know where her husband is. But we see her phoning him at a hunting lodge, so that shows how wise Mr Saber really is.
Barney checks out her background, while Judy is set to tail her. That is pleasant enough as Judy dines at a swish restaurant, all in the line of business, though she then somehow loses Diana.
Someone shoots at Baxter at his home. Urgently he summons Saber. Mark examines the room and spots, what we can see also, that the broken glass through which the bullet had been fired, is on the outside.
Mark finds a clue to Donaldson's whereabouts. He's at this lodge on the east coast, 50 miles out of town. But when Mark and Barney get there, they learn their man has checked out and gone back to town.
Another shot! Donaldson is lying dead of the floor at Baxter's home when our detectives burst in. According to George, his partner had attempted to kill him, they had struggled and his assailant's gun had gone off in the struggle. But it seemed Mark Saber knew all this was going to occur, and had already called the cops. He explains all.
So Diana draws a gun to make a quick departure with George, only to land in Inspector Parker's clutches.
There's a good twist, though several earlier scenes are really too incidental to the plot.
"You forgot the last act of your play,
Mrs Donaldson," Mark tells the ex-actress, "the criminal always gets caught." Those were the days
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A COIN'S WORTH OF MURDER
Writer Johnny is OK, playboy cousin Tony (Dennis Quilley) is not. Uncle has left a will and he "didn't think it advisable to leave so much money to someone with so little self-discipline." But should Johnny die, then it would be all right for Tony. But as Johnny's only 26 and Tony's not met him for 3 years, a renewal of their acquaintance might seem a bit odd.
Tony pays his cousin a call. They have a celebratory drink. And another. Johnny explains he's now happily engaged to Sally (Ann Stephens). Now Johnny is stoned. Tony asks the big question: could Johnny sign him a cheque for £1,000? Answer: no. A fight ends with Johnny accidentally killed. Tony fixes the gas meter to make it look like suicide, even typing a farewell note to "Dearest Sally," but even Inspector Parker can spot that this "could be murder."
Sally engages Mr Saber. She tells him Johnny had no reason to commit suicide. Anyway, he would never have addressed her as Dearest Sally and besides he never drank a lot. Mark promises "to ask Inspector Parker nicely" and try and substantiate Sally's intuition that Johnny must have been forced into drinking so much. Parker does have his suspicions of Tony, he has a good enough motive, but where's the evidence?
"Slimy, like a well dressed vulture," is Stevie's verdict on Tony, after a visit to him. Tony's planning to get away to the Mediterranean.
Mark ponders. Has he thought of something the killer overlooked? No fingerprints had been left in the room, but the gas meter would have been fed with a coin..... He summons poor old Parker who watches on ("this is against the law,") as Mark breaks the meter and empties it. One coin. It's taken to the lab and examined. An enlarged photo of the shilling is shown to Saber, and there's a fingerprint on it.
Tony is preparing to leave for the airport. But Sally arrives to tell him he can't leave. She draws a gun to back up her point. Fortunately Saber appears just in time. "We're taking you in," he tells Tony, and shows him the photo of the coin. On it is Tony's print. Now it's Tony who points the gun. But that's not going to help him elude justice.
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A DRAM OF DEATH
Close up of a vintage bottle of brandy.
Tony Hollister asks old friend Mark Saber to test it. His cousin Angela (Patricia Driscoll) had surprisingly given it him.
As they both stand to share their uncle's fortune, Tony wonders if the bottle might be poisoned.
But on his way to Saber's office, a tramp named Dagby relieves him of the bottle, and offers to share it with his old pal Daisy.
Mark tackles Angela head on but can make no progress, except to note she is in some financial difficulties.
However it is soon obvious that there is death in the bottle, for Dagby takes a sip and immediately collapses. Daisy thinks it a heart attack and decides to sell the brandy to Harry the local barman (Tony Quinn). He puts it proudly on display, and local toff Sir Cyril Prescott takes a fancy to it and is sold it for £25.
Inspector Chester is at Daisy's flat, but of course it is Mark who sniffs the glass Dagby drank from. Chester trails in the great private detective's wake, as Mark dashes to the pub where Harry eventually concedes he had sold the brandy.
To Sir Cyril's flat, where his butler Arthur Stoddard has decanted the bottle, siphoning some off for his own use. Or rather to give to his girl friend Lila (Dorothy Gordon) who works at the adjacent flat for one Angela Hollister.
Thus after passing through many hands, rather neatly the Dram of Death has returned to its source.
Saber and the slow moving Chester are sent from Sir Cyril's flat to Angela's, but only in time to find she is just swigging the brandy. Don't drink that cries the alert Chester, but too late. Angela had been about to leave the country rather hastily. Now her only destination is death, to meet rather poetic justice
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The Penny Black
John Roberts (Basil Dignam)
had sold collector Farley (Eric Pohlmann) a rare stamp with a printer's error. But he wants it back, and meeting a refusal threatens to kill Farley.
Sims, Farley's butler (Gordon Jackson), shows Inspector Parker Farley's corpse, and so soon police are issuing a warrant for Roberts' arrest.
He seeks sanctuary in Saber's office and asks Saber to prove his innocence, but he is in a state. He says he had been talking with Farley when a knife was thrown through the open french windows and Farley had collapsed at his feet. Sims the butler had found him thus. Roberts had run away in a panic. He had not stolen the Penny Black, although it is now missing. Mark agrees to take the case, as long as Roberts gives himself up to the police.
Mrs Roberts enlightens Saber as to how the stamp got sold by mistake to Farley. But she says noone else knew her husband even had the stamp. Even rival collector Turner didn't.
But when Mark checks with Turner (Robert Ayres), somehow he had found out. Then Turner is phoned by a woman who offers him the stamp.
Mark's assistant Pete is set to follow Turner, who waits outside a cafe for a long time until a blonde (Jan Holden) joins him. She's selling, he's buying, Pete informs Mark. She is tailed to a house where Mark joins Pete. Rosie is the woman, and she used to work for Farley.
Her accomplice is soon exposed by Mark, with a very little help from Inspector Parker as Mark renacts the crime in front of the whole cast. The murderer is promptly arrested, but where's the proof against him? Rosie has confessed, so the case is watertight. "All this for one postage stamp!"
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SIX MONTHS TO TALK -
Saber is helped in this one story by someone called Bob Lane (Howard Pays) who's seconded from the Yard as, we are informed, Pete's away in Paris.
This is one of the most fascinating of stories, containing as it does a small cameo for veteran comedian Leslie Henson, shortly before he died.
John Bayes (Geoffrey Hibbert) comes into Saber's office to tell about a murder. It was committed last November, he explains, and it's now April- so shouldn't it be Five Months to Talk? Roger had had an argument over watered down beer with Alex (Edwin Richfield). He was kicked in the head and never got up. They took him in a truck and buried him on Hampstead Heath. So, the big question- why hasn't he reported it sooner? Answer- John's scared of Alex.
Bob Lane now calls on Alex's wife and his boss, both of whom confirm Roger has actually moved away to Liverpool. Alex says Roger even phoned him from there after Christmas. But some digging on the Heath reveals the skeleton.
Saber questions Alex who says it was John who took the truck when it had burnt out. John however claims it had had to be destroyed as there was blood in it. It's his word against Alex's. How can Saber prove who's the killer?
A thin piece of wire is sufficient to show Inspector Parker the truth.
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THE LADY DOESN'T SCARE
Sally (Honor Blackman) arrives at London Airport from South Africa on Flight 421 where the receptionist (a young Rolf Harris) directs her to the Penguin Club in Old Compton Street Soho.
It's 7.10pm and there Mark and his assistant Bob Page are enjoying a quiet drink, served by Fredy (Hal Osmond) your friendly barman. But then two gunshots and Bill, a customer, is killed.
He'd flown in from Johannesburg two days ago and had been waiting eagerly for Sally with a bunch of flowers.
Perhaps all this excitement explains the confusion when Inspector Parker and Saber both call Bob "Larry" - presumably the script had been intended for Series 3:
Parker (to Saber): "You and Larry were sitting at the bar all the time?"
Saber: "I went to the man who was shot and Larry had a look outside."
Seconds later however Parker asks "did Bob get a look at it (a passing car)?" I suppose it's only surprising that overall there were so few continuity gaffes, given the speed of production. Ironically, Parker continues by remarking to Fredy
"I say, I want to get this story straight....!"
Sally had run off whilst all this was happening, so Mark and 'Bob' go to her hotel. She tells them journalist Bill was working on a big diamond smuggling story. Sally was bringing him the last piece of evidence he needed.
It read Honey Meadow Morgan Light Bright Harvest. Sally goes to the florists from where the flowers had come, a T Moore-Gantry at 210 Portwell Road London E2. She goes without Mark.
In charge at the shop is Tom - anyone with any sense would now realise it's best not to tell HIM too much as the owner is played by hefty Denis Shaw! But Sally does.
Saber however has been using his brains. A visit to the British Museum tells him the words on Bill's evidence are all roses, only issued by special firms. He races to the florists in time to rescue Sally from her fate.
The boss meanwhile has kindly told Sally all about his smuggling. The roses are refrigerated (!) in South Africa and sent in crates - the box with the underlined name contains the contraband diamonds.
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Where There's A Will
An old dear and Alfred her cat in a garden. The naughty creature runs next door, behind a bush. There's a dead body there, that of Mrs Ridley, housekeeper to the late owner of the house, Mrs Verity.
This Mrs Kraft phones Mark Saber and he agrees to investigate. To start, it's a trifle difficult as the corpse has disappeared, but bloodstains suggest the old lady is not wandering in her mind. Indeed Mrs Kraft outthinks the great detective and finds the corpse buried in the compost heap.
Scotland Yard are on the scene in the shape of good old Inspector Parker. Mrs Verity's two children have been staying in the neighbourhood, while they sort through their late mother's possessions. Peer Verity (Peter Reynolds) and his sister Cecilia Potter are expecting to inherit, though as yet the will has not yet been read. Cecilia's 25 year old son Lionel, a simpleton, is the only other one expected to benefit from the will. All three claim they were together at the time Mrs Verity died. Lionel believes it's a good thing Mrs Ridley is dead, because she was only after her mistress' money. Out of the mouths....?
The corpse had clearly been dropped from the roof of the house. Saber spots a blood stained brick on the roof. The murder weapon. A half eaten pear is lying nearby. And some split matches. Now Lionel has an odd habit of splitting matches. Lionel admits he had been on the roof, but alone. It seems odd that Inspector Parker failed to spot either of these clues!
Analysis back at the Yard shows some silver nitrate on the half eaten pear, that suggests someone using a mouthwash. But who?
Bob checks at the Falmouth Arms where the three are staying. A bloodstained jacket belonging to Peter Verity had been sent for dry cleaning.
When Bob returns to Mrs Verity's home, there are Peter and Lionel fighting. Bob splits them. Mummy comforts her baby. Apparently Peter had accused Lionel of hiding Mrs Ridley's body in the compost heap. That's true, admits Lionel, for he was worried the corpse might delay the reading of the will- he wants his share of the inheritance as soon as possible.
Inspector Parker runs over the motives for each of the three killing Mrs Ridley. Saber soon chips in, indeed takes over. There was this brick. The edge of the roof. Then a clever trick. But can Saber prove his words? Yes, that pear is his evidence.
Parker steps in for the confession. It seems Mrs Ridley had been going to inherit everything. The story ends in tears
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COUSIN FROM MONTREAL
This is possibly the first episode to feature Eddie Wells, Mark's latest assistant. At one point Mark narrates: "Eddie hadn't been with me for very long, but he was young and keen."
Here's the Danzigers' effort to get with it! Ageing teddy boys beat up and kill Johnny, who's allegedly aged 16 but looks at least 26.
His mother (a wannabe Peggy Mount) seeks Saber's help, as Inspector Parker, although she concedes that he's a very good detective, has spent a month getting nowhere in his investigations. Poor old Inspector Parker!
Mark meets Johnny's best friend, Tommy Burns (John Charlesworth) who lives in a posh place, unlike Johnny's East End slum. Not that Tommy ever went there, but
Mark believes it will open his eyes, as he doesn't think the place has even got a tv set!
After they meet Johnny's mum Tommy is persuaded to open up. He confesses he witnessed Johnny die -
"I watched them beat him to death, and I didn't lift a finger to help him." The gang leader was Rick (Tony Doonan), and they wanted to leave him because they were being forced to
commit small burglaries, but Rick said they knew too much. It was Jumbo who killed him. But a Big Shot is masterminding the robberies, who gets kids do his dirty work for him.
This episode title refers to Eddie's alias as he infiltrates the teenage gang. He's the ideal person, he tells Mark, as he was nearly a delinquent himself. "The public can be grateful
that you went in for crime investigation, rather than instigation," jokes Mark.
Dressed in his City waistcoat and smart suit, Eddie goes to the trendy jive joint where Rick's gang hang out. He claims he's just been
released from the pen in Canada, where he'd been put after pulling a bank job. Convinced that Eddie is big time, Rick takes him to his leader. Of course the boss just has to be, wait for it... in flowing luxurious robes...
played by typecast Denis Shaw. With his moll, played by Sandra Dorne, he runs the racket, that is, until Mark Saber tracks him down
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BIOGRAPHIES (Additional information would be appreciated)
DONALD GRAY (1914 -1978) - Born in South Africa, he was overall winner of a Paramount talent competition but after appearing in some minor roles as El(d)red Tidbury he moved to England.
He lost an arm in the war. In the 50's he became a BBC announcer for a while before starring as Mark Saber. He found it difficult to obtain further starring roles though he does do a voiceover for the Captain Scarlet puppet TV series.
Trevor Jordan has written his biography "Colonel White meets Mark Saber" which can be purchased on ebay. A reviewer in 1957 wrote, "I like the characters of Mark and Stevie who are good foils for one another... it's such a pleasure to hear the rich, manly voice of Donald Gray speaking the Queen's English, as it should be spoken."
COLIN TAPLEY (1909-1995) - He was the police inspector at Scotland Yard. It's likely he obtained the part as a result of his friendship with Donald Gray.
In series one he appears irregularly, sharing the part with others but by the concluding stories of series two he is the "usual" inspector.
Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, he, like Gray, was a winner in the Paramount competition. He made some films in Hollywood, before coming to England.
Unlike Gray, Tapley continued working for the Danzigers, appearing, uncredited more often than not, in their later series Man from Interpol and The Cheaters. He made films until 1969. He married a titled lady and retired to Gloucestershire.
Series 1: MICHAEL BALFOUR (1918-1997) 'Barney'- Born in America, he became one of the most commonly seen bit-players in British cinema. He moved to England before the war and served with the RAF Eagle Squadron.
In one Danziger programme, the character he plays is described like this: "with a face like yours, you'd scare 'em to death." But in real life he was a gent with quite sophisticated tastes.
Series 1: THERESA THORNE 'Judy' - I have found little information on her. Can you help? She appeared in the 1955 film Joe Macbeth, made the same year as her role in the Saber series. She also played a photographer called Mary, in the 1957 Charlie Chan story "The Noble Art of Murder".
Series 2: DIANA DECKER (born in USA 1926) 'Stevie' - She moved to England in 1939, making her film debut in 1943. She appeared with Donald Gray in the 1952 Saturday Island. She is best known as a recording artist with the hit "Poppa Piccolino" and also appeared on the London stage and as a cabaret singer.
Series 3: NEIL McCALLUM (1929-1976) 'Pete'- born in Canada. After his role in Saber of London he starred in one film for the Danzigers 'On the Run' which also features Gordon Tanner. On the strength of his performances,
ABC signed him as a contract artist, enabling him to appear in Armchair Theatre, as well as stock series like "International Detective" (he's in "The Prescott Case"). He also appeared on the London stage. In 1965 he hosted A-R's "A Swinging Scene".
By the 70's he was a producer, notably for BBC Scotland's "Sutherland's Law". He died tragically of a brain haemorrhage.
Series 3: GORDON TANNER (1918-1983) 'Larry'- also Canadian. Also appears in a Series 2 story "Find Harry Clay". Earlier he had appeared in The Vise story "Never let me die". Later he's in Man from Interpol, International Detective and Interpol Calling.
Series 4: ROBERT ARDEN (1922-2004) 'Bob Page'- first English born asistant for Saber, even if he grew up in the States! A dance band vocalist with the likes of Joe Loss, he made his film debut in 1944 in 2,000 Women.
He became prominent on television in the ITV panel game "What's it All About?"A prolific actor, he told me his favourite role was in "Flight Into Danger" a BBC live drama.
Series 5: GARRY THORNE 'Eddie Wells'- Was he related to Theresa above? He appears in one Danziger film ('The Depraved' 1956) and in at least one story from each of the earlier series of Mark Saber, often as a criminal!
His mother was Lenore Coffee (1896-1984) - a Hollywood screen writer from the silent days to the 50's.She also provided the script outline for one Invisible Man episode. Apart from this series, Garry's only regular TV role was as "guard" in many Sir Lancelot stories.
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ROBERT ARDEN - co-star in Saber of London series 4.
Very many thanks to the late Robert Arden who wrote this affectionate tribute for my site in 2002 aged 80.
Well, it's all a long time ago now, but what I remember most about it was
the low pay, the hard work, and what sheer fun it all was!
The Danzigers, God Bless 'Em
were always happy to corner cut. They did pay very badly, but all you had
to do was call Eddie, tell him you were free and you were cast - no matter
whether you were right or not for the particular role.
Hardly anybody took the series seriously - not the Danziger Brothers,
(of whom I have fond memories). Their attitude was -get the work
done, but enjoy it. In Saber of London there were two constant directors -
Ernie Morris (who had originally been a prop man) and Max Varnel
(Max, the son of pre-war director Marcel Varnel) were more
concerned with getting through as quickly as possible - quality
was secondary to speed. The occasional director, Godfrey Grayson
did try to infuse a little more thought and quality into his efforts,
but even he was forced to compromise in order to complete
the show in two and a half days! We worked Monday to Friday
and occasionally on a Saturday if we needed to. Location work
was also taken within the time allotted. We often shot location
shots that the directors weren't sure they'd ever need - but made them
visual (no dialogue - unless specifically needed) so they could be
cut in to any episode - and in fact some of the shots turned up
in variously different episodes. The lighting cameraman, Jimmy
Wilson, was one of the best and had a facility that the Danzigers
loved. He could work fast - and still be good.
Donald Gray was a pleasure to work with. No pretensions
- a great sense of humour - and not a jealous actor.
He would let you have a scene if he thought it was better to focus
other than on him all the time. A Gentleman in every sense of the
word. But a scary driver. We'd do some scenes in the Porsche,
and my heart would sometimes be sitting in my mouth as at
speed he would change gear with his one arm - no hand on the
wheel, controlling the car with his knee. I still break out in a sweat
when I think of it.
Quite well known actors turned up in the show, and
some who were to become well known. Once you'd made an
initial appearance, you could call the casting director - say you were free
for ten days in May, and you'd be offered a role. Everybody moaned about
the pay rate, but hardly anybody turned down the work. Editor John Bloom
(Claire Bloom's brother -now working I think, in Hollywood) and the late
Freddie Burnley - to become an accomplished documentary director for TV -
worked long hours to get the shows finished and, as far as I remember, were
never late in delivering the finished product.
The studios were custom built - and had a very pleasant
atmsosphere as I recall. One had to trudge through mud to get
to the main door for the stound stages, but eventually they had the front
landscaped and it was just like one of Hollywood poverty row studios. After all these years I
still remember the Danziger period of my professional life with a certain
warm nostalgia. The studios at Elstree - specially built by Eddie and
Harry - are gone - but the memories linger on.
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Answer- Sandra Dorne, who must have appeared in as many Mark Saber stories as any other non-regular character!
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