Sun 19 Feb 2012
A TV Series Review by Michael Shonk: BOLD VENTURE (1958-59).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[28] Comments
BOLD VENTURE – Syndicated, 1958-1959. 39 episodes at 30 minutes each. Ziv Television Production. Cast: Dane Clark as Slate Shannon, Joan Marshall as Sailor Duval, Bernie Gozier as King Moses. Written and produced (*) by David Friedkin and Mort Fine. (*-except when Friedkin directed then Fine got solo Producer credit).
For my earlier review of the Bold Venture radio series, go here.
While most believe the television series began in 1959, it was more likely November 1958. According to Broadcasting (November 17, 1958), Bold Venture had been sold in 58 markets (including Chicago) in the first ten days of its release. The copyright dates for the episodes I have seen were from 1958 or 1959.
TV’s Bold Venture, as the radio series, told the story of Slate Shannon and his ward Sailor Duval. But there were major differences. The action moved from Havana Cuba to Port of Spain Trinidad, where Slate owned the hotel “Shannon’s Place†and used his boat “Bold Venture†for odd jobs. The series changed from the radio show of mystery and intrigue to a typical TV crime show.
David Rose was not involved with the TV series and the clever weekly songs King Moses sang in the radio series virtually vanished from the TV series. The theme changed from the radio’s basic adventure show theme to the TV’s theme featuring calypso drummers.
With TV-Film still in its crude stages, and budgets allowing little for music, sets and locations, Bold Venture had that cheap look and soundtrack common with 50’s syndicated Ziv Productions.
Dane Clark is best known for his supporting roles in WWII films such as Action in the North Atlantic (with Bogart). In the fifties he starred in a series of short-lived TV series, Crime & Peter Chambers, Justice and Wire Service. He was later also a regular in The New Adventures of Perry Mason.
Clark lacked the charm and talent of Bogart who had made Slate a good man in love with a much too young woman. Clark turned Slate into an unlikeable, self-centered, womanizing jerk, who was often heartlessly cruel to Sailor.
Joan Marshall began her career as an underage chorus girl in Chicago. While Bold Venture was her only regular cast role in a series, she did a variety of memorable guest roles (Maverick, Jack Benny, Star Trek, I Spy).
Marshall did her best with what the TV series turned into a thankless part. Her biggest flaws were she was not Bacall and looked too mature to be a “ward.â€
The complete lack of chemistry between the two stars was never more obvious than during the cute tag scene at the end focusing on Slate and Sailor’s relationship.
David Friedkin and Mort Fine were writing partners for many series including Frontier, I Spy, and The Most Dangerous Game. Friedkin also enjoyed directing and won the Director Guild award in 1961 (Dick Powell Theatre) and 1975 (Kojak). Both Friedkin and Fine won the Writers Guild award in 1964 for The Pawnbroker.
Friedkin and Fine wrote both the radio and television versions of Bold Venture, and recycled radio scripts for the TV series. Oddly, nearly every change for the TV series was for the worse.
In the radio version of “Slate’s Old Flame,” a woman Slate had loved in the past returned. The story focuses on Slate and Sailor’s relationship. Sailor pushes Slate to get rid of the old lover until Slate, confused over what he wants, dumps Sailor. Sailor leaves Slate and, shades of To Have and Have Not, becomes a singer at a nightclub.
The old flame and her current lover plan to frame Slate for the murder of her husband. Slade and the husband fight. The old flame convinced Slate he has killed the husband (he was in a coma and survived). Slate goes on the run and hides out with a friend. Slate learns the old flame has put a reward on his head, and knows his friend will betray him given the chance.
Hearing Slate is on the run, Sailor returns to help him. She knows where he is, and when she arrives, Slate tells her how much he needs her. Together they defeat the old flame.
The TV version (with Karl Swenson as a guest star and directed by Walter Doniger) has lovestruck sucker Slate go out on a date with the old flame and fall for her without much thought of Sailor. Slate is knocked out and convinced he shot and killed the husband.
Slate goes on the run to his best friend forever that he had never mentioned before. Instead of the romantic drama between Slate and Sailor, the TV version focused on the relationship between Slate and best friend forever. When the best friend forever learns of reward he decides to betray Slate. The two fight.
Sailor knows where he is, when she arrives, Slate yells at her. Slate is off to confront old flame and orders Sailor home. Slate defeats the old flame.
The following are TV episodes I have seen (titles are unofficial unless marked with **).
“Back from the Dead.” Directed by Anton M. Leader. Guest Cast: Robert Strauss. Ex-soldier, who blames Slate for his capture during the war, arrives seeking revenge.
“Blue Moon.” Directed by David Friedkin. Guest Cast: Stacy Harris. In the radio version, a neighbor asks Slate to rescue his innocent daughter from a blackmailing gambler who won’t let her leave his ship. The TV version has neighbor ask Slate to get his daughter off a gambler’s ship, but the 50’s bad girl daughter doesn’t want to go. Slate refuses to stop because the gambler made him look bad. Several die in a lame gunfight so Slate can get his way.
“Deadly Merchandise.” Directed by David Friedkin Guest Cast: Jack Kruschen. The TV version simplifies the radio version, reducing the number of characters. Woman hires Slate and the “Bold Venture†to pick up a delivery at sea. There is a double cross, Slate gets his weekly beatings, confronted by a pistol-packing poet, and stuck in the middle of a possible revolution.
“Fast Trip to Venezuela.” Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. Guest Cast: Denver Pyle. Slate tries to help and old friend and his companion, a daughter of an overthrown island leader, to escape to Venezuela.
“Feathered Cape” (**). Directed by John Rich. Guest Cast: Ned Glass. Slate helps old friend get revenge against the friend’s ex-treasure hunting partner.
“Matador” (**). Directed by David Friedkin. Guest Cast: Billy Barty. Slate is blamed for the death of a Matador, who dies in “Shannon’s Place†with a crush on Sailor.
“Missing Tourist.” Directed by William Conrad. Guest Cast: Phillip Pine. A worried guest comes to Slate and asks him to find her husband. Slate blunders around and gets kidnapped. Lots of fighting, not much thinking.
“Murder on the Beach.” Directed by Gerald Mayer. Guest Cast: Michael Pate. Sailor finds a murdered body on the beach, placing Slate up against a local businessman.
“The Search.” Directed by William Conrad. Guest Cast: Dennis Patrick. Three men trick Slate and Sailor to take them to some stolen money.
“Vanishing Fiancée.” Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. Guest Cast: DeForest Kelley. A rich man asks Slate to find his fiancée, who had disappeared during dinner at a popular nightclub.
NOTE: Television Series & Specials Scripts, 1946-1992 (McFarland, 2009) features a list of fifteen Bold Venture scripts, all but two were written by David Friedkin and Mort Fine. The other two were written by Don Brinkley (Oliver’s Twist) and E. Jack Neuman (Kazantos).
February 19th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Well, there were only one Bogart, and one Bacall .
The Doc
February 19th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
I did find a few things that did not make the final cut.
BILLBOARD (December 9, 1957) News of BOLD VENTURE pilot being made for spring 1958 sale.
December 16, 1957. News that Ziv hired David Friedkin and Mort Fine to 18 month pact to develop BOLD VENTURE for television as well as other ideas.
Also, same issue. Producer of WIRE SERVICE gives up hope ABC might reconsider canceling his show when Dane Clark leaves for BOLD VENTURE.
My favorite: BILLBOARD (April 21, 1958) ABC tells affiliates and advertisers about the upcoming fall 1958 schedule. They give a list of shows (no time slots). BOLD VENTURE is on the list.
But BOLD VENTURE does not make the ABC September 1958 schedule, instead it ends up syndicated.
One rumor about Joan Marshall. She was married to Hal Ashby and discussed her personal life with him and Robert Towne forming the basis of the film SHAMPOO.
February 19th, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Wire Service wasn’t a massive success, but it was more than just allright. George Brent, very likable, Mercedes McCambridge, compelling, make up the rotating star cast. Clark was the most dynamic, I preferred the other two. Question about Bold Venture. Even without Bogart and Bacall, the producers knew how it played due to their previous radio experience. Why not have Clark, a kind of lower class Bogart clone, channel the real star…? Final thought: Clark could be quite effective in the right part, as in Gunman In The Street.
February 19th, 2012 at 11:04 pm
It’s interesting that WIRE SERVICE should come up. I’ve almost but not quite pulled the trigger on buying a set of DVDs of this show. Not because of Dane Clark’s presence, but because Mercedes McCambridge was one of the stars. Compelling, as you say, Barry, in everything she was in.
I’m sure I never saw BOLD VENTURE during its syndicated run, but I swear I remember Dane Clark from those early days of television. It might have been WIRE SERVICE after its network days (ABC) — we had no ABC station near us back then — but maybe it was only that he appeared as a guest star on loads of other series.
February 19th, 2012 at 10:54 pm
All interesting information, Michael, including the small tidbit that BOLD VENTURE almost made the ABC schedule. That I did not know!
Historically, it is not surprising to learn that the setting changed from Havana, Cuba, to Port of Spain Trinidad, Trinidad, given that Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution were much in the news at the time.
That was probably a little too much realism for a light-hearted adventure show.
February 20th, 2012 at 12:39 am
#3. Barry, I think the older man in love with his “ward” made everyone uncomfortable. Bogart and Bacall got away with it by being married. The problem was that romantic relationship was the basis of the entire series.
By trying to play down the romance, those little bits at the end where they have the fifties version of sex made it appear the only reason Slate kept her around was for the sex.
I hope someday to see an episode of WIRE SERVICE. From what I have read it was the fifties version of NAME OF THE GAME.
February 20th, 2012 at 1:21 am
Makes sense Michael. There are ways these things can be handled. Obviously these people did not locate one of them. Wire Service: I saw the series when originally broadcast, and was always disappointed. But, not wildly so, because I came back next week,as intended. Mostly, I was a big George Brent fan then, and now.
February 21st, 2012 at 11:09 am
Here are a few tidbits I was able to track down: Daily Variety reviewed the show (and none too kindly) on March 9, 1959, after viewing it on KTTV in LA. They called it a “dim stencil of higher-budgeted shows and lacking in finesse. A punch in the nose is not enough to give it dramatic virility.” The critic pointed out that four advertisers bought spots. Ziv was riding high at the time thanks largely to the success of Sea Hunt, and according to Erickson’s “Syndicated Television 1947-1987” could typically count on at least 180 station sales for each new syndicated release. Bold Venture picked up 184. As pointed out above, the producers, Fine and Friedkin, would later spend three years on I Spy, which for my money is a pretty good credit to have.
February 21st, 2012 at 12:29 pm
After staring myself bug-eyed at the very small photos of Joan Marshall, I retreated to IMDb to make sure of this:
Joan Marshall was indeed “Jean Arless”, the two-for-one villain-villainess of William Castle’s Homicidal, everybody’s favorite Psycho knock-off (well, mine, anyway).
I wasn’t sure at first – Joan Marshall sounds like a generic name – but the facial structure did seem awfully familiar. So I double-checked.
IMDb also notes that Ms. Marshall was the original choice to play the mom on The Munsters; she can be seen in the pilot (available on the DVD set). How she got aced out of the series by Yvonne DeCarlo is probably written up somewhere, but I don’t recall what or where offhand.
I have a few Wire Service episodes on C2C VHS tapes; perhaps fittingly, one each of Dane Clark, George Brent, and Mercedes McCambridge. This was one of the earliest hour-long drama series, which drove up its budget and possibly led to its short run (being on ABC with its short station lineup likely didn’t help).
Mort Fine and David Friedkin didn’t just “spend time” on I Spy – they created the series’s format, and as its producers created innovations in location shooting that were new for TV in 1965, and have since become industry standard.
Aditionally, David Friedkin ocasionally acted on I Spy; he had a prominent guest star part in an early episode, and played bit roles in a few others. I don’t know if he ever did this on other shows that he produced; that might be a field for future research.
*see what happens when you get me started?*
February 21st, 2012 at 12:34 pm
David, the BILLBOARD item about the series being on ABC’s list of programs, BROADCASTING made no mention of it.
It took place during the April 1958 NAB meetings. Did VARIETY or anyone else report it?
The pilot being made for a “spring 58” sale fits the possibility of ABC’s interest. ABC rejecting the pilot or lack of sponsors for network prices would explain the long wait from pilot to air.
The November sales were mainly in the East and Mid-West so the date of VARIETY’s review is probably when the West picked it up.
February 21st, 2012 at 12:44 pm
#9. Mike, does your Chicago TV GUIDE collection have November 1958? If so, does it mention BOLD VENTURE?
Sheldon Leonard fans might disagree with you saying Friedkin and Fine created I SPY on their own.
Jean Arless, if my memory is right, is Joan Marshall’s real name and it was used so not to give away the character was female.
Have you watched WIRE SERVICE? How does it compare it THE NAME OF THE GAME?
February 21st, 2012 at 1:24 pm
While we are on the Friedkin-Fine bandwagon we should mention that they also wrote wrote the 1964 Sidney Lumet film The Pawnbroker, starring Rod Steiger, groundbreaking for its exploration of the Holocaust through the eyes of a survivor living in America. I Spy was everything Michael Doran says it was. However, their Three F Productions, which made the show for Desilu, did include a third person: Fouad Said. Friedkin apparently acted on at least one other show, O’Hara, US Treasury. Michael, my accessibility to Variety is pretty much limited to the reviews, and the review I cite above makes no mention of the ABC connection.
February 21st, 2012 at 5:39 pm
First, clarifying a possible ambiguity:
Wire Service was one of the earliest filmed one-hour dramas.
Sheldon Leonard was the executive producer of I Spy. He sold the show to NBC and put together the creative team.
Friedkin and Fine were the ones who developed the show’s format and characters, as Leonard always acknowledged. Similarly, Fouad Said, as location cinematographer, set the show’s visual style, also acknowledged by Leonard. (as stated, “Three F’s”.)
Back to Bold Venture:
One of my 1958 or ’59 issues has a picture feature showing Dane Clark and Joan Marshall in a kind of gag pose on the beach, can’t recall the story, but it probably wasn’t an in-depth profile of either of them.
Finally:
According to William Castle’s autobiography, he made up the name “Jean Arless” for Joan Marshall’s use on Homicidal. Castle’s “reason” was that “Jean” was a sexually ambiguous name, and he wanted audiences to still be guessing after they’d seen the picture. (Why he didn’t use a name like “Pat” or “Lee” or like that …)
February 22nd, 2012 at 1:37 pm
I have here in the office with me the January 31, 1959 issue of TV GUIDE (George Gobel on the cover), and have turned to the listings for Wednesday, February 4.
On this date, at 8:30 pm (CST), WGN, channel 9, aired the premiere of Bold Venture, heralding that event with a half-page ad that read thusly:
From the Florida Keys to Trinidad …
EXPLOSIVE ACTION!
DANE CLARK*JOAN MARSHALL
“BOLD VENTURE”
Calypso! Mystery! Racing Seas!.
Wednesday 8:30 PM
WGN-TV 9
(You can imagine how impressive the actal ad looks.)
Bold Venture ran on ch9 for exactly one year, ending its run in February of 1960, when it gave way to Rod Cameron’s new series Coronado 9. I read this as twenty-six first-run episodes, repeated once each, fifty-two weeks total – about average for a syndicated series during this period.
About that TV GUIDE feature I mentioned …
I had that particular issue once.
See, a few years back I went to a book-signing with Max and Barb Collins, who I’d met a number of times before. This was just after TV GUIDE had changed (read:ruined) its format, and Max and I were commiserating over this.
To emphasize the point, I brought a couple of old copies from my collection. I purposely chose an issue that had a picture feature with Patty McCormack, knowing that Max and Barb would get a kick out of it.
As the evening progressed, I was feeling magnanimous, and gave Max the old GUIDE outright – after all, what are friends for?
Wouldn’t you just know it – that’s the one with the Bold Venture story in it!
Max – if you should happen to see this, and if you still have that old GUIDE somewhere at hand, you might want to send a scan of the Bold Venture story to Mike Shonk, by way of Steve at Mystery File. I’m sure that he – and we – would all get a kick out of it.
Apologies for imposing.
About Wire Service:
I checked my ’56-’57 issues and learned,among other things, that Brian Keith starred in the last first-run episode that season. I’d guess that that meant the producers were ready to put Keith in Dane Clark’s slot in the event of a last-minute renewal, which didn’t happen (Ads for the show ID the sponsor as Miller High-Life Beer, so it was possibly their decision).
End of report (and not a moment too soon …)
February 22nd, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Mike, as always, thanks.
Now, the question is, while Ziv sold the show in November 1958, when did stations air it?
It is possible for some station to have aired it immediately in 1958, but I wonder if most waited until January. Would the local stations all ready have commitments to the fall schedule and need to wait until January for an opening?
Should we change the date on top from 1958-1959 to 1959? This is a syndicated show so starting dates vary by years. I used the 58-59 date to show the uncertainty about the start date, but 1959 is most likely the start date for nearly all the first run stations.
February 22nd, 2012 at 4:19 pm
The picture toward the top of this review actually comes from HIGHLY DANGEROUS(1950), one of several films Dane Clark made in Britain in the early fifties; here he’s with star Margaret Lockwood.
I thought Clark was one of those actors who never really got the breaks; he was good in the likes of Hammer’s THE GAMBLER AND THE LADY (1952). That said, he was in an enjoyably awful TV movie, MURDER ON FLIGHT 502, from the mid seventies and he was terrible!
February 22nd, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Thanks, Rob. I was suspicious of that photo. Even though it was supposed to be from BOLD VENTURE, it seemed off to me, starting with the curly updo that didn’t match any of the other photos I found of Joan Marshall.
So I’ve replaced it by another ad for the show. (If you came in late, you won’t know what we’re referring to, but false information is far worse than no information at all.)
This ad must have been in a trade journal, as it includes the ARB ratings for several TV stations that had been carrying the series. ARB stands for Arbitron, which as I understand it, started out doing TV polling before switching over to radio only. If I need to be corrected on this by anyone who knows more, please do!
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:28 am
The following is what you might call “educated guesswork”:
I’ve read a lot over the years about what the film syndication business was like during the early TV days. My understanding has been that producers like Ziv made it a practice to have all the episodes of a series completed before starting to sell them to sponsors or individual stations. Apparently the idea was that stations were more likely to commit to a prime-time half-hour for a full year, even sight unseen. With far fewer venues available, syndicators felt that they had a better chance of breaking into the schedule of a network affiliate that had little faith in what the net was offering, by putting up a complete series (usually, but not always, with a presold sponsor attached – Sea Hunt broke into many markets this way).
As noted, the Bold Venture pilot was in prep as far back as late ’57, which ties in with Dane Clark’s departure from Wire Service. To possibly make ABC’s schedule for a Fall ’58 premiere, production on a series would have to have started early in that year. Thus, when ABC voted no on Bold Venture, Ziv could then go ahead and produce a full season, which they could sell station-to-station, as they had with their other shows for years.
Of course, this kind of production set-up would be impossible in today’s TV ecomomy. Whether this is a better or worse situation, I leave to all of you to decide.
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:46 am
In #15 I asked should we change the start date. I forgot the episodes were copyrighted in 1958 and 1959.
As Mike points out in #18, Ziv filmed in bunches (remember it was part of the appeal of the radio series to Bogart and Bacall).
Since filming episodes in 1959 seems unlikely, the copyright dates could apply to air dates.
February 24th, 2012 at 10:04 am
Mike Doran, what is the date — approximate or actual — of that TV Guide issue you are looking for? We have a pretty comprehensive collection here at the Paley Center. I’m happy to look.
February 24th, 2012 at 10:40 am
David, when you check your TV Guides for Mike, could you look for September 14, 1976? I am working on a review of HUNTER and IMDB claims the pilot was shown then. It would be CBS and the pilot was an hour long. I doubt that date. I doubt it was shown on air at all, even with it released on Videotape.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:50 pm
Michael, you’re correct that there is no listing for “Hunter” on 9/14/76 in TV Guide. I also checked the Variety reviews: nothing until 1977, when the series premiered.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:58 pm
Thank you, David. You deserve a spoiler for my future look at HUNTER. The pilot and series featured a different premise. October 76 the series was in production. I doubted CBS would air a one hour pilot that would confuse viewers for a series they planned to air soon.
February 24th, 2012 at 5:55 pm
I have a reference book at home which could give me the correct date. In its absence, I can only tell you that it was fairly early in 1959, that Dick Clark is on the cover, and that there’s that picture feature of Patty McCormack in school fashions, which is why I gave the copy to Max and Barb Collins (for which they were duly grateful).
Hey, Max & Barb … if you still have that mag lying around the house somewhere …
… now both Mike Shonk and David Bushman would like a look at it.
OK?
February 27th, 2012 at 10:00 am
The TV Guide article I find on Bold Venture is from August 29, 1959, is a very fluffy two-page spread anchored by a large photo of Clarke in a boat, surrounded by five young attractive women, three of whom are pushing the boat, as Joan Marshall stands off to the side with her arms folded and an annoyed look on her face. The headline: “She Wishes She Were In the Boat: Dane Clark’s Leading Lady Has Competition on ‘Bold Venture.” The lead paragraph: “The boldest venture Dane Clarke undertakes, as Slate Shannon in Bold Venture, is to keep his thoughts fatherly toward glamorous Joan Marshall, his co-star, who plays Sailor Duval.” You get the point. The gist of the article is that Duval has designs on Shannon, but Shannon has to keep the relationship Platonic because he had promised his best friend before his death that he would serve as Duval’s guardian. There is no byline on the article. It appears on pages 28-29. The whole article is four paragraphs.
February 27th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
David, that is why the cute bits at the end turned so creepy.
In one, Slate is enjoying looking at a huge scrapbook of an old girlfriend. Sailor lights a match to it. The scrapbook falls to the floor in flames as off camera Slate and Sailor kiss and make other similar noises.
In another, it ends with Slate letting Sailor take him by the hand and lead him off stage for more…
March 5th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Where can a DVD of Bold Venture be purchased
March 5th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
Only in the collector-to-collector market. You might Google the phrase [“bold venture” dvd “dane clark”] for example, but I don’t know the sellers who currently come up and cannot vouch for them.