Sat 29 Mar 2014
A TV Series Review by Michael Shonk: FOUR JUST MEN (1959-60).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[18] Comments
FOUR JUST MEN. Syndicated, 1959-60. Sapphine Films / ITC Release. “Inspired by ‘The Four Just Men’ of Edgar Wallace.†Starred Richard Conte as Jeff Ryder, Dan Dailey as Tim Collier, Vittoria de Sica as Ricco Poccari, and Jack Hawkins as Ben Manfred. Co-starred Honor Blackman, Lisa Gastoni, Andrew Keir, and June Thorburn. Executive Producer: Hannah Fisher.
When their Commanding Officer from their days in the WWII invasion of Italy dies, four men gather together to honor him. They discover he had left them a large amount of money and a request they use it to fight injustice. They agree, but unlike the book, go their separate ways to star in each own adventure. At one point during every episode the featured star would contact one of the other four, usually on the phone and for just one scene.
RICHARD CONTE
Conte was lawyer Jeff Ryder who operated out of New York, and was aided by his law student assistant Vicky, played by June Thorburn.
“Crack Up.†Episode 22. Screenplay: Louis Marks, from a story idea by Lee Lolb. Directed by Anthony Bushell, Produced by Jud Kinberg. Guest Cast: Robert Shaw, Charles Irwin and Delena Kidd. The crossover scene featured Jack Hawkins as Ben Manfred.
The discovery of a downed plane tied to a five year old mystery of missing gold leads the wife of the still missing pilot to hire the “four just men†to help her get to the plane and prove her husband had not stole the gold. The mystery was better than average but it was hard to care what happens to any of the one dimensional characters.
DAN DAILEY
Dailey was Tim Collier, an American reporter based in Paris. Honor Blackman played his girlfriend and secretary Nicole who among the four just men assistants played the largest role.
“Marie.†Episode 16. Screenplay by Gene Levitt and Louis Marks. Directed by Don Chaffey Produced by Jud Kinberg Guest Cast: Perlita Neilson, Alec Mango and Peggy Ann Clifford. The crossover scene was with Jack Hawkins as Ben Manfred.
One of the better episodes, a thriller set against the backdrop of the Algerian War (1954-1962) and its effects on those in France. Collier and Nicole try to save the life of a suicidal young woman.
VITTORIA DE SICA
De Sica was Ricco Poccari, owner of the Hotel Poccari in Rome. Assisting him was his secretary Giulia played by Lisa Gastoni.
“Maya.†Episode 12. Written and Directed by William Fairchild. Produced by Sidney Cole. Guest Cast: Mai Zetterling, Peter Illing and Raymond Young. The crossover scene featured Richard Conte as Jeff Ryder delivering a vital plot point.
Ah, the good old days of royalty. A spoiled Princess is in danger from those who are attempting a coup of an uranium rich country ruled by her wise and popular brother.
JACK HAWKINS
Hawkins played Ben Manfred, Member of Parliament and based in London. Andrew Keir was Jock, Manfred’s manservant and friend.
“Money to Burn.†Episode 21. Screenplay by Jan Read. Directed by Basil Dearden. Produced by Sidney Cole. Guest Cast: Ian Hunter, Charles Gray and Wolf Press. The crossover scene featured Richard Conte as Jeff Ryder.
A General plans to stage a coup in a small democratic country. He tricks a British company that has been hired to print the country’s currency to help financially ruin the young Republic.
The script tries hard to avoid any action or show any interest in plausibility as Manfred attempts to get the money back.
The series was popular in England where it was number two in the ratings (Wagon Train was first) (Broadcasting, December 7, 1959). By August 1960 Four Just Men was in 159 markets (Broadcasting August 15.1960). According to Broadcasting (April 11, 1960), Four Just Men had sold in 16 other countries including Canada, Mexico and Czechoslovakia. ITV Board Chairman Michael Nidorf told Broadcasting (March 7, 1060) that the series had grossed nearly two million dollars.
Much like the book, today the series is hopelessly outdated. They don’t make them like this any more for a reason. The premise is pure 1950s with older white men having all the answers including a view of morality that would not be accepted in today’s society. In an excellent review by “tanner†at blog double o section, he more fully discusses the flaws of the series.
Four Just Men was an average 1950s era thriller TV series. Its production values were above average for the day but weak even compared to the 60s era shows that followed. Some of the scenes were shot on location but the series rarely took advantage of the scenery in places such as New York, Paris and Rome. The scripts and plots were limited by the half-hour format and the humorless TV dramatic style popular at the time but soon to change with the success of future series such as Peter Gunn, The Saint and The Avengers. The acting with few exceptions was a disappointment.
The result was a usually passable thirty minutes of television worth sampling but not worth searching for the now out of print British DVD.
For a review of the book Four Just Men you will find one by David L. Vineyard here on this blog.
March 29th, 2014 at 11:36 pm
Older white men made the world well enough to be disparaged by others.
March 30th, 2014 at 12:00 am
I know this series quite well. It has little to none of Edgar Wallace, nor does it have a soul, but rather a by-the-numbers product with four actors who have a hole in their schedules. That it may have been a success in England has little financial meaning relative to its cost and aspirations.
March 30th, 2014 at 11:15 am
#1. Barry, the comment I made was not a criticism but just a something one could say about much of pre-60s fiction.
#2. I agree. There is a sense everyone was there for the paycheck. The series was a success in American as one of the more popular syndicated series at the time. Why was there no second season? The series was very expensive to produced and I doubt any of the stars were all that interested in continuing.
Tanner’s review (see link in review above) is nearly completely negative, except he feels this was ITC’s first success and lead to ITC producing some of the greatest TV series of the 60s. I feel he is too critical over the creative side and overrates the role it played in ITC’s history. I do agree ITC in the sixties was responsible for some of TV’s greatest shows, but this show had nothing to do with that.
March 31st, 2014 at 4:53 am
Thank you, Michael, for the link and the kind words about my review. This is a great post! I had no idea what countries this series had been sold in – or that there were so many episodes available on YouTube. And I agree with your conclusions.
It’s funny to me now, re-reading my review from several years ago, just HOW negative it comes off. Because with the immediate reaction now faded, I don’t remember the series THAT harshly. And I did try to express that despite a lot of plodding episodes and a terribly irresponsible view of “Justice,” I enjoyed quite a few episodes. (Particularly those with Honor Blackman!) But I do stand by everything I wrote then, even if it perhaps didn’t convey enough that I found enjoyment in the show.
You’re probably right that I overrate the show’s role in ITC’s history, but I do think it occupies a fascinating place. Along with Interpol Calling, it neatly bridges the gap in the company’s contemporary-set output between Fifties detective procedurals like Colonel March of Scotland Yard, New York Confidential and The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, and Sixties spy output like Danger Man, Ghost Squad, Department S and even The Saint. I suspect you’re right that it probably didn’t DIRECTLY influence those shows that much (although it may well have marked the first appearance of many of their stock plots, often recycled from program to program), but it’s clearly a bellwether for where the company’s productions were heading in the next decade. And seeing your data on how well it sold around the world (always Lew Grade’s ultimate ambition for his series), I can see why!
March 31st, 2014 at 9:36 am
I have sampled this series on YouTube, and while I have found it generally to be but mildly entertaining, I must applaud its casting director, who managed to pack every episode with interesting actors. Most impressive was one of the de Sica episodes, which features a young Alan Bates and an even younger Judi Dench. How many shows can claim a future knight and a future dame in the same episode?
March 31st, 2014 at 10:14 am
4. Tanner, thanks for dropping by with the kind words. As someone who is interested in spy fiction your blog (http://doubleosection.blogspot.com) is one of my must read blogs.
ITC, perhaps more than any other TV studio, understood the changing tastes of the 60s audience from the established 50s (heavens knows the BBC had no clue).
I have to admit a fondness for COLONEL MARCH OF SCOTLAND YARD. Karloff played the character with humor, something few 50s shows intentionally had.
I found GHOST SQUAD a leftover from the fifties, never (in the episodes I have seen) taking advantage of the spy angle such as DANGER MAN did.
March 31st, 2014 at 12:12 pm
I put up a Richard Conte episode on You Tube and from the get-go, credits, theme music, my negative reaction was reinforced. What a stinker. Defies criticism.
March 31st, 2014 at 3:18 pm
I agree. I’ll take Col. March or Charlie Chan (though I’ve only seen a few episodes of that one) over Ghost Squad most days. I wasn’t citing them as examples of a qualitative shift, but as signs of a genre shift. And I also find Ghost Squad (generally) underwhelming. Even though Danger Man preceded it, it does feel like the next evolutionary step after 4 Just Men and Interpol Calling, though, in a shift to international adventure (with its roots still squarely in police procedural) and slightly younger (though by no means hip) leads. I also agree that ITC was way ahead of the BBC and others in catering to the shifting audience of the Sixties. Though sometimes their attempts at hipness ended up laughable (a quality which actually endears them to me as a modern viewer), at least they were trying! And sometimes they succeeded, too.
March 31st, 2014 at 3:25 pm
7. Barry, if you have the time to waste you might try the Dan Dailey episode, his face at least moves and the episode has some action. Jack Hawkins was the worse of the four and de Sica’s episode was weakened by sexism and his unfortunate accented English.
March 31st, 2014 at 3:36 pm
8. Tanner, the best example of 1960s BBC vs 1960s ITC is ADAM ADAMANT LIVES versus THE AVENGERS.
I believe you have all ready reviewed both. One of these days I will review ADAM but the curious will find the entire series on YouTube (the DVD is out of print and available in the collector’s market only). Episode one can be found here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy8AR9KkWWs
I am a fan of both shows but the old guard at BBC really was mean (and cheap) to ADAM.
March 31st, 2014 at 3:37 pm
At the time the cast was fairly impressive. Hawkins, Daily, and Conte were still film stars in most peoples minds, though Conte was making the transition to character actor.
I recall these as pleasant time killers, but not much more.
I suspect no one involved with this ever read Edgar Wallace, his Four Just Men hardly a group of kindly busybodies, but ruthless purveyors of fairly savage justice.
Paul Gallico’s The Zoo Gang inspired a similar summer replacement series about a group of ex heroes of the secret side of WWII who can’t keep their noses out of things and miss the excitement. I can’t recall the entire cast, but I think Brian Keith was the main attraction.
March 31st, 2014 at 3:43 pm
11 David, the ZOO GANG was as you described. It was pretty bad compared to the other ITC series in the 70s. Its name came from the fact each characters WWII code name was an animal.
Brian Keith was The Fox.
John Mills was The Elephant
Barry Morse was The Tiger
Lilli Palmer was The Leopard
March 31st, 2014 at 10:42 pm
Michael, I agree with you that the Dailey episode is better and that he, Dailey was likable and giving it all he had, which was plenty. But, not enough. You put it correctly, if I had time to waste, and apparently, I do and had. There are fifties series that do work well. Dragnet. I Am The Law. Foreign Intrigue. A few others perhaps. Why…? The producers were smart, and true to their stories…?
March 31st, 2014 at 11:12 pm
13. Barry, for me TV didn’t really get good until 1958 with PETER GUNN. The season 1959-60 remains one of my favorite seasons with forgotten shows such as MARKHAM. Before that the shows were cheaply and too quickly done, the actors were still learning how TV was different than stage, radio and film,and the influence of the still popular radio fiction on TV was too strong.
March 31st, 2014 at 11:22 pm
Makes sense.
April 2nd, 2014 at 10:17 am
Interesting that the Jack Hawkins episode reviewed here was directed by Basil Dearden. A year or so later he directed Hawkins in the British caper film THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN.
April 2nd, 2014 at 12:51 pm
Nice catch, Ray. According to IMDb, Dearden directed 13 of the series 39 episodes. So he did more than just this one with Hawkins. British TV and film talent crossed over more than American talent TV and film.
July 17th, 2020 at 8:34 am
[…] three types of wheel series: those like The Name of the Game (and lesser, earlier examples such as The Four Just Men and The Rogues), on which the protagonists more or less worked together; others, on the order of […]