Tue 15 Jul 2014
A TV Review by Michael Shonk: COUNTERSPY and DAVID HARDING, COUNTERSPY.
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[13] Comments
COUNTERSPY and DAVID HARDING, COUNTERSPY. TV episodes, 1958 and 1959. Bernard L. Schuberg Presentation / Telestar. Executive Producer: Herbert E. Stewart. Based on the radio series Counterspy (1942-1950).
COUNTERSPY. (1958) Written by Jack Anson Fink. Directed by Ralph Francis Murphy. Cast: Don Megowan as David Harding. Guest Cast: Brad Johnson, Gerald Milton and Phyllis Stanley *** A former WWII British Navy frogman puts the fins back on to help Unit C uncover the new advance by the Russians in ship navigation.
The story is weak with unbelievable characters and plot. No Russian Admiral would treat a top-secret device so carelessly while ignoring the head of security. Slow paced with a writer’s trick needed to supply tension and a lackluster soundtrack add to the episode’s flaws.
The episode has been posted on YouTube many times including here.
This is the most commonly seen episode of COUNTERSPY (this is from Alpha Video DVD collection) and may be the only surviving episode left to watch. It is commonly believed to be an unsold pilot, but the episode ends with Don Megowan (THE BEACHCOMER) doing a tease about “next week’s†episode. That seems unlikely for a pilot. Reliable TV spy historian Craig Henderson wrote at his website For Your Eyes Only (*) — a must visit for spy fans — there was a series with Megowan.
According to “Broadcasting” magazine (April 14, 1958) filming of COUNTERSPY had begun the week of April 7, 1958. The half-hour TV-film series would shoot in Hollywood and in 26 different locations throughout the world. Producer Bernard Schubert had budgeted 39 episodes at more than $35,000 for each TV-Film episode. It would be syndicated through Schubert’s company Telestar.
From “Broadcasting†(June 16,1958), “Telestar Films, New York, announced last week it is releasing three new half-hour tv (sic) film series for syndication to stations. They are COUNTERSPY, an adventure-suspense series filmed on location through out the world…â€
For the curious the other two were PAROLE and yet to be titled country music show. PAROLE would become a series. TV series YOUR MUSICAL JAMBOREE was probably the country music show mentioned. According to the article, COUNTERSPY was to be released in fall of 1958.
Bernard L. Schubert was a minor player in the TV-film syndicated market that played a major role in television during the 1950s. Schubert produced such TV series as ADVENTURES OF THE FALCON, AMAZING MR MALONE, MR AND MRS NORTH, TOPPER, CROSSROADS, TV READER’S DIGEST, and WHITE HUNTER.
Craig Henderson’s website mentions a remake of COUNTERSPY. Thanks to YouTube, I was able to find the pilot remake done by Schubert with Reed Hadley (RACKET SQUAD, PUBLIC DEFENDER) as David Harding.
DAVID HARDING, COUNTERSPY. 1959). Written by Stanley Kapner. Directed by Justin Addiss. Cast: Reed Hadley as David Harding. Guest cast: Christopher Dark, Lilyan Chauvin, Ross Elliott and Vito Scotti. *** A man in a small French village risks everything to help David Harding find two missing American agents.
An improvement over Mcgowan’s version of COUNTERSPY, this was better produced featuring good use of a (now cliché) soundtrack, with a story full of tension, violence, mystery and even a spy gadget. The opening with Hadley as Harding giving a pledge perfectly fits the period’s reaction to the Cold War and is an improvement over the written scroll of the earlier version.
In January 26, 1959 issue of “Broadcasting†producer Bernard Schubert announced a new half- hour TV series COUNTERSPY would be released in May.
Why remake COUNTERSPY less than a year later? Commie-fighting heroes was one of the most popular sub-genres on TV during the fifties. One can understand Schubert’s reluctance to give up on David Harding. COUNTERSPY was not the only remake on his schedule that year.
In “Broadcasting†(February 2,1959) Schubert’s Telestar announced the filming of the pilots for two possible series, COUNTERSPY and THE NEW ADVENTURES OF MR. AND MRS. NORTH.
The June 15, 1959 issue of “Broadcasting†reported Telestar had three series about to start filming in Hollywood. They were COUNTERSPY, ALEXANDER THE GREAT, and THE NEW ADVENTURES OF MR. AND MRS. NORTH. For the curious ALEXANDER THE GREAT was to be based on the “Saturday Evening Post†short stories about an earthworm tractor salesman.
“Broadcasting†(September 7, 1959), reported 39 episodes of DAVID HARDING, COUNTERSPY starring Reed Hadley would be available for national syndication but no date was given.
September 28, 1959 “Broadcasting†had an odd item about Schubert’s plans to sneak preview episodes from Telestar’s three forthcoming TV-film series. The three series would be DAVID HARDING COUNTERSPY, ALEXANDER THE GREAT, and DAVID HARUM (another attempt by Schubert to adapt a movie turn radio series for TV, Chill Wills was to star as Harum). Plans were to feature as many as six episodes from each series.
The previews would take place in TV station studios or local movie theatres in six key U.S. regions. The audience would fill out “comment cards†that would influence the series still in production. The first sneaks were planned for late September. Does anyone know if this happened?
David Harding began as the main character in the radio series COUNTERSPY (1942-50 Blue/ABC, 1950-53 NBC, 1953-57 Mutual) and was created by Phillip H. Lord (SETH PARKER, GANGBUSTERS).
COUNTERSPY was also adapted for two films, an attempted film series by Columbia Studios. The films were DAVID HARDING COUNTERSPY (1950) and COUNTERSPY MEETS SCOTLAND YARD (1950).
While I believe the Reed Hadley pilot never went to a full series, I do believe there was a short-lived Megowan series. Are there episodes of the series still out there? This is too common a question for those of us interested in early television.
There are too many forgotten TV series, especially those syndicated, and too much misinformation in the books and databases devoted to the subject. Thanks to TV-Film collectors we continue to find the shows themselves but despite what we see and learn, common knowledge continues to rule over facts (not unusual in today’s world).
IMDb does its best, but its episode indexes are near worthless, and the site is riddled with errors such as the Reed Hadley version of COUNTERSPY being listed at IMDb under DAVID HARTMAN, COUNTERSPY (1955) instead of DAVID HARDING, COUNTERSPY (1959). The Hadley bio on IMDb has him playing the character David Harding on DAVID HARTMAN, COUNTERSPY.
One can only hope someday one of the TV archives such as Museum of Broadcasting, Paley Center and UCLA Film-TV library will index for the Internet (with episodes’ credits, plots and dates if available) the TV shows they are storing. While legally they can’t put the shows on the Internet, they should do an Internet database and end the mysteries, get rid of the accepted misinformation, and fill in the blanks of TV’s past.
(*) FULL DISCLOSURE: Back in 1973-74 I wrote for two issues of Craig Henderson’s FYEO (FOR YOUR EYES ONLY) fanzine.
July 15th, 2014 at 8:21 pm
COUNTERSPY was one of my favorite shows on the radio when I was young, though I hadn’t realized that it lasted until 1957. I’d long given up on radio drama by then.
There are quite a few episodes that have survived. You can find and listen to a few more of them here:
https://archive.org/details/David.Harding.Counterspy
I hadn’t know there was any attempt at a TV series, so thanks for all this research, Michael, and welcome back.
I’ve tried in the past to make corrections on IMDb, but without any success. They know what they what in terms of formatting, and they’re not very forgiving if what you send them doesn’t fit the template.
I tried again, without any luck, and gave up. I have far better things to do.
July 15th, 2014 at 8:55 pm
Steve,
IMDB is intransigent no matter how ill informed or opinionated there biographical sketches or credit lists are. There are at least five outright factual errors in the the Louis Hayward bio. Misspellings, opinion masquerading as information and fascination with the numerous times he portrayed twins. Which he did, once. Just terrible. And more.
July 15th, 2014 at 9:53 pm
I suspect IMdb pays more attention to its paid “Pro” section than the free database. This is why I wish the TV libraries that exist to preserve television history would do more with their libraries of fictional programs now forgotten.
Another growing problem is the fading of newspapers and its “morgue” of past issues. COUNTERSPY was syndicated so it may have appeared only in small towns or overseas. Without the shows themselves the best source to find answers to my questions would be in newspaper’s logs of local TV stations.
July 15th, 2014 at 10:00 pm
Ironic about that first episode because it is obviously taken loosely from the Crabbe incident, when Victoria Cross winning frogman Lt. Commander Lionel Crabbe (Silent Enemy with Lawrence Harvey as Crabbe detailed his wartime efforts protecting British ships in Malta) went missing while checking out a Russian trawler (spy ship) in a British port. There was some suggestion of a new sonar or radar device on the trawler. The Crabbe incident also inspired Andrew Garve’s The Megstone Plot and Touch of Larceny, the film version.
It’s certainly the right time period.
The Crabbe thing still inspires a book now and then (Noel Hynd did one in ‘collaboration’ with Christopher Crichton, the young hero of Brian Garfield’s Paladin). Ian Fleming’s name pops up in regard to the Crabbe incident.
It’s unlikely the Crabbe incident is quite as exciting as it sounds. Even in the War he was a borderline alcoholic and chances are he just drowned rather than being killed of captured by Russian divers, it is even more unlikely he defected since they would have tooted their own horn about such a high profile defector.
Wasn’t Howard St. John Harding in the films and William Lundigan the male ingénue in at least one of the two films?
I wonder who was in that proposed New Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. North? Denning would have been signing for the Michael Shayne series about that time, no idea about Barbara Britton (major crush when I was about 5).
And yes, IMDb’s fantasies and often clueless reviews are easily the most annoying part of a really good idea. At least with Wikipedia you know you need to double check everything.
Barry
I don’t recall Hayward even playing dual roles in anything but Iron Mask. He did play the son of Monte Cristo twice — at least one was the son, I’ve never found the other one, the Saint twice, and the Lone Wolf, but unless it was an episode of the latter I don’t recall any dual roles but the man in the mask.
July 15th, 2014 at 10:37 pm
#5. David, Howard St John played Harding in both films. I have not seen the films but the credits (TCM database) did not mention William Lundigan.
Fred Sears played Peters in both films and John Dehner was in both as Reynolds (according the TCM he was Robert in the first film and Frank in the second).
Amanda Blake was the female lead in COUNTERSPY MEETS SCOTLAND YARD.
I saw no mention of possible stars for NEW ADVENTURES OF MR AND MRS NORTH, but I wasn’t looking. I am curious as well so when I have time I’ll see what I can find.
July 15th, 2014 at 10:55 pm
Ah, David,
Louis played twins in Man In The Iron Mask. They have him playing twins in And Then There Were None, Son of Dr. Jekyll and something else. Also misspell his play, Point Valaine as “Verlaine” and fantasize about his employment with Noel Coward.
July 15th, 2014 at 11:17 pm
The And Then There Were None reference has been corrected but that still leaves other items, notable the urban legend regarding The Magnificent Ambersons. I had read that back in 1966 or so and asked him. He was baffled. But he did say, also contrary to the IMDB entry that his most successful film, and we are talking money here, was The Son of Monte Cristo.
July 16th, 2014 at 2:37 pm
Barry
I’m in the minority that found Hayward a good Saint even though he hardly fit the physical description and Charteris hated him (he would have hated anyone short of Cary Grant, Rex Harrison, or Jack Buchanan, his ideals to play the role).
Because he was good at villains and wastrels he had a roguish side that most of the other Saint’s other than George Sanders lacked, and didn’t seem as unsaintly jaded and bored as Sanders did. No knock against Sander’s, his Saint films are good B’s with superior casts and credits, but he was playing George Sanders more than the Saint.
But I bought into Hayward as the Saint of The Saint in New York and later as an older slightly less rash version in The Saint’s Girl Friday. Sanders fan I am and as much as I liked the Moore series, I would say Hayward came closer to the character in the books than anyone else, I suppose because I could just see Hayward standing in the street serenading a constable ala the character in the early books. Can’t imagine Sanders or Moore doing that though Sanders would have no trouble drolly ridiculing one.
Charteris so disliked Sanders that in one of the short stories the Saint escapes a deadly trap by a gymnastic feat and makes a comment to the effect he would like to see Sanders do that.
I would guess the twin thing in And Then There Were None comes from the fact that in the movie and play his character is pretending to be the real victim, a friend who committed suicide while in the book he is as guilty as everyone else
Never heard the Amberson’s connection though I can’t imagine him in either the Holt or Cotton roles really.
For one of his best performances though see him in Edgar Ulmer’s Ruthless with Zachary Scott and Diana Lynn. It’s a low budget Citizen Kane, but very well done with star turns by him, Scott, and Sidney Greenstreet.
July 16th, 2014 at 5:43 pm
Louis could easily have continued playing The Saint, and Charteris had no input whatsoever, but his next films were far more important, as was his compensation. The Saint In New York was far and away the most financially rewarding in the series and best received, however, The Saint’s Return (Girl Friday) balanced things up nicely, as the least successful. Regarding IMDB, they are presented as the go to source and frequently cavalier, or simply ignorat6n, of the facts. If I know something, and people on this board know even more, the information is out there, and no excuse or explanation is adequate. The encyclopedia must get it right. Or, they are not to be trusted.
July 16th, 2014 at 5:46 pm
Re Ambersons: The legend is that there was another part, neither Cotten’s or Holt’s, that was excised. Booth Tarkington’s novel is out there, as is the screenplay written by Welles. No such part exists. It is also presented as bad luck that Louis wasn’t in the picture. Not so at all. Amersons is ‘successful’ only in hindsight.
July 18th, 2017 at 1:51 pm
Hi Steve. I am very intrigued by “David Harding Counterspy”. I am interested in Reggie Nalder’s career. I am desperate not to find a copy of this rare telefilm. Do you have a suggestion how to find it? I really appreciate. Thank you.
July 18th, 2017 at 5:20 pm
I’ve just returned from looking online. Every time I thought I’d found it, it turned to be the movie with Willard Parker and Howard St. John. It seems to have disappeared.
August 10th, 2017 at 6:10 pm
Steve, thanks for your response. Very hard to find this “David Harding Counterspy” !