Assignment Foreign Legion is an American TV series that starred Merle Oberon. [1] It ran on CBS from October 1, 1957, until December 24, 1957. [2]
The series related activities of the French Foreign Legion during World War II. [2] Oberon narrated episodes and played a newspaper correspondent in search of stories about the Foreign Legion. [3]
The show's producers were M. Smedley Aston and Anthony C. Bartlett. [4] Directors included Don Chaffey, Michael McCarthy and Lance Comfort. [5] Writers included Max Ehrlich. [6] The series was filmed in Morocco, Algiers, [4] England and Spain. [3] Eventually it became too dangerous and filming was completed at Beaconsfield Studios in London.[ citation needed ] CBS Television Film Sales Inc. distributed the series. [3]
Assignment Foreign Legion was broadcast on Tuesdays from 10:30 to 11 p.m. Eastern Time. [7] Its average cost was $26,000 an episode. [8] It was sponsored by P. Lorillard Company [9] for Kent cigarettes. The trade publication Variety reported, "there was some worry" prior to Lorillard's taking on the show because it "may be too controversial, possibly alienating nationalistic Arabs." [10]
Variety said "Stories, acting, and production are of good quality. [11]
One week the show was among the top ten shows in Britain. [12]
Merle Oberon was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). After her success in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), she travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel Goldwyn. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Dark Angel (1935). Oberon hid her mixed heritage out of fear of discrimination and the impact it would have had on her career.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was renamed The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Hitchcock himself directed only 18 episodes during its run.
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok is an American Western television series that ran for eight seasons from April 15, 1951, through September 24, 1958. The Screen Gems series began in syndication, but ran on CBS from June 5, 1955, through 1958, and, at the same time, on ABC from 1957 through 1958. The Kellogg's cereal company was the show's national sponsor. The series was also exported to Australia during the late 1950s.
Eleanor Audley was an American actress with a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work. She played Oliver Douglas's mother, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom Green Acres (1965–1969), and provided Disney animated features with the voices of the two iconic villains: Lady Tremaine in Cinderella (1950), and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (1959). She had roles in live-action films, but was most active in radio programs such as My Favorite Husband as Liz Cooper's mother-in-law, Mrs. Cooper, and Father Knows Best as the Anderson family's neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Audley's television appearances include those in I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mister Ed, Hazel, The Beverly Hillbillies, Pistols 'n' Petticoats, and My Three Sons.
Steve Cochran was an American film, television and stage actor. He attended the University of Wyoming. After a stint working as a cowboy, Cochran developed his acting skills in local theatre and gradually progressed to Broadway, film and television.
Boris Karloff (1887-1969) was an English actor. He became known for his role as Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 Frankenstein, leading to a long career in film, radio, and television.
Tales of Wells Fargo is an American Western television series starring Dale Robertson that ran from 1957 to 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season, when it expanded to an hour and switched from black-and-white to color.
Francis Curry McHugh was an American stage, radio, film and television actor.
Actors Studio is an American television series that was hosted by Marc Connelly. It originally aired on ABC from September 26, 1948 to October 26, 1949 and then on CBS from November 1, 1949, to June 23, 1950. It was one of the first series to be picked up by a network after being cancelled by another network. CBS departed from its own precedent when it took the World Video-owned series. Until then it had not shown any sustaining programs that were not owned by CBS.
Frontier Circus is an American Western television series about a traveling circus roaming the American West in the 1880s. Filmed by Revue Productions, the program originally aired on CBS from October 5, 1961, until September 20, 1962. It was also shown on the BBC in England.
Our Man Higgins is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1962, to May 17, 1963.
Ichabod and Me is an American situation comedy television series starring Robert Sterling and George Chandler that aired in the United States during the 1961–1962 television season. It depicts the life of a New York City newspaper reporter who moves to a small New England town and becomes the publisher of its newspaper.
Telephone Time is an American anthology drama series that aired on CBS in 1956, and on ABC from 1957 to 1958. The series features plays adapted from short stories by John Nesbitt who hosted the first season. Frank C. Baxter became the host effective with the September 10, 1957, episode. He hosted the 1957 and 1958 seasons. A total of 81 episodes aired from April 1956 to March 1957 on CBS, and from April 1957 to April 1958 on ABC. The Bell Telephone System sponsored the series.
The Court of Last Resort is an American television dramatized court show which aired October 4, 1957 – April 11, 1958, on NBC. It was co-produced by Erle Stanley Gardner's Paisano Productions, which also brought forth the long-running hit CBS-TV law series, Perry Mason.
André Mikhelson was a Russian actor, in mostly British films. He was born in Moscow, in 1903.
The DuPont Show of the Week is an American television anthology drama series that aired on NBC from September 17, 1961 to September 6, 1964. During its time on the air, the program "was NBC's late Sunday evening 'class' showcase".
Cabin B-13 can refer to a radio play by John Dickson Carr broadcast in the United Kingdom and United States or to an old-time radio mystery anthology series by Carr, broadcast in the United States only
Edward Michael "Smed" Smedley-Aston (1912–2006), sometimes credited only as M. Smedley-Aston or E.M. Smedley-Aston, was a British film producer involved with over 40 feature films, and pioneering some of the earliest filmed TV series in the UK.
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre is an American Western anthology television series broadcast on CBS from October 5, 1956 until May 18, 1961.
Appointment with Adventure is an American dramatic anthology television program that was broadcast from April 3, 1955, until April 1, 1956, on CBS.