Tuesday 12 December 2023

ÇA RETOURNE! (PHILIPPE LOMBARD, ÉDITIONS LA TENGO)

Film and TV specialist Philippe Lombard wrote books on The Persuaders, Starsky and Hutch, The Pink Panther, OSS 117, Tintin, Michel Audiard, Louis de Funès, Quentin Tarantino and many more. In Ça retourne!, published by Éditions La Tengo, he achieves the impossible: to take his readers on an exciting journey through the eternal repetition of cinema history.

After Ça tourne mal!, Ça tourne mal... à Hollywood!, Ça c'est tourné près de chez vous! and Ça tourne mal... à la télé!, a tetralogy about behind the scenes of cinema and television under a thematic angle, Philippe Lombard explores several decades of movie sequels, remakes and sagas in a "spin-off" astutely titled Ça retourne!. After all, the author writes in his foreword that he owes some of his first emotions as a moviegoer to film series. Remaking films first came as an industrial necessity right from the creation of cinema. Then, movie audiences were invited to come back quickly in the theaters with the invention of serials (The Purple Mask, Les Vampires, The Masked Rider...) and the arrival of recurring characters such as Maciste, "The Tramp" played by Charlie Chaplin, or Zorro.
 
From the 1930s, Universal gave sequels to Dracula, Frankenstein and its other monsters. The Invisible Man, Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan and even Lassie took part in the Second World War. Film series and remakes continued to prosper throughout the 20th century to the present day, where superheroes and Disney's live-action treatment of their animated classics epitomize the trend. In a chapter about directors and remakes, Philippe Lombard examines the filmographies of Marcel Pagnol, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino (for his influences), Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, etc. "Franchises" can exceed their sell-by date, like Dracula (with Christopher Lee), The Pink Panther (with or without Peter Sellers), Emmanuelle (with two "m" or just one), Death Wish or Freddy.
 
In France, Jean-Luc Godard "destroyed" the Lemmy Caution movies with Alphaville (1965) (1). La cage aux folles triumphed on the Parisian stage in 1973 before becoming three movies co-produced with Italy between 1978 and 1985 and an American version (The Birdcage, 1996). The U.S. love to remake French movies, see The Woman in Red in 1984 (Un éléphant, ça trompe énormément, 1976) or Three Men and a Baby in 1987 (Trois hommes et un couffin, 1985). Sometimes, imitation is discussed in court (The Last Shark, Running Man, Lock Out). Philippe Lombard also looks at the "Turksploitation" phenomenon and the curious case of the fake Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. Ça retourne! concludes with the evocation of Raiders!, a fan film based on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
 
As always with a book by Philippe Lombard,  Ça retourne! is well researched, smartly thought, pleasantly written and tremendously interesting. French illustrator and graphic artist Mr Choubi (real name Patrick Chevalier) is behind the astounding artistic design of the book. Philippe Lombard is a regular collaborator for the magazine Schnock and other publications.
 
(1) Seven French films (1952-1963) based on the novels written by Peter Cheyney. Directed by Bernard Borderie, they starred American actor Eddie Constantine as Lemmy Caution. He reprised the role for Alphaville.
 
See also: 
 

Thursday 30 November 2023

PANDA - SEASON 1, EPISODES 1 & 2: RETOUR DE KARMA & POLY-KILLER (TF1)

[Spoiler-free review] A stressed police captain teams up with a chilled-out  former cop in Panda. Singer, songwriter, musician and actor Julien Doré (1) and Ophélia Kolb (Tapie, Dix pour cent) star in this brilliant 6 x 52-minute French crime-comedy series which premieres tonight on TF1.

The bottom line: HPI in paradise.

Julien Doré is Victor "Panda" Pandaloni, a laidback pacifist and a vegan who's resistant to technology or even cars and likes to have his 15 hours of sleep in his hammock. He runs a small beach bar called Le Flamant Zen in a remote corner of the region of Camargue and raises his adopted teenager son. Panda's quiet life is disturbed when a young man named Léo Legendre asks for his help because he's chased by Captain Lola Vosquian (2) of the Brigade criminelle (Ophélia Kolb). Lola arrests them but Commissaire Messina informs her that Victor Pandaloni was once a gifted cop before he mysteriously left the service and vanished.

Stan, a young officer who's Lieutenant Pandaloni's #1 fan, welcomes back his hero. Panda doesn't share his enthusiasm, as he learns that he's still a member of the police force because he didn't officially resigned and Messina just put his friend on indefinite leave. The commissaire explains that Léo Legendre is suspected of the murder of a young woman found dead near him when he was unconscious on the yacht of a real estate entrepreneur. Panda thinks that Léo is innocent and he cannot resist to start his own investigation, though he remains haunted by the reason he left the police station. Soon, Panda and Lola reluctantly join forces. 

Created by Thomas Mansuy (Les Rivières pourpres, Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie) and Mathieu Legrand (Les Rivières pourpres, Astrid et Raphaëlle), Panda is based on an original idea by Simon McNabb for Dutch, a series project developed by Sphere Media. The episodes were penned by Thomas Mansuy, Mathieu Legrand, Bastien Dartois, Joseph Lantigny (Astrid et Raphaëlle) and Agathe Robilliard (Candice Renoir). Panda is a most impressive addition to the fiction line-up of TF1. Its style is reminiscent of HPI (the channel's ratings juggernaut since 2021) in an ambience pleasantly similar to Death in Paradise.  Julien Doré looks comfortable in his first important role (3) and his on-screen chemistry with the talented Ophélia Kolb is perfect. 

Actor, director and scriptwriter Gustave Kervern is excellent as Messina. Like Hélène Vincent, who plays Panda's friend and confidante Thérèse. Singer, YouTuber and actor Maxence Lapérouse is Stan, a character who could be a cousin of Gilles from HPI. The dialogues are amazing and the plots are well-crafted. After she's paired with Stan, Lola begs Messina to work with Panda on the case of a man murdered in the workshop of a painter practising polyamory. Victor accepts to be a cop again but under conditions. Mathis Bour plays Roman, Panda's son. Ariane is played by Laure Osseni. First episode guest starring Jean-Louis Garçon (Astrid et Raphaëlle) as Roman's teacher, Boris Baroux (Arthur Berthelot), Matthieu Rozé (Frédéric Berthelot), Théo Gerey (Léo), Rosie Boccardi (Manon), etc.

Second episode guest starring Vincent Heneine (Eliott), Nina Bouffier (Valentine), Christian Prat (Marcel), Anne Azoulay (Marina Simon), Nelly Lawson (Chloé), etc. Produced by Superprod Drama with TF1. Produced with the participation of RTL tvi, Be-Films and RTS - Radio Télévision Suisse. Filmed with the support of Région Occitanie. Nathalie Laurent, Clément Calvet et Jérémie Fajner are the producers. Music composed by Adrien Durand. Cinematography by Tristan Tortuyaux. Editing by Frédérique Olczak. Visuel effects by Autrechose. Titles by Mathieu Decarli and Olivier Marquezii for La Brigade du Titre (HPI). Episodes 1 and 2 written by Thomas Mansuy and Mathieu Legrand, directed by Nicolas Cuche (Les Bracelets Rouges). Episodes 3 to 6 helmed by Jérémy Mainguy. Distributed by Newen Connect.

(1) Julien Doré won the 2007 edition of Nouvelle Star, the French version of Pop Idol.
(2) The character is only credited as Lola. Her surname is given once in each of the first couple of episodes (spelling not specified).
(3) He previously appeared as himself in Dix pour cent and had roles in several films or shorts.

https://www.7sur7.be/tele/interview-julien-dore-serie-panda~a3c6ea27/
https://www.francebleu.fr/emissions/terres-de-tournage

Thursday 23 November 2023

LE FIL D'ARIANE - PILOT (TF1)

A retired crime journalist gets involved in the latest investigation of her son, a police commander.

The bottom line: The Chantal Ladesou Mysteries.

Le fil d'Ariane is a 2 x 52-minute crime-comedy pilot for a potential series created for TF1 by Clara Bourreau and Cécile Lugiez (both worked on Sam) and starring the popular comedian, actress and television/radio personality Chantal Ladesou. Written by Clara Bourreau, Cécile Lugiez and Charlène Galan (Profilage), it premiered on Belgian broadcaster La Une this month. Chantal Ladesou is Ariane Legrand, a crime journalist who behaves like a diva though her glory days are behind her. She loses the murder of a female influencer in Sète to a young colleague and she's pushed into retirement by her editor-in-chief.

Ariane Legrand doesn't take it well but the police detective in charge of the case in Sète happens to be her son, Commander Jacques Vidal. No matter that she hasn't seen him and her grandchildren for a long time, Ariane decides to move in with them in order to investigate on the death of the influencer and get her job back. Le fil d'Ariane is essentially Chantal Ladesou as her public persona in an episode of Simon Coleman, the crime-comedy from France 2 where a cop takes care of his sister's three children. The humour ranges from laborious to embarassing. Someone probably thought that the voice-over by the main character was a good idea but it's not.

Comedian and actor Florent Peyre plays Jacques. Pierre Deny (Demain nous appartient) appears as Jean-François. Appoline Kircher is played by Clémence Ansault, Chantal Ladesou's daughter. Also with Lina Ksantini (Camille Vidal), Léni Plouviez Bascop (Noé Vidal), singer and actress Philypa Phoenix (Balthazar) as Capucine Cissé, Tim Rousseau (Amaury Mercier), Alka Balbir (Antonia), etc. Produced by Elephant Story with TF1. Co-produced by AT-Production and RTBF (Télévision belge). Produced with the participation of RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse)Gaëlle Cholet, Charlotte Denaud and Guillaume Renouil are the producers. Music composed by Arno Alyvan. Cinematography by Philippe Lardon. Editing by Thierry Brunello. Distributed by Newen Connect, Le fil d'Ariane was filmed last june. Directed by Jason Roffé (Tandem).
 

Wednesday 1 November 2023

MASTER CRIMES - SEASON 1 (TF1)

[Spoiler-free review] French channel TF1 is the happy home of HPI, the  ratings juggernaut crime-comedy series starring Audrey Fleurot. This month the private  broadcaster tries its luck with Master Crimes, a 6 x 52-minute crime/mystery drama from one the makers of HPI.

Comedian and actress Muriel Robin stars as Louise Arbus, a (mandatorily) nonconformist criminologist and unorthodox police consultant (of course). 

The Bottom line: B-.

Louise Arbus is a brilliant (the best of her time, we're told) though irritating university psychological criminology professor. Arbus used to work with the police until she started doubting about the guilt of Pierre Delaunay, a man sent to prison thanks to her expertise. Commissaire Oscar Rugasira asks Professor Arbus to join him on a crime scene where the murderer has written a sentence from one of her books on the body of his victim: "I'm waiting for the perfect killer". 

« Et ne m'interrompez plus jamais pendant un meurtre. » 

Louise accepts to collaborate with Captain Barbara Delandre, a no-nonsense police detective in charge of the investigation. She hires four of her students to assist her on the field: Samuel Cythere (a shy young man), headstrong/hacker Mia Delaunay (Pierre Delaunay's daughter), Boris Volodine (Arbus's best student) and influencer Valentine Vallée. Master Crimes is a creation of novelist and screenwriter Elsa Marpeau. In the past, she  imagined two of the quirkiest sleuths of pubcaster group France Télévisions for their eponymous hit series... Capitaine Marleau and Alexandra Ehle.

Elsa Marpeau wrote Episodes 1 and 2 with Franck Calderon, producer of Master Crimes with Sophie Exbrayat for UGC Fiction. UGC Fiction is a subsidiary of UGC Series like Itinéraire Productions, one of the prodcos behind HPI. Franck Calderon worked with Muriel Robin on Mon ange (2021), Le premier oublié (2019) and Jacqueline Sauvage, c'était lui ou moi (2018). Actress Anne Le Nen, who plays Captain Delandre, is the wife of Muriel Robin. She played Captain Léa Hippolyte in the  crime drama Antigone 34 (2012). Olivier Claverie (Downton Abbey 2, Avocats et Associés) is Commissaire Rugasiras.

« Il n'y a que les imbéciles qui sortent de leur zone de confort. »

When Master Crimes started in Belgium and Switzerland ahead of TF1, viewers quickly compared it to How To Get Away with Murder (2014-2020). The first episodes, a two-part story unlike the rest, rather feel like a a lite version of the Flemish series Professor T. (2015-2018). In fact, Elsa Marpeau devised TF1's adaptation of the latter (Prof T., 2016). It takes 90 minutes to introduce Arbus and her "Scooby Gang" (at the expense of Delandre and Rugasira) in a cliche-esque plot requiring a huge suspension of disbelief. At least, Muriel Robin has some good scenes. 

Master Crimes takes shape from the third episode, written by Manon Dillys (Fugueuse, Les Ombres Rouges) and Anthony Maugendre (Tandem). Past the Delaunay case and Barbara's interest for pathologist Théodore Belin, the plots of Episodes 3 to 6 wouldn't look out of place in HPI or another 52-minute crime drama from France. Master Crimes is watchable with a lot of indulgence and a bit of patience. The series relies heavily on the four students but Louise Arbus turns out to be a likeable character and Muriel Robin makes a successful entrance amongst the plethoric French TV investigators. 

Also with Victor Meutelet (Emily in Paris, Grand Hôtel) as Samuel Cythere, Astrid Roos (Mia Delaunay), Nordine Ganso (Boris Volodine), Thaïs Vauquières (Valentine Vallée), Michaël Cohen (Théodore Belin), Nicolas Briançon (Spiral) as Pierre Delaunay, Léon Durieux (Grégoire), Ronan Freud (Thomas Delandre), etc. Episodes 4 to 6 written by Manon Dillys, Anthony Maugendre, Charlotte Joulia (OPJ Pacifique Sud, Police de Caractères), Vincent Robert (Police de Caractères, Crimes parfaits), Marc Kressmann (Demain nous appartient, Candice Renoir), Virginie Parietti (Ici Tout Commence), Emmanuelle Michaux (Section de recherches), Coline Assous (Ici Tout Commence) and Fred Monard (Cassandre). 

Story arc by Manon Dillys. Series directed by Marwen Abdallah (Cassandre). Co-produced with TF1, Be-Films and RTBF (Télévision belge). With the participation of RTS Radio Télévision Suisse. Music by Yannis Dumoutiers (HPI). Cinematography by Kika Ungaro. Editing by Ludivine Essa and Stéphanie Gaurier. Main title design by Brett & Cie (HPI, Crimes parfaits). The filming of Master Crimes began in October 2022 in Paris and its suburbs (Sceaux, Suresnes, Villecresnes...) Les yeux grands fermés, a TV movie with Muriel Robin aired by TF1 last month, was watched by 3.73 million viewers (18.9%). Master Crimes will premiere in France on November 9th (two episodes per week). The series is distributed by Newen Connect.

https://www.tf1.fr/tf1/master-crimes

Friday 13 October 2023

LES ENQUÊTEURS ASSOCIÉS (ORTF, 1970)

An eccentric countess who runs a detective agency solves cases in France and abroad with her three young collaborators
.

Les Enquêteurs associés is a light-hearted French 13 x 26-minute colour detective series shown from September, 30 to October, 21 1970 on the Deuxième chaîne of ORTF (1) and co-produced by Gaumont Télévision International, Mafilm (for Magyar Televízió), Studio Hamburg, Onyx Films (for Radio Canada) and Toei (for NET Tokyo). It is based on an original idea from playwright, actor and director Robert Thomas. Thomas met fame in 1960 with his murder mystery play Piège pour un homme seul, which was translated in 15 languages and was almost turned into a film by Alfred Hitchcock (2). His first play, Huit femmes (1958, revised in 1961), was adapted many times, including as the 2002 movie by François Ozon.

For television, Robert Thomas wrote episodes of L'inspecteur Leclerc enquête (1962) and Les cinq dernières minutes (in 1967). The first episode of Les Enquêteurs associés  was penned by Jacques Armand (Corsaires et Flibustiers). Countess Olga de Charance, the widow of a colonel, is  caught in a shootout between gangsters. The police finds the dead body of an engineer in a nearby bar, where Olga arrives to testify. Ariane Spuller visits the countess to learn more about what happened to this engineer, her tutor. Olga de Charance decides to investigate and meets a resourceful young man only known as La Carpe. A steward named Michel Wiener saves her from a kidnapping. Once the mystery is cracked, the countess sets up the Incognito investigation agency with Ariane, La Carpe and Michel.

The character of Countess Olga de Charance was specifically written for Maria Pacôme. Revealed by the play Oscar in 1958, the actress made a name for herself in the "théatre de boulevard" as exuberant ladies from the bourgeoisie. Before Les Enquêteurs associés, Maria Pacôme had roles in popular French comedy movies Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez (1964) and Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine (1965). She played in several television productions, including Au théâtre ce soir (3). After the series, Maria Pacôme pursued a brilliant career on stage, in films such as Le Distrait, Les Sous-doués and La Crise, and on TV (Docteur Sylvestre). Tired of being typecast, she decided to write her own plays (Le Jardin d'Éponine, Les Seins de Lola...) while remaining an actress.

Ariane is portrayed by Maria Latour, noticed in the drama Foncouverte (1965) and Luis Buñuel's film Belle de jour (1967). German actor Bruno Dietrich, winner of a Deutscher Filmpreis award in 1966, plays Michel. His resume includes participations in two Angélique movies and the TV series Derrick, Paul Temple, Hamburg Transit, Les Brigades du Tigre, Miss, Manni, der Libero or The Dirty Dozen. Richard Guimond-Darbois, better known as Richard Darbois, is La Carpe. Born in Montreal, Darbois is the son of comedian and actor Olivier Guimond and singer Jeanne-d'Arc Charlebois (aka Jeanne Darbois), two French Canadian stars. His mother and him left Canada for France in 1955 when he was 4. The actor made his debut on stage as a child and he was only 17 when Les Enquêteurs associés was shot. The same year he played in Sébastien et la Mary-Morgane, aired in 1970 by ORTF.

Then Richard Darbois worked on stage again (Madame Jonas dans la baleine, 1971) before appearing in adult films for the rest of the decade. Since the 1980s, he's a dubbing actor and a voice artist. Richard Darbois is the French voice of Harrison FordRichard Gere, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum, Buzz Lightyear or Genie in Aladdin (to name a few). He can be heard in the jingles of a well-known French radio and he's the announcer of Danse avec les Stars. After their first official case, the investigators of the Incognito agency fly to Hungary. In Budapest, they watch over a duo of clowns. Olga and Michel protect an old lady in the Hungarian countryside. Back in France, the detectives help an ex-convict framed for murder and investigate the death of a client whose husband wanted to divorce. In Hamburg, Olga is hired by a kleptomaniac young woman and the team must solve the mystery of a key.

The sleuths return to Budapest as technical advisors on a film, before a mission in Montreal and a Canadian weekend in an inn. Ariane and La Carpe convey a  painting to Japan. In the French Alps, Michel's holidays are disrupted by a strange man. Among the authors of Les Enquêteurs associés, some previously worked on L'Inspecteur Leclerc enquête: Robert Thomas, Frédéric Valmain, Jacques Canestrier, Pierre Nivollet and Jean-Luc Terrex. Francis Veber, later scriptwriter and director of numerous hit comedies, penned one episode. The other writers are Marcel Jullian (Le Cerveau, Docteur Caraïbes), Albert Husson, Nagaharu Okuyama and the series producer Étienne F. LarocheSerge Korber, director of the Louis de Funès vehicles L'Homme orchestre (1970) and Sur un arbre perché (1971), helmed the five French episodes and the two German episodes of Les Enquêteurs associés.

Directors Gilles Grangier (Le cave se rebiffe) and Tamás Rényi (Tales of a Long Journey) did the three Hungarian episodes. The two Canadian episodes were filmed in February 1969 at the lake Memphremagog, the Lantern inn (Magog), Derval and Montreal (4), under the direction of Jean Salvy (Les Dossiers de l'Agence O). The French writer and director settled in Quebec in 1972. His couple of episodes were actually aired in reverse order (5). Filming in Hungary started after the Canadian part (6). Tatsuo Yamada directed the only Japanese episode. Future renowned theatre director Bernard Murat (credited as Jean-Claude Murat), Fernand Berset, Marcel Dalio, Malka Ribowska, Yves Massard, Maurice Sarfati or Jean Lefebvre guest starred in Serge Korber's episodes. Berset and Lefebvre played in his movie Un idiot à Paris (1967).

The Hungarian guest cast includes György Bárdy (The Gravy Train goes East), Hilda Gobbi (Hahó, a tenger!), Bela Ernyey, etc. Some actors of the German episodes (Hans Gosslar, Benno Hoffmann, Hans Paetsch...) appeared in other series from Hamburgische Film-und Fernsehproduktion GmbH/Studio Hamburg like Cliff Dexter (1966-1968),  Polizeïfunk ruft (1966-1970), or Percy Stuart (1969-1972). Gérard Poirier, Jean LeClerc (All my Children, Loving), Patricia Nolin (Les Atomistes) or Guy Hoffmann can be seen in the Canadian episodes. Shinzuke Mikimoto (Sûpa jaiantsu) and Akiko Koyama are in the Japanese episode. The talent of Maria Pacôme and the enthusiasm of her young partners are the only reasons to watch the uneven Les Enquêteurs associés.

Though devised by specialists of mystery and comedy, the stories hardly fit into the 26-minute format. There are continuity issues (the kleptomania of La Carpe is not mentioned again after episode 1). The personality of Olga de Charance changes after the beginning of the series. ORTF's Deuxième chaîne aired Les Enquêteurs associés during the afternoon. In Germany, it was called Detektivbüro Argusauge and shown in 1971-1972 on NDR and RB. The music of the series was composed by François de Roubaix and arranged by Bernard Gérard. Robert Thomas recycled plot elements of Les Enquêteurs associés in his series Un curé de choc (1974). The play Piège pour un homme seul is currently performed in Paris at Le Théâtre de la Michodière.

(1) Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française.
(2) Piège pour un homme seul was adapted for television as One of My Wives is Missing (1976) and Vanishing Act (1986), among others.
(3) Au théâtre ce soir (1966-1986) is a famous French television programme which showed pre-recorded plays.
(4) (5) Le Petit Journal, 17 février 1969.
(6) La Presse, 6 mars 1969.

Wednesday 30 August 2023

THE DANCING DETECTIVE: A DEADLY TANGO (HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES, 2023)

An American police detective and a British dance teacher must work together in Malta. The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango is a charming and humorous TV movie which premiered in June 2023 on U.S. channel Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.

Constance Bailey is a tenacious New York State police detective but she prefers to work alone. She's sent to Malta where the CEO of a global ballroom dancing company was murdered on the eve of his company's corporate dance competition. Sergeant Ana Spiteri, her local liaison with Interpol, informs her that she'll have to investigate undercover as a contestant of this competition. The problem is that Constance can't dance so she must collaborate with Sebastian Moore, a charismatic and free-spirited British dance instructor who will pose as her husband.

Constance Bailey is played by American actress Lacey Chabert (Mean Girls, Party of Five), one of Hallmark's most popular stars. She did more than 30 TV movies with the network since 2010. This includes five Crossword Mysteries between 2019 and 2021. English actor and dancer Will Kemp (Reign), who co-starred in five films for Hallmark, plays Sebastian Moore. Directed by Stefan Scaini (Moriah's Lighthouse, Christmas at Castle Hart),  The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango reunites Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp after Love, Romance and Chocolate (2019) and The Christmas Waltz (2020). Kemp developed the project with Aubrey Day, who wrote the script.

The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango is a joyful, classy and highly entertaining whodunnit illuminated by the undeniable chemistry between its two talented stars. The dialogues (with nods to some classic TV sleuths) are very funny, the Malta locations are mandatorily gorgeous and the dance scenes are splendid. The choreographer of this movie is none other than Jean-Marc Généreux, the French Canadian ballroom dance champion, choreographer and judge for hit TV shows Révolution, Danse avec les Stars and So You Think You Can Dance. He also did the choreography of The Christmas Waltz.

With Bettina Paris (Barbra Stone), Natasa Babic (Mary Aston), Diego Wallraff (Largo Winch, Delta Team) as Kevin Hamilton, Peter Galea (Tom Stevens), Michela Faruggia (Jennifer Tate), Clare Agius (Sergeant Ana Spiteri), Marysia S. Peres (Judy Maxwell), Mikhail Basmadjian (Captain Kelly), etc. Produced by Leif Film Media, Tetrad Productions Ltd. and Movie House Entertainment. Produced in association with 120 dB Films. Exec produced by Michael Mc Laughlin and Danny Weber, Stephen Hays and Peter Graham, Will Kemp, Lacey Chabert and Leif Bristow. Produced by Mark Vennis, Colin Azzopardi, Borga Dorter and Agnes Bristow. Brandon Fidanque is the associate producer. Music by Christopher Guglick.

Cinematography by Russ Goozee, CSC. Edited by Paul Whitehead. Costumes designed by Luminita Lungu. Production designed by Perrine Lejeune and Cédric Van Eesbeeck. Christian Millette (Danse avec les Stars) is the assistant choreographer/dance double.  Brenda Lee Grech, a professional dancer from Malta, is the ensemble choreographer/dance double. The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango is a Malta/Canada/UK co-production filmed entirely on location in Malta. Produced with the support of the Government of Malta through the financial incentives of the Malta Film Commission (Screen Malta). Produced with the assistance of the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Ontario Film & Television Tax Credit.

https://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/the-dancing-detective-a-deadly-tango
https://a2zfilminglocation.com/dancing-detective-deadly-filming-locations/
https://www.guglick.com/
https://www.jeanmarcgenereux.com/

Monday 21 August 2023

ALLMEN: THE SECRET OF EROTICISM (ALLMEN UND DAS GEHEIMNIS DER EROTIK - DAS ERSTE, 2021)

A philosophical dandy turned art detective and his loyal butler are in trouble again, because of the former (as usual)

Allmen und das Geheimnis der Erotik is the fourth of a very enjoyable and stylish German feature-length comedy/detective series aired on Das Erste since 2017.

« Verzeihen Sie mir die peinliche Formulierung. Don John, wir sind pleite. »

Johann Friedrich von Allmen lives in Zurich. He's a bon vivant, a man of culture and taste who likes elegance and refinement. Allmen has no equal when it comes to spending his money, to the point that he squandered the family fortune and came to finance his expensive lifestyle with occasional thefts of pricey antiques. Thankfully, he turned an expertise in tracing missing artworks into a profession as the founder of Allmen International Enquiries. Though it allows him to satisfy his costly habits, his faithful Guatemalan valet Carlos does his best to moderate not without a touch of irony the flamboyant "Don John". Created by bestselling Swiss author Martin Suter, Allmen first appeared in Allmen and the Dragonflies (Allmen und die Libellen, 2011), a novel followed by five more. 

Four Allmen TV movies based on the books were aired by pubcaster Das Erste between 2017 and 2021: Allmen und das Geheimnis der Libellen, Allmen und das Geheimnis des rosa Diamanten, Allmen und das Geheimnis der Dahlien and Allmen und das Geheimnis der Erotik.  A fifth one, Allmen und das Geheimnis des Koi, was shot this year. Those films star Heino Ferch (Nordholm, Anatomy of Evil) as Johann Friedrich von Allmen and Samuel Finzi (Flemming) as Carlos. Andrea Osvárt (Tranporter: The Series) plays Joelle "Jojo" Hirt, the daughter of one of the richest men in Switzerland and Allmen's love interest. From the second film, Isabella Parkinson joined the cast as Carlos' Colombian girlfriend Maria Moreno. Adapted by scriptwriter Martin Rauhaus (Hotel Heidelberg) from the book Allmen und die Erotik, Allmen und das Geheimnis der Erotik is directed by Thomas Berger (Kommissarin Lucas).

« Aus welchem Grund hätte Nikolaus II einem eher systemkritischen Schriftsteller ein Fabergé-Ei schenken sollen? »

Carlos tries to warn his employer about their financial situation but "Don John" doesn't care. Allmen and Jojo attend a reading organised by Klaus Sternwald, who brought back from Saint Petersburg a Fabergé egg offered to Leo Tolstoi by Czar Nicholas II. Johann meets Jasmin Sterner, the granddaughter of an expert porcelain seller. He decides spontaneously to steal the egg but ignores that he's filmed. Wilhelm Krähenbühler, head of security of the exhibition, does not report him to the police. Instead he wants Allmen to steal a group of porcelain pieces made by German master Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775). A last-minute intervention of Maria allows Allmen and Carlos to manage the impossible. The gentleman detective/philosopher visits a very modern cloister. Of course, he cannot resist a double-cross but soon he faces an even more dangerous adversary.

The fast-paced and fun Allmen und das Geheimnis der Erotik has excellent dialogues, a  very good cast, superb sets and great locations (Prague and Zurich). Most of the charm of these adaptations of Allmen comes from the performances of Heino Ferch (with an incredible look), Samuel Finzi and Isabella Parkinson, a talented trio. Allmen and Carlos are often compared to P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster. With Devrim Lingnau (The Empress) as Jasmin Sterner, Stefan Kurt (Cognatus Reimund), Christoph Bach (Wilhelm Krähenbühler), Kristin Suckow (Irmela), Jörg Pintsch (Klaus Sternwald), Borek Slezácek (Boeni), Roman Smejkal (Taxi driver Arnold), Joe Weintraub (All Quiet on the Western Front) as Vitzum, Roy McCrerey (Richard Hess) and Elizaveta Maximová. Jörg Pintsch played in the second and third Allmen TV movies, but in different roles.

Produced by UFA Fiction  with Mia Film (Der Zürich-Krimi) for ARD Degeto and Das Erste. Benjamin Benedict and Sinah Swyter are the producers. Karsten Kilian and Petr Bílek are the production managers. Holger Krenz and Kirsten Frehse (ARD Degeto) are the line producers. Music by Fabian Römer and Mathias Hillebrand-Gonzalez. Albrecht Konrad is the production designer. Cinematography by Frank Küpper. Editing by Lucas Seeberger. Production services in Prague by Michal Pokorný and Zbyněk Pippal for Mia Film. Allmen und das Geheimnis der Erotik is available in the U.S. and Canada as Allmen: The Secret of Eroticism, thanks to MHz Choice. The SVOD service also has the other TV films. Allmen is distributed by Beta Film.
 

Tuesday 1 August 2023

THE VIRGINIAN - SEASON 3 ON DVD (ELEPHANT FILMS)

The Virginian, the classic western series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, ran for 9 seasons and 249 75-minute episodes on U.S. network NBC from 1962 to 1971. It is available on DVD (All Zone) from Elephant Films, which first released the fully restored series in its entirety from 2014, including episodes never shown on French television.

Since May, Elephant makes The Virginian available again. Seasons 1 to 3 and Seasons 4 to 6 can be bought individually or in "Le Virginien - Intégrale Volume 1 - Saisons 1 à 3" and "Le Virginien - Intégrale Volume 2 - Saisons 4 à 6". Seasons 7 to 9 will follow in September.

The Virginian
is set in Medicine Bow, Wyoming at the end of the 19th century and centered on the charismatic and enigmatic foreman of the Shiloh Ranch, only known as  "The Virginian". The character was created by American writer Owen Wister (1860-1938) for his novel The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains, first published in 1902. The book was adapted for the stage as of 1903 and four movies were made between 1914 and 1946. Wister's work raised the interest of television in the late 1950s. At the suggestion of
Frank Price, a story editor at Screen Gems (the TV subsidiary of Columbia Pictures), the company produced a 30-minute black and white pilot starring James Drury, a young actor from New York, as The Virginian. The pilot didn't sell and ended up as an episode of the anthology Decision, aired by NBC in summer 1958.
 
The western genre was very popular on U.S. television in the 1950s and 1960s. The most watched show of the 1961-1962 season was NBC's western Wagon Train (1957-1965), produced by Revue Studios, the TV arm of MCA (Music Corporation of America). The second and third most watched programmes were westerns too: Bonanza (1959-1973), also on NBC, and Gunsmoke (1955-1975) on CBS. In 1961, Jennings Lang, vice president of distributor MCA TV, sold new and old episodes of Wagon Train to ABC for $20 million after NBC refused the price proposed by MCA at the end of their five-year contract. Lang gave the executives of NBC something bigger to replace America's #1 programme... The Virginian, television's first 90-minute (with commercial breaks) western series. He asked Frank Price, who joined Revue in 1959, to write the format.
 
The network greenlit the series, to be filmed in colour (1) on 35mm and without a pilot. NBC called The Virginian "the most ambitious and costly programming in network television history" and explained that the 90 minutes allowed full character development and expanded storytelling. They promised location shooting and "at least one major guest star" every week (2). In March 1962 came the announcement that Broadway and film actor Lee J. Cobb (12 Angry Men, On the Waterfront) would play the key role of Judge Henry Garth, the owner of the Shiloh Ranch. The rest of the main cast was revealed in May: four years after the Screen Gems pilot, James Drury was chosen to be The Virginian. Doug McClure (Overland Trail, Checkmate) got the role of Trampas, the fun-loving top hand of The Virginian. Gary Clarke (Michael Shayne) was given the part of Steve Hill, a young cowboy.  
 
The other regular characters announced were newspaperwoman Molly Wood, portrayed by Pippa Scott, and Judge Garth's teenage daughter Betsy, played by Roberta Shore. In May 1962, multiple production units started to work simultaneously to provide the 30 75-minute episodes planned, on a schedule requiring to make two or three episodes at the same time. Hence the variable presence of the main characters from an episode to another. With a budget estimated as much as $500,000 each on some episodes (3) and a duel vs Wagon Train on wednesdays to begin in fall 1962, failure was not an option. Long before the launch of The Virginian, NBC and Revue Studios grew dissatisfied with the work of executive producer Charles Marquis Warren on the series and decided to replace him.
 
MCA hired Roy Huggins as a consultant to assess the problems of the episodes already produced and fix them. Huggins was a novelist, scriptwriter and producer who worked for Columbia, RKO, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox. For television, he created the hit series Cheyenne (1955-1962), Maverick (1957-1962) and 77 Sunset Strip (1958-1964) (4). Roy Huggins called Frank Price and Joel Rogosin to assist him and asked director Richard L. Bare to shoot new scenes. Charles Marquis Warren remained credited until mid-season, then Roy Huggins and Frank Price officially became executive producer and producer (respectively). Hugh O'Brian, Ricardo Montalbán, George C. Scott, Bette Davis or Vera Miles guest starred in a first season which fulfilled its promises. The Virginian ranked #26 in the ratings, closely following Wagon Train which fell to the 25th position.
 
In 1962, MCA acquired record company Decca, the owner of Universal Pictures and Revue Studios was renamed Universal Television the following year (5). In May 1963, Lee J. Cobb, James Drury, Doug McClure, Gary Clarke and Roberta Shore began to work on the second season of The Virginian. New executive producer Frank Price signed freelance writer Cy Chermak as story editor. Chermak worked on The Dakotas (1963) and Bonanza (6). Produced by Jules Schermer and Winston Miller, season 2 aired from September 1963 to May 1964 on wednesdays. Wagon Train switched to colour and 90 minutes for its seventh season (7) but moved to mondays. In November 1963, NBC announced that Randy Boone would join the regular cast. This young actor and singer from North Carolina, noticed in It's a Man's World (1962-1963), first appeared as guitar playing ranch hand Randy Benton in the 20th episode of the second season.
 
An episode solved the absence of journalist Molly Wood since the middle of season 1 but without Pippa Scott. Ross Elliott recurred as Sheriff Mark Abbott from season 1 to season 7 (except for season 4). L.Q. Jones played Belden, a semi-regular character, from season 2 to the final season. Gena Rowlands, Robert Redford, Dick York, Yvonne DeCarlo, Jack Klugman, Peter Graves or Darren McGavin were some of the guest stars of a second season which ranked #17 in the ratings. Produced by Joel Rogosin, Winston Miller, Frank Telford, Cy Chermak and Gene L. Coon, season 3 aired on NBC from September 1964 to May 1965 every wednesdays. Frank Price remained the executive producer and hired actor Clu Gulager in May 1964 to play the regular role of Deputy Sheriff Emmett Ryker. Gulager previously played different roles in individual episodes of seasons 1 and 2 of The Virginian. Written by Frank Fenton, directed by Don Richardson and guest starring Leslie Nielsen, season 3's first episode (titled Ryker) introduces the new character.
 
Gary Clarke appeared in three episodes of the third season before the departure of Steve Hill  from Shiloh Ranch after The Girl from Yesterday (episode 9). Those cast changes required a new title sequence, with an emphasis on action (at the request of Jennings Lang). Roberta Shore and Randy Boone were credited together on a shot from their singing duet of Dark Challenge, the second episode. Katherine Crawford, who guest stars in Felicity's Spring (episode 5), is the daughter of Roy Huggins and she married Frank Price in 1965. Written by John Holloway and directed by Don McDougall, Felicity's Spring was the highest rated episode of the season. Linden Chiles plays a spoiled rich young man in Big Image... Little Man (episode 7), penned by Frank Chase and Carey Wilber and helmed by movie serials veteran William Witney. A young Kurt Russell plays in A Father For Toby, written by True Boardman from a story by Tom Seller and directed by Alan Crossland, Jr.  
 
Vera Miles and John Gavin, who both starred in Psycho (1960), play together in Portrait Of A Widow (the 13th episode). Penned by Cy Chermak and helmed by Don McDougall, Hideout (episode 18) is the remake of a western from Universal Pictures called Sierra (1950), itself adapted from  Stuart Hardy's novel The Mountains Are My Kingdom (1937) by Edna Anhalt. In We've Lost a Train, Trampas is sent to Mexico to pick up a prized bull. While at Laredo, he meets a group of Texas Rangers. Written by Borden Chase and directed by Earl Bellamy, the 30th episode of this third season served as a backdoor pilot for the comedy western series Laredo. Produced by Universal Television, Laredo ran on NBC for 56 one-hour colour episodes from  1965 to 1967 and starred Neville Brand (Reese Bennett), William Smith (Joe Riley), Peter Brown (Chad Cooper) and Philip Carey as Captain Edward Parmalee (8)
 
Peter Brown and William Smith guest starred in different roles (for one episode each) during season 3 of The Virginian before the characters of Laredo were introduced in We've Lost a Train. Katharine Ross, Robert Culp, Steve Forrest, Barbara Eden, Rory Calhoun, Anne Francis, George Kennedy, Adam West or Ida Lupino are amongst the other guest stars of the season. Many familiar faces appear, such as Warren Stevens, Harold Gould, Slim Pickens, Peter Mark Richman, Robert Colbert, Bruce Dern, Tom Skeritt, Leonard Nimoy, etc. Even an unknown Raquel Welch as a saloon girl in episode 1. Actor Jerome Courtland, who co-stars in A Slight Case of Charity (episode 21), became an important television director. Other writers of this 1964-1965 season include Clair Huffaker, Mark Rodgers, Jean Holloway, Howard Browne, Gabrielle Upton and Gene L. Coon.
 
Bernard McEveety, Richard L. Bare, John Florea, Maury Geraghty, William Hale, Richard Benedict and Leon Benson are season 3's other directors. Percy Faith (Tammy Tell Me True) composed the theme music of The Virginian. Composers Sidney Fine, Leo Shuken, Jack Hayes, Lynn Murray, Harry Sukman and Van Cleave worked on the soundtrack. The third season of The Virginian ranked #22 in the ratings. Season 5 reached the Top 10. For its ninth season, the title changed for The Men from Shiloh and a new theme music was composed by Ennio Morricone. Only James Drury and Doug McClure stayed for the entire series. The success of The Virginian paved the way for more 90-minute programmes with continuing characters, like western Cimarron Strip (1967-1968) on CBS or NBC's The Name of the Game (1968-1971) and The NBC Mystery Movie (1971-1977).

The influence of The Virginian on the television industry didn't stop there. The good reception of the first 90-minute western series during the 1962-1963 season encouraged the emergence of the "Made-for-Television movie". In June 1963, MCA and NBC signed a deal to make two-hour colour feature films specifically for the network on a TV budget. The idea was inspired to Jennings Lang because networks competed to air theatrical films. The result was Project 120 and in november 1963 NBC announced the production of Johnny North, "television's first two-hour telefilm", starring Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson and John Cassavetes. Directed by Don Siegel, it was judged too violent by NBC and Universal released it theatrically as The Killers. Shown in October 1964, See How They Run became the first of those TV movies, folllowed by The Hanged Man in November of the same year.

After The Virginian, James Drury did some stage work and starred in the short-lived Firehouse (1974). He guest starred in a lot of series and attended numerous western festivals and conventions. Doug McClure rotated the lead with Hugh O'Brian and Tony Franciosa in Search (1972-1973). He replaced Dennis Cole in Barbary Coast (1975-1976) after the pilot. The TV movie Satan's Triangle (1975), where he played alongside Kim Novak, is cult in France. His last regular role in a series was in Out of This World (1987-1991). On the big screen, McClure starred in The Land That Time Forgot (1974), At The Earth's Core (1976) or The People That Time Forgot (1977). MCA decided to release some episodes of The Virginian in theaters abroad to recoup some of the production costs (9). Selected episodes of The Virginian arrived on French television from 1966. 
 
The "Le Virginien - Intégrale Saison 3" 15-disc boxset from Elephant Films contains the 30 episodes of season 3, in English with French subtitles as they were never shown on French TV. Bonus material is comprised of an interview with Peter Brown and the trailers of other titles from Elephant Films.

(1) Bonanza was the first TV western to be filmed in colour. Alex Quiroga, the colour consultant of Bonanza and Robert Brower worked as consultants on The Virginian.
(2) NBC Press release (August 29, 1962).
(3) Sponsor (March 19, 1962).
(5)  MCA formed Universal City Studios in 1964 to oversee its film and television activities.
(6) Later, Cy Chermak became the executive producer of Ironside (1967-1975) and CHiPs (1977-1983).
(7) Wagon Train reverted to black and white and 60 minutes for its eighth and final season.
(8) Robert Wolders and Claude Akins joined the regular cast for the second season.
(9)  Ride a Dark Trail, the first episode of season 2, was edited with the 30th episode of the third season (We've Lost A Train, the pilot for Laredo) to form the movie Backtrack! (1969).

https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/mfp/5472590/serie-le-virginien?pid=10516775908 (Intégrale Saison 3)
https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/offer/buy/10516775909/le-virginien-volume-1-saisons-1-a-3.html (Intégrale Volume 1 - Saisons 1 à 3)
http://www.elephantfilms.com

See also:

Tuesday 18 July 2023

THE VIRGINIAN - SEASON 2 ON DVD (ELEPHANT FILMS)

The Virginian
, the classic western series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, ran for 9 seasons and 249 75-minute episodes on U.S. network NBC from 1962 to 1971. It is
available on DVD (All Zone) from Elephant Films, which first released the fully restored series in its entirety from 2014, including episodes never shown on French television.
 
Since May, Elephant makes The Virginian available again. Seasons 1 to 3 and Seasons 4 to 6 can be bought individually or in "Le Virginien - Intégrale Volume 1 - Saisons 1 à 3" and "Le Virginien - Intégrale Volume 2 - Saisons 4 à 6". Seasons 7 to 9 will follow in September.
 
The Virginian is set in Medicine Bow, Wyoming at the end of the 19th century and centered on the charismatic and enigmatic foreman of the Shiloh Ranch, only known as  "The Virginian". The character was created by American writer Owen Wister (1860-1938) for his novel The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains, first published in 1902. The book was adapted for the stage as of 1903 and four movies were made between 1914 and 1946. Wister's work raised the interest of television in the late 1950s. At the suggestion of Frank Price, a story editor at Screen Gems (the TV subsidiary of Columbia Pictures), the company produced a 30-minute black and white pilot starring James Drury, a young actor from New York, as The Virginian. The pilot didn't sell and ended up as an episode of the anthology Decision, aired by NBC in summer 1958.
 
The western genre was very popular on U.S. television in the 1950s and 1960s. The most watched show of the 1961-1962 season was NBC's western Wagon Train (1957-1965), produced by Revue Studios, the TV arm of MCA (Music Corporation of America). The second and third most watched programmes were westerns too: Bonanza (1959-1973), also on NBC, and Gunsmoke (1955-1975) on CBS. In 1961, Jennings Lang, vice president of distributor MCA TV, sold new and old episodes of Wagon Train to ABC for $20 million after NBC refused the price proposed by MCA at the end of their five-year contract. Lang gave the executives of NBC something bigger to replace America's #1 programme... The Virginian, television's first 90-minute (with commercial breaks) western series. He asked Frank Price, who joined Revue in 1959, to write the format. The network greenlit the series, to be filmed in colour (1) on 35mm and without a pilot. 
 
NBC called The Virginian "the most ambitious and costly programming in network television history" and explained that the 90 minutes allowed full character development and expanded storytelling. They promised location shooting and "at least one major guest star" every week (2). In March 1962 came the announcement that Broadway and film actor Lee J. Cobb (12 Angry Men, On the Waterfront) would play the key role of Judge Henry Garth, the owner of the Shiloh Ranch. The rest of the main cast was revealed in May: four years after the Screen Gems pilot, James Drury was chosen to be The Virginian. Doug McClure (Overland Trail, Checkmate) got the role of Trampas, the fun-loving top hand of The Virginian though he was a villain in the book. Gary Clarke (Michael Shayne) was given the part of Steve Hill, a young cowboy.  
 
The other regular characters announced were newspaper owner Molly Wood, portrayed by Pippa Scott, and Judge Garth's teenage daughter Betsy, played by Roberta Shore. In May 1962, multiple production units started to work simultaneously to provide the 30 75-minute episodes planned, on a schedule requiring to make two or three episodes at the same time. Hence the variable presence of the main characters from an episode to another. With a budget estimated as much as $500,000 each on some episodes (3) and a duel vs Wagon Train on wednesdays to begin in fall 1962, failure was not an option. Long before the launch of The Virginian, NBC and Revue Studios grew dissatisfied with the work of executive producer Charles Marquis Warren on the series and decided to replace him.
 
MCA hired Roy Huggins as a consultant to assess the problems of the episodes already produced and fix them. Huggins was a novelist, scriptwriter and producer who worked for Columbia, RKO, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox. For television, he created the hit series Cheyenne (1955-1962), Maverick (1957-1962) and 77 Sunset Strip (1958-1964). Roy Huggins called Frank Price and Joel Rogosin to assist him and asked director Richard L. Bare to shoot new scenes. Charles Marquis Warren remained credited until mid-season, then Roy Huggins and Frank Price officially became executive producer and producer (respectively). Hugh O'Brian, Ricardo Montalbán, George C. Scott, Bette Davis or Vera Miles guest starred in a first season which fulfilled its promises. The Virginian ranked #26 in the ratings, closely following Wagon Train which fell to the 25th position.
 
In May 1963, Lee J. Cobb, James Drury, Doug McClure, Gary Clarke and Roberta Shore began to work on the second season of The Virginian. New executive producer Frank Price signed freelance writer Cy Chermak as story editor. Chermak worked on The Dakotas (1963) and Bonanza (4). Produced by Jules Schermer and Winston Miller, season 2 aired from September 1963 to May 1964 on wednesdays. 26 episodes were originally intended but NBC ordered four more in December. Wagon Train switched to colour and 90 minutes for its seventh season (5) but was now on mondays. Written by E.M. Parsons from a story by Arthur Browne and directed by John Peyser, Ride A Dark Trail opens the season with the story of Trampas before his arrival at Shiloh Ranch. Writers Carey Wilber and Frank Fenton did the same for The Virginian in The Drifter, the 19th episode (directed by Don McDougall). 
 
In November 1963, NBC announced that Randy Boone would join the regular cast. This young actor and singer from North Carolina, noticed in It's a Man's World (1962-1963), first appeared as guitar playing ranch hand Randy Benton in First to Thine Own Self (the 20th episode). Ross Elliott recurred as Sheriff Mark Abbott from season 1 to season 7 (except for season 4). L.Q. Jones played Andy Belden, a semi-regular character, from season 2 to the final season. The Fatal Journey, the 11th episode, solves the absence of newspaperwoman Molly Wood since the middle of season 1 without the actress Pippa Scott. Other writers of this 1963-1964 season include Bob and Wanda Duncan, Frank Chase, William Fay, Dean Riesner, Donn Mullally, John D.F. Black or Borden Chase
 
Robert Ellis Miller, movie serials veterans John English and William Witney, Bernard McEveety, Earl Bellamy, Richard L. Bare and Andrew V. McLaglen are some of the other directors of season 2. Percy Faith (Tammy Tell Me True) composed the theme music of The Virginian. Composers Lennie Hayton, Sidney Fine, David Buttolph, Pete Rugolo and Richard Shores worked on the soundtrack. Gena Rowlands, Robert Redford, Dick York, Yvonne DeCarlo, Jack Klugman, Peter Graves or Darren McGavin are among the guest stars of this second season. Clu Gulager, who played a villain in a season 1 episode, returns in a different role. He came back again as Deputy Sheriff Emmett Ryker from season 3 to season 6. 
 
Many familiar faces appear throughout season 2, such as Robert Colbert, Warren Oates, Madlyn Rhue, Mariette Hartley, Bruce Dern or David Carradine. Future Star Trek icons DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy can both be seen in Man of Violence (episode 14). Katherine Crawford, who plays Anna Swenson in the episode A Bride For Lars, is the daughter of Roy Huggins. She married Frank Price in 1965. The second season of The Virginian ranked #17 in the ratings. Season 3 was #22 and launched a spin-off, Laredo (1965-1967). Season 5 reached the Top 10. For its ninth season, the title changed for The Men from Shiloh and a new theme music was composed by Ennio Morricone. Only James Drury and Doug McClure stayed for the entire series. 
 
The success of The Virginian paved the way for more 90-minute programmes with continuing characters, like western Cimarron Strip (1967-1968) on CBS or NBC's The Name of the Game (1968-1971) and The NBC Mystery Movie (1971-1977). Roy Huggins created The Fugitive (1963-1967) for ABC and stayed at Universal Television as a vice president (until 1966) and executive producer. There, he created and/or exec produced Run for Your Life (1965-1968), The Outsider (1968-1969), The Lawyers (1968-1972), Alias Smith and Jones (1971-1973), Cool Million (1972), Toma (1973-1974), The Rockford Files (1974-1980, co-created with Stephen J. Cannell), Baretta (1975-1978, created by Stephen J. Cannell) and City of Angels (1976, created with Cannell). Huggins came out of retirement in 1985 to become the executive producer of Hunter (1984-1991). 
 
After The Virginian, James Drury did some stage work and starred in the short-lived Firehouse (1974). He guest starred in a lot of series and attended numerous western festivals and conventions. Doug McClure rotated the lead with Hugh O'Brian and Tony Franciosa in Search (1972-1973). He replaced Dennis Cole in Barbary Coast (1975-1976) after the pilot. The TV movie Satan's Triangle (1975), where he played alongside Kim Novak, is cult in France. His last regular role in a series was in Out of This World (1987-1991). On the big screen, McClure starred in The Land That Time Forgot (1974), At The Earth's Core (1976) or The People That Time Forgot (1977). 
 
MCA decided to release some episodes of The Virginian in theaters abroad to recoup some of the production costs (6). Selected episodes of The Virginian arrived on French television from 1966. The "Le Virginien - Intégrale Saison 2" 15-disc boxset from Elephant Films contains the 30 episodes of season 2. The languages are French and English (with French subtitles). 13 episodes unaired on French TV are in English only. Bonus material is comprised of a presentation of the series and its season 2 by French journalist and acknowledged TV series expert Alain Carrazé, an interview with Gary Clarke, an interview with Robert Fuller (Wagon Train, Laramie) and the trailers of other titles from Elephant Films.

(1) Bonanza was the first TV western to be filmed in colour. Alex Quiroga, the colour consultant of Bonanza and Robert Brower worked as consultants on The Virginian.
(2) NBC Press release (August 29, 1962).
(3) Sponsor (March 19, 1962).
(4) Later, Cy Chermak became the executive producer of Ironside (1967-1975) and CHiPs (1977-1983).
(5) Wagon Train reverted to black and white and 60 minutes for its eighth and final season.
(6)  Ride a Dark Trail, the first episode of season 2, was edited with the 30th episode of the third season (We've Lost A Train, the pilot for Laredo) to form the movie Backtrack! (1969).

https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/mfp/5472590/serie-le-virginien?pid=10516775904 (Intégrale Saison 1)
https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/mfp/shop/5472590/serie-le-virginien?pid=10516775905 (Intégrale Saison 2)
https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/mfp/5472590/serie-le-virginien?pid=10516775908 (Intégrale Saison 3)
https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/offer/buy/10516775909/le-virginien-volume-1-saisons-1-a-3.html (Intégrale Volume 1 - Saisons 1 à 3)
http://www.elephantfilms.com
https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/boutique/ElephantFilm

See also: