|
Umbrella has maintained this reputation by releasing two half-hour
action shows that were the last of a genre that is popularly described
as "cool spies and private eyes".
One is The Protectors which was made by Gerry Anderson, and the other is The Adventurer. Both were filmed in 1972 and 1973. It has to be acknowledged that The Adventurer was one of the least remembered and successful of the ITC British series.
It
featured Gene Barry as the token American star as a means of assisting
sales to the US. Barry was a major star during the 1960's having
appeared in three TV series already, but at 53 years of age he was
miscast as the supposedly energetic movie star who always found himself
involved in secret assignments for the US government.
Nevertheless, Barry had a screen presence that sometimes came across. After
the first 10 episodes or so, the series gets mildly interesting to
watch as Barry settles into the role and the stories get
better. It is a pity that his co-stars did not
appreciate him, as (at the time) there were persistent reports of
animosity on the set culminating in one co-star being sacked after two
episodes! Barry Morse was in every episode as The Adventurer’s mentor, and even directed several episodes. Several semi-regulars such as Stuart Damon (from The Champions) and Catherine Schell (from Space: 1999) - both ITC productions - rounded out the cast. Twenty
six half-hour action shows were filmed and all are featured in this
boxset. The half-hour format meant that many of the plotlines had to be
introduced quickly at the start of the episode or were fast-tracked by
abrupt editing which often made the stories incomprehensible. However,
several episodes stand out as well executed action-adventure stories,
particularly "Poor Little Rich Girl" (with Judy Geeson) and "The
Bradley Way" (with a clever multiple ambulance chase
sequence). More often than not though, the episodes are fairly routine. I
looked forward to re-visiting this series from my youth and it proved
to be an interesting experience. ITC series such as this one have a
certain look and feel, and include a great list of guest stars from the
era.
Overall, Umbrella has done a good job of packaging this
4 DVD boxset of a TV series that sadly never quite matches the quality
of its predecessors such as The Saint and The Baron.
EXTRAS
There are several special features. In particular, there are
seemingly endless alternative versions of the Main Titles (including
film rushes) as well as original publicity material. Strangely, the best extra is a three minute slideshow promotional clip featuring the Italian version of the theme. This is substantially less than what we have come to expect on Umbrella ITC boxset releases but they are certainly worth a look. It is a pity that Umbrella was not able to obtain the rights to interviews recorded with The Adventurer’s co-stars which have appeared on overseas editions of this TV series. Evidently, they didn’t mince their words when commenting on Gene Barry which would have made very interesting listening!
Conclusion: Episodes 70% Extras: 60%
|
