Foreign Intrigue (also known as Foreign Assignment ) is a syndicated espionage drama television series produced in Europe by Sheldon Reynolds . The 30-minute series ran for four seasons from 1951 to 1955, producing 156 episodes. It was the first filmed television series from the United States to be broadcast on Canadian television.
18-566: The program originally starred Jerome Thor for the first two seasons; in later reruns these episodes were titled Dateline Europe . Thor was succeeded by James Daly for the duration of the third season; in reruns, the Daly episodes were retitled Overseas Adventure . The fourth and final season starred Gerald Mohr as Christopher Storm; when these episodes were rerun they were renamed Cross Current . Foreign Intrigue focused on activities of foreign correspondents for news services. Initially,
36-493: A aide. Principal photography for the first two seasons was shot in Filmstaden , Stockholm . Production moved to Paris , France for the third season, and then later to Vienna , Austria for the final season, with locations throughout Europe and Scandinavia , including Copenhagen and Stockholm , utilized during the show's run. Hal Erickson noted in his book, Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947–1987 ,
54-505: A collection of poetry, later retitled anthology – see Greek Anthology . Anthologiai were collections of small Greek poems and epigrams, because in Greek culture the flower symbolized the finer sentiments that only poetry can express. Many popular old-time radio programs were anthology series. On some series, such as Inner Sanctum Mysteries , the only constant was the host, who introduced and concluded each dramatic presentation. One of
72-563: A new type of anthology format in the U.S. Each season, rather than each episode, is a standalone story. Several actors have appeared in the various seasons, but playing different roles—in an echo of the Four Star Playhouse format. The success of American Horror Story has spawned other season-long anthologies such as American Crime Story and True Detective . Anthology film series are rare compared to their TV and radio counterparts. There have been several attempts within
90-487: A television actor in the late 1940s and early 1950s with guest roles on several American television anthology series , including Suspense and Studio One . His breakthrough role was as Robert Cannon in the 1950s TV series Foreign Intrigue in which he popularized the image of the trench coat -wearing detective. Filmed in Europe, the syndicated mystery program ran from 1951 through 1955. The trench coat he wore for
108-512: A weekly program from the second season until the end of its run in 1956. Ida Lupino was brought on board as the de facto fourth star, though unlike Powell, Boyer, and Niven, she owned no stock in the company. American television networks would sometimes run summer anthology series which consisted of unsold television pilots . Beginning in 1971, the long-run Masterpiece Theatre drama anthology series brought British productions to American television. In 2011, American Horror Story debuted
126-885: Is a written series, radio , television , film , or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode , season , segment, or short . These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse , employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One , began on radio and then expanded to television. The word comes from Ancient Greek ἀνθολογία ( anthología , "flower-gathering"), from ἀνθολογέω ( anthologéō , "I gather flowers"), from ἄνθος ( ánthos , "flower") + λέγω ( légō , "I gather, pick up, collect"), coined by Meleager of Gadara circa 60 BCE, originally as Στέφανος ( στέφανος ( stéphanos , "garland")) to describe
144-769: Is part of the collection at the Smithsonian Institution . Born in Brooklyn , New York , Thor began his career as a stage actor. Thor made his Broadway debut in 1934 at the 46th Street Theatre in Emmet Lavery 's The First Legion . He appeared in numerous Broadway plays through 1946, including Anton Chekhov 's The Marriage Proposal , William Saroyan 's Get Away Old Man , Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov 's My Sister Eileen , Clifford Odets 's Golden Boy , and Leonid Andreyev 's He Who Gets Slapped . Thor transitioned into working as
162-503: The Golden Age of Television of the 1950s with series such as The United States Steel Hour and The Philco Television Playhouse . Dick Powell came up with an idea for an anthology series, Four Star Playhouse , with a rotation of established stars every week, four stars in all. The stars would own the studio and the program, as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had done successfully with Desilu studio. Powell had intended for
180-628: The European production provided American viewers "something they weren't getting from their average domestic television product: breathtaking glimpses of the glamour spots of Europe." The show was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Awards as follows: Sheldon Reynolds also directed a subsequent eponymous 1956 movie, Foreign Intrigue , based on the TV series, which starred Robert Mitchum . John Padovano reprised his role of Tony Forrest for
198-421: The correspondents were Robert Cannon ( Jerome Thor ) and Helen Davis ( Sydna Scott ) for Consolidated News and Steve Godfrey ( Bernard Farrel ) for Amalgamated News Service. In the third season which ran from 1953 to 1954, Michael Powers ( James Daly ) and Patricia Bennett ( Anne Preville ) of Associated News were the central characters. The third season consisted of 39 thirty-minute episodes, with plots dealing with
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#1732787251501216-623: The earliest such programs was The Collier Hour , broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from 1927 to 1932. As radio's first major dramatic anthology, it adapted stories and serials from Collier's Weekly in a calculated move to increase subscriptions and compete with The Saturday Evening Post . Airing on the Wednesday prior to each week's distribution of the magazine, the program soon moved to Sundays in order to avoid spoilers with dramatizations of stories simultaneously appearing in
234-655: The early 1980s. Shore also periodically worked as a film actor, appearing in Riot in Juvenile Prison , 55 Days at Peking , Love and Bullets , St. Ives , House of the Black Death , and 10 to Midnight . Thor was married to actress Synda Scott until his death. He died of a heart attack in Westwood, Los Angeles , on August 12, 1993, at the age of 78. Anthology series An anthology series
252-521: The film. Jerome Thor Jerome Thor (January 5, 1915 — August 12, 1993) was an American actor of the stage and screen. He is best known for his work in Broadway plays from 1935 through 1946, and on American television during the 1950s. He starred as Robert Cannon in Foreign Intrigue ; a role which popularized the trench coat -wearing detective in public consciousness. His costume
270-575: The journalists' efforts to gather information for news stories. In the fourth and final season, the focus shifted to Christopher Storm ( Gerald Mohr ), an American who operated a hotel in Vienna while working as an undercover agent for the United States government. Others seen in the series were Bernard Farrel as Steve Godfrey an Amalgamated News Service reporter, Robert Arden as Steve Powers, Doreen Denning as Betty Carter, and Nikole Millinaire as
288-498: The magazine. Radio anthology series provided for science fiction , horror , suspense, and mystery genres (all produced in the US, unless noted): The final episode of Suspense was broadcast on September 30, 1962, a date that has traditionally been seen as marking the end of the old-time radio era. However, genre series produced since 1962 include: In the history of television, live anthology dramas were especially popular during
306-437: The program to feature himself, Charles Boyer , Joel McCrea , and Rosalind Russell . When Russell and McCrea backed out, David Niven came on board as the third star. The fourth star was initially a guest star. CBS liked the idea, and Four Star Playhouse made its debut in fall of 1952. It ran on alternate weeks only during the first season, alternating with Amos 'n' Andy . It was successful enough to be renewed and became
324-496: The series is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution . When James Daly replaced him on the program, the producers attributed the change to Thor's wanting more money. Thor said, "I didn't ask for all that money . . . I was tired of doing everything — helping direct, rewriting scripts, even carrying camera equipment." He portrayed the recurring character of Art Delgado in Hill Street Blues in
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