Soldiers of Fortune (TV series) explained

Genre:Adventure
Starring:John Russell
Chick Chandler
Theme Music Composer:Paul Dunlap
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Seasons:2
Num Episodes:52
Camera:Single-camera
Runtime:22–24 minutes
Company:Revue Studios
Channel:Syndication

Soldiers of Fortune is a syndicated half hour American television adventure series that ran from 1955 to 1956. It starred John Russell as Tim Kelly, and Chick Chandler as his sidekick Toubo Smith, who were international adventurers. Episodes take place in different countries.[1] Many of the film crew had worked at Republic Pictures studios with the show filmed on Republic's backlot then used by television's Revue Productions.[2] The series ran for 52 episodes,[3] and was constantly rerun on American television into the 1960s.

Cast

Main

Guest stars

Production

The series began as a television pilot called Adventure in Java that was shown on the Chevron Theatre on 10 February 1953. The show starred Tim Holt[4] and Charles Bronson then credited as Charles Buchinsky.[5]

The show was sponsored for two years by 7 Up soft drink with the firm also sending the stars out on national publicity tours.[6]

One year after Soldiers of Fortune was cancelled, John Russell went on to star as Marshal Dan Troop in the successful ABC/Warner Brothers western series Lawman.[7]

DVD release

Timeless Media Group (TMG) released a Region 1 five disc DVD set titled Soldiers of Fortune: The Complete Television Series on November 30, 2010. It includes all 29 episodes of Season 1 and all 23 episodes of Season 2.[8]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Brooks. Tim. Marsh. Earle. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. 1999. The Ballentine Publishing Group. New York. 0-345-42923-0. 941. 7th.
  2. Book: McNeil. Alex. Total Television. 1996. Penguin Books USA, Inc.. New York, New York. 0-14-02-4916-8. 771. 4th.
  3. Book: Erickson . Hal . Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987' . 1989 . McFarland & Company, Inc. . 0-7864-1198-8 . 44.
  4. p. 322 Miller, Lee O. The Great Cowboy Stars of Movies & Television Arlington House, 1979
  5. p. 263 Pitts, Michael R. Charles Bronson: The 95 Films and the 156 Television Appearances McFarland, 1 Jan. 2003
  6. p. 9 Sponsors Lose Values Visa Poor P.A. Routings Billboard 16 Mar 1957 ISSN 0006-2510 Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
  7. Web site: Billboard - Google Books . 1956-02-11 . 2013-11-01.
  8. Web site: Soldiers of Fortune - The Complete Television Series 52 Episodes!: John Russell, Chick Chandler, Boyd Stockman, Red Morgan, Paul Baxley, John Doucette, X. Brands, Michael Ansara: Movies & TV . 2013-11-01.