| Genre: | Drama |
| Country: | United States |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 17 |
| Executive Producer: | Frank Telford |
| Camera: | Single-camera |
| Runtime: | 44 mins. |
| Channel: | NBC |
The Americans is a 17-episode American drama television series that aired on NBC from January to May 1961. Set during the American Civil War, the series focuses on two brothers fighting on opposite sides of the conflict. Guest stars included Lee Marvin, Jack Elam, Brian Keith, Kathleen Crowley and Robert Redford, among many others.
The series was inspired by James Warner Bellah's 1953 novel The Valiant Virginians which was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post as Tales of the Valorous Virginians from May 9, 1953, through June 10, 1954.[1] The novel is an arc of separate stories on the impact of the war on the young men fighting it. The series characters are Ben Canfield, who fights with the Union Army, and Jeff Canfield who fights with the Confederate Army.
The series was part of the United States' commemoration of the centennial of the beginning of the Civil War. It aired as a mid-season replacement for the canceled western series, Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin and Noah Beery, Jr., broadcast in the 7:30–8:30 p.m. timeslot on Monday evenings.
Ben Canfield was played by Darryl Hickman, older brother of actor Dwayne Hickman; Richard Davalos played Jeff Canfield; Davalos had portrayed James Dean's character's brother in East of Eden. Hickman and Davalos were the only actors who appeared in every episode of the series. Most of the supporting cast appear in only a single episode though several actors played the same role in more than one episode:
Among the more well-known actors to appear in this series were the following:
Lee Marvin, Robert Redford, Jack Elam, Brian Keith, Robert Culp, Jack Lord, Michael Rennie, Nina Foch, Dan O'Herlihy, James Franciscus, Susan Oliver, Ray Walston, Lloyd Bochner, Dick York, Jackie Coogan, L. Q. Jones, and Carroll O'Connor.
Seventeen one-hour episodes were broadcast, although either twenty-one or twenty-six episodes were filmed.[2] Episodes were written by, among others, John Gay (screenwriter for the film Run Silent Run Deep and of many television adaptions of literary classics), William D. Gordon (who also acted in at least one episode), Andy Lewis (writer of the movie Klute), Carey Wilber (writer of the Star Trek episode "Space Seed"), and Pat Falken Smith (head writer in the 1970s and 1980s for the soap operas Days of Our Lives and General Hospital). Music for the series was created by composers Bernard Herrmann and Hugo Friedhofer. Henry Steele Commager was the historical consultant.
A tie-in novel called The Americans, written by Donald Honig, was released in paperback by Popular Library publishers in 1961.[3] [4] [5]
First-run episodes of the series aired January 23, 1961, through May 15, 1961; repeats aired from May 22 through September 11, 1961.
The Canfield family finds itself split down the middle after the Civil War breaks out when Confederate forces attack the Union arsenal at Harpers Ferry, now West Virginia.
Jeff encounters two men, one Confederate and one Yankee, preparing to stage a mock battle.
Michael Rennie played Capt. James Duquesne
Ray Daley ... Bugler
John Howard ... Capt. Chilcoath
Karen Sharpe ... Louanne Higgins
Adam Williams ... Wilcott
A regular-army sergeant, delivering guns to a volunteer unit, is shocked at how badly trained they are.
Kathleen Crowley played Lucy Vickery
Ken Drake ... Bravo
William D. Gordon ... Lt. Barnes
Maurice Manson ... Mayor Cahill
William Murray ... Craigie
Kent Smith ... Capt. Vickery
The beautiful Rose Greenhow serves the Confederacy by charming susceptible Union officials into talking too much. When Jeff comes to Washington, D.C., Rose charms him into committing murder.
Charles Aidman ... Capt. Wheeler
Nina Foch ... Rose Greenhow
Martin Gabel ... Tim Mayhew
Ben sees that his volunteer soldiers are not the combat professionals he needs for the upcoming Battle of First Bull Run.
Diana Millay ... Emma Templeton
Jeff goes deep into the backwoods to recruit sharpshooters for the Confederate army.
James Barton ... Old Goodwin
Enid Jaynes ... Melissa (as Enid Janes)
Jack Lord ... Charlie Goodwin
George Mitchell ... Preacher
Jeff is assigned to sneak through enemy lines to gather information. He then discovers his brother Ben is among the Union soldiers stationed there.
Diane Jergens ... Sally
Lee Marvin ... Capt. Judd
Don Megowan ... Lt. Fairfax
Jan Stine ... Hollis
Brad Weston ... Cpl. Blackburn
Col. Fry and Ben are captured and sent to the Confederate POW camp at Libby Prison.
Dayton Lummis ... Maj. Turner
Dan O'Herlihy ... Col. Fry
A band of guerrillas lays siege to a town torn apart by the war.
Norman Alden ... Paine
Robert Culp ... Finletter
Cyril Delevanti ... Canfield
Berry Kroeger ... Keezer
Paul Lambert ... Hudson
Strother Martin ... Wadd
Sonya Wilde ... Caroline
After a Union force takes over a Confederate town, its captain orders the Confederate flag taken down. Outraged, an elderly resident of the town fires at him.
Steve Brodie ... Sgt. Rafer
Myrna Fahey ... Ruth
James Franciscus ... Lt. Hannon
Frank Gerstle ... Capt. Bice
Ian Wolfe ... Sever
Jeff is ordered to capture Union cannons.
Robert Carlyle ... Sergeant
Lonny Chapman ... Chester Longbaugh
Jack Elam ... Loper Johnson
Susan Oliver ... Rachel
Three Confederates are assigned to sabotage an important railroad trestle.
Ben Cooper ... Ward Roberts
Robert Hastings ... Lieutenant
Brian Keith ... Owen
Judson Pratt ... Sgt. Willers
Ben goes undercover to gather evidence on a criminal ring that specializes in phony recruits.
Larry Gates ... Maj. Eustice Cary
Anne Helm ... Dulcie Morrow
Gene Lyons ... Col. Elgin
Murvyn Vye ... Police Lieutenant
Ray Walston ... Whit Bristow
A group of Missouri farmers capture Jeff.
Patricia Barry ... Jessica
Charles Bickford ... Peterson
Ron Nicholas ... Scout
Walter Sande ... Jayhawker
Ben is worried when his best friend falls for a Confederate girl.
Lloyd Bochner ... Lt. Brady
Lisabeth Hush ... Rebel girl
John McGiver ... Col. Allen
Lurene Tuttle ... Mrs. Allen
Dick York ... Bolick
A soldier convicted of cowardice under fire and sentenced to death has his execution delayed. However, two of the soldiers in his company are determined to see the sentence carried out, even if they have to do it themselves.
Jackie Coogan ... Rowe
L.Q. Jones ... Yonts
Carroll O'Connor ... Capt. Garbor
Robert Redford ... George Harrod
The U.S. Congress wants answers about some disastrous battle results for the Union Army.
Robert Gist ... Gen. Charles P. Stone
Marsha Hunt ... Jeanie Stone
Robert Middleton ... U.S. Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio