Os Trapaceiros

The Rogues was one of the best comedy series ever to appear on US television, being a blend (in spirit) of a good Blake Edwards comedy film, "The Avengers," and any number of David Niven's 1950s comedies ("Bedtime Story" with Marlon Brando of course comes to mind). It's a great shame we can't have TV like this today, with actors the caliber of Charles Boyer, David Niven and Dame Gladys Cooper, supported by the fine skills of Gig Young and the always fine John Williams. The only series later to attempt a simulation of the jet-setting, witty skulduggery of "The Rogues" was perhaps "The Persuaders" (Roger Moore, Tony Curtis). It's a great disappointment that as of this revised comment (December 2005) this fine series isn't even available on VHS, let alone DVD. If you ever have a chance to see it in rerun somewhere, don't miss it.

Obviously a show as deliciously witty and as sparklingly clever as this, with such a magnificent cast - David Niven, Gladys Cooper, Charles Boyer, Robert Coote, Gig Young, Larry Hagman, and John Williams - was too good for the tastes of the American public. It lasted just one season. On the other hand, the execrable "Beverly Hillbillies" - a more accurate barometer of the American public's sense of humor - marched on in glory for nine tedious years.

This was one of our favorite shows during the one brief season it was on. I've taken every opportunity to watch reruns, but they are almost never available. I would watch every episode many times over again, and hope to be able to at some time. The writing was clever and sharply witty, delivered by actors who knew exactly how to speak the lines and how to fit their expressions and actions to the words. I could take each one and say his or her performance was priceless. It's sad that it did not receive the audience in the U.S. to keep it running for many seasons.

David Niven and Charles Boyer were two of the stars who formed FOUR STARS in the 1950s, and did many television programs as stars or producers. THE ROGUES was to be a series for them and Gig Young to alternate the leading role each week as the hero/anti-hero of the episode. Gig Young joined them to do the episodes, but as time passed he was the lead in most of the episodes (occasionally Boyer would appear). Larry Hagman (not yet on I DREAM OF JEANNIE, and decades from DALLAS and "J.R.Ewing") substituted for Young on several later episodes. And Dame Gladys Cooper and Robert Coote rounded out the family of regulars - the Fleming/St.Claire clan - who took on the greedy and cruel of the world.

They had great villains: Walter Matthau (before his "Whiplash Willy" performance catapulted him to stardom), George Sanders, John McGiver, Robert Webber, Everett Sloane, Telly Savalas (before THE DIRTY DOZEN and before he discovered lollipops in Kojack), J.D.Cannon, and others. In every episode the clan would manipulate the antagonist at his weak spot and remove a sizable amount of his (occasionally her) cash. Webber is a pretentious sex-magazine publisher (actually it is not fair to Bob Guiccione or Hugh Hefner to compare him to them - they have more class), who they convince to buy the original "Shakespearean" manuscript of THE AWFUL TRAGEDY OF KING HAROLD THE FAIR. It is neatly denounced as a forgery by Shakespearean critic and expert John Abbott at the episode's end.

Sanders is left with the ruins of his couturier business (based on stolen fashion ideas) when he is manipulated into cornering the marabou market. Before he does he has a choice moment of near apoplexy dealing with a call from an hysterical woman (Dame Gladys, trying to slow down Sanders for the plot) demanding he produce her philandering husband "Harry". Sanders ends up telling her he fully sympathizes with "Harry" for his philandering before slamming the phone down. Coote scares the hell out of selfish Horatio T. White (John McGiver), shipping tycoon, by dressing up as McGiver's dead partner appearing at a window on a stormy night. Young tells a corrupt Arab sheik that he has the weapons he ordered (and gives the "ace of spades" as his calling card. The sheik turns red in the face claiming he has no knowledge of the man. The memories of the bits from the shows warm me...I wish the shows would be revived one day. Or put on DVD

To all those people that continually ask The wonderful series The Rogues has been released on DVD but only in Germany. You can obtain 20 of the 30 episodes. The picture quality is excellent and you can hear the soundtrack in English.But beware the region coding is fine for any DVD players in Europe but not USA players. This was a wonderful show with a sparkle that is missing from shows today.The whole cast was perfection itself. I have just viewed the episode Mr. White's Christmas and it was superb. A wonderful re working of Dicken's A Christmas Carol, therefore perfect Christmas viewing.I thought the 3 leads were brilliant but the series was made so special by the excellent playing of Gladys Cooper and Robert Coote in almost every episode.The Real Russian Caviar stands as a highlight of the series.