Checkmate

I remember Checkmate from when I was four years old, oddly. I have a few other memories from that age but the swirling colors in the opening, even in black and white, stuck with me and somehow I enjoyed the show even at that age, though I'd have understood little behind the stories.

As an adult, I years ago bought the DVD set. I haven't watched it all by a long shot. To be truthful the episodes are a bit dated by now and not all of their plot points really hold together that well. A lot of things happened because it was 'convenient' for the writers, rather than a plot point making good sense.

Still, the episodes are enjoyable and a window into the world of the early 60s. If you have a hankering for this type of classic show, 77 Sunset Strip is head and shoulder better than Checkmate, but I've seen most of 77 Sunset Strip twice. LOL I'd say the story quality of Checkmate is more in line with Hawaiin Eye.

This show was made when networks bought almost twice as many episodes as they have for many years. You can still pick the DVD set up for just more than 50 cents an episode. That's a good value.

Most fictional detectives work out of dingy offices and where clothes that look like they've slept in them. Jim Rockford in the Rockford Files operates out of a trailer. But the three who operate the Checkmate Agency live pretty good out of a posh apartment that serves as their office as well. Doing the grunt work are Anthony George and Doug McClure, but they do it elegantly and only resort to violence when necessary.

George and McClure have a high priced consultant in Oxford professor Sebastian Cabot who is now transferred to San Francisco. He lectures on criminology at Berkeley. But the man has a Sherlock Holmes like mind and misses nothing. The other guys are on their toes as well.

Checkmate lasted three seasons and for three seasons gave us some really literate scripts, well plotted stories and unfortunately a black and white view of San Francisco. Pity CBS wasn't doing color at the time.

I just acquired the complete episodes of the show. It's going to be nice to relive the days of Corey, Sills, and Hyatt.

I was three years old, and I watched this show a lot..what seems to have made an impression, from what I remember, was the opening credits, on a background that looked like a Jackson Pollock painting..of course, I had no idea who Jackson Pollock was, or what the word "Checkmate" meant...its fascinating that 1. this show starred Sebastian Cabot..who later played the Butler, Mr. French in the inane, A Family Affair and 2. It was created by Eric Ambler.. Why hasn't it been re-run? I must say, however, that I just remembered another reason it was so unique..it featured one of the few TV guest appearances by Charles Laughton. In fact, it may have have been his last bit of acting, anywhere. It was called "Wind From the East",and it starred Laughton as a Chinese master-spy, a sort of cross between Fu Manchu and Wo Fat..

How funny - all of us baby boomers have memories of particular episodes.

"Checkmate" was a detective-type show starring Sebastian Cabot, Doug McClure, and Anthony George. Sadly, all these actors are gone now. The series was based in San Francisco. The firm was established to stop crime before it happened. Each episode would focus on a particular cast member, but the others would appear in the episode as well. The firm was owned by Don Corey (George) and he worked with an associate, Jed Sills (Doug McClure) and a university criminologist (Cabot). So you had a hunk for the teens in McClure, a familiar face in Cabot, who had been in movies from 1946 and later in television, and someone interesting to women over 18 (George). Cabot had not yet played Mr. French in "Family Affair." The creator of the series was the wonderful Eric Ambler.

This was a very classy show that had many guest stars from the world of film. I recently saw two episodes, one starring Claire Bloom and the other starring Jeffrey Hunter as a psycho. Episodes and DVDs of the whole series occasionally show up on ebay, so it's worth checking.

Personal memories - Tony George, during his years on "One Life to Live," used to live in my friend's building. He was a very slight man, though he doesn't look it on screen. When working on the Audrey Hepburn book, my research partner interviewed Doug McClure, and I actually transcribed the tape. He said that he had just been to the doctor and gotten a clean bill of health for his lung cancer. He died very shortly afterward, and I remember the man who interviewed him being very upset. When Jeremy Brett died shortly after I interviewed him, I received a card from my research partner that said, "Welcome to the black widow's club." Now, here's the episode I remember - it was with Anne Baxter and had something to do with a horse.

These really should be released on an official DVD.

During the early 1960's, the series "77 Sunset Strip" (one of my favorites...) spawned a rash of hip detective knockoffs, many of them from the same studio, Warner Brothers, several more from other studios. Surprisingly, Revue Studios, known mainly for its cookie-cutter formulaic dramas, came up with one that stood head and shoulders from the rest of the imitators, and was an original in its own right. "Checkmate" is the name of a detective agency in San Francisco with an unusual twist: not just content to protect their clients, their aim is to prevent the crimes before they start. The approach is like a game of chess, hence the name, "Checkmate".

First and foremost, "Checkmate" strayed from the pretty-boy lighthearted mysteries, and settled for taut, intelligent, serious cases with a noir fashion. The fact that famed mystery writer Eric Ambler created the show speaks for itself. Plus, while "77 Sunset Strip" relied on Warners' stock company of character actors and rising young stars, "Checkmate" had the ability and the budget to include major big guest stars like Joan Fontaine, Peter Lorre, Mickey Rooney, David Janssen, Harry Guardino, Julie London, etc., giving it a sheen of class denied the other imitators.

The regular cast contained no slouches. The recently deceased Anthony George played Checkmate's deep-voiced head honcho Don Corey with more intensity than even the Strip's Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. Doug McClure played Jed Sills with a self-depreciating flair, playing off his obvious good looks; when "Checkmate" was canceled, McClure would pull it off again in the role of Trampas on "The Virginian". The real highlight here is the late, great Sebastian Cabot, playing the esteemed scientific consultant, Dr. Carl Hyatt, with a blend of haughtiness, exasperation, and intelligence; a blend that was put to good use (or waste, depending on how you see it) when he later took on his signature role as Mr. French on "Family Affair".

And I also might add, the theme song wasn't a bouncy rock and roller like 77SS and the rest, but a tense, moody jazz instrumental by the legendary John "Johnny" Williams.

If you can find "Checkmate" on DVD, which, sadly, is the only way you'll get to see this wonderful lost gem, I strongly recommend you pick it up. Compare it (and for that matter, "77 Sunset Strip") to the current wave of police procedurals on TV today. See which is better.

"Checkmate" is a JaMco Production, financed by Jack Benny (yes, THE Jack Benny, who also did a guest spot here), and filmed by Revue Studios in Hollywood and San Francisco. 70 episodes were aired on CBS between 1960 and 1962.