Soldiers of Fortune

"...starring John Russell and Chick Chandler!" went the introduction to this "cheapie" and (I believe) syndicated series. As a ten year old I loved the freebooter aspect of the heroes. Russell was solid as always, a typical fifties hero except he was not (re-)fighting World War 2 but was off in exotic places, mostly Africa, and hiring out his gun and talents to the highest bidder. Chandler was the obligatory sidekick as I recall. Pause with me a moment and consider this: could 21st century television support a positive view of hired mercenaries? Fifty years ago there were different sensitivities. But were they always worse? Or better? John Russell's character represented courage, self-determination, chivalry and freedom. It is odd how such qualities seem sorely lacking in so many of today's role models. But few of them are "Soldiers of Fortune"!

Oh boy, do I ever remember this show! For many years, I tried my best to be just like the stars, traveling the world on a shoestring & getting into trouble while saving the girl. Sigh, oh well, instead I became an actor & got to do Hollywood heroics instead. A wonderful show in my memory. I got to know John Russell & even worked with him a couple of times. Unfortunately, I never got to meet Chick Chandler. Maybe someday, some smart person will start up a "nostalgia" channel & resurrect all those great old B/W TV shows from the 1950's. Remember Broderick Crawford in "Highway Patrol"? John Bromfield as "The Sheriff of Cochise"? "The Texan" with Rory Calhoun? and what about "Shotgun Slade" with Scott Brady? Sigh...those were the days!

This syndicated series was a particular favorite of mine as a lad. I well remember looking forward every week to the further adventures of Tim Kelly and Toubo Smith. They were played by John Russell and Chick Chandler respectively.

When you think about it these two guys weren't anything less than 20th Century cowboys selling their gun-hands or in some cases giving their services away to people in need. The plots of Soldiers of Fortune were probably reworked from any number of westerns.

Still I liked the idea of these two guys turning up in all kinds of exotic places in the world and getting in every manner of adventure there was. I don't recall any romances for the lead John Russell. And Chandler as the sidekick? When did Smiley Burnette ever get involved with a woman?

John Russell later did another series for which he's more well known, Lawman. I would venture that his best remembered film role is in Rio Bravo as the wealthy rancher trying to free his no good brother from John Wayne's jail. He played good and bad guys equally well. Chick Chandler has a ton of movie credits going all the way back to silent days. A fair number of musicals are included, he started out in vaudeville as a song and dance man. You might remember him with Jack Haley supporting Alice Faye singing The International Rag in Alexander's Ragtime Band.

Though it lasted for only two seasons in first run syndication, WPIX in New York ran it for years after. It was a small boy's fantasy.

"Soldiers Of Fortune" is an incredibly bad TV series that wastes the talents of actors John Russell and Chick Chandler. No one person could be responsible for this TV disaster, it took teamwork. The first episode of the series, The Gaboon Viper, has it all: a lousy script, incredibly cheap sets and virtually no action. The episode did give some black actors work, but these actors looked none too happy, the producers probably shortchanged them. I saw this episode complete, then I scanned through other episodes, not wanting to use up too much time.

Most episodes I saw looked like Timeless Media Group had only had access to 16MM prints of the episodes. Some looked like video transfers. Worst of all, some had what seemed like decomposition damage on either the left or right side of the frame. On another TMG mastered series I have, "The Texan," TMG did a really fine job, most episodes had no print damage of any sort, no end of reel marks, no scratches or hazy areas. "Soldiers Of Fortune" is another story, much sadder.

So some NBC Universal functionary approves the release to TMG of many bad prints of episodes of "Soldiers Of Fortune," who cares if the resulting box set is a consumer ripoff. I only recall seeing one or two episodes of this series on a black and white TV set over 50 years ago. Seeing this series now makes me realize that some old TV series are better off buried in archives beyond the reach of mortal man (and woman).

Looking at the series episodes, featuring badly filmed stock footage inserts, ill fitting costumes from wardrobe, guest actors for whom the series was the end of the line (with exceptions like Lee Van Cleef and Leo Gordon) and directors collecting a paycheck as the major Hollywood movie studios went into free fall back then, you have to think that working on this series must have been real depressing. But John Russell and Chick Chandler just plugged away, always putting on a cheerful face. Those two deserved better.

As does any consumer who made the mistake of buying this shoddy box set featuring many video episodes mastered to the bad public domain quality you see on Alpha and Gotham DVDs.

The only good thing about this episode is that the outdoor scenes were filmed outdoors, as opposed to, say, in a leaf-strewn cardboard jungle like the set where they filmed "Ramar of the Jungle". And John Russell plays the hero very well. Otherwise, it's just a curiosity piece- with psychological overtones, no less.

The script is the usual stuff- an American couple hires the two "soldiers"- Tim and Tebow- I mean Toubo- to take them through the jungles of Burma. They soon meet up with the local headhunters. This is where credibility exits, stage left. First of all, this is Burma, not Africa. There were no headhunters in Burma back then. Secondly, the Burmese men look mysteriously like Apaches, as if they wandered in from a John Ford western. They look to be dressed for winter on the prairie, wearing long-sleeved tops and buckskins. It's about 90 there, and our American entourage is sweating like pigs, yet here are some local natives who look like they live inside an icehouse. The viewer will have to watch to find out about the psychological drama previously referred to, which has to do with the husband's unfounded insecurity about his wife.

Speaking of curiosity, I, myself, am curious- about how this show lasted two years on the network. Presumably, the scripts got better.