''Foreign Intrigue'' (also known as ''Foreign Assignment'') is a syndicated espionage drama television series produced in Europe by Sheldon Reynolds. The 30-minute series ran for four seasons from 1951 to 1955, producing 156 episodes. It was the first filmed television series from the United States to be broadcast on Canadian television. The program originally starred

Jerome Thor Jerome Thor (January 5, 1915 — August 12, 1993) was an American actor of the stage and screen. He is best known for his work in Broadway plays from 1935 through 1946, and on American television during the 1950s. He starred as Robert Cannon in '' ...

for the first two seasons; in later reruns these episodes were titled ''Dateline Europe''. Thor was succeeded by James Daly for the duration of the third season; in reruns, the Daly episodes were retitled ''Overseas Adventure''. The fourth and final season starred

Gerald Mohr Gerald Mohr (June 11, 1914 – November 9, 1968) was an American radio, film, and television character actor and frequent leading man, who appeared in more than 500 radio plays, 73 films, and over 100 television shows. Early years Mohr wa ...

as Christopher Storm; when these episodes were rerun they were renamed ''Cross Current''.

Premise

''Foreign Intrigue'' focused on activities of foreign correspondents for news services. Initially, the correspondents were Robert Cannon (Jerome Thor) and Helen Davis (Sydna Scott) for Consolidated News and Steve Godfrey (Bernard Farrel) for Amalgamated News Service. In the third season which ran from 1953 to 1954, Michael Powers ( James Daly) and Patricia Bennett (Anne Preville) of Associated News were the central characters. The third season consisted of 39 thirty-minute episodes, with plots dealing with the journalists' efforts to gather information for news stories. In the fourth and final season, the focus shifted to Christopher Storm (

), an American who operated a hotel in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

while working as an undercover agent for the United States government.

Cast

Main

as Robert Cannon (seasons 1–2) * Sydna Scott as Helen Davis (seasons 1–2) * James Daly as Michael Powers (season 3) * Anne Preville as Patricia Bennett (season 3) *

as Christopher Storm (season 4)

Recurring

* John Padovano as Tony Forrest * Gilbert Robin as Dodo (season 4) * John Stark as Starky (season 4) Others seen in the series were Bernard Farrel as Steve Godfrey an Amalgamated News Service reporter,

Robert Arden Robert Arden (11 December 1922 – 25 March 2004) was an English film, television and radio actor born in LondonAaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 20-23. who worked and live ...

as Steve Powers, Doreen Denning as Betty Carter, and Nikole Millinaire as a aide.

Production and locations

Principal photography for the first two seasons was shot in

Filmstaden Filmstaden was a film studio situated in Råsunda, Solna Municipality in Stockholm, Sweden. History Filmstaden was once one of the most modern film studios in Europe. It was built in 1919–1920 on the basis of designs by Swedish archit ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

. Production moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for the third season, and then later to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

for the final season, with locations throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

, including

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

and

, utilized during the show's run. Hal Erickson noted in his book, ''Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947–1987'', the European production provided American viewers "something they weren't getting from their average domestic television product: breathtaking glimpses of the glamour spots of Europe."

Awards

The show was nominated for the ''Primetime Emmy Awards'' as follows: * 1953 – Nominated best mystery, action or adventure program * 1954 – Nominated best mystery, action or adventure program * 1955 – Nominated best mystery or intrigue series.

Follow-up film

Sheldon Reynolds also directed a subsequent eponymous 1956 movie, '' Foreign Intrigue'', based on the TV series, which starred

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

. John Padovano reprised his role of Tony Forrest for the film.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0043199 1951 American television series debuts 1955 American television series endings 1950s American drama television series English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television shows set in Vienna American spy drama television series American action television series American adventure television series Television series about journalism Television shows adapted into films Television shows filmed in Sweden Television shows filmed in Paris Television shows filmed in Austria