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Bold Venture
Slate (Humphrey Bogart) and Sailor (Lauren Bacall) cruise the Caribbean aboard the Bold Venture. (Bogart and Bacall pictured here on their private yacht Santana.)
GenreAdventure
Running time30 minutes
Country of originUnited States
Language(s)English
SyndicatesFrederic W. Ziv Company
StarringHumphrey Bogart
Lauren Bacall
Jester Hairston
Written byMorton Fine
David Friedkin
Directed byHenry Heyward
Produced bySantana Productions
Original release1951 –
1952
No. of episodes78

Bold Venture was a syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall that aired from 1951 to 1952. Morton Fine and David Friedkin scripted the taped series for Bogart's Santana Productions.

Synopsis

Salty seadog Slate Shannon (Bogart) owns a Cuban hotel, Shannon's Place,[1] sheltering an assortment of treasure hunters, revolutionaries, and other shady characters. With his sidekick and ward, the sultry Sailor Duval (Bacall), tagging along, he encounters modern-day pirates and other tough situations while navigating the waters around Havana. Aboard his boat, the Bold Venture, Slate and Sailor experience "adventure, intrigue, mystery and romance in the sultry settings of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean."

Calypso singer King Moses (Jester Hairston) provided musical bridges by threading plot situations into the lyrics of his songs.[2] Music for the series was by David Rose.[3]

The series combined elements of a number of past Bogart/Bacall film collaborations, most notably To Have and Have Not which also cast Bogart as a boat owner in the Caribbean who reluctantly becomes involved in intrigue while romancing Bacall. The relationship between Shannon and King Moses, and his ownership of an inn, is strongly reminiscent of the dynamic between Rick Blaine and Sam in Casablanca.

Production

Beginning in March 1951, the Frederic W. Ziv Company syndicated 78 episodes via electrical transcription.[4] Heard on 423 stations, the 30-minute series earned $5,000 weekly for Bogart and Bacall.[3]

All of Frederic Ziv's 40+ radio series (some 10,000 radio programs), including all 78 episodes of Bold Venture, were donated by the Ziv Estate to Media Heritage and exclusively licensed to Carl Amari who successfully launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds necessary to professionally transfer the complete run of Bold Venture. Soon, all 78 episodes will be available, including 18 "lost" Bold Venture episodes which have not been heard in more than 70 years. A definitive collection of all 78 Bold Venture episodes, which will include a detailed historical booklet, will be available beginning in 2024 through Amari's company. Amari plans to launch additional Kickstarter campaigns to raise funds necessary to release more complete runs of Ziv radio series, including Boston Blackie, I Was a Communist for the FBI, Favorite Story, Philo Vance and The Cisco Kid. Amari will launch a website in 2024 that offers these Ziv radio series at www.ZivRadio.com

Radio episode guide

No. Date Title 1 Title 2 Title 3 Title 4 Title 5 Ref
1 March 26, 1951 Deadly Merchandise Death By A Fighting Bird Smuggling Arms Gun Runners
2 April 2, 1951 Kwan Yen Statue Quam Yi Statue
3 April 9, 1951 Bill of Lading Six Crates of Apples Opium Smugglers and Young Girl White Envelope
4 April 16, 1951 A Bullet for Shannon Thugs and Slugs Johnny Price Story
5 April 23, 1951 Spanish Gold Buried Treasure Treasure on Flamingo Cay Sunken Treasure at 20 Fathoms
6 April 30, 1951 Murder of Franny Lane He Who Laughs Last Murder is No Joke Slate Shannon Accused of Murder Dixon and Lane
7 May 7, 1951 Espionage & Murder in San Tomas Atomic Espionage on San Thomas
8 May 14, 1951 A Muncie Murderess in Havana Blackmail is Dangerous to Your Health That Gun Will Kill You
9 May 21, 1951 False American Passports Fake American Passports
10 May 28, 1951 Sailor Framed For Murder Calverts House of Mirrors
11 June 4, 1951 Blue Moon
12 June 11, 1951 The Tears of Siva Star of Sheba
13 June 18, 1951 Half Million Reasons to Find Cary Martin We Want Cary Martin
14 June 25, 1951 The High Price of Treason
15 July 2, 1951 Russian Roulette
16 July 9, 1951 Mystery of the Mary K
17 July 16, 1951 The Chaney Wedding Death At The Wedding Frame Up
18 July 23, 1951 12 Year Promise Oil Wells
19 July 30, 1951 Alice Ramsey's Husband Poison Darts Voodoo Vendetta in Paradise
20 August 6, 1951 Search for Tommy Reed Looking for Tommy Reed
21 August 20, 1951 Ghost Ship
22 August 27, 1951 Jennie Ward Slate's Old Flame
23 September 3, 1951 Terminal Key
24 September 10, 1951 Phyllis Calvert Murders Out of Control Suicide or Murder
25 September 17, 1951 Slate's Tuxedo Pocket Black Tie Affair
26 September 24, 1951 Murder in the Yucatán Peninsula A Fatal Quest for Jade
27 October 1, 1951 Shannon's a Sucker Slate Shannon Sucker
28 October 8, 1951 Slate Shannon Held for Ransom Danger at Tina's Parakeet
29 October 15, 1951 Camellias and a Ruby A Camillia for El Dobbin
30 October 22, 1951 Passage for Mario Carada
31 October 29, 1951 Darby and Joan Incorporated Lonely Hearts Inc.
32 November 5, 1951 Mutineers of the S.S. Marino Victory The Marino Victory Marino
33 November 12, 1951 Slate Framed for Refinery Robbery Bold Venture is Stolen
34 November 19, 1951 Slate's Stolen DaVinci
35 November 26, 1951 Paolo Framed for Jewel Robbery Supapo's Greed
36 December 3, 1951 Cruise To Batabano Emilio Lopez Story
37 December 10, 1951 Louis Gaspar Case Slate's Stolen Identity Bring Me The Body of Slate Shannon
38 December 17, 1951 Tabard of Pizarro Alice Markel poisoning)
39 December 24, 1951 Paul Brewer Story Escape From Guantanamo
40 December 31, 1951 Carlos & Juan Ruiz Story Crazy Old Carlo
41 January 7, 1952 Innocent in Trujillo Raul Mirado Execution
42 January 14, 1952 An Invitation to Death Four Invitations To Death
43 January 21, 1952 Background Shots Can Kill You
44 January 28, 1952 Revenge Equals Murder Times Two
45 February 4, 1952 A Backstabbing at Shannon's Place Joe Norman The Laughing Sailor
46 February 11, 1952 Isle Of Pines I'm Going To Die Rhoda Gonzalez
47 February 18, 1952 The Dead Matt Jefferies The One That Got Away
48 February 25, 1952 Welcome to Civilization, Dead Man Welcome Back, Dead Man Man From Sumatra George Carson Killed
49 March 3, 1952 Ruthie Ryan's Father The Big K.O.
50 March 10, 1952 Spectre of El Indio
51 March 17, 1952 Diamond Smuggling Diamond Fencing Fisticuffs
52 March 24, 1952 Robbed By Joe Ralston Revenge Is Sweet The Big Road
53 March 31, 1952 Haven's Venezuelan Island Tiny Haven Gene Moore's Wife Claudia Runaway Wife
54 April 7, 1952 Death Of Rudy Keijon Friends Like These Bob Yancy arrests Slate for murder Fetsui Jade
55 April 14, 1952 Sailor's Dead Husband Marriage And Murder Freddie Naye Sailor is a Wealthy Widow
56 April 21, 1952
57 April 28, 1952
58 May 5, 1952
59 May 12, 1952 Señor Rufio Señor Rufio's Legacy of Death

Television

Ziv brought Bold Venture to television in 1959 with 39 episodes directed by William Conrad. The series starred Dane Clark as Slate Shannon, Joan Marshall as Sailor Duval, and Bernie Gozier as King Moses. Mark Dana played Philip Keith Baker, Lisa Gaye played Leta, and Karen Scott played Tina.[5] Morton Fine and David Friedkin were the producers.[2]

Because of unstable conditions in Cuba, the setting was changed to Trinidad. Filming locations included the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California.

Listen to

References

  1. ^ Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4.
  2. ^ a b Erickson, Hal (1989). Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947–1987. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-1198-8. Pp. 20-21.
  3. ^ a b "Bogart Airer Costs 600G". Billboard. January 13, 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  4. ^ Dunning, John (7 May 1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. pp. 109–110. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  5. ^ Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.

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