Crusader (TV series)

Crusader (sometimes erroneously listed as The Crusader) is a half-hour black-and-white American adventure/drama series that aired on CBS for two seasons from October 7, 1955 to December 28, 1956. It was originally sponsored by Camel cigarettes.

This article is about the mid-1950s drama series. For other television works with a similar title, see Crusade (disambiguation) § Television.
Crusader
Brian Keith as Matt Anders, 1955
GenreAdventure/Drama
Written byEd Adamson
Directed byJus Addiss
Earl Bellamy
Herschel Daugherty
Brian Keith
Leslie H. Martinson
StarringBrian Keith
Narrated byEdwin W. Reimers
ComposerPaul Dunlap
Country of originUSA
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes52
Production
ProducerDick Lewis
Running time30 mins. (approx)
Production companyRevue Studios
DistributorMCA TV
Release
Original networkCBS
Picture formatBlack-and-white
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseOctober 7, 1955 (1955-10-07) –
December 28, 1956 (1956-12-28)

Synopsis

The series stars Brian Keith as the fictitious free-lance journalist Matt Anders, whose mother's death in a World War II Nazi concentration camp in German-occupied Poland propels him to combat injustices worldwide during the height of the Cold War.[1] Keith's Crusader has been compared to Zorro, The Lone Ranger, or The Cisco Kid in that the principal character is devoted to altruism. Anders is particularly interested in liberating oppressed peoples from communism. The series began as Nikita S. Khrushchev emerged as the premier and the general secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.[2] The 52-episode program, Keith's first television series,[3] aired on CBS at 9 p.m. Eastern on Fridays. It was replaced on January 4, 1957, by the Howard Duff and Ida Lupino sitcom, Mr. Adams and Eve, the story of the private lives of two fictitious married Hollywood actors.[4]

Production notes

Crusader was filmed at Revue Studios, later part of Universal Television. Edwin Reimers, a Warner Brothers and Allstate Insurance announcer, narrated the series.[5]

Special appearances

Charles Bronson appeared twice on Crusader as Mike Brod, an escapee from a communist country who becomes involved with dishonest fight promoters in the episodes "The Boxing Match" and "Freeze-out", the latter episode also featuring Diane Brewster in the role of Charlene Hayes.[6] Raymond Bailey, later the banker Milburn Drysdale on CBS's The Beverly Hillbillies, appeared twice as the boxing commissioner.[5]

Inger Stevens appeared as Alicia in the 1956 episode entitled, "The Girl Across the Hall". Actor and director Aaron Spelling guest starred in two episodes as the character Andrew Hock. Don Haggerty, formerly a star athlete at Brown University, appeared twice as Fred Martin. Character actors Claude Akins and Robert F. Simon each appeared twice as characters named "Glenn" and "Dave Bridley", respectively. Robert O. Cornthwaite starred twice too in the role of "Joe Brennan". Two years before he was cast as Dr. Alex Stone on ABC's The Donna Reed Show, Carl Betz appeared twice on Crusader as Alan Kingman. Jay Novello also appeared twice as Bruno Menotti. Francis De Sales, formerly on Mr. and Mrs. North and later on the syndicated western series, Two Faces West, appeared in two episodes as Sheriff Smithers. Simon Scott appeared twice too in the role of Jim Farragut. Child actors Sandy Descher and Bobby Driscoll appeared as war orphans awaiting adoption.[5]

Other guest stars

References
  1. Brooks, Tim and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time National TV Shows, 1946–Present, New York; Random House, 1992, p. 195
  2. "Crusader". ClassicThemes.com. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
  3. Alex McNeil, Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, 1997, appendix
  4. McNeil, Total Television, appendix
  5. "Crusader". Classic Television Archives. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
  6. "The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia: Television with a Boxing Setting". cyberboxingzone.com. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
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