The Baron - The Complete Series [DVD]

Antiques Dealer John Mannering is The Baron. This wonderful TV series was made by ITC around 1965-66. It is often over looked and forgotten. And yet the series is truly a good one. The Baron was the first complete British TV series from ITC to be made in colour with real actors. (the first colour series being Stingray and Thunderbirds with marionettes. And half a series in colour of the Adventures of Sir Lancelot back in 1957). If you liked the later ITC series then you will like this series too.
The series was loosely based on a character of the same name from a series of books by author John Creasey. ITC tried to copy the formula of book hero to TV hero from the Saint by Leslie Charteris. The character of Mannering was like Simon Templar, a member of the jet set. And the Baron shared the same producer Monty Berman as the Saint. The character, The Baron in this TV series was different to the character in the books. In the books he was British and married. In this series he is American and a bachelor.
The show starred American Steve Forrest as John Mannering, an antiques dealer and undercover agent working in an informal capacity for the head of the fictional British Diplomatic Intelligence. Using an American actor was essential to make the product appealing to the American TV stations. And this forumula was used on a regular basis in further ITC series so they could sell them to the USA.
The music is by Edwin Astley and is very good. The quality of the print has suffered over time and it is not the best but it is very good and easily watchable.
The series looks glamorous with a lot of locations from around the world despite the fact that it was filmed in and around the film studios in England.
The Baron helps people out and gets mixed up in all sorts of problems, espionage, bank robberies, Art and antique theft and murder. He is a sauve american antiques expert. He gets involved whenever there is theft of valuable pieces or whenever art is involved in subterfuge. Millionaire Mannering owns a Jensen car and has exclusive shops in London, Paris and Washington. The stories are well written and the pace of development is good. The whole show looks even more interesting now from a nostalgia point of view as we see not only a glossy production but a slice of a bygone age.
The Baron has a male assistant who was quickly dropped in favour of the glamorous Cordelia played by Sue Lloyd. One problem I have with this release is that they have chosen to put the episodes in production order rather than story development order. And despite each episode having its own story there are some sub story lines that are mixed up in this order. So that Mannering has a female assistant then a male then a female etc. The inner sleeve gives details of the transmission dates so it is possible to go to the correct story development order rather than production order but it's a messy business.
The whole series is very exciting and interesting and is highly reccomended. It is an essential addition to anyone that likes ITC programmes.

A couple of years ago I discovered a late night series called `The Baron', a British TV series, based on the book series by John Creasey, and produced by ITC Entertainment.

I didn't know what it was at first because the TV Week programme guide just mentioned the title-you don't get much for your money these days buying Australian TV guides to help you decide what to watch and getting information on the show-in any case I started to watch this particular episode and was surprised it starred Steve Forest as John Mannering, an antiques dealer and undercover agent working in an informal capacity for the head of the fictional British Diplomatic Intelligence, headed by Templeton-Green played by Colin Gordon and was made between 1965-66. (I seem to like the 60's stuff more these days than shows of today).

Low and behold I actually enjoyed it, and I began to watch more of `The Baron'.

Now I bought the DVD of the series complete and uncut as stated on the packaging, watching the series again without commercial interruption.

Steve Forrest is great as John Mannering and he fits the bill perfectly, while Sue Lloyd as Cordelia Winfield plays his female assistant sidekick; she took over from Paul Ferris who played David Marlowe, apparently to show the series to the American market the character of David Marlowe was dropped in favour of Cordelia (how pathetic...thank god now days America has no influence on how to present British TV to its audience-or any other country for that matter). I liked the David Marlowe character, and I believe there was room for him and Cordelia both on the show to give it scope and some depth. Plus with Colin Gordon's character as John Alexander Templeton-Greene, for some added light humour, you would get a well-balanced series covering almost all the angles.

So in my mind `The Baron' lost some of its uniqueness, when David Marlowe and Templeton-Greene left the scene; but even so, the series is still great and actor Steve Forest was the key that made it work; and with an on-screen chemistry with actress Sue Lloyd, the series was great fun. But unfortunately despite a promising start it did not do well enough in the US (Don't you just hate the 60's American mind set) and was syndicated midway through its run. This effectively ensured `The Baron' had no second series (which I would have loved) that would be made even though it was well received in the UK. (If the Baron was made today the series would have continued for sure).

Now let's look at the episodes...I will put them in production order (preferred) because the DVD/ITC order presented does not make logical sense, considering the changes imposed by America.

Samurai West - Asano, an aging Japanese man, agrees to sell a family heirloom, a 500-year-old samurai sword, to Mannering for 10,000 pounds. When Asano delivers the sword to the antiques dealer, he bumps into Sterling, an British army officer who suffered the Japanese POW camp commanded by Asano. Sterling plans on exacting revenge for his treatment at the hands of the Japanese soldier and when Asano is found dead, Mannering must project Sterling from Asano's vengeful servant.

Personal Comment:
1] The first episode to introduce John Mannering and David Marlowe.
2] This episode was rather slow going for me-more dramatics an action, it seemed to drag on, I couldn't wait for it to finish.

Red Horse, Red Rider - Mannering agrees to travel to a country racked by civil war to transport a valuable statuette back to London. The rebel leaders hope that the art object will bring them money to buy arms and ammunition to overthrow the tyrannical government. During his flight from the country, Mannering is dogged by the secret police who seem to know his every move even before he makes it.

Personal Comment: This is a much better episode than the first, and actor Frank Wolff who plays Miros makes his first appearance of three within this series.

The Legions of Ammak - Mannering is asked to handle the sale of "The Legions of Ammak", a golden necklace that contains seven perfectly matched black pearls from a Middle Eastern king to an eccentric millionaire. Mannering vouches for the authenticity of the necklace, but his assistant, David Marlowe notices that the king wore the wrong school tie at the ceremony. Mannering discovers that an actor, pretending to be the monarch sold the jewellery, and the purchaser, a man not known for purchasing art, has interests in region oil fields and fears that he has been duped into aiding a palace coup.

Personal Comment: Peter Wyngarde is excellent here playing dual roles as the King Ibrahim & Ronald Noyes, a first class actor.

Diplomatic Immunity - When the beautiful woman who stole a priceless Faberge bauble from his shop is identified as a Pameranian courier, Mannering decides to visit the country's embassy and demand satisfaction. He is intercepted by British intelligence agents who convince him to go behind the Iron Curtain and break up the ring of art thieves who have been hiding behind diplomatic immunity, using his real occupation as an antiques dealer as his cover.

Personal Comment: Sue Lloyd makes her first appearance as Cordelia, as well as Colin Gordon cast as Templeton-Green

Portrait of Louisa - Louisa Trenton is an old friend of Mannering and she is clearly in financial trouble because she offers to sell him some miniatures which are very valuable and have long been in her family. Later she rings the Baron, who goes to meet her at a discotheque, but finds that she is dead. The police believe that she killed herself but Mannering is certain that she was being blackmailed - and that the blackmailer murdered her. He has several suspects to choose from.

Farewell to Yesterday - An airline steward is found dead with a gold medallion in his possession - it is one of several stolen from the Vatican and links him to one of the biggest art smuggling rings in the world. To investigate it the Baron travels to Rome, meeting up with ex-girlfriend Cathy Dorne, who is being forced by her boss Nick to be part of the smuggling gang and who helps Mannering bring its members to justice.

Personal Comment: Good strong performance by William Sylvester as Nick, Sylvia Sims was good too as Cathy Dorne but I felt her character should have been a little stronger and not a helpless blonde with no logic thinking.

Epitaph for a Hero - Having attended the funeral of his old Army buddy, Jim Carey, Mannering is surprised to learn that the man is far from dead and the funeral was but a smoke screen. Carey is planning to steal a priceless jewel from a museum and wants the cooperation of Mannering, initially as a fence, later as a gang member and, to ensure his cooperation, Carey takes Cordelia hostage.

Personal Comment: This was a great episode with strong character acting all round from the main guest stars.

The Persuaders - Mannering's assistant, David Marlowe, is abducted from the shop and a ransom demanded for his return. Specifically the ransom money is to be obtained by Mannering selling a fake Renoir painting to art collector Sir Richard Ellacott. On Templeton-Green's authority Mannering sells the painting and obtains the money, which is to be delivered to Sir Richard's nephew, Roddy. Mannering knows that Roddy is one of the kidnappers but must be careful not to put David's life at risk.

Personal Comment: Sadly this was the last episode to feature Paul Ferris as David Marlowe, (he appeared in the first eight episodes) I feel the loss as his character added diversity and substance to the show by variety; again a good episode all round.

Something for a Rainy Day - John Mannering does a deal with a crooked insurance agent in order to recover an Aztec mask worth a hundred thousand pounds from an ex-convict, Mark Seldon. However, Seldon's old gang boss wants the mask for himself and threatens Seldon's daughter Anne as his security. Mannering now has to recover the mask by saving Anne.

Personal Comment:
1] It's good to see Lois Maxwell outside of the James Bond movies here, she fits her character as Charotte Russell to a tee, and if there was a second season, perhaps Lois could have returned as Charotte and Patrick Allen as Max Holder is perfect as this episodes bad guy.
2] From here on in Sue Lloyd returns and replaces Paul Ferris as John Mannering's assistant.

Enemy of the State - Mannering and Cordelia are in an Iron Curtain country where they are about to hand over some money at a secret rendezvous. However Mannering's contact has been caught by the police and forced to name his contact. Though warned to keep away Mannering and Cordelia fall into a trap and she is taken by the police. Mannering plans to spring her by taking his own prisoner - the chief of police.

Personal Comment: A favourite episode of mine; I love actor Anton Diffring as Jadwiga Szoblik in this episode, he has a strong on-screen presence, but I felt his character was restrained here, perhaps the script demanded it as such, and I felt Anton could have given a better-stronger performance if given artistic licence to do so to give the episode substance-unless he wasn't allowed too...who knows?

There's Someone Close Behind You - Having received a tip-off that the Lynstead art collection is about to be burgled Mannering lies in wait with the police for the thieves but one of the officers is shot and killed by gang leader Greg Wilde, who subsequently is charged with murder and sent for trial. As the only surviving witness to the killing, Mannering is in a vulnerable position when Wilde escapes from custody and comes after him with murderous intent. Read more ›

This is a series from the classic stable that produced series such as the Avengers and The Saint but has languished in obscurity compared to its rivals. But this is not because it is in any way inferior - far from it. Its great entertainment from the 6os - interesting plots , pretty good acting , lots of 'spot the future stars' opportunities. Like 'Man in a Suitcase' it used an American leading actor to give it some extra glamour. Based on stories written by John Creasey of Gideon fame this is well worth seeking out.