|
| Patrick
Allen stars as Richard Crane in this series. Crane, originally intended
as a single season summer-filler only proved so popular with viewers in
the UK, that its run was extended to 39 episodes over three seasons, from 1963
until 1965. |
Patrick
Allen stars as Richard Crane in this series made by Associated-Rediffusion
/ Rediffusion London. Crane, which is set in the city of Casablanca in
Morocco was originally intended as a single season summer-filler only.
However, the series proved so popular with viewers in the UK, that its run was
extended to 39 episodes over three seasons, from 1963 until 1965.
Patrick was offered the lead role in Crane whilst he was playing Achilles
in Troilus and Cressida in 1962 with the Royal Shakespeare Memorial
Company. As soon as he had finished in Troilus and Cressida, Patrick
travelled to Morocco to begin filming for the series
Crane's
father had been an officer in the British Army, and as Crane's old school
friend Austin Crispin (Peter Reynolds) put it in the episode The Cannabi
Syndicate, Crane himself had been a "Big Noise" in the City,
until that is he decides to give it all up and move to Casablanca in Morocco.
After arriving in Morocco, Crane buys a cafe / bar and a boat, and sets
himself up (ostensibly) in the import/export business. Some minor smuggling activities
are also involved, but nothing too serious, contraband whisky etc,
but absolutely no drugs.
Crane's
friend and confidant is Orlando O'Connor (Sam Kydd), a former French Foreign
Legionnaire. Laya Raki plays Halima, Crane's assistant and manager
of his rather cramped bar & cafe, which consists of a small bar and just a
few tables. The local police chief Colonel Mahmoud (Gerald Flood) and his
assistant Inspector Larbi (Bruce Montague) always keep a suspicious eye
on Crane's activities, but can never prove anything against him. The duo
always seem to be one step behind, and Crane invariably manages to out-wit
them. Although there is no love lost between Crane and Mahmoud,
they do occasionally join forces to fight any serious crime in the area.
The
theme tune for the Crane series Casablanca was recorded in a London
studio by Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen on March 17 1963, it stayed in the UK record
charts for eleven weeks and reached number twenty-one. It
is believed that the series was also exported to Australia, no details of television
stations, dates shown etc. are available at present.
Studio-bound
scenes were shot at Associated-Rediffusion's Wembley Studios in London. There
was a landline to the North of England, where Associated-Rediffusion had only
90 minutes in which to record a 55 minute programme. This recording was done on
an Ampex recording machine, and there was very little time for re-takes and editing
proved difficult because of the time constraints.
In one episode of Crane,
Inspector Larbi (Bruce Montague) takes a file from a cabinet and proceeds
to read aloud the details of a character from an earlier episode he and Colonel
Mahmoud were supposed to be hunting! At the end of the recording, a re-take
was allotted so that Bruce Montague's character could correct the mistake; the
studio allowed just 8 minutes for the re-shoot!
A
total of 39 x 50 minute monochrome episodes were produced by Associated-Rediffusion
/ Rediffusion Television between 1963 and 1965. It is believed that only two episodes
of the series now exist: Cargo of Cornflower and The Cannabi Syndicate,
these two remaining episodes are held on U-Matic low-band video tape at the British
Film Institute.
Listen
to theme tune
Watch
clip & end credits
(Crane
clip by courtesy of Archbuild Limited UK)
Thanks
to Bruce Montague and Collis Management
