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Don Corey, Jed Sills, Chris Devlin & Dr. Carl Hyatt (Checkmate)

kevinburtonsmith

Created by Eric Ambler

In Checkmate, a fondly-remembered television show from the early sixties, DON COREY and JED SILLS run a very fancy, very expensive, high-tech San Francisco detective agency whose aim is “to thwart crime and checkmate death (by) stopping the slide downhill to tragedy.” It was a lofty and intriguing concept, arguably ahead of its time, but then, the show was created by Eric “The Mask of Dimitrios” Ambler, who knew a thing or two about pumping out thrillers.

The show borrowed some of its concerns from Ambler’s spy novels, which often raised questions of responsibility and accountability of our goverments, and how far they should go to keep us safe, and so while most TV eyes tried to solve crimes that have already been committed (when they weren’t driving around in their snazzy cars or swapping glib patter with babes), the men of the San Francisco Checkmate Agency were out to stop crimes from happening in the first place, by taking on clients felt like they might be in danger, and to stop crimes before they happened.

The earnest Corey (played by Anthony George), the young, hunky Sills (Doug McClure), and the professorial DR. CARL HYATT (Sebastian Cabot) would take cases where people felt like they were in danger, and would work to draw out and thwart potential villains. The show ran for two seasons and never became a big hit, though it was well-respected by critics and genre fans for the cleverness of its premise and the seriousness of its approach. (Checkmate even spawned a Gold Key comic book series, which ran for two issues in 1962.)

Sills was the senior partner, handsome and experienced. His relationship with Jed, his younger and at times clumsy partner (Doug McClure!), is one of teacher/student. Aiding the duo was former Oxford criminalogist DR. CARL HYATT (Sebastian “Mr. French!”) Cabot, a rotund, bearded professor and handwriting expert who studies ransom notes, death threats, and other evidence for clues to suspects’ personality and intended moves. In the last season, another detective, CHRIS DEVLIN (Jack Betts), was added to the team.

Checkmate was the Tiffany of detective shows in its day. Produced at Revue, the television production arm of Universal Studios, it had a “name” guest star policy that mirrored that of two other high-profile Revue productions of the day, Wagon Train and GE Theatre. And “name” often meant “BIG NAME!” Even by today’s standards, show boasted some honest-to-Norma Desmond MOVIE stars: Charles Laughton, Joan Fontaine, Joseph Cotten, Peter Lorre and Lee Marvin, as well as a passel of once and future Oscar winners ranging from Patricia Neal and Mary Astor to Jane Wyman and Martin Landau. Performers like Claire Bloom, who have done virtually no series television before or since, appeared. Checkmate also indulged in stunt casting: Cyd Charisse as a dancer, Tony Randall as a killer, Sid Caesar as a disc jockey, and Jack Benny as a much-revered entertainer not unlike . . . Jack Benny. Scripts were written around the guest stars, exploring their characters’ reactions to the death threats.

In the second season, in particular, social issues and character studies were larger elements of the story. Dick Berg, who took over as line producer late in the first season must have sensed that a simple death threat of the week setup by itself could be weak. The second season also brought in younger directors, a number of whom (William A. Graham, Elliott Silverstein) were also working in New York on Naked City at the same time.

Not only was the show created by a top notch thriller writer, but it boasted a number of other Grade A mystery writers who contributed scripts and/or story outlines, including Helen Nielsen, Leigh Brackett, Jonathan Latimer, James Gunn, Douglas Heyes, William P. McGivern, and Howard Browne. Story editor for much of the run was Dorothy Hechtlinger.

Since creator Eric Ambler’s wife, Joan Harrison, was a producer of Alfred Hitchcock Presents at the same time, one must wonder if she did some uncredited producing on Checkmate?

The episodes date somewhat in attitudes, but then the series is almost sixty years old, and the generally high level of production holds up. Even when you can figure out the ending of an episode, it’s still an enjoyable view. The memorable opening sequence, featuring throbbing, swirling black, white, and grey liquid shapes was ahead of its time, a percursor to the light shows that would become a standard of 60s rock concerts. The theme music was provided by one “Johnny” Williams, who later went on to minor success with the music for Star Wars, E.T., Jaws and the Boston Pops. He also scored every episode of the first season. The background music for his episodes was usually soft and subtle, tuneful but neither loud nor heavy. According to Jon Burlingame’s book on television scoring, Television’s Greatest Hits, Williams only scored about four episodes for the second season; the slack was taken up by a number of fine composers, including Mort Stevens and Pete Rugolo. Cinematography was polished, with a lot of day for night shots, duties being rotated among a variety of Revue regulars — including John F. Warren and Lionel Lindon, who also worked on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Johnny Staccato (as well as such classic films noir as The Blue Dahlia).

Overall, a most enjoyable show to watch. Although never a big hit, it’s well-respected by critics and fans both its premise and ambitions — it didn’t rely on gunplay or chase sequences, and tended to be a bit more cerebral than most of its contemporaries, with the boys usually calling in the cops to make an arrest.

There was even a Gold Key comic book tie-in, although it only lasted a couple of issues. Then again, the first issue, thanks to the vagaries of publishing,  made its debut just a month before the show itself was canned.

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Respectfully submitted by Ted Fitzgerald. Additional info from Kevin Burton Smith.

 

 

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