I'm re-watching the entire series of the classic Roger Moore / Tony Curtis TV show and thoroughly enjoying it. It's always been a huge favourite of mine since I saw it in its first run as a kid.
The onscreen chemistry is just fabulous and I'd forgotten just how witty the scripts were - to be honest it i should virtually a comedy.
Which brings me to a point about the theme. Now, i've never made any secret of the fact I'm not a big fan of John Barry - to the extent that I actively dislike a huge amount of his film work, including a number of the Bond scores that others rate so highly. But I have always loved his theme for The Persuaders. However, watching the opening credits now, the theme just seems so totally inappropriate - it is gritty and deadly serious in tone, and would have been entirely appropriate for so many of the other ITC adventure shows of the same era - but The Persuaders was never, ever gritty or serious - totally the contrary in fact.
Not Barry's fault of course - he was doubtless instructed to come up with a catchy theme for what must have been described as a serious adventure show - and that he delivered in spades, with one of the best TV themes ever. But it really doesn't fit at all with how the show was executed - The Odd Couple with fisticuffs and guns.
We, too, are re-watching ... for the ???th time. I did buy all the the DVDs in the (expensive) 4 episode releases ... and sold them thinking that was that.
But we like to watch some lightweight TV for an hour in the evening and when I saw the programme on the TV schedule I couldn't resist pressing the record (all episodes) button. Three down so far ...
I don't understand how they are being shown in 16:9 without stretching ... and I haven't see any evidence of the top/bottom of the picture having been cropped.
Anyhow, yes, still good fun but as you say, Mike, due to the interaction of the stars, certainly not the plot-lines or even the acting which is often OTT.
But, of course, I have to disagree with you re: John Barry's theme ... not only the best TV ever (e.g. as standalone it beats all competition) but also for suitability. Had any lightweight theme been used then it would not have attracted attention and more likely pushed the series into the comedy slot. It's because the show's format is lightweight that the series needed some gravitas and the music is wedded to the images perfectly. This isn't unique and in this regard Barry did not lead the way. He simply did it better than anyone else!
I've just purchased The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series 1 ... I was never a fan only really watching the two-parter stories in their TV broadcasts back in the 1970s. But, again, something nice and easy to watch ... First episode and I'm already bored with that theme ... and yet I like it! I mention this iconic series because I recall reading the sleeve notes of one of the FSM CD releases in which there's reference to the wonderful Nelson Riddle being criticised by the TV producer for writing comedic music (The Concrete Overcoat Affair (a.k.a. The Spy in the Green Hat)... which was what the show had become in series 3. It's good music but it's not right because it showed the episodes up for what they had become.
John Barry's theme to The Persuaders! was ... and remains ... one of the show's biggest assets.
Arrrgghh! Two good friends disagree about whether Barry's superb theme is appropriate for the show to which it's attached! With whom should I agree?
The answer is: Happily I'm not qualified to judge, because I don't suppose I ever saw more than a small handful of episodes, and those back when it was very new, and therefore don't really remember what the tone was like
I started a Persuaders thread here dozens of years ago, but I'll post this here before even its author forgets about it.
Most episodes are quite funny and lighthearted, except for these four:
Angie, Angie- Danny's boyhood friend may be a hitman and Brett strongly suspects this; Danny swears that he's not, leading to strained relations between the two "Persuaders."
The Long Goodbye- A formula for a synthetic fuel is sought after by an oil company, a man claiming to be the man's associate, and the Soviets. The episode ends with the daughter of the dead inventor carrying out his wishes by destroying the formula. Brett reads the inventor's letter, which end with "world not ready."
Someone Like Me- Brett is brainwashed in a Manchurian Candidate-style plot to assassinate a millionaire (Bernard Lee). A rather serious tone throughout, including a fist fight between Brett and Danny, which is not like the played-for-laughs fisticuffs they had in the series premiere, Overture.
The Morning After- Brett wakes up in a Stockholm hotel room and discovers he was married the night before--to lovely Catherine Schell! Roger and Schell have a couple of poignant scenes together--at least as poignant as this show ever got--and the delicate musical cue plays whenever they're having their meaningful dialogue which was also heard in Angie, Angie. Dr Who fans will perk up when they see Bernard Horsfall aka Chancellor Goth from The Deadly Assassin doing a "Swedish" accent.
Only Roger Moore himself could pull off eyeing a bikini girl bow to stern while sporting a salmon colored button down shirt and belted khaki slacks. The wild 1970's fashions alone in this series make it a classic. The bikini chicks were always an obvious bonus of tuning in The Persuaders. The good old days of television.
...Which brings me to a point about the theme. Now, i've never made any secret of the fact I'm not a big fan of John Barry - to the extent that I actively dislike a huge amount of his film work, including a number of the Bond scores that others rate so highly. But I have always loved his theme for The Persuaders. However, watching the opening credits now, the theme just seems so totally inappropriate - it is gritty and deadly serious in tone, and would have been entirely appropriate for so many of the other ITC adventure shows of the same era - but The Persuaders was never, ever gritty or serious - totally the contrary in fact.
Not Barry's fault of course - he was doubtless instructed to come up with a catchy theme for what must have been described as a serious adventure show - and that he delivered in spades, with one of the best TV themes ever. But it really doesn't fit at all with how the show was executed - The Odd Couple with fisticuffs and guns.
I've started watching The Persuaders! this weekend and I have to agree a bit with MikeJ here - one sees that John Barry is the music theme writer and one expects this to blow all of the other Brit spy TV show themes out of the water. The opening harpsichord motif has one hot in anticipation...but the remainder of the music is a bit subdued; it's more the Barry of the cimbalom Ipcress File or Quiller Memorandum style, rather than the brassy, tuneful Barry of the Bond series. It's still good, of course, but one hoped for something a bit more energetic and jivey - more in tone with the series itself.
I'm amused that Tony Curtis and Roger Moore are billed only as "Curtis and Moore" in the credits.
A "Babes of The Persuaders" thread would be a thread filled with women with humdinger looks. Rosemary Nicols from "Greensleeves" had a cool, but sweet look.
Yutte Stensgaard in "The Morning After" makes for a sleek blonde sidekick - she's even an expert at judo!
It's fun to see Roger Moore in between The Saint and James Bond. I've never seen him looking so shaggy-haired.
Dr Who fans will perk up when they see Bernard Horsfall aka Chancellor Goth from The Deadly Assassin doing a "Swedish" accent.
Bernard Horsfall also appeared in The Mind Robber, The War Games (playing a Time Lord, although some feel it was Goth). He also appeared in a variety of tv shows such as Pathfinders to Mars, The Saint, The Avengers, Department S, Freewheelers and Doomwatch.
I was a kid in primary school when The Persuaders was aired in the UK. My best friend and I called ourselves Danny and Brett. He thought he was cool by bagging (that's getting there first) Curtis' name, but I was more than happy being Moore. Preferred him anyway.
My uncle bought both himself and me the UK single release (CBS label) of the Barry theme. Loved the show. Must invest in the Blue ray of this at some point.
And I never ever thought there was anything inappropriate about the theme. It was so cool, how could I? It says mystery and darker dealings for sure, but I think it counterbalances nicely the shenanigans of Moore and Curtis. Love that piano intro, and the synth underlined melody. Wow. If only we got this kind of stuff now.
This is a great groovy song, by Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch, heard in the first episode. At first you think it's going to be cheese, but then it really soars!
I'm re-watching the entire series of the classic Roger Moore / Tony Curtis TV show and thoroughly enjoying it. It's always been a huge favourite of mine since I saw it in its first run as a kid.
The onscreen chemistry is just fabulous and I'd forgotten just how witty the scripts were - to be honest it i should virtually a comedy.
As I recall. it was shown on a Friday night on London Weekend Television in my area.
I remember it sunday afternoons i think. But i cannot recall if that was first showings or a rerun.
jj is correct: the first run was on Friday evenings … 8 o’clock. I think the next time the series was run was on Sundays … 1 o’clock (I think), maybe noon to 1.
We (as in the whole family) used to watch this when I was a kid; I liked it a lot back then. Have seen one or two episodes since then, and found Barry's theme perfectly captures "The Persuaders". Indeed, I never heard anyone say that Barry's theme didn't fit the series. It is the musical summation of the show.
The theme is excellent but it doesn't fit the show as it is serious and ominous which the show is absolutely not. The show is nonsense fluff and enourmously fun. The only setback is its early 70s looks. Good god the people look hideous. All the women look like like bargain basement hookers and the men look like their pimps or their customers. I love the 60s ITV/ITC series (even more so after I got so many of the during sales events from Network) and the shock of seeing the classy and good looking fashion of the 60s (NON-hippie shit!) getting thrown out and replaced by the 70s horrors (as a result of hippie-shit) is damaging to the mental health.
That said, the series is lots of fun and I get the impression that it was one long holliday for Curtis & Moore. If they didn't have a good time during that production, they are the best actors ever because to me their chemistry jumps of the screen. Least favourite episodes are the ones in Spain. All those series had to go to the south of Europe when flights became cheaper and it's just a bore, exasperated by the fashion crimes. Joan Collins, never a good looking woman, looked extra hideous in this series with that laquered helmet.
Curtis drove the only Ferrari that I can care for and is an absolute delight in this series. Moore is the Ernie Wise to Curtis' Eric Morecomb.
In Germany the series achieved a cult status because of its dubbing which, at times, deviated completely from the original script. The two main voice actors for Curtis & Moore recalled that they were shown an episode, looked at each other and said something along the line of "this is utter nonsense" and so they they decided to treat it that way. The shows character changed so much that when I saw the English version for the first time I was surprised by its more serious nature (!).
If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour and see it.
I guess I don't find the theme particularly edgy or serious or ominous. For me, the title theme always suggested a sort of suave and debonair stance, focused, relaxed, and cool, perfectly in tone with the series.
