Think Big
3 hours ago
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Tuesday's Overlooked TV: Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion
I barely remember watching this short-lived syndicated series as a kid, but not long ago I came across a DVD set containing ten episodes and decided to give it a try. I've watched a few of them now, and they're not bad for what they are: cheaply made adventure yarns starring a long-past-his-prime Buster Crabbe and former Western sidekick Fuzzy Knight, plus Crabbe's real-life son playing Captain Gallant's adopted son Cuffy.
The plots might as well be Westerns, with the Foreign Legion standing in for the cavalry and the local Arabs getting to handle the Indian parts. What sets the series slightly apart from similar fare is that it was produced in Morocco and there's a lot of exterior filming, giving it an authentic look. Crabbe has never been a favorite of mine, but he's suitably stalwart as Captain Michael Gallant. This series has some definite nostalgia value and it's watchable on its own merits, an episode or two at a time.
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5 comments:
This one got by me.
I used to watch it, but I can't remember if Cuffy was more annoying than Rusty on the RIN TIN TIN show, or less.
Cuffy is pretty annoying. I haven't seen RIN TIN TIN in years, so I can't really make a comparison.
Foreign Legion movies and shows, another dead genre. The last one I remember was MARCH OR DIE with Gene Hackman and Terence Hill, in the late '70s.
Of course I have the Marx figures from this show, and the fort. Highly collectible items. I used to watch the show and even as a kid I thought it was a bit cheesy, but I liked it anyhow. Cuffy was definitely more annoying than Rusty B. Company from Rin Tin Tin. Finally, I think the only autograph I own is Crabbe's. He was a guest at the first comic convention I attended and I had him sign a page in my first fanzine that had his picture.
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