CTVA
The Classic TV Archive - US Spy
Series
Sam Gallu productions
"Navy Log"
(1955-58)
"Behind Closed Doors"
(1958)
"U.S.
Border Patrol" (1959)
"The
Blue Angels" (1960)
Behind
Closed Doors (1958-59)
Episode Guide
compiled
by
The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by:
Tom Alger, Rina Fox
references:
Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
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BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
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Jane Gallu Productions, Inc.
Screen Gems Inc.
for
NBC (Thursdays 9:00pm EST)
Executive Producer
Sam Gallu
Produced by Sidney Marshall
US Espionage Anthology series 1958-59 26 episodes x 30 min bw
(02Oct58-09Apr59)
Host and Occasionally Starring:
Bruce Gordon as Commander Matson
Premise:
Tales of International Intrigue adapted from the files of Rear
Admiral Ellis M. Zacharius, deputy chief of Naval Intelligence during
World War II.
############ Behind Closed Doors #############
############## season 1958-59 ################
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NBC Thursdays 9:00 pm Eastern
(02Oct58-09Apr59)
[01] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE CAPE CANAVERAL STORY
Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 1
02Oct58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 25Sep58; OREG: LP16640)
producer, Sam Gallu
director, Paul Wendkos ; writer, Paul Monash.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Jack Gleason; photography, Henry Freulich.
Guest Cast:
Joe Maross, Jacques Aubuchon, Peter Whitney, Bill Henry, Virginia Christine,
Kathleen O'Malley, Marc Snow, Gabriel Curtiz, Bruce Gordon.
Synopis:
Docu-drama on how the Russians steal our missile secrets and a look at
how to prevent further espionage. Based upon the files and experiences
of Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (USN, ret.) who comments at end of
the show.
Wayne Hollister, a Florida fisherman, is approached by a Mr. Meyers who
rents his boat for one day and demands to be taken to the waters off
Cape Canaveral, not to fish, but to watch a rocket launching.
[02] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): FLIGHT TO FREEDOM
Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 2
09Oct58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 2Oct58; OREG: LP16989)
Guest Cast:
Frances Lederer
John Wengraf
Synopsis:
A German rocket scientist (Frances Lederer) forced to serve Russia's guided
missile program is horrified
and contemplates escapes when his associate (John Wengraf) is rendered a "human
vegetable" by the Russians
through a brain operation. [RF/Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, Ohio, 16-Oct-1958 NBC
Thurs 9PM]
[03] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): DOUBLE JEOPARDY
(c) 1958 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 3
16Oct58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 9Oct58; OREG: LP16641)
producer, Sam Gallu
director, Gerd Oswald
writer, Leonard Lee.
Editor, Jack Gleason; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon.
Guest Cast:
Reginald Gardiner, Lester Matthews, Tom McKee, Joseph Marievsky,
Sam Savitsky, Alexander Akimoff, Alexander Ramati.
Synopsis:
Mild-mannered Russian language professor is put into service by the
British secret service to try to uncover reasons behind Soviet nuclear
weapons plans by posing as a janitor in the Soviet embassy. "British
and U.S. intelligence agents learn that the Soviet ambassador to the
U.N. is scheduled to arrive in London and divulge the Russian's new
tactics to the Russian embassy there. The Allies try to plant a
recording device in the embassy and ask a staid Britisher to help them.
1.04 [--] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): M.I.G. 9
Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 4
23Oct58 NBC Thurs (copyright ODAT: 16Oct58; OREG: LP16642)
Synopsis:
A Russian Air Force lieutenant who wants to defect to the West, arranges
to fly out the latest Russian Mig. [RF]
[05] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): TROUBLE IN TEST CELL #19
(c) 1958 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 5
(a.k.a. "Trouble in Test Cell #10" (copyright title)
300ct58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 23Oct58; OREG: LP16643)
producer, Sam Gallu
director, John Peyser
writers, Richard Tregaskis, Jacqueline Hazard.
Editor, Asa Clark; photography, Irving Lippman.
Cast/perfomers:
Bruce Gordon,
Guest Cast:
Jacques Aubuchon, James Todd, Sam Buffington, Bek Nelson.
Synopsis:
A new jet engine that is being tested for its suitability for mass
production blows up on the final test. Exam of the wreckage shows
evidence of sabotage. U.S. Intelligence agents try to find the sabateur.
[06] Behind closed doors: (anthology): MAN IN THE MOON
(c) 1958 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 6
06Nov58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 30Oct58; OREG: LP16644)
producer, Sam Gallu
director, John Peyser
writer, Irving Wallace.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Jack Gleason; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon.
Guest Cast:
Judith Evelyn, Denver Pyle, Stewart Bradley, Ruth Terry, John Damler,
Ruth Lee, Maurice Wells.
Synopsis:
Lonely woman becomes the prey of foreign agents. "Clara Koller, a widow,
has the important job of handling the budget of a manufacturing company
engaged in a secret government project. When she is asked to join a
friendship club she accepts, unaware that the club is a front for enemy
agents.
[07] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE NIKE STORY
Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 7
13Nov58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 6Nov58; OREG: LP16645)
executive producer, Sam Gallu
producer, Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser ; writer, John Hawkins.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Jack Gleason; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon,
Guest Cast:
John Doucette, Ralph Clanton, William Bryant, Angela Greene,
William Quinn.
Synopsis:
Captain John Benson is sent to investigate when a fellow officer is
murdered trying to trap an enemy agent on a missile base. Benson
arranges to hold open house at the base in an attempt to capture the
entire ring of agents at the base.
Note:
Plot concerns the conversion of a local military base into a Nike
Hercules missile site. A group of citizens living in "Whitfield, Illinois"
objects to the placement of nuclear missiles near their small town.
However, enemy agents have infiltrated this group of concerned citizens
and is planning to use the group as the base for their nefarious deeds.
[08] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): IT WAS LEARNED ON HIGH AUTHORITY
(c) 1958 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 8
27Nov58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 20Nov58; OREG: LP16646)
executive producer, Sam Gallu
producer, Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser
writers, Stanley Niss, Herbert Abbott Spiro.
Editors, Richard Fantl, John Faure; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon,
Guest Cast:
Robert Knapp, Alex Gerry, Jeanne Baird, Dick Rich, Richard S. Davies,
Walter Maslow,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis:
Fred Lang, an enemy agent, works as an engineer on a missile base in
Los Angeles. He learns that a group of scientists is scheduled to fly
to Cape Canaveral and is ordered to place a bomb on the plane.
Contents: Commercials: L&M Cigarettes / Jack Lescoulle.
[09] Behind Closed Doors: THE ENEMY ON THE FLANK
(c) 1958 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 9
04Dec58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 26Nov58; OREG: LP16647)
executive producer, Sam Gallu
producer, Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser
writer, Alan Caillou.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Jack Gleason; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon,
Guest Cast:
James Best, Myron Healey, Marya Stevens, Gilbert Frye, Francis DeSales,
Olan Soule,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis:
"U.S. Intelligence men learn that a U.S.S.R. sub operating from a base
in Albania plan to interfere with movements of the U.S. Sixth Fleet
in the Mediterranean. Two agents are assigned to get information re
the U.S.S.R. plans.
Note:
Two U.S. agents aid in information gathering, assisted by Albanian
underground (including a beautiful young partisan woman) prior to the
U.S. police action in Lebanon.
[10] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): A COVER OF ART
Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 10
11Dec58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 4Dec58; OREG: LP16648)
executive producer, Sam Gallu
producer, Sidney Marshall
director, Boris Sagal
writers, George and Gertrude Fass.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Frank Sullivan; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host and Starring: Bruce Gordon (as Commander Matson)
Guest Cast:
Keith Richards, Florence Marly, John Banner, Anatol Winogradoff,
Aaron Saxon, Richard Flato,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharis (ret.).
Synopsis:
Commander Matson enters Czechoslovakia disguised as an art dealer,
part of a plan to get atomic scientist Andrew Fleming out of the
country. Tension mounts as the time of Fleming's trial nears and Matson
has to call upon a group of Czech resistance fighters for help"
Note:
At close of show, Zacharias states that after Matson and company have
affected the escape of Andrew Fleming, that "most important of all
Andrew Fleming learned that the full and complete efforts of his
government will always be marshalled on behalf of its citizens."
After parachuting out of a failing plane, Fleming had been captured by
the Communists and was being held prisoner behind the Iron Curtain.
[11] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE MIDDLE EAST STORY
(c) 1958 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 11
18Dec58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 11Dec58; OREG: LP16649)
executive producer, Sam Gallu
producer, Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser
writer, Fenton Earnshaw.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Jack Gleason; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon
Guest Cast:
Richard Webb, Ziva Rodann, John Sutton, Abraham Sofaer, George Keymas,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis:
Jessica Tabor overhears a plot to assassinate King Hussein of Jordan and
turns to secret agents James Foster and Harry Shaw to help forward
information to Jordan and put the King out of danger.
Note:
Story takes place in Irag, which is in the midst of a revolution. A
Communist inspired assassination attempt on Hussein's life is planned
and Jessica Tabor (an Israeli agent) enlists the help of U.S. agents
to thwart the killing.
[12] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE BRIONI STORY
(c)1958 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 12 (filmed in the UK)
25Dec58 NBC (copyright ODAT: 18Dec58; OREG: LP16650)
producer-director, Sam Gallu
writers, Charles Bennett, John Hawkins.
Editor, Bob Keen; photography, Geoffrey Faithfull.
Host: Bruce Gordon
Guest Cast:
Sheldon Laurence, Jeanette Sterke, Ferdy Mayne, Carl Duering,
Eric Pohlmann, Carle Jaffe, Glyn Owen,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Snyopsis:
It is learned that a plan to kill Marshal Tito is afoot. Tito is
placed under the guard of General Racz and his men. The only outsider
allowed to see Tito is sculptress Sarah Fletcher. U.S. agent Blake
Adams, assigned to guard Tito, learns that the plot is to be carried
out very shortly.
Note: Story is very pro-Tito.
[13] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE OBELISK
(c) 1958 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 13 (filmed in the UK)
01Jan59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 24Dec58; OREG: LP16863)
producer-director, Sam Gallu
writers, Jon Manchip White, Stanley Silverman.
Editor, Bob Keen; photography, Geoffrey Faithfull.
Host: Bruce Gordon,
Guest Cast:
Robert Ayres, Dermot Walsh, Edwin Richfield, Richard Shaw,
Walter Gobell, Richard Caldicot.
Summary:
A British atomic scientist steals important papers and heads for the
moors where he is to meet a U.S.S.R. helicopter.
[14] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology):
MESSAGE FROM MARDENBURG (copyright title) (aka THE GERMANY STORY)
Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 14 (possibly filmed in the UK)
08Jan59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 30Dec58; OREG: LP16651)
Guest Cast:
Carl Esmond
Synopsis:
A Dr. Haas has set himself up as head of a German fencing society,
whose youthful members he uses to further his own subversive plans. [TA]
[15] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE ALKALOID ANGLE
Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 15
22Jan59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 30Dec58; OREG: LP16652)
director, John Peyser
writer, Richard Grey.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Harry Marker; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon (Commander Matson);
Guest Cast:
Frank Gerstle, Biff Elliott, Natalia Daryll, Harry Bartell,
Josh Franklyn,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis 1:
During an investigation of a shipment of narcotics to a Mid East port,
a U.S. agent is killed. Agent Robert Hatfield, called out of retirement
to work on the case, learns that a traitor has revealed his identity
to the Communists.
Note:
The story takes place in Lebanon. The drug is hashish, "drug of the
assassin; a drug that turns a man into a mindless, murdering animal."
It seems that Communists are smuggling hash to restless and revolutionary
elements.
[16] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): CRYPTO 40
(c) 1959 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 16
29Jan59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 30Dec58; OREG: LP16653)
director, John English
writer, John Hawkins.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Harry Marker; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon
Guest Cast:
William Bishop, Osa Massen, Werner Klemperer, Robert Cornthwaite,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis:
Scientist David Sparrow, developer of a code machine, is captured and
held behind the Iron Curtain. Realizing that Sparrow will be forced to
make a similar machine for the U.S.S.R., Captain Early devises a rescue
scheme.
[17] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE ALASKAN STORY
Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 17
05Feb59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 29Jan59; OREG: LP16654)
director, Oscar Rudolph
writer, Fenton Earnshaw.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Henry Batista;
photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon
Guest Cast
Brad Dexter, Don Haggerty, Frank Wilcox, Claudia Barrett,
James Bell, Milton Frome,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis:
Attempting to break up a Communist spy ring in Alaska, Captain John Rand
enters the penitentiary as a prisoner to become friendly with a Red agent,
help him to escape in the hope that he will lead Rand to other members of
the ring.
[18] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE QUEMOY STORY
(c)1959 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 18
12Feb59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 5Feb59; OREG: LP16655)
Produced by Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser
writers, Donn Mullally, Arthur Fitz-Richard.
From story by Alan Caillou.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Henry Batista; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon,
Guest Cast:
Robert Richards, Robert H. Harris, Robert Ellenstein, Paul Picerni,
Roberta Haynes.
Synopsis:
In Macao, Anna Sung, a U.S. agent, is kidnapped by the Reds. Searching
for her, Commander Bennett and Mike Perrera, a local police detective,
come across a plan to infiltrate and capture Quemoy Island.
[19] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology):
THE VICEC STORY (copyright title) (a.k.a "The Espionage Students")
(c)1959 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 19
19Feb59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 11Feb59; OREG: LP16656)
Produced by Sidney Marshall
director, Mark Sandrich, Jr.
writer, Alan Caillou.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Henry Batista; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon,
Guest Cast:
Liliane Montevecchi, Dean Harens, Nestor Paiva, Otto Waldis, Anna Lisa,
Richard Alexander,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis:
Imre Vicec, a western agent, takes photos of teachers and students at
a Red training school in Bulgaria. Vicec is killed attempting to escape
and David J. Thatcher, a U.S. intelligence agent, is assigned the job
of recovering the photos.
[20] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE GENEVA STORY
(c) 1959 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 20
26Feb59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 19Feb59; OREG: LP16657).
Produced by Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser
writer, Martin Berkeley.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Henry Marker; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon,
Guest Cast:
Dennis Patrick, Evy Norlund, Jan Arvan, Gregory Gay, Wendell Holmes,
Frank London, Frank Richards,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis :
A former Soviet official is released from prison to represent the
U.S.S.R. at the Geneva Nuclear arms conference. U.S. agent Nick Blake
is assigned to learn why. The Soviets have hired an American
professional assassin to kill him just as the meeting is to begin.
[21] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE MEETING
(c) 1959 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 21
05Mar59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 26Feb59; OREG: LP16658)
Produced by Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser
writer, Robert C. Dennis.
Editors, Richard Fantl, Henry Batista; photography, Henry Freulich.
Host: Bruce Gordon
Guest Cast:
Ray Danton, David Opatoshu, Judith Braun, Virginia Gregg, Robert Warwick,
Booth Colman, Wolfe Barzell,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis:
"U.S. spies learn that a new chief of the U.S.S.R. secret police has
been appointed. Agent Ralph Drake goes to Austria to meet with Western
agents from six Iron Curtain countries.
[22] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD
(c) 1959 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 22
12Mar59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 5Mar59; OREG: LP16659)
Produced by Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser
writers, Robert Leslie Bellem, Tony Barrett.
From a story by Tony Barrett.
Editor, Henry Batista; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon
Guest Cast:
Simon Scott, Chana Eden, Ben Astar, Robert Carricart, Steve Conte,
John Warburton,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis 1:
U.S. agent Douglas Kincaid joins the Communist Party and learns that
Feodor Mashay, once a top Kremlin official, wants to defect. Kincaid
is assigned to help Mashay escape.
Synopsis 2:
The story opens as cops in San Francisco break into apartment where
a Communist cell meeting is taking place. One of those arrested is
Kincaid. In reality, he is not a Communist agent, but is a U.S. agent.
He is then "deported" to Yalta so that he can aid in the defection of
Feodor Mashay.
[23] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE GAMBLE
(c) 1959 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 23
19Mar59 (copyright ODAT: 12Mar59; OREG: LP16660)
Produced by Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser
writers, Robert Leslie Bellem, Stanley H. Silverman.
From a story by Stanley H. Silverman.
Editor, Harry Marker; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon,
Guest Cast:
Jeff Richards, Carol Thurston, Lewis Charles, Peter Votrian,
Nyra Monsour, Leonard Graves, Weaver Levy,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis 1:
Prince Tallat is preparing a speech calculated to turn his people against
Communism. But before he can deliver it, he and his sister, Princess
Santha, are kidnapped.
Synopsis 2:
Story is set in Vietnam (French IndoChina). In the city of Hue, there is
to be a conference of the free nations of Southeast Asia whose top-level
statemen are assembled to discuss how to block Communist infiltration
from North Vietnam. The Communist captors of the Prince want him to
alter a speech and denounce the western imperialists. The Princess
escapes into the arms of a U.S. agent who helps the Prince escape as
well.
[24] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): DOUBLE AGENT
(c) 1959 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 24
26Mar59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 19Mar59; OREG: LP16661)
Produced by Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser
writers, Donn Mullally, Arthur Fitz-Richard.
Editor, Harry Marker; photography, Irving Lippman.
Host: Bruce Gordon (Commander Matson)
Guest Cast:
John Sutton, Liam Sullivan, Theodore Marcuse, Violet Rensing, John Thye,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis:
A British counterintelligence agent tries to track down a spy working
for both East and West who is responsible for the shipment of arms to
western sympathizers behind the Iron Curtain.
[25] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): THE ANTIDOTE
Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 25
02Apr59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 26Mar59; OREG: LP16662)
[26] Behind Closed Doors: (anthology): ASSIGNMENT PRAGUE (final episode)
(c) 1959 Screen Gems-Gallu prod. no. 26
09Apr59 NBC (copyright ODAT: 2Apr59; OREG: LP16990)
Produced by Sidney Marshall
director, John Peyser
writer, Alan Caillou.
Editor, Harry Marker; photography, Henry Freulich.
Host: Bruce Gordon,
Guest Cast:
Warren Stevens, Sue England, Berry Kroeger, Patricia Huston, Emil Sitka,
John Conwell,
appearance by Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias (ret.).
Synopsis 1:
Russians are filming an anti-U.S. propaganda picture at a Warsaw studio.
Learning that some of her staff members are working against the Russians,
the head of the film project attempts to weed out the dissenters.
Synopsis 2:
In Warsaw, an anti-Communist uprising has somehow gone unreported in the
West. A U.S. agent posing as a former American film director recruited
by the Commies to direct propaganda films in Poland, has, along with
his crew, compiled a documentary film about the rebellion and is trying
to smuggle it to the West where it can be shown at the U.N.
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