The Classic TV Archive - US Spy Series
Barry Sullivan series:
Man Called X (1956) - Harbourmaster (1957-58) - The Tall Man (1960-62)
Man Called X (1956-57)
Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
All Episode information supplied by:
John King, New York
references:
Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
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MAN CALLED "X"
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Ziv Television Programs, Inc.
United Artists Corporation
for
First-Run Syndication
Produced by Eddie Davis and Maurice Unger
Based on the radio series created by J. Richard Kennedy
US Spy series 1956-57 39 episodes x 30 min. bw
1st telecast 8Jan56
starring
Barry Sullivan
as Ken Thurston
Premise:
Adventures of Ken Thurston, US Intelligence Bureau Agent - Code Name "X".
recurring guest cast:
Byron Keith
Don C. Harvey
Technical Supervisor Ladislas Farago, a real-life intelligence
agent and successful author.
############### Man Called "X" ###############
############ season 1 early 1956 #############
##############################################
Episodes listed in production no. order
[01] Man Called X: FOR EXTERNAL USE ONLY
(location: Vienna)
ZIV release no. 1001
27Jan56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by H. Swanton, W.P. Templeton
Directed by Eddie Davis
(no guest cast details)
Ken Thurston (Barry Sullivan) arrives in Vienna to pick up data
vital to the Western powers. His contact for the data, however,
has disappeared and Thurston must take a dagerous gamble to
complete his mission.
[02] Man Called X: BALLERINA STORY
ZIV release no. 1002
3Feb56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Leonard Heideman
Directed by Eddie Davis
(no guest cast details)
Ken Thurston is dispatched from Washington to help a great ballerina
escape from a dictatorship to expose the oppressors of her homeland.
[03] Man Called X: EXTRADITION
(location: Honduras)
ZIV release no. 1003
10Feb56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Ellis Marcus
Directed by Eddie Davis
(no guest cast details)
Ken Thurston is sent to Honduras to investigate a report that
revolutionists are using American-made weapons. He poses as a
fugitive bank robber.
[04] Man Called X: ASSASSINATION
(location: Singapore)
ZIV release no. 1004
17Feb56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Stuart Jerome
Directed by William Castle
guest cast:
Richard Loo
Beulah Kwoh
Sammee Tong
Weaver Levy
Jim Hong
Guy Kingsford
Wong Artarne
Byron Keith
Ken Thurston is sent to the backstreets of Singapore to prevent
the assassination of a famous Free China general.
[05] Man Called X: TRUTH SERUM
(location: Czechoslovakia)
ZIV release no. 1005
24Feb56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by H. Swanton
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Eleanore Tanin
Gene Roth
John Banner
Dick Gardner
Coiday Clifton
Albert Syabo
Gary Kettler
Sasha Harden
Richard Paxton
Karl Lindt
Ken Thurston meets danger head on when he tries to rescue an
underground leader in satelite Czechoslovakia. He hoes to take a
taitor's place to warn the undergound of the sudden danger and has
penetrated the Czech border before learning that the secret police
have surrounded his compartment.
[06] Man Called X: AFGHANISTAN
ZIV release no. 1006
2Mar56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Leonard Heideman
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Henry Rowland
Guy Prescott
Pete Bourne
Helen Jay
Larry Chance
Lisa Fusaro
Edward Foster
Bhupesh Guha
Reginald Lal Singh
Ken Thurston is sent to Afghanistan to investigate the collapse of
a tunnel being built by American engineers.
[07] Man Called X: EMBASSY
(location: Costa Rica)
ZIV release no. 1007
9Mar56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Jack Rock
Directed by Herb Strock
guest cast:
John Mansfield
Richard Norris
Lilian Molieri
George Fairchild
Aaron Saxon
Don C. Harvey (recurring)
Ken Thurston is sent to investigate leakages of information from a
military mission in Costa Rica. He finds that the information is
stolen from secret government mail and singles out three suspects.
An elevator operator is the chief suspect.
[08] Man Called X: DANGEROUS
(location: Trieste)
ZIV release no. 1008
16Mar56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by George Callahan
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Peter Norman
Karine Nordman
Banboung Morris
Anthony De Mario
Douglas Wilson
Frederic Melchoir
John Lehmann
Byron Keith
Coulter Irwin
Lyle Felice
Lawrence Telbmann
Ken Thurston keeps a dangerous appointment with a dead man in order
to re-open a blocked line of underground communications in Trieste.
His mission: to discover why information has stopped coming in from
the other agents.
[09] Man Called X: PROVOCATEUR
(location: Tehran)
ZIV release no. 1009
23Mar56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Arthur Weiss
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Edmund Hashim
Kurt Katch
William Meigs
John Bennes
Pedro Regas
Tom Tammaney
Mohamad Salem
Ken Thurston risks his life to save an enemy of America, when he
starts investigating an antagonistic foreign power who is starting
a wave of anti-American propaganda in Tehran, captital of Iran.
He attempts to rush th poisoned enemy agent to hospital while
gunmen dog his every step.
[10] Man Called X: LOCAL HERO
(location: China)
ZIV release no. 1010
30Mar56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Ellis Marcus
Directed by Leon Benson
guest cast:
Rolfe Sedan
Alex Montoya
Stella Lynn
George T. Lee
James Hong
Leslie Banning
Harold Fong
W.T. Chang
Marie Tsien
Joy Lee
Sammee Tong
Edwin Luke
Lawrence Ung
Ken Thurston poses as a member of a group of refugees in a
desperate attempt to escape from China. He has been assigned to
find out which one of the group is a traitor.
[11] Man Called X: MAPS
(location: Prague)
ZIV release no. 1011
4May56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Jack Rock
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Henry Cordon
George Becwar
Erzsebert Pulay
Fay Wall
Dirk Evans
Marilyn O'Connor
Sha Sha Harden
Saul Martell
An American woman comes into possession of maps showing Iron
Curtain military installations. Foreign agents seize the information.
Ken Thurston is dispatched to Prague to get the secret military
maps.
[12] Man Called X: U.S. PLANES
(location: South America)
ZIV release no. 1012
13Apr56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by William Stuart
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Ginette De Band
John Hallorant
George Douglas
Eddie Coch
Abel Franco
David Weiller
Henry Escalante
Richard Alameda
synopsis a:
The intelligence bureau learns of a plot to discredit the U.S.
in the eyes of a South American democracy for selling bombers
to a small country.
synopsis B:
Five bombers fly into a powderkeg of murder and rebellion.
[13] Man Called X: ACOUSTICS
(location: Amsterdam)
ZIV release no. 1013
20Apr56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Orville Hampton
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Vari Bantay
Willy Kaufmann
Violet Rensing
Lars Ivan Anderson
Frank Alten
Saverio Lo Medico
Roland Varno
Peter Michael
Byron Keith (recurring)
Neva Sebert
William Schramm
Ken Thurston is dispatched to Europe to investigate the reported
death of a noted rocket scientist. Thurston starts out on a perilous
hunt for the scientist. The U.S. has been informed that the man
is in Amsterdam
[14] Man Called X: THE GENERAL
(location: The Balkans)
ZIV release no. 1014
27Apr56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Leonard Heideman
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Gordon Barnes
Harold Dyneforth
Lester Sharpe
Leo Kreingel
Norbert Schiller
Irene Bolton
Frank Schall
Byron Keith (recurring)
Learning of an impending war between two Baklkan countries,
Ken Thurston is dispatched to investigate. He thrusts himself
between two angry Balkan factions to cool tempers that threaten
open hostilities. The son of a police chief was killed trying to
escape to the West.
##############################################
June56-Sept56 "Man Called X"
3 month hiatus in most markets at this point
############### Man Called "X" ###############
############## season 2 1956-57 ##############
##############################################
Episodes listed in production no. order
[15] Man Called X: MISSING PLATES
(location: Brussels)
ZIV release no. 1015
27Sep56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Jack Rock
Directed by Eddie Davis
(no guest cast details)
When genuine American currency turns up in Europe in unusual
quantities, the Washington Intelligence Bureau traces the currency
to printing plates supposedly destroyed years ago. Ken Thurston
is sent to Brussels to recover the plates.
[16] Man Called X: ENEMY AGENT
(location: Stockholm, Sweden)
ZIV release no. 1016
4Oct56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Gene Levitt
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Larry Thor
Steve Mitchell
Adelle August
Gloria Ann Simpson
Michael Mark
Iva Anders
Vincent Neptune
Thomas P. Dillon
Leslie Bishop
Maya Van Hoin
Ken Thurston is dispatched to Stockholm to block the plans of a
dangerous enemy agent. When his his plans to have the agent thrown
out of Sweden fail, he steals vital plans and sells them to the agent instead.
[17] Man Called X: GOLD
(location: The Phillipines)
ZIV release no. 1017
11Oct56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Jack Laird
Directed by Eddie Davis
(no guest cast details)
In the Phillipines, Ken Thurston must choose between the rescuing
of a pretty Dutch girl or recovering a fortune in American gold
which disappeared during the Japanese occpation of the islands.
[18] Man Called X: OPERATION JANUS
(location: Istanbul)
ZIV release no. 1018
18Oct56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Art Wallace
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Kort Falkenberg
Gerry Gaylor
Harry Rand
Kubla Khan
John Bleifer
Mabbs Merrill
Jack Vonda
Ernest Raboff
Basil Brigadier
Byron Keith (recurring)
An American counter-intelligence operator in Istanbul discovers a
watch manufacturer engaged in espionage against the U.S. He requests
help from the Intelligence Bureau and then disappears. Ken Thurston
provides the young watchmaker with a new name, a new personal history
and a wife, the man's never seen before in order to break a spy ring.
[19] Man Called X: STAFF HEADQUARTERS
(location: behind the Iron Curtain)
ZIV release no. 1019
25Oct56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Leonard Heideman
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Kay Faylen
Cynthia Leighton
David Alpert
Robert Malcolm
Richard Flato
Michael Legend
Paul Gnant
Don C. Harvey (recurring)
Ken Thurston is assigned a hazardous mission: to get plans for a
Communist naval maneuver. He slips behind the Iron Curtain and
manages to smash a dress rehearsal for an attack on the U.S.
[20] Man Called X: UNDERGROUND
(location: Poland)
ZIV release no. 1020
1Nov56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by William L. Stuart
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Gregory Tolubeff
John Dennis
John Marshall
Maury Hill
Jan Shepard
Ralph Clanton
Michael Kleven
John Bleifer
Tom Pittman
Don C. Harvey (recurring)
Ken Thurston parachutes into Communist Poland with a half million
dollars in cash and tries to distribute the money to anti-Red
underground. Ken poses as a newspaper correspondent.
[21] Man Called X: SPARE PARTS
(location: behind the Iron Curtain)
ZIV release no. 1021
8Nov56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Jack Laird
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
George Pelling
Stuart Nedd
Bobbie Collentine
Max Palmer
Byron Keith
Ken Thurston penetrates the Iron Curtain to sabotage a secret war
plant. His mission is to stop production of tank parts in the USSR.
When his contact is murdered, he accompanies a Czech informant into
the plants where the parts are made.
[22] Man Called X: FALLOUT
ZIV release no. 1022
15Nov56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Arthur Weiss
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Michael Whalen
Lynn Cartwright
Terry Frost
Bing Russell
Don Eitner
Rick Vallin
Byron Keith (recurring)
Ken Thurston smashes a plot to brand the U.S. Navy as "atom murderers".
The Intelligence Bureau has learned that foreign agents plan to
interfere with an upcoming H-bomb test and Thurston has been assigned
to the freighter believed to be carrying the enemy agents.
[23] Man Called X: SPEECH
(location: Nepal)
ZIV release no. 1023
22Nov56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Ande Lamb
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
William Rau
Bernie Gozier
Albert Ferrara
Connie Buck
Patrick Whyte
Gregg Martell
Leonard Nimoy
Lowell Gilmore
Ken Thurston matches wits with Communist agitators who threaten an
Anglo-American oil project in Nepal.
[24] Man Called X: SHIP SABOTAGE
(location: Manilla, the Phillipines)
ZIV release no. 1024
29Nov56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Jack Rock
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Mark Hartman
Bud Osborne
Laura Mason
Julian Rivero
Julia Montoya
George Lewis
Dennis Moore
Gilbert Fallman
Hal Hoover
Bruno Metsa
Don C. Harvey (recurring)
Ken Thurston is dispatched to Manilla to uncover a clever sabotage
ring that has been wrecking ships. He disguises himself as a sailor,
and is hired to sabotage a freighter.
[25] Man Called X: RENDEZVOUS
ZIV release no. 1025
5Dec56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Ellis Marcus
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
George Postal
Craig Duncan
Paul Thierry
Bruce Wendell
Hal Gerard
Leo Mostovy
Josie Wyler
John Merton
Bebby De Vries
Dick Wilson
Don C. Harvey (recurring)
A political party in a Communist dominated country appeals to the
U.S. to remove its naval task force, which has been maneuvring
nearby. The Communist boss has been using the presence of the U.S.
ships as an excuse for not holding a general election. The U.S.
Intelligence Bureau smashes the dictator with a strategically placed lie.
[26] Man Called X: SWITZERLAND
(location: Geneva)
ZIV release no. 1026
12Dec56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Leonard Heideman
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Michael Fox
Alan Reynolds
Lee Mitchell
Stephen Coit
Gertrude Zint
John Bent
Byron Keith (recurring)
Ken Thurston is sent to Geneva to lure master spy Edmund Lubbock
away from the Communists using American automobiles as bait. The
spy wants to quit but there is a fantastic international plot to
keep him "employed"
[27] Man Called X: CODE "W"
(location: Copenhagen, Denmark)
ZIV release no. 1027
26Dec56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Arthur Weiss
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Lois Hall
Paula Hill
K.L. Smith
Bill Erwin
Rand Brooke
Opal Eueud
Anne Boigé
Ed O'Donnell
Howard Hoffman
Byron Keith
A foreign embassy in Copenhagen relays U.S. code messages. Ken
Thurston, posing as an electronics expert, investigates.
[28] Man Called X: GAS MASKS
ZIV release no. 1028
3Jan57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Jack Rock
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Ken Worthen
Frank Kreig
David McMahon
Jason Johnson
William Vaughan
Gabriel Curtiz
Marjorie Stapp
Richard Bull
Watson Douns
Maria Lammey
Hal Callie
Byron Keith (recurring)
A foreign power manufactures gas as an actual weapon against allied
troops and as a propaganda tool. Ken Thurston is sent to investigate.
[29] Man Called X: MURDER
(location: Turkey)
ZIV release no. 1029
10Jan57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Lee Berg
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Gordon Mills
George Whiteman
Peter Coe
John Holland
Sidney Gordon
Allen O'Locklin
Nick Bolin
Irene James
Byron Keith (recurring)
The Intelligence Bureau learns that an important scientist is forced
to work on Red guided missiles. He manages to escape to Turkey, but
is being pursued by MVD agents who have been ordered to kill him.
Ken Thurston disguises himself as an eminent scientist, in order to
lure Communist police away from the real scientist.
[30] Man Called X: TRAIN BLOW UP
(location: Paris, France)
ZIV release no. 1030
6Feb57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Ellis Marcus
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Mary Alan Hokanson
Charles Maxwell
Albert Cannier
Donald Lawton
Paula Hill
Irvin Ashenazy
Raikin Ben-Ani
Guy Zanette
Byron Keith (recurring)
An Iron Curtain diplomat stationed in Paris, offers an attractive
envoy vital information.
[31] Man Called X: POWDER KEG
(location: Morocco)
ZIV release no. 1031
13Feb57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Les Crutchfield and Jack Rock
Directed by Jack Herzberg
guest cast:
George Khoury
Diane De Laine
Charles La Tonne
Albert Carrier
David Conrad
Cynthia Baer
Gabriel Mooradian
Byron Keith (recurring)
Ken Thurston poses as a gun-runner to find out who has been selling
American rifles in Morocco.
[32] Man Called X: PASSPORT
(location: Cairo, Egypt)
ZIV release no. 1032
20Feb57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Norman Jolley
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Arthur Batanides
Lilyan Chauvin
Kathleen O'Malley
Frank Richards
Sam Buffington
Mario Gallo
Joseph Abdullah
Reggie Dvorak
Patricia Donahue
Byron Keith
Ken Thurston is sent to Cairo to investigate the arrest of a spy
who is said to be an American.
[33] Man Called X: FORGED DOCUMENTS
(location: Tangier, Morocco)
ZIV release no. 1033
27Feb57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphi, Channel 10
Written by Charles Mergendahl
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Alan Foster
Jack Reitzen
Joel Ashley
Granville Dixon
Sydney Mason
David Dwight
Carmen D'Oro
Byron Keith (recurring)
Two middle Eastern powers plan an anti-Red conference in Tangier,
which is suddenly cancelled.
[34] Man Called X: AUSTRALIA
ZIV release no. 1034
6Mar57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Jack Rock
Directed by Lambert Hill
guest cast:
Charles Gray
Barney Richards
Caroline Lambert
John Monaghan
Margaret Muse
Keith McConnell
Jack Edwards
Laurence Conroy
Peter Gordon
Byron Keith (recurring)
Secret agents from three western powers are sent to Australia to
plug a security leak. A professional criminal has placed a
microphone under the floor of the room where the vital economic
conferences are held.
[35] Man Called X: RADIO
ZIV release no. 1035
13Mar57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by George Callahan
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Robert Stephenson
Frederic Welch
Frank D'Amore
Anne Bellamy
Jean G. Harvey
William Kirschner
David Wiley
Rudolph Solari
Don. C. Harvey (recurring)
U.S. intelligence learns of a plot to sabotage a battleship of a
foreign power is to be blamed on the U.S.
[36] Man Called X: BUSINESS EMPIRE
(location: Guatemala)
ZIV release no. 1036
20Mar57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by H. Purdum and Jack Rock
Directed by Leslie Goodwin
guest cast:
Charles Victor
Jenny Riggio
Anna Navarro
Abel Franco
David Leonard
Don C. Harvey (recurring)
Ken Thurston is sent to Guatemala to investigate an anti-Communist
vigilance committee headed by an American citizen, and uncovers a spy ring.
[37] Man Called X: HUNGARY
ZIV release no. 1037
27Mar57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Fritz Blocki and George Callahan
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Sydney Smith
Paul Harber
Marie Brown
Paul Barselou
Vere Geary
Frank Fenton
Robert Shield
Michael Garth
Robert Case
Ben Niems
Don C. Harvey (recurring)
An underground agent behind the Iron Curtain has been sending vital
information to the U.S. He is in danger of exposure and his identity
is known by only one man.
[38] Man Called X: KIDNAP
ZIV release no. 1038
4Apr57 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by George Callahan
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Lynn Cartwright
Harold Dyneforth
Carlyle Mitchell
Steve Dexter
Tina Holland
Teza De Rosner
Andre Villon
Mason Curry
Don C. Harvey (recurring)
The daughter of a top U.S. scientist is lured behind the Iron
Curtain and is held ransom by Reds.
[39] Man Called X: VOICE ON TAPE
(Christmas Episode)
ZIV release no. 1039
19Dec56 [us] airdate, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
Written by Leonard Heideman
Directed by Eddie Davis
guest cast:
Scott Douglas
Darlene Fileds
Thomas B. Henry
Charles Knapp
Clay Kamda
Ilse Alban
Gary Roark
Frank Marlowe
Emil Sitka
Joe Hamilton
Raymond Barnes
George Davis
Byron Keith
A dead man's voice delivers a special Christmas present to hi betrayer.
[--] Man called X: (title not known - one of the above)
Synopsis:
A U.S. Naval task force, maneuvering off the coast of a small nation,
creates a problem for the Freedom Coalition there. [TA]
(Local 14Nov56 broadcast, Alabama)
############### Man Called "X" ###############
################# the end ##################
##############################################
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