Bold Venture was a syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall that aired from 1951 to 1952. Morton Fine and David Friedkin scripted the taped series for Bogart's Santana Productions.
Synopsis
Salty seadog Slate Shannon (Bogart) owns a Cuban hotel, Shannon's Place, sheltering an assortment of treasure hunters, revolutionaries, and other shady characters. With his sidekick and ward, the sultry Sailor Duval (Bacall), tagging along, he encounters modern-day pirates and other tough situations while navigating the waters around Havana. Aboard his boat, the Bold Venture, Slate and Sailor experience "adventure, intrigue, mystery and romance in the sultry settings of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean."
Calypso singer King Moses (Jester Hairston) provided musical bridges by threading plot situations into the lyrics of his songs.Erickson, Hal (1989). Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947–1987. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 20-21. Music for the series was by David Rose.
The series combined elements of a number of past Bogart/Bacall film collaborations, most notably To Have and Have Not which also cast Bogart as a boat owner in the Caribbean who reluctantly becomes involved in intrigue while romancing Bacall. The relationship between Shannon and King Moses, and his ownership of an inn, is strongly reminiscent of the dynamic between Rick Blaine and Sam in Casablanca.
Production
Fredric Ziv, a syndicated transcribed program producer, presented Bogart and Bacall with an offer, "just record your lines and we'll do the rest".
Beginning in March 1951, the Frederic W. Ziv Company syndicated 78 episodes via electrical transcription. Heard on 423 stations, the 30-minute series earned $5,000 weekly for Bogart and Bacall.
All of Frederic Ziv's 40+ radio series (some 10,000 radio programs), including all 78 episodes of Bold Venture, were donated by the Ziv Estate to Media Heritage and exclusively licensed to Carl Amari who successfully launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds necessary to professionally transfer the complete run of Bold Venture. Soon, all 78 episodes will be available, including 18 "lost" Bold Venture episodes which have not been heard in more than 70 years. A definitive collection of all 78 Bold Venture episodes, which will include a detailed historical booklet, will be available beginning in 2024 through Amari's company. Amari plans to launch additional Kickstarter campaigns to raise funds necessary to release more complete runs of Ziv radio series, including Boston Blackie, I Was a Communist for the FBI, Favorite Story, Philo Vance and The Cisco Kid. Amari will launch a website in 2024 that offers these Ziv radio series at www.ZivRadio.com
Radio episode guide No. Date Title 1 Title 2 Title 3 Title 4 Title 5 Ref 1 March 26, 1951 Deadly Merchandise Death By A Fighting Bird Smuggling Arms Gun Runners 2 April 2, 1951 Kwan Yen Statue Quam Yi Statue 3 April 9, 1951 Bill of Lading Six Crates of Apples Opium Smugglers and Young Girl White Envelope 4 April 16, 1951 A Bullet for Shannon Thugs and Slugs Johnny Price Story 5 April 23, 1951 Spanish Gold Buried Treasure Treasure on Flamingo Cay Sunken Treasure at 20 Fathoms 6 April 30, 1951 Murder of Franny Lane He Who Laughs Last Murder is No Joke Slate Shannon Accused of Murder Dixon and Lane 7 May 7, 1951 Espionage & Murder in San Tomas Atomic Espionage on San Thomas 8 May 14, 1951 A Muncie Murderess in Havana Blackmail is Dangerous to Your Health That Gun Will Kill You 9 May 21, 1951 False American Passports Fake American Passports 10 May 28, 1951 Sailor Framed For Murder Calverts House of Mirrors 11 June 4, 1951 Blue Moon 12 June 11, 1951 The Tears of Siva Star of Sheba 13 June 18, 1951 Half Million Reasons to Find Cary Martin We Want Cary Martin 14 June 25, 1951 The High Price of Treason 15 July 2, 1951 Russian Roulette 16 July 9, 1951 Mystery of the Mary K 17 July 16, 1951 The Chaney Wedding Death At The Wedding Frame Up 18 July 23, 1951 12 Year Promise Oil Wells 19 July 30, 1951 Alice Ramsey's Husband Poison Darts Voodoo Vendetta in Paradise 20 August 6, 1951 Search for Tommy Reed Looking for Tommy Reed 21 August 20, 1951 Ghost Ship 22 August 27, 1951 Jennie Ward Slate's Old Flame 23 September 3, 1951 Terminal Key 24 September 10, 1951 Phyllis Calvert Murders Out of Control Suicide or Murder 25 September 17, 1951 Slate's Tuxedo Pocket Black Tie Affair 26 September 24, 1951 Murder in the Yucatán Peninsula A Fatal Quest for Jade 27 October 1, 1951 Shannon's a Sucker Slate Shannon Sucker 28 October 8, 1951 Slate Shannon Held for Ransom Danger at Tina's Parakeet 29 October 15, 1951 Camellias and a Ruby A Camillia for El Dobbin 30 October 22, 1951 Passage for Mario Carada 31 October 29, 1951 Darby and Joan Incorporated Lonely Hearts Inc. 32 November 5, 1951 Mutineers of the S.S. Marino Victory The Marino Victory Marino 33 November 12, 1951 Slate Framed for Refinery Robbery Bold Venture is Stolen 34 November 19, 1951 Slate's Stolen DaVinci 35 November 26, 1951 Paolo Framed for Jewel Robbery Supapo's Greed 36 December 3, 1951 Cruise To Batabano Emilio Lopez Story 37 December 10, 1951 Louis Gaspar Case Slate's Stolen Identity Bring Me The Body of Slate Shannon 38 December 17, 1951 Tabard of Pizarro Alice Markel poisoning) 39 December 24, 1951 Paul Brewer Story Escape From Guantanamo 40 December 31, 1951 Carlos & Juan Ruiz Story Crazy Old Carlo 41 January 7, 1952 Innocent in Trujillo Raul Mirado Execution 42 January 14, 1952 An Invitation to Death Four Invitations To Death 43 January 21, 1952 Background Shots Can Kill You 44 January 28, 1952 Revenge Equals Murder Times Two 45 February 4, 1952 A Backstabbing at Shannon's Place Joe Norman The Laughing Sailor 46 February 11, 1952 Isle Of Pines I'm Going To Die Rhoda Gonzalez 47 February 18, 1952 The Dead Matt Jefferies The One That Got Away 48 February 25, 1952 Welcome to Civilization, Dead Man Welcome Back, Dead Man Man From Sumatra George Carson Killed 49 March 3, 1952 Ruthie Ryan's Father The Big K.O. 50 March 10, 1952 Spectre of El Indio 51 March 17, 1952 Diamond Smuggling Diamond Fencing Fisticuffs 52 March 24, 1952 Robbed By Joe Ralston Revenge Is Sweet The Big Road 53 March 31, 1952 Haven's Venezuelan Island Tiny Haven Gene Moore's Wife Claudia Runaway Wife 54 April 7, 1952 Death Of Rudy Keijon Friends Like These Bob Yancy arrests Slate for murder Fetsui Jade 55 April 14, 1952 Sailor's Dead Husband Marriage And Murder Freddie Naye Sailor is a Wealthy Widow 56 April 21, 1952 57 April 28, 1952 58 May 5, 1952 59 May 12, 1952 Señor Rufio Señor Rufio's Legacy of Death
Television Ziv brought Bold Venture to television in 1959 with 39 episodes directed by William Conrad. The series starred Dane Clark as Slate Shannon, Joan Marshall as Sailor Duval, and Bernie Gozier as King Moses. Mark Dana played Philip Keith Baker, Lisa Gaye played Leta, and Karen Scott played Tina. Morton Fine and David Friedkin were the producers.
Because of unstable conditions in Cuba, the setting was changed to Trinidad. Filming locations included the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California.
Listen to
Bold Venture (57 episodes) Internet Archive: Bold Venture (57 episodes) Episodes of Bold Venture Bold Venture on Way Back When Bold Ventures on Radio Lovers: (20 episodes) Bold Venture on Old Time Radio Outlaws
References
External links Bold Venture article and log at digital deli ftp .com Bold Venture at Old Time Radio Researchers wiki Bold Venture log Dick Judge at old-time.com "Fred Ziv" at University of Cincinnati magazine