In
June of last year, Curt Ladnier—a member-in-good-standing of the
Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
faithful—needed a few episodes of TV’s
The Thin Man for his collection and
proposed a swap: the first five installments of the Peter Lawford-Phyllis Kirk
boob tube version for some rare episodes of
The Lone Wolf,
a syndicated 1954-55 TV series based on the literary sleuth created by Louis
Joseph Vance. (The character appeared in
a slew of B-movie mysteries—many of them with legendary silver screen cad
Warren William as L.W.—and a 1948-49 radio series with Gerald Mohr…who also tackled
the role in a handful of the films.) The
TV
Wolf
starred Louis Hayward and since I hadn’t sampled it I was only too happy to
help Br’er Curt out. We have since that
time swapped many e-mails; he’s currently working on a DVD project capturing
those episodes of
The Felony Squad that I had to give up when we reluctantly
jettisoned getTV from our DISH programming.
COLONEL HUMPHREY
FLACK:
THE DUMONT NETWORK’S
FABULOUS FRAUD
Audiences love a light-hearted con story. The enormous popularity of big screen
productions like
The Sting and
Ocean’s Eleven paved the way for such recent television successes
as
Leverage,
Hustle,
and their like. And these series had
predecessors on the small screen, from ABC’s quintessential western sharpster
Maverick
to NBC’s criminally short-lived
The Rogues. But ushering these series onto television’s
airwaves was the grand-daddy of all comedic con artist shows, the DuMont
Network’s 1953 production
Colonel Humphrey Flack.
Colonel Flack, a lovable scoundrel who inhabited DuMont’s
Wednesday night line-up, was a genial fraud who lived by his wits. Possessed of an air of quality and a taste
for the finer things in life, he frequented the best clubs and hotels,
typically with only a few cents to his name.
Flack never let the nuisance of poverty stand in the way of his comforts,
much to the consternation of his less polished – but more practical –
confederate, Uthas Garvey. But in spite
of his penchant for living beyond his means, Colonel Flack was more an
opportunist than a criminal. He was
gifted with an unerring knack of turning any situation to his own advantage,
and the insight to realize that there was money to be had whenever others were
cheating the system. He had a professed
dislike of “beastly chiselers,” whom he took every opportunity to fleece in
Robin Hood fashion (pocketing a modest percentage to cover expenses).
 |
| Colonel Flack creator Everett Rhodes Castle |
Despite television’s relative infancy in 1953, Flack and
Garvey were old hands at the confidence game by the time they stole onto
DuMont’s schedule. The colonel was the
brainchild of magazine writer Everett Rhodes Castle, who chronicled Flack’s
exploits in a dozen issues of
The
Saturday Evening Post between 1936 and 1946.
Castle’s yarns proved popular, and as early as the spring of 1939 his creation had already leapt from the page to the airwaves – not on radio, but on the fledgling medium of television! Weeks ahead of the National Broadcasting Company’s general demonstration of television at the New York World’s Fair, the Colonel had already been featured as the protagonist of NBC Television’s one-shot production
A Spot of Philanthropy the evening of April 13, 1939. Loosely based on Everett Rhodes Castle’s 1938 short story of the same name, the program starred George Taylor as Colonel Flack and Michael Drake as the long-suffering Garvey (1). This early televised effort established Colonel Humphrey Flack as one of the first characters from popular contemporary fiction ever to be adapted for television.
Despite his early foray into television, it took some time for Colonel Flack to break into radio. He finally took his place behind the microphone on a pair of episodes of the NBC Blue series The Listening Post. February 20, 1945 saw his debut in a dramatization of the Saturday Evening Post story “It’s All Done with Credit” (2), and the June 22, 1945 episode saw his return in “Colonel Flack and the Tender Ethic” (3). Flack fans must have been delighted, as these stories came to life over the airwaves within days of their original magazine publications. Three years later, the Colonel finally snared a sustaining series on network radio when the Wilbur Stark / Jerry Layton company Program Productions sold NBC a twelve-episode run of Colonel Humphrey Flack. Premiering at 8:00 PM EST on Thursday July 3, 1947, the series was a summer replacement for either The Aldrich Family or A Day in the Life of Dennis Day (announcements from the era disagree). Directed by Ed King, the series starred Wendell Holmes as Flack and Frank Maxwell as Garvey, in scripts written by Tom Dougall and Sheldon Stark (4). At the close of the summer season, NBC declined to contract for further episodes, and the series folded with its September 18, 1947 broadcast.
 |
| Wendell Holmes as Colonel Flack |
Also in 1947, mystery luminary Ellery Queen chose Colonel
Flack for inclusion in the hardcover anthology Rogues’ Gallery: The Great Criminals of Modern Fiction. Published under the London imprint Faber and
Faber, the collection Included Everett Rhodes Castle’s 1943 tale “The Colonel
Gives a Party.” The story’s publication
in Queen’s anthology marks the colonel’s only appearance between the covers of
a book. As of this writing some 70 years
later, the remainder of Colonel Flack’s literary escapades remain uncollected
and unreprinted.
Undeterred by the failure of their 1947 radio production to
gain traction, Stark-Layton Productions redoubled their efforts to further
develop the Flack franchise. In 1953,
they sold pilots for both a proposed television series and another radio
adaptation to ABC. The television
production aired under the title “Colonel Humphrey J. Flack” as the May 31,
1953 installment of Plymouth Playhouse (a.k.a. ABC Album Playhouse). This time around, British actor Alan Mowbray
stepped into the role of the colonel and Frank McHugh played Garvey, in a story
about the impoverished pair embarking on an ocean cruise courtesy of tickets
won in a raffle (5). The production was
rebroadcast on the West Coast two weeks later, on June 16, 1953 (6).
The radio pilot brought the Mowbray/McHugh pairing before
the microphones of ABC Playhouse for that series’ June 11, 1953 broadcast, also
titled “Colonel Humphrey J. Flack.” The
episode related Flack and Garvey’s plan to aid a young medical student in
recovering his life savings (7). In
selling ABC pilots for both radio and television, Stark-Layton Productions
probably felt they had all bases covered for the launch of a new Flack
series. But in the end, the network
declined to move forward with either.
 |
| Frank Jenks (as Garvey) and Alan Mowbray (as Flack) |
However, the failure of the ABC television pilot had a
silver lining. Rather than throwing in
the towel on the project, Stark-Layton switched gears and pitched it to the
DuMont Television Network. The gamble
scored success and, under the sponsorship of the American Chicle Company,
Colonel
Humphrey Flack joined DuMont’s weekly line-up on Wednesday October 7,
1953. Alan Mowbray returned in the role
of Colonel Flack, but Frank McHugh did not make the transition from the
pilot. Instead, the part of Garvey was
taken up ably by veteran character actor Frank Jenks (8). The series was well-received, with
Billboard praising its “smart scripting”
and the “smooth teamwork” of its principal performers. “Here’s one show that continues to provide us
with welcome relief from mayhem, cops and robbers,” was the sentiment from the
television critic of
The Brooklyn Daily
Eagle (9).
Perhaps most pleased with Colonel Humphrey Flack
was the star himself, Alan Mowbray.
Though he had portrayed a wide range of characters in hundreds of films,
Mowbray feared he was best remembered for the handful of times he had played a
butler. Landing the lead in DuMont’s
series changed that. “Now I’m called
‘Colonel’ as much as I’m called Mowbray,” he confided to reporters in 1954
(10). Even more satisfying was the
remark from Flack creator Everett Rhodes Castle, who commented that he couldn’t
tell where Alan Mowbray left off and Colonel Flack began (11). “I always try to be the complete rogue,”
Mowbray expounded upon his affinity for the character, “but always keep within
the law. The colonel never commits an
overt act of any sort. That’s important
because so many children are watching” (12).
Children and adults alike tuned in to make Colonel
Humphrey Flack a mainstay on DuMont.
The network chronicled Flack and Garvey’s escapades through 39 live
weekly telecasts, eventually drawing the season to a close on July 2,
1954. With the Colonel’s departure from
the airwaves during the summer months, newspapers reported that the series was
likely to move to CBS (13). In the end,
however, autumn was not to see Colonel Flack’s return to any network. DuMont had some limited success in
syndicating their kinescopes of the original 39 broadcasts to regional markets,
but no further episodes of the series were put into production. Alan Mowbray later attributed the unexpected
cancellation of the show to the rise in popularity of westerns. “We were crowded off by cowboys,” was his
glib assessment (14).
With his prolonged absence from network schedules, things
looked bleak for Colonel Flack’s television career. But you can’t keep a good rogue down, and in
1958 Flack was back, when CBS Films approached Stark-Layton Productions about a
revival to be marketed in first run syndication. Sporting the almost imperceptibly tweaked
title of Colonel Humphrey J. Flack, the new series went into production
in the autumn of 1958, bringing Alan Mowbray and Frank Jenks back in the
principal roles. Mowbray was heartened
by the fact that this revival would be shot on film, unlike the series’ earlier
live incarnation on DuMont. “Every time
I went in front of those live cameras I wished I wasn’t there,” he remarked to The Detroit
Free Press. “Why I didn’t collapse at the end of the season I don’t
know.” He was happy for the chance to
portray Flack in a more polished filmed production -- and the prospect of
residuals for subsequent reruns was also enticing.
Colonel Humphrey J. Flack hit the airwaves at the close of
1958, and was sold to major markets across the U.S. Attracting sponsors ranging from Standard Oil
to Budweiser, the 39-episode package garnered praise from
Variety as “the only fresh comedy series in syndication.” However, critical acclaim did not prevent
some misconceptions from arising about the new series’ content. Few of the filmed episodes were remakes of
installments from DuMont’s earlier live production, but returning fans who
tuned in to episodes such as “Saddle Sore” or “Back to the Coal Mines” may have
gotten the mistaken impression that the revival series was simply an attempt to
re-shoot the original 39 scripts.
Certainly, multiple sources over the years have cited this
as fact, but the idea doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. A comparison of the titles between both
series reveals very few similarities, and Alan Mowbray himself drove the final
nail in this misconception’s coffin. In
a 1959 interview, he reflected on Flack’s filmed exploits in relation to the
earlier live telecasts. “We used … new
stories this season, so we [still have the] old ones to dip into if our …
writers can’t come up with anything.
They are our insurance policy” (15).
So Mowbray believed the DuMont scripts could be used as the basis of a
subsequent season for 1959–60.
Unfortunately, even having a few dozen scripts in reserve
couldn’t ensure a second season for
Colonel Humphrey J. Flack, and
CBS Films commissioned no further episodes after their run wrapped production
in the spring of 1959. Given that low
ratings were the primary factor behind the series’ demise, fan response to the
cancellation was surprisingly vocal.
When Michigan broadcaster WWJ-TV removed the show from its schedule in
December 1959, a local civic group published a protest on the front page of
The Detroit News and organized a
letter-writing campaign to CBS Films (16).
In the end, Flack fans could take comfort in the fact that the filmed
series remained available in syndication for years, but no new episodes would
be produced.
Today Colonel Flack persists primarily as a footnote in
entertainment history. His radio
adventures are lost, and his print appearances languish in the yellowed pages
of vintage periodicals. A handful of
kinescopes of his DuMont exploits are held by the UCLA Film Archive in
California and the Paley Center for Media in New York, while his syndicated television
series is now a part of the Viacom film library. Aside from one or two isolated broadcasts, he
has been absent from the airwaves for decades.
Yet despite being all but forgotten today, he blazed a trail for series
ranging from It Takes a Thief to Tenspeed and Brownshoe. And for that, God bless Colonel Humphrey
Flack!
SOURCES
1. Terrace,
Vincent. Television Specials: 5336 Entertainment Programs, 1936 – 2012 (2nd
edition). McFarland Press, 2013
2. The Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene, Texas (February 20, 1945)
3. The Findlay Republican Courier: Findlay,
Ohio (June 22, 1945)
4. Billboard Magazine: “Colonel Humphrey
Flack” (July 19, 1947)
5. The Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland,
Ohio (May 31, 1953)
6. The San Bernardino Sun: San Bernardino,
California (June 16, 1953)
7. The Abilene Reporter: Abilene, Texas
(June 7, 1953)
8. Billboard Magazine: “Colonel Humphrey
Flack (TV)” (October 17, 1953)
9. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle: Brooklyn, New
York (November 25, 1953)
10. The Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati,
Ohio (June 29, 1954)
11. The Chicago Daily Tribune: Chicago,
Illinois (January 24, 1959)
12. The Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati,
Ohio (June 29, 1954)
13. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania (June 18, 1954)
14. The Chicago Daily Tribune: Chicago,
Illinois (January 24, 1959)
15. The Detroit Free Press: Detroit,
Michigan (May 31, 1959)
16. Broadcasting: “Flack for ‘Flack’”
(December 21, 1959)
NOTES & EPHEMERA
1. An item in the September 21, 1939 edition of The Los Angeles Times refers to NBC’s April production of A Spot of Philanthropy as part of “a series of television plays dramatizing the popular Colonel Flack stories.” This seems spurious, as no evidence exists of further productions on NBC.
2. The broadcasting trade publication Ross Reports on Television states that the Colonel Humphrey Flack episode aired by the DuMont Network on May 1, 1954 was titled “The Cruncher.” However, multiple newspapers report that the episode broadcast on that date was “King Hakmir Khan.” Ross Reports does not provide an episode title for the May 7, 1954 broadcast, so this is the probable air date for “The Cruncher.”
3. While the
show’s basic formula remained substantially the same between the DuMont series
and its later syndicated incarnation, there was one significant change. A laugh track was added to the filmed series,
giving the revival a more pronounced “sitcom” feeling.
4. Some sources state that the 1958 – 59 CBS Films series was later marketed under the alternate title The Adventures of Colonel Flack. To date, no advertisements or documentation confirming this variant title have surfaced. However, newspaper listings do confirm that the series was aired in the New York and New Jersey areas under the title The Fabulous Fraud circa 1960, and as The Imposter in 1961.
The Colonel Flack stories in THE SATURDAY EVENING POST
1. Introducing
Col. Humphrey Flack (April 25, 1936)
2. Col.
Humphrey Flack Makes Three Thousand Per Cent Net (November 21, 1936)
3. Colonel
Humphrey Flack and the Barking Overcoat (January 23, 1937)
4. Colonel
Flack and the Affair of the Countess Radeska (May 15, 1937)
5. Clean-Up
(July 24, 1937)
6. The
Colonel Builds a Backfire (November 6, 1937)
7. The Great
Christmas Sweepstakes (December 25, 1937)
8. A Drop of
Elephant Blood (March 5, 1938)
9. A Spot of Philanthropy
(November 12, 1938)
10. The Colonel
Gives a Party (May 8, 1943)
11. It's All Done With Credit (February 17, 1945)
12. Colonel
Flack and the Tender Ethic (June 23, 1945)
13. Colonel
Flack and the Common Man (April 20, 1946)
COLONEL HUMPHREY FLACK (1953–54) episode list
1. Art is Fleeting
(October 7, 1953)
2. Saddle Sore
(October 14, 1953)
3. The
Eight-Ball and the Side Pocket [a.k.a. The Pool Table] (October 21, 1953)
4. The Rumboldt
Affair [a.k.a. The Horse Race] (October 28, 1953)
5. title unknown
(November 4, 1953)
6. The Bucket
Shop (November 11, 1953)
7. The
Missing Heir (November 18, 1953)
8. title unknown
(November 25, 1953)
9. The Movie Racket
(December 2, 1953)
10. The Syndicate
(December 9, 1953)
11. The Inventor
(December 16, 1953)
12. African Expedition
(December 23, 1953)
13. The Flack Match
(January 2, 1954)
14. The
Wildfire Fund (January 9, 1954)
15. Prince Fahz
of Baklava (January 16, 1954)
16. The Mansion
(January 23, 1954)
17. The Department Story (January 30, 1954)
18. The Knave
of Diamonds (February 6, 1954)
19. The Monaco Stradivarius
(February 13, 1954)
20. Do You Call This a Life? (February 20, 1954)
21. The Flower Girl (February 27, 1954)
22. The Latin Major (March 6, 1954)
23. The Columnist
(March 13, 1954)
24. The
Pomeranian Society (March 20, 1954)
25. Vacation (March
27, 1954)
26. The Swami (April
3, 1954)
27. The Wild West (April 10, 1954)
28. Poor Little Rich Boy (April 17, 1954)
29. Gambling Fever
(April 24, 1954)
30. King Hakmir Khan (May 1, 1954)
31. title unknown
(May 7, 1954)
32. Achilles Heel
(May 14, 1954)
33. The Perfume
Story (May 21, 1954)
34. Good Old Bob (May 28, 1954)
35. Back in the
Salt Mine (June 4, 1954)
36. By the
Beautiful Sea (June 11, 1954)
37. Atlantic Crossing (June 18, 1954)
38. Happy Birthday
(June 25, 1954)
39. The Bradley
Diamond (July 2, 1954)
COLONEL HUMPHREY J. FLACK (syndicated) episode list
1. Lady
Bluebeard
2. Colonel
Flack Gets Kilt
3. The
Formula
4. The Bank
Teller
5. Something
for the Birds
6. The Real
Estate Caper
7. Saddle
Sore
8. Colonel
Flack’s Big Deal
9. The Big
Wheels
10. The Diamond
Ring
11. Colonel
Flack to the Rescue
12. The
Blackmailer
13. The Star
Maker
14. The
Treasure Hunt
15. The
Emperor’s Snuff-Box
16. In Flack We
Trust
17. Flack and
the Maharajah
18. Colonel
Cupid
19. Back to the
Coal Mines
20. The
Hypnotist
21. The
Producer
22. The Happy
Medium
23. The
Friendship Club
24. Colonel
Flack and the Gangster
25. Horse of
Another Color
26. Follow the
Bouncing Meatball
27. West of the
Weirdos
28. Colonel
Flack and the Little Leaguers
29. Colonel
Flack’s New Muffler
30. Garviola,
the Matador
31. Surplus
32. The Missing
Moolah
33. Colonel
Flack and the Dragon
34. Pearls of
Wisdom
35. Spaceship
Ahoy
36. Up from the
Apes
37. The Tycoon
38. Colonel
Flack and the Counterfeiter
39. Lo, the Etruscans
