''Bold Venture'' was a syndicated radio series starring

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...

and

Lauren Bacall Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), professionally known as Lauren Bacall ( ), was an American actress. She was named the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the America ...

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 Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

." Calypso singer King Moses (

Jester Hairston Jester Joseph Hairston (July 9, 1901 – January 18, 2000) was an American composer, songwriter, arranger, choral conductor and actor. He was regarded as a leading expert on black spirituals and choral music. His notable compositions include " A ...

) 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 Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

''.

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 Electrical transcriptions are special phonograph recordings made exclusively for radio broadcasting,Browne, Ray B. and Browne, Pat, eds. (2001). ''The Guide to United States Popular Culture''. The University of Wisconsin Press. . P. 263. which wer ...

. 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 Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

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 Boston Blackie is a fictional character created by author Jack Boyle (1881–1928). Blackie was originally depicted as a jewel thief and safecracker in Boyle's stories, and became a private detective in adaptations for films, radio and televisi ...

'', '' I Was a Communist for the FBI'', '' Favorite Story'', '' Philo Vance'' and ''

The Cisco Kid The Cisco Kid is a fictional character found in numerous film, radio, television and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his 1907 short story "The Caballero's Way", published in ''Everybody's Maga ...

''. Amari will launch a website in 2024 that offers these Ziv radio series at www.ZivRadio.com

Radio episode guide

Television

Ziv brought ''Bold Venture'' to television in 1959 with 39 episodes directed by William Conrad. The series starred

Dane Clark Dane Clark (born Bernhardt Zanvilevitz; February 26, 1912September 11, 1998) was an American character actor who was known for playing, as he labeled himself, "Joe Average." Early life Clark was born Bernhardt Zanvilevitz (later Bernard Zanvill ...

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 Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. Filming locations included the

Iverson Movie Ranch A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate. Movi ...

in Chatsworth, California.

Listen to

''Bold Venture'' (57 episodes)

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

:
''Bold Venture'' (57 episodes)

''Episodes of Bold Venture ''

Venture''
on ''Way Back When''

on ''Radio Lovers'': (20 episodes)

References

External links

at ''digital deli ftp .com''
''Bold Venture''
at Old Time Radio Researchers wiki
''Bold Venture'' log
Dick Judge at ''old-time.com''

at

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

magazine * {{IMDb title, 0052450 1959 American television series debuts 1959 American television series endings 1950s American radio programs 1950s American drama television series American radio dramas Black-and-white American television shows American English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television series by Ziv Television Programs Ziv Company radio programs Syndicated American radio programs