Product Description
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M SQUAD - THE COMPLETE SERIES STARRING LEE MARVIN! 15 DVD Box
Set, Plus Bonus CD: The Music From M Squad! 117 Episodes! One of
the most memorable of the early television dramas, M Squad
debuted in 1957 running for three seasons on NBC. There were many
black and white crime dramas competing for viewers in the late
fifties, notably Dragnet, Arrest and Trial and Checkmate. M Squad
stands apart because of its unique combination of story,
production values, musical score and a great cast portraying
crime fighters getting down and dirty on the mean streets. Lee
Marvin, a decorated WWII Marine veteran of the South
Pacific,where he received the Purple Heart in the Battle of
Saipan, stars as Lt. Frank Ballinger, a no-nonsense Chicago
plainclothes cop in the elite M Squad Division. The Squad's
(M-for Murder) task is to root out organized crime and corruption
in America's Second City. Marvin's portrayal of a tough
undercover officer, whose perseverance and potential for
violence, but with utter cool, permeates each gritty episode,
gave Marvin name re with the public, and did much to
make him a star. He would go on to many starring roles (The Dirty
Dozen, Cat Ballou) and to win a coveted O for Best Actor.
Frank Ballinger's boss, Captain Grey, is played by Paul Newlan, a
fine actor who brings weight and substance to the role of running
the M Squad. It is perhaps his most memorable role. In addition
to the regular cast, a who's who of television luminaries and
stars-to-be made guest appearances on the show. Among the guest
stars were Angie Dickinson, Charles Bronson, Janice Rule, Leonard
Nimoy, Ed Nelson, DeForest Kelley, H. M. Wynant and a young Burt
Reynolds. But is wasn't just the crisp, taut story lines and
great cast that made M Squad memorable. First, it was in
gritty, film-noire style black and white. The excellent high
contrast cinematography brings Chicago to life, with all of its
easily recognizable landmarks, swanky penthouses on Lake
Michigan, and the seedy darker side of the city. In fact, M Squad
did for Chicago what the Naked City did for New York. Second was
the musical score. In keeping with the film noir look of the
series, the producers enlisted conductor Stanley Wilson to lead
the orchestra in arrangements by legendary jazz men Benny Carter,
and a young John Williams (Star Wars). For the second season, the
great jazz artist Count Basie wrote the enduring M Squad Theme.
It was a perfect marriage of image and sound. Lee Marvin, who
wrote the liner notes for the RCA Victor release of the Music
From M Squad album in 1959, put it this way: I am ... constantly
amazed at the manner in which our characterizations and
situations are supported, highlighted and intensified by the fine
musical score ... I love the great beat, the exciting solos and
the clean, crisp section work of the trumpets and troms. As I
listen, my imagination paints thumbnail sketches of the Loop,
Bayshore Drive, the South Side, and the other localities which
set Chicago apart from other cities. It's sort of like an
armchair tour of America's second largest city. - Lee Marvin The
resulting television series is hard to match for its intensity
and its humanity. Marvin's hard-nosed Frank Ballinger is the
archetype of all the tough-guy, big-hearted crime fighters, from
Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and Hammett's Sam Spade, to
later incarnations portrayed by Jack Nicholson and Harvey Keitel.
In sum, M Squad is that rare television series that has it all.
It's about time that long-time fans and newcomers have a chance
to experience high quality DVDs of this great show.
.com
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Filmed in Chicago, M Squad is my kind of cop show, with an
authentic sense of place, a driving, brassy jazz score, shady
characters with names like Johnny East Side, a captain feeling
the heat from "downtown" ("They want the killer; they want him
real bad"), and hard-boiled dialogue (Cop: "Whered you get that
money?" Suspect: "From the guy who had it"). Best of all, its
got Lee Marvin in his breakout role as plainclothes cop Lt. Frank
Ballinger, who works in M-Squad, an elite special division of the
Chi-town department. This 1957 series was as tough and
no-nonsense as the City of Big Shoulders itself. As Marvin states
at one point, "You can be subtle, or you can be plain." M Squad
was plain. In the first episode, Ballinger takes stock of a case:
"Armed robbery, murder, and three dead. Looks like my Chicago was
fixing up with (more) hot hours for me." Ballinger is a conductor
on the Straight Talk Express. In one episode, he counsels an
unfaithful wife on what to tell her husband, "Tell him the truth.
It's gonna hurt, but if it heals, it'll heal clean." Marvin is in
his element as the unflappable Ballinger, whether glowering at
the crime scene, or fluster a suspect with an unnerving smile. M
Squad ranks with the best of TV noir, but it is perhaps best
known today as the inspiration and template for Squad and
the spinoff Naked spoofs. It's hard to keep a straight face
watching Ballinger exchange fire in the opening credits
without thinking of Leslie Nielsen as Sgt. Frank Drebin. This
15-disc set contains all 117 episodes from the series three
season run, as well as a bonus music CD of the original 1959
soundtrack featuring Count Basies great theme that made its
debut in season two. M Squad offers ample rtunity for future
star-gazing, with early appearances by Burt Reynolds, Angie
Dickinson, Charles Bronson, Leonard Nimoy, Mike "Mannix" Connors,
Don Rickles, and James Coburn. Picture quality varies from
episode to episode, but that should not diminish the thrill of
watching Marvin in action or dispensing such hard-earned street
wisdom as, "The only people who return to the scene of the crime
are the ." Its great to have M Squad on the DVD beat.
--Donald Liebenson