{{Short description|American TV anthology series (1957)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} '''''Assignment Foreign Legion''''' is an American TV series that starred Merle Oberon.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131727121 |title=Merle Oberon Tells Story |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=36 |issue=10,277 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=14 July 1962 |accessdate=11 August 2020 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> It ran on CBS from October 1, 1957, until December 24, 1957.<ref name=tt>{{cite book|last1=McNeil|first1=Alex|title=Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present |date=1996|publisher=Penguin Books USA, Inc.|location=New York, New York|isbn=0-14-02-4916-8|page= 64|edition=4th}}</ref>
==Premise== The series related activities of the French Foreign Legion during World War II.<ref name="tt" /> Oberon narrated episodes and played a newspaper correspondent in search of stories about the Foreign Legion.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Val |title=Merle Oberon to Star on C.B.S. In TV Series of Foreign Legion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/08/20/archives/merle-oberon-to-star-on-cbs-in-tv-series-of-foreign-legion.html |access-date=August 26, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=August 20, 1957 |page=53|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Production== The show's producers were M. Smedley Aston and Anthony C. Bartlett.<ref name="ftd">{{cite book |last1=Hawes |first1=William |title=Filmed Television Drama, 1952-1958 |date=December 26, 2001 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-1132-0 |page=109 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0pQKmPSfHCQC&dq=%22Assignment+Foreign+Legion%22+CBS&pg=PA109 |access-date=October 5, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Directors included Don Chaffey, Michael McCarthy and Lance Comfort.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 July 1962 |title=Stories Of The Foreign Legion |volume=36 |page=7 |newspaper=The Canberra Times |issue=10,289 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131728708 |accessdate=11 August 2020 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Writers included Max Ehrlich.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ellett |first1=Ryan |title=Radio Drama and Comedy Writers, 1928-1962 |date=November 2, 2017 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2980-3 |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PsE8DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Assignment+Foreign+Legion%22+CBS&pg=PA67 |access-date=October 5, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The series was filmed in Morocco, Algiers,<ref name="ftd" /> England and Spain.<ref name="nyt" /> Eventually it became too dangerous and filming was completed at Beaconsfield Studios in London.{{Citation needed |date=August 2023}} CBS Television Film Sales Inc. distributed the series.<ref name="nyt" />
''Assignment Foreign Legion'' was broadcast on Tuesdays from 10:30 to 11 p.m. Eastern Time.<ref name="brooks">{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Tim |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle F. |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present |date=June 24, 2009 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-48320-1 |page=85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Assignment+Foreign+Legion%22+CBS&pg=PA85 |access-date=October 5, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Its average cost was $26,000 an episode.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety204-1956-11/page/n99/mode/1up?q=%22foreign+legion%22|date=14 November 1956|page=36|title=Earnings in Britain Cancel Out $100000 Investment}}</ref> It was sponsored by P. Lorillard Company<ref>{{cite magazine |date=November 4, 1957 |page=3 |title=Pabst Weighs CBS Tuesday |magazine=Billboard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_SgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Assignment+Foreign+Legion%22+CBS&pg=PA3 |accessdate=October 5, 2023 }}</ref> for Kent cigarettes. The trade publication ''Variety'' reported, "there was some worry" prior to Lorillard's taking on the show because it "may be too controversial, possibly alienating nationalistic Arabs."<ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 9, 1957 |page=29 |title=Assignment Foreign Legion |magazine=Variety |url=https://archive.org/details/variety208-1957-10/page/n108/mode/1up?view=theater |accessdate=February 17, 2024}}</ref> The program ended when Lorillard decided to move its sponsorship to ''Richard Diamond, Private Detective'', which began on January 2, 1958.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Val |title=A. B. C. Reverses Film Show Trend: Drops 'Date With Angels' for Live Betty White Program --C.B.S. Signs Fred Coe Producer Gets C.B.S Pact |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/12/16/archives/abc-reverses-film-show-trend-drops-date-with-angels-for-live-betty.html?searchResultPosition=1 |access-date=July 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=December 16, 1957 |page=51|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Reception== ''Variety'' said "Stories, acting, and production are of good quality.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety205-1957-01/page/n573/mode/1up?q=%22foreign+legion%22 Review of series] at Variety</ref>
One week the show was among the top ten shows in Britain.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety205-1957-02/page/n262/mode/1up?q=%22foreign+legion%22|date=27 February 1957|title=Palladium Number 1|page=31}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049995/?ref_=tttg_tg_tt Assignment Foreign Legion] at IMDb *[http://ctva.biz/UK/ITC/AssignmentForeignLegion.htm Assignment Foreign Legion] at CTVA *[https://archive.org/details/variety208-1957-10/page/n108/mode/1up?q=%22foreign+legion%22 Review of episode "The Outcast"] at Variety
Category:1956 American television series debuts Category:1950s American drama television series Category:1957 American television series endings
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