{{Short description|1952 American TV series}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = | caption = | alt_name = | genre = | creator = | developer = | writer = Robert C. Dennis<br>Jack Laird | director = Gene Fowler Jr.<br>Leslie Goodwins | creative_director = | presenter = | starring = Dan Duryea<br>Douglass Dumbrille<br>Myrna Dell<br>Clarence Lung | judges = | voices = | narrator = | theme_music_composer = | open_theme = | end_theme = | composer = | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = | num_episodes = | list_episodes = | executive_producer = | producer = | editor = | location = | cinematography = | camera = | runtime = 30 minutes | company = National Telefilm Associates | channel = First-run syndication | first_aired = {{Start date|1952|06|01}} | last_aired = {{End date|1955|01|01}} | related = }}

'''''China Smith''''' is a 30-minute American syndicated television adventure series starring Dan Duryea. It is set in Singapore.<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= 162|edition=4th}}</ref> It was released in the fall of 1952. The program's alternate title was '''''The Affairs of China Smith''''', and the last 26 episodes were syndicated with the title '''''The New Adventures of China Smith'''''.<ref name="cd">{{cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Tim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22China+Smith%22+Duryea&pg=PA251|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present|last2=Marsh|first2=Earle F.|date=2009|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-48320-1|page=251|language=en|access-date=February 4, 2022}}</ref>

The series' pilot was shown as ''Souvenir from Singapore'', an episode of ''Schlitz Playhouse of Stars'' aired on June 6, 1952.<ref>{{cite news |title=film report |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1952/BC-1952-07-28.pdf#page=79 |access-date=February 5, 2022 |work=Broadcasting |date=July 28, 1952 |page=79}}</ref>

== Premise == The title character was a soldier of fortune,<ref name="dd" /> "an opportunistic con artist and sometimes private eye" who sought adventure.<ref name="cd" /> Episodes had Smith confronting characters who ranged from Communists to "bigger crooks than he was."<ref name="dd" /> He often helped people who were innocent but somehow were entangled with villains.<ref name="etvs">{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=19|edition=2nd}}</ref> The other regular characters were a madam who helped Smith and a chief of police who sometimes helped and sometimes interfered.<ref name="dd" />

In 1959 Daffy Duck played ''China Jones'', a parody of Duryea's character.

==Cast== * Dan Duryea as China Smith<ref name="cd" /> * Douglass Dumbrille as Inspector Hobson<ref name="cd" /> * Myrna Dell as Shira<ref name="cd" /> * Clarence Lung as Johnny Fung Much of the cast and crew also worked on the film ''World for Ransom'', which is considered an extension of the television program.

== Production == Bernard Tabakin was the producer.<ref name="st" /> Arthur Pierson was the director,<ref>{{cite news |title=film report |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1952/BC-1952-04-28.pdf#page=76 |access-date=February 5, 2022 |work=Broadcasting |date=April 28, 1952 |page=76}}</ref> with Robert Aldrich directing two episodes.<ref name="dd">{{cite book |last1=Peros |first1=Mike |title=Dan Duryea: Heel with a Heart |date=2016 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-4968-0995-7 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ghaSDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22China+Smith%22+Duryea&pg=PA87 |access-date=February 4, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Robert C. Dennis was the writer.<ref name="bc051252" />

The series was made with a two-year gap; the first 26 episodes being filmed in Mexico in 1952, the second 26 episodes were shot in 1954-1955<ref name="cd" /> in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The change occurred after the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) complained that the productions in Mexico deprived AFTRA members of work.<ref name="st">{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987' |date=1989 |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc. |isbn=0-7864-1198-8 |pages= 19–20}}</ref> Divisions of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the American Federation of Labor (AFL) also protested the Mexican filming. Roy Brewer, who was chair of the AFL's Hollywood Film Council and representative of the West Coast IATSE, complained to Thrifty Drug Stores, which sponsored the show on KECA-TV, resulting in the company's withdrawal of the six Mexican-filmed episodes from the station.<ref>{{cite news |title=West Coast AFL Protests Foreign-Made Films |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1953/BC-1953-02-09.pdf#page=71 |access-date=February 5, 2022 |work=Broadcasting |date=February 9, 1953 |page=71}}</ref> Tabakin was removed from the council's "'unfair' list" after he agreed to limit production of TV shows to the United States.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tabakin's Films Off 'List' |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1953/BC-1953-02-23.pdf#page=39 |access-date=February 5, 2022 |work=Broadcasting |date=February 13, 1953 |page=39}}</ref>

Production of the show was stopped in April 1954 by the Screen Actors Guild's (SAG) cancellation of the contract that it had with producer Tableau Television, Limited (TT). SAG charged that TT had not met the contract's requirements for royalty payments to actors.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pryor |first1=Thomas M. |title=Film Guild ends TV concern's pact |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/04/20/archives/film-guild-ends-tv-concerns-pact-actors-union-charges-china-smith.html |access-date=February 4, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=April 20, 1954 |page=36|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

''China Smith'' was financed and distributed by Proktor Syndication International<ref name="bc051252">{{cite news |title=There's No Business Like TV Talent |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1952/BC-1952-05-12.pdf#page=92 |access-date=February 5, 2022 |work=Broadcasting |date=May 12, 1952 |page=90}}</ref> (PSI-TV).<ref>{{cite news |title=film report |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1952/BC-1952-08-25.pdf#page=70 |access-date=February 5, 2022 |work=Broadcasting |date=August 25, 1952 |page=70}}</ref>

== <!-- --> Episode list == {{Episode table |background= |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |episodes= {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=1 | Title=The Bamboo Coffin | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=2 | Title=Celestial Pebbles | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=3 | Title=The Corpse With The Purple Ear | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy= Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=4 | Title=Cruise To Colombo | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy={{StoryTeleplay|s=Lindsay Hardy|t=Robert C. Dennis}} | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=5 | Title=Curse Of The River Gods | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy= | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=6 | Title=Devil-In-The-Godown | DirectedBy=Edward Mann | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=7 | Title=Dynasty Of The Dead | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy= Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=8 | Title=Espionage Express | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy= | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=9 | Title=High Sea | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=10 | Title=The Jade Trap | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy= | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=11 | Title=Jungle Dragon | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=12 | Title=The Kaprielian Cipher | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=13 | Title=Killer In The Kampong | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=14 | Title=Kris Of Death | DirectedBy=Edward Mann | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=15 | Title=Moon Flower | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy= Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=16 | Title=My Ship Has A Golden Keel | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=17 | Title=Pagoda In The Jungle | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=18 | Title=The Phantom Sampan | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=19 | Title=Port Of Thieves | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy= Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=20 | Title=Shanghai Clipper | DirectedBy=Robert Aldrich | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=21 | Title=Straight Settlement | DirectedBy=Robert Aldrich | WrittenBy={{StoryTeleplay|s=Robert C. Dennis|t=Lindsay Hardy}} | OriginalAirDate= | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=22 | Title=The Tanaka Archive | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy= Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=23 | Title=The Wondrous Funeral Of Sergeant Ko | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy= Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=24 | Title=Wreath Of Poppies | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy= Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=25 | Title=The Year Of The Phoenix | DirectedBy=Arthur Pierson | WrittenBy=Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber=26 | Title=Zorana The Destroyer | DirectedBy= | WrittenBy= Robert C. Dennis | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1952||}} | ShortSummary= | LineColor= }} }}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|0044250|China Smith}} *[https://ctva.biz/US/Adventure/ChinaSmith.htm''China Smith'' at CVTA]

Category:1952 American television series debuts Category:1955 American television series endings Category:American adventure television series Category:Black-and-white American television shows Category:English-language American television shows Category:First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Category:Television series by CBS Studios Category:Television shows set in Singapore Category:Television shows filmed in Mexico Category:Television shows filmed in Los Angeles