Soldiers of Fortune

Russell was in chess game with a Latin American dictator. He had help from a refugee European doctor. He won the game because the doctor was also "helping" the dictator. For a 10 yr old, the was a way cool plot twist.

I agree with the previous poster that the series was an example of the "White man's burden". Can't believe that it only ran a year. It was a period piece in a lull for mercenaries. Then again, with the Congo in 1960, the concept of mercenaries was revived and it was not an American dominated area.

Probably would have done better if they were CIA.

Oh boy, do I ever remember this show! For many years, I tried my best to be just like the stars, traveling the world on a shoestring & getting into trouble while saving the girl. Sigh, oh well, instead I became an actor & got to do Hollywood heroics instead. A wonderful show in my memory. I got to know John Russell & even worked with him a couple of times. Unfortunately, I never got to meet Chick Chandler. Maybe someday, some smart person will start up a "nostalgia" channel & resurrect all those great old B/W TV shows from the 1950's. Remember Broderick Crawford in "Highway Patrol"? John Bromfield as "The Sheriff of Cochise"? "The Texan" with Rory Calhoun? and what about "Shotgun Slade" with Scott Brady? Sigh...those were the days!

"Soldiers of Fortune" was one of my preferred t.v. shows in my youth.

I have too few souvenirs but I remember Tim Kelly and Toubo Smith as adventurers frequently in the jungle. Boy I am glad IMDB got me to remember this series !

"...starring John Russell and Chick Chandler!" went the introduction to this "cheapie" and (I believe) syndicated series. As a ten year old I loved the freebooter aspect of the heroes. Russell was solid as always, a typical fifties hero except he was not (re-)fighting World War 2 but was off in exotic places, mostly Africa, and hiring out his gun and talents to the highest bidder. Chandler was the obligatory sidekick as I recall. Pause with me a moment and consider this: could 21st century television support a positive view of hired mercenaries? Fifty years ago there were different sensitivities. But were they always worse? Or better? John Russell's character represented courage, self-determination, chivalry and freedom. It is odd how such qualities seem sorely lacking in so many of today's role models. But few of them are "Soldiers of Fortune"!

This syndicated series was a particular favorite of mine as a lad. I well remember looking forward every week to the further adventures of Tim Kelly and Toubo Smith. They were played by John Russell and Chick Chandler respectively.

When you think about it these two guys weren't anything less than 20th Century cowboys selling their gun-hands or in some cases giving their services away to people in need. The plots of Soldiers of Fortune were probably reworked from any number of westerns.

Still I liked the idea of these two guys turning up in all kinds of exotic places in the world and getting in every manner of adventure there was. I don't recall any romances for the lead John Russell. And Chandler as the sidekick? When did Smiley Burnette ever get involved with a woman?

John Russell later did another series for which he's more well known, Lawman. I would venture that his best remembered film role is in Rio Bravo as the wealthy rancher trying to free his no good brother from John Wayne's jail. He played good and bad guys equally well. Chick Chandler has a ton of movie credits going all the way back to silent days. A fair number of musicals are included, he started out in vaudeville as a song and dance man. You might remember him with Jack Haley supporting Alice Faye singing The International Rag in Alexander's Ragtime Band.

Though it lasted for only two seasons in first run syndication, WPIX in New York ran it for years after. It was a small boy's fantasy.