Border Patrol (US TV series)
Border Patrol is a 34-episode syndicated half-hour adventure/drama television series which aired in the United States during calendar year 1959, with Richard Webb cast as Don Jagger, the fictitious deputy chief of the Border Patrol. Webb earlier portrayed the title role of Captain Midnight, a 1954-1956 CBS television series based on an earlier radio program.[1]
In the series premiere on March 10, 1959, Jagger and a Seminole Indian chief played by Ralph Smiley enter the Florida Everglades in pursuit of a gang of gun-smuggling illegal immigrants.[2] Webb later portrayed Lieutenant Commander Ben Finney in the "Court Martial" episode of NBC's original Star Trek series. He committed suicide in Van Nuys, California, after having suffered a long-term respiratory illness.[3]
Selected episodes
- "The Party Line": An inventor, a foreign-born American citizen, is told that he must return to his old country with his inventions or face harm to his family members left behind.
- "Killer Abroad"
- "Passport to the Deep": A smuggling ring brings foreigners to the United States illegally for a price.
- "A Bundle of Dope": Jagger travels to San Diego, California, to investigate narcotics smuggling from Mexico.
- "Tide of Death": A South American refugee living in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, played by Edward Colmans (1908-1977) pens an autobiography. Two assassins from his old country kidnap his son and demand the manuscript in exchange for the boy's life.
- "Cargo Unknown": Jagger travels to the Canadian border to investigate the smuggling of weapons stolen from military armories.
- "The Logmen": Jagger goes undercover as a logger in a lumber camp near the Canadian border to investigate the smuggling of illegal immigrants. Tyler McVey and Gilman Rankin guest star.
- "Love, Death and Diamonds": A beautiful girl seeks help from the Border Patrol in exposing a smuggling racket. Eleanor Berry and Herbert Rudley guest star as Rosemary Comstock and John McAuliffe.
- "Rattigan and the Cat": A woman tells police captain Bob Rattigan, portrayed by Dick Wessel (1913-1965), that her husband is plotting her murder.
- "Rendezvous in Los Angeles": Jagger fakes mortal illness to set a trap for an alien-smuggling gang.
- "Black Sand, White Coral"
- "The Kwan-Yin Case": A piece of Chinese jade is linked to the death of a man and the unmasking of a smuggler.
- "The Quota Case"
- "In a Deadly Fashion": A Border Patrol agent goes undercover as a boxer to nab a violent gangster. Don Gordon guest stars.
- "Death in the Desert": Jagger travels to Yuma, Arizona, an alien-smuggling ring. Ron Hagerthy guest stars.
- "Test of Strength"
- "Night Target": Jagger investigates a fishing-chartering service in New Orleans linked to an alien-smuggling ring, with guest star Dean Fredericks.
- "Case of the Cockeyed Patient"
- "The Vegetable Man"
- "Terror on the Gold Coast"
- "Lost Star": A foreign agent kidnaps a film star to gain control over her husband, a diplomat (series finale).[2]
References