The Rat Patrol

The Rat Patrol

"In Color" title
Created by Tom Gries
Starring Christopher George
Gary Raymond
Lawrence P. Casey
Justin Tarr
Hans Gudegast
Country of origin USA
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 58
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Mirisch-Rich Television Productions
Tom Gries Productions Inc
United Artists Television
Distributor MGM Television
Peter Rodgers Organization
Release
Original network ABC
Original release September 12, 1966 – March 18, 1968

The Rat Patrol is an American action and adventure television series that aired on ABC between 1966 and 1968. The show follows the exploits of four Allied soldiers — three Americans and one Englishman — who are part of a long-range desert patrol group in the North African campaign during World War II. Their mission: "to attack, harass and wreak havoc on Field Marshal Rommel's vaunted Afrika Korps".

Background

The show was inspired by and loosely modelled on David Stirling's British Special Air Service (SAS), which used modified Jeeps armed with machine guns as their transport through the treacherous desert terrain, and Popski's Private Army, there were no similar American units at the time. The title of the program refers to the nicknames given to some of the British Commonwealth forces in the North African campaign (Rats of Tobruk or Desert Rats) primarily Australian soldiers. Consequently, at the time of the original telecast, many British, Australian and New Zealand viewers took offence at the ridiculous dominance of American characters on the program, the result being that the show was pulled from the BBC after six episodes. In Australia, the show was quickly relegated to a Saturday afternoon timeslot, when most people were out. The main audience became children who didn't know the history of WW2.[1] (The series was later shown on British satellite television in the 1990s.) In addition, the opening episode presented the trio of American actors outnumbering the token British, Sergeant Jack Moffitt, who asks permission to "brew up", and English public school attempt to educate his American ally on the virtues of a cup of tea.[2]

While the premise for the show might be the SAS, the show itself models parts of the movie The Desert Rats (1953). The 30-minute time constraint limited the show's story-line to a formulaic plot: the weekly masculine contest between the characters Troy and Dietrich, mirroring "cowboys" and "Indians" and substituting Allies and Germans.[2] The show first aired on 12 September 1966; its final season aired beginning 16 September 1967. Despite its many historical inconsistencies, the show achieved successful ratings at a time when military shows were in decline because of public disaffection with the Vietnam War[3]

Ratings

In its first season, the Rat Patrol did well enough to siphon about a million viewers from The Lucy Show, placing it in the top 30 for the season and making a strong enough showing to be renewed for a second season. During the 1967–68 season, however, it hit rocky competition: Rowan and Martin and The Man from Uncle were shown in the same time slot, bookended by The Monkees and the Danny Thomas Show. This combination defeated it handily.[4] ABC's other night with 30 minute time slots, Thursday, was decidedly family-oriented: Batman, Flying Nun, Bewitched and That Girl.

Cast

The four members of the Allied patrol were:

Sgt. Sam Troy Christopher George The unit's leader, Troy is an intuitive, resourceful, clever and gritty-yet-compassionate leader who always wears an Australian army Slouch hat. His common tagline is "Let's shake it!", another form of expressing the urgency to hurry or leave.
Sgt. Jack Moffitt Gary Raymond The British member of the unit. An expert on the desert and on the local Arab tribes which inhabit it, Moffitt speaks fluent German and Arabic. Before the outbreak of war, he accompanied his father (a noted archaeologist) on multiple trips to the Sahara. Moffitt wears a black beret.
Cpl. Mark T. Hitchcock Lawrence Casey Known as "Hitch". The college-man-turned-soldier often chews bubblegum and wears a red French kepi with gold trim similar to those worn by Zouave and artillery troops during the American Civil War. Occasionally shows his "Ladies' Man" side. His tagline is "Who was there: you or me?"
PFC. Tully Pettigrew Justin Tarr Called one of the Army's best wheelmen by Troy, Tully grew up in Kentucky and apparently gained his remarkable driving skills by running moonshine. He is the only member of the Patrol who wears an Army regulation steel helmet, thus he is the only member wearing regulation uniform.

Notable enemies included:

Hauptmann (Captain) Hans Deitrich Hans Gudegast A dedicated and honorable German officer and the Patrol's main nemesis. By the end of the series it becomes clear that Dietrich, although a cunning opponent, never stoops to the cruel methods of fellow Nazi officers.

Gudegast later became famous as a soap opera star under the pseudonym Eric Braeden.

For a few episodes during the second season, the storyline required the temporary absence of Tully. Three different characters took turns rounding out the Patrol until Tully returned:

A Rat Patrol soldier named Cotter (played by Whitey Christy) is shown being hit by enemy fire and slumping over his machine gun during the opening action sequence of the pilot episode, "The Chase of Fire Raid". The resulting vacancy allowed for the addition of Moffitt to the team.

Production

A total of fifty-eight 30-minute episodes were produced by Mirisch-Rich Television Productions (when Lee Rich left the partnership during the second season, the company name changed to Mirisch T.V. Inc.), a subsidiary of United Artists Television, in association with Tom Gries Productions Inc. (Tom Gries, Inc. in season two). Just as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. episode titles included the word "Affair", all Rat Patrol episodes titles had "Raid" e.g. "The Do or Die Raid", "The Lighthouse Raid" or "Mask-A-Raid".

Part of the show's first season was filmed in Almería, Spain, with the rest in the United States.[5]

The three-part story arc "The Last Harbor Raid" was released theatrically in some venues under the title "Massacre Harbor".

As a leverage tool against the actors asking for raises, each major cast member was, after the first season, shown a separate prospective script in which he was killed in action.

Christopher George suffered a heart contusion when a jeep overturned on him during filming in January 1967. The injury contributed to his death in 1983.[6]

As was usual for productions of the era, other equipment was substituted for original ones. The German vehicles were actually American Patton tanks, M7 Priest self-propelled guns, M3 Half-track and M35 2-1/2 ton cargo trucks painted in desert sand colors.

Perhaps the most-remembered visual was a jeep jumping over a sand dune, seen in the opening credits and other scenes in the series.

The submachine guns used by the squad were unusual. Because the first season had been filmed in Spain, the producers obtained several fixed wood-stock versions of the Spanish Star Z-45 (9x23mm Largo) submachine gun[7] from the Spanish Army, in an apparent attempt to imitate the look of the WWII .45 Thompson submachine gun. This was changed in later first-season episodes when Thompsons were finally made available.

During the series, Sgt. Troy wore an Australian bush hat (the hat is actually a Rhodesian bush hat, different puggaree, two part chin strap, the crown of the hat is NOT rolled in the approved 2nd AIF manner and the "rising sun badge" is worn too high on the upturned hat brim). When the show aired in Australia, veterans of both World Wars there were critical of an American actor wearing such an important symbol of Australian courage and sacrifice. It was seen to cheapen and sensationalize the memory and spirit of those ANZACs who died fighting fascism. George, a U.S. Marine Korean War veteran, and of Greek extraction, said he insisted his character wear the slouch hat to honor the Australians who fought in Greece.[8] Larry Casey stated in an interview that Tom Gries' original idea was that each of the characters would be from a different country and wear a different hat. However this was changed, and with Christopher George wishing to wear the Slouch Hat, his American helmet was given to Justin Tarr.[9]

Episode guide

The Rat Patrol appeared on television between 1966-1968. The 58 episodes are split up into two seasons; 1966-1967 (32 episodes) and 1967-1968 (26 episodes).

DVD releases

MGM Home Entertainment has released both seasons of The Rat Patrol on DVD in Region 1. The First Season is also available on Region 2 DVD. On May 13, 2008, MGM released a seven-disc boxset of the complete series.

On August 11, 2017, it was announced that Shout! Factory had acquired the rights to the series and will re-release The Rat Patrol - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on November 28, 2017.[10]

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
The Complete First Season 32 January 31, 2006
The Complete Second Season 26 June 12, 2007
The Rat Patrol: The Complete Series 58 May 13, 2008
November 28, 2017 (re-release)

Comic book

Dell Comics published a comic book series that lasted six issues (1967; one issue in 1969). These had photo covers taken from the television series.

Books

  1. The Rat Patrol by Norman Daniels
  2. The Rat Patrol #2 in Desert Danger, by David King
  3. The Rat Patrol #3 in The Trojan Tank Affair, by David King
  4. The Rat Patrol #4 in The Two Faced Enemy, by David King
  5. The Rat Patrol #5 in Target For Tonight, by David King
  6. The Rat Patrol #6 in Desert Masquerade, by David King
  1. The Rat Patrol, The Iron Monster Raid, by I G Edmonds

A coloring book was issued by Saalfield, 1966, based on the series.

A series of trading cards were published in 1966 by Topps Chewing Gum for Mirisch-Rich Television Productions. A total set included 66 cards, with still shots from the series on the fronts and text about the stills on the back (as part of a full story about having to blow a buried fuel dump), along with parts of 9 different picture puzzles which could be assembled to show the main characters from the show: Troy, Moffitt, Tully, Hitchcock, Dietrich, as well as several other stills, including a shot of the four Rat Patrol members on one jeep.

Soundtrack

Like The Fugitive, The Rat Patrol was one of the few primetime dramatic series of the era to use a library of music instead of having specific episodes scored. Dominic Frontiere, who replaced Alex North when he was fired during post-production of the pilot (along with series creator Tom Gries when the pilot went over-budget),[11] wrote the series theme and music library, conducting the Graunke Symphony Orchestra. La-La Land Records issued a limited edition album of Frontiere's music in 2011, and a second volume in 2014 featuring more Frontiere music and North's unused score for the pilot.

The Rat Patrol soundtrack album

  1. The Rat Patrol Main Title 1:00
  2. Another Day, Another Mission 1:11
  3. Convoy 1:31
  4. Desert Action 2:00
  5. After That Man 1:15
  6. Lost And Found 3:35
  7. Desert Romance 2:49
  8. Rats Sneak About 2:03
  9. A Tight Spot 2:17
  10. Do You Smell Something? 0:43
  11. Time To Go 0:48
  12. Night Maneuvers 3:02
  13. Firefight 2:16
  14. Desert Sun 0:29
  15. Farewell/Ambushed 1:07
  16. Burning Sun/Sniper 1:01
  17. The Massacre 1:36
  18. Germans On The Move 1:33
  19. Rats On The Move 2:25
  20. Breaking In And Searching 1:46
  21. Rats On Patrol 1:25
  22. Rats In Action 1:30
  23. A Friend's Death 1:38
  24. We Have A Job To Do! 1:15
  25. Serious Discussion 2:22
  26. Hand To Hand 1:14
  27. Dirge 2:03
  28. Rat Mission 1:47
  29. Cat And Mouse 2:03
  30. The Traitor 0:51
  31. Tricked Into A Trap 0:26
  32. Stalemate 1:47
  33. Cut Off 0:34
  34. Rats Have Some Fun 1:19
  35. Floating Down 0:52
  36. Foot Chase 1:13
  37. Plans For Rats 1:15
  38. In And Out Of Enemy Camp 1:53
  39. We've Still Got A Job To Do 1:15
  40. Planning The Attack 1:36
  41. Getting Ready 5:10
  42. Big Battle 2:58
  43. Mission Accomplished 1:53
  44. The Rat Patrol End Credits 1:37
  45. Theme from The Rat Patrol 2:30

The Rat Patrol: Volume 2

Tracks 21-28 comprise Alex North's unused score for "The Chase Of Fire Raid."

  1. The Rat Patrol Overture 2:30
  2. The Germans on the Move 1:51
  3. Before the War 3:48
  4. Our Man Hans/Rats on the Prowl 1:32
  5. Belly Dancer Muzak 1:23
  6. After the War 3:42
  7. In and Out 1:23
  8. Hans Checks for Rats/German Fall Out 1:41
  9. That Tiny World (no strings) - vocal: Jack Jones 2:44
  10. Quick Getaway From the Germans 1:32
  11. Tank Column 1:56
  12. In Love With a Rat 2:58
  13. In and Out of Trouble 0:30
  14. Lili Marlene - Norbert Schultze 1:54
  15. Big Mean Germans 1:46
  16. Here Comes Hans 0:45
  17. The Showdown 1:40
  18. Rats on Parade 2:01
  19. Remembering an Old Friend 2:52
  20. Rat Patrol Main Title (alt. take) 1:46
  21. The Original Rat Patrol Theme 0:51
  22. Our Heroes on Duty 0:36
  23. Entering the Bar 0:27
  24. Rat Chat 2:30
  25. Honor and Duty 2:40
  26. Germans Arrive/Let's Get Out of Here 1:14
  27. Until Next Time/Finale 1:48
  28. The Original Rat Patrol End Credits 0:55
  29. Slow and Sexy Belly Dance 3:36
  30. Fast Belly Dance 0:47
  31. That Tiny World (record with strings) - vocal: Jack Jones 2:44
  32. The Rat Patrol End Credits (Alt. Take) 0:38

References

  1. ↑ Jon Burlingame, liner notes, The Rat Patrol: Volume 2 soundtrack album, La-La Land Records LLLCD 1302
  2. 1 2 Tony Williams, Larry Cohen: The Radical Allegories of an Independent Filmmaker, pp. 60–61.
  3. ↑ James Stuart Olson, Historical Dictionary of the 1960s, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, p. 381.
  4. ↑ Wesley Hyatt, A Critical History of Television's The Red Skelton Show, 1951-–1971, pp.95–96.
  5. ↑ "Location". Suncompass.fandom.tv. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  6. ↑ Cozad, W. Lee More Magnificent Mountain Movies Sunstroke Media 2006
  7. ↑ Hogg, Ian V. and Weeks, John, Military Small Arms of the 20th Century, 6th ed. DBI Books, Inc. (1991)
  8. ↑ "Uniforms". Suncompass.fandom.tv. 2003-06-10. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  9. ↑ "Fannish_Delight_Interview". Suncompass.fandom.tv. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  10. ↑ The Rat Patrol - Shout! Factory to Re-Release 'The Complete Series' of the '60s Classic. Both seasons of the program return to DVD late this fall
  11. ↑ Burlingame, Jon, liner notes for The Rat Patrol soundtrack, La-La Land Records LLLCD 1155
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