Treasury Men in Action

Treasury Men in Action (also known as Federal Men) is an American crime drama series broadcast live and which aired from September 11, 1950,[1] through April 1951 on ABC and then on NBC through 1955. The series stars Walter Greaza, Ross Martin, and Tom McKee.

Treasury Men in Action
Also known asFederal Men
GenreCrime drama
Directed byWilliam Beaudine
Leigh Jason
StarringWalter Greaza
Ross Martin
Tom McKee
Theme music composerMelvyn Lenard
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes189 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersEverett Rosenthal
Jerome C. Robinson
EditorsIrving Berlin
Everett Dodd
Running time24 mins.
Production companiesCombo-Stephens Inc.
(1954-1955)
(season 5)
Prockter Television Enterprises
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 11, 1950 (1950-09-11) –
July 1, 1955 (1955-07-01)

Overview

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The series was an anthology drama dramatizing cases from one of the various law enforcement agencies that operated under the US Treasury Department. The host was Walter Greaza, who introduced each episode as "The Chief" of whichever agency was featured in a given episode. Counterfeiters, tax evaders, smugglers, narcotics traffickers, and other federal offenders whose crimes fell within the jurisdiction of Treasury were pursued. Cases from the files of the US Secret Service, the Customs Bureau. the Alcohol Tax Unit, the Intelligence Division of the Internal Revenue Service, and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics were dramatized.

Other actors who appeared in this series include Claude Akins, Charles Bronson, Jesse White, James Dean, Vivi Janiss, Carolyn Jones, and Harry Lauter.

Treasury Men in Action finished at #27 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1952–1953 season and #15 for 1953–1954.[2] It appeared in reruns under the title of Federal Men.

Production

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In an interview with Kliph Nesteroff, assistant director Arthur Marks stated the show was shot at the same time and on the same sets as The Man Behind the Badge.[3]

Everett Rosenthal was the executive producer, with Robert Sloane producing the 1953-54 and 1954-55 seasons. It was directed by, among others, David Pressman,[1] William Beaudine, Leigh Jason, and Will Jason.

Chrysler Motors[1] and Borden's Instant Coffee sponsored the program.[4]

Initially a live program, Treasury Men in Action switched to film in 1954.[5]

Episodes

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Partial List of Episodes of Treasury Men in Action
Date Episode
November 15, 1951 "The Case of the Curious Convict[6]
December 20, 1951 "The Case of the Counterfeit Christmas"[7]
December 27, 1951 "The Case of the Sinful Past"[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Debuts, Highlights, Changes (Continued)". Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index. September 10, 1950. p. 2. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  2. ^ "ClassicTVguide.com: TV Ratings". classictvguide.com. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  3. ^ Nesteroff, Kliph (April 15, 2012). "Classic Television Showbiz: An Interview with Arthur Marks". Archived from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  4. ^ "This Week (Cont'd)". Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index. August 24, 1952. p. 3. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "Stating the Case for Film". Variety. March 2, 1955. p. 35. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  6. ^ Stretch, Bud (November 15, 1951). "Air Waves". Courier-Post. New Jersey, Camden. p. 13. Retrieved June 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Stretch, Bud (December 20, 1951). "Air Waves". Courier-Post. New Jersey, Camden. p. 42. Retrieved June 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Stretch, Bud (December 27, 1951). "Air Waves". Courier-Post. New Jersey, Camden. p. 15. Retrieved June 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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