Season 1 • Episode 1
LatestChina Smith was a 1950s television adventure series starring Dan Duryea. The television show takes place in Singapore. Much of the cast and crew also worked on the film World for Ransom, which is considered an extension of the television program. Director Robert Aldrich had also directed two episodes of the series. The title character was a soldier of fortune wearing a white suit living in Singapore who would face danger and excitement every week. The series was made with a two-year gap; the first 26 episodes being filmed in Mexico, the second 26 episodes were shot in 1954-1955. In 1959 Daffy Duck played China Jones a parody of Duryea's character.
Acting
Duryea's smirk could sell weapons to both sides.
Production
Mexico posing as Singapore: budget constraints as aesthetic.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
China Smith bridges 1940s noir villainy and 1960s spy television, with Duryea importing his femme-fatale-killer energy into family-friendly adventure.
World for Ransom (1954) reunited the cast with Aldrich directing—essentially a theatrical budget episode, and the only feature film extension of a 1950s TV series most people have never heard of.
US
