The Adventurer

1972

No soundtrack release

The Movie

Gene Barry played a dapper, gentleman law-enforcement officer in the western tv series Bat Masterson, again as a very wealthy police detective turned secret agent in Burke's Law / Amos Burke, a dapper gentleman magazine publisher in his episodes of The Name of the Game, and now as a wealthy, secret government agent who's cover is being a glamous Hollywood dapper gentleman movie star. Barry Morse plays his controller and Catherine Schell as the regular girl field-assistant in this half-hour British action/adventure show.

Arguably these days he's most remembered as the first killer to be caught by Lt. Columbo in the tv-movie Prescription Murder, where he was an affluent, dapper, gentleman psychiatrist who worked out the perfect crime.

I watched a couple of episodes on YouTube. Burke's Law, in particular, had an eccentricity that often made it interesting. This one on the other hand is played absolutely straight and it's as compelling as reading a corporate contract.

The Music

Another tv show where John Barry wrote the theme music, but episode scores are by Paul Clay, who was a lot less expensive.

Release Notes

Like most television series, unless it's a mega-hit there's no soundtrack album. And The Adventurer was a flop. Barry wrote the title theme, which appears on the compilation CD The Best of John Barry, the LP The Concert John Barry (that surprises me), and the LP The Very Best of John Barry.

Links

There's a Gene Barry fan page that has stills from the show. John Barry/Gene Barry—nothing is too obscure on the internet!