I have been watching the classic 1970’s TV series The Persuaders over the past week. It’s about an English Lord (Roger Moore) and an American business man (Tony Curtis) being tricked by a retired judge into becoming crime fighters. Our inept heroes find themselves stumbling into diffrent situations each episode and having to right wrongs.
This was one of many action series made by Lew Grade’s ITC Productions, and out of all the ones I have seen it is probably my favourite. This is entirely down to the excellent chemistry between the two leads. In fact, I dont think I’ve seen a greater onscreen paring of two actors in anything. They have a friendly rivalry going on between them, due to their different backgrounds, and they frequently mock each other and bicker, but you can tell that deep down they care greatly for each other.
The episodes themselves are nothing special, they are the standard plots you see in other ITC series’ such as The Saint, but I don’t think anyone watches these type of programs for great storytelling (except The Prisoner of course). They are designed to pure escapist entertainment, and The Persuaders succeeds as that 100%. It has a wonderfully tounge and cheek sense of humour and never takes itself too seriously, even when Moore and Curtis are in danger, although there are a number of suspenseful moments in each episode. The fight scenes are fun and exciting while still being funny at the same time.
I know that this is an over used phrase, but they really don’t make them like this anymore.
