I was quite surprised to find two other contributors on this site as programs this old are usually forgotten. I have made it a sort of one-man crusade to ensure that they get at least one user comment. Especially if I thought they were good.
Contributor Lindac 5 seems to have an excellent memory of this program; far better than mine at any rate.
It was unusual because Crane was indeed a British criminal expat and yet he was presented as the tacit hero of the program. He wasn't always successful, but at least he never got caught. Presumably, the authorities of the day thought that breaking the smuggling laws in some exotic African state was fun and fair game. Whereas one can't help thinking that a Crane who practiced his art against British Customs and Excise would have been presented in a much less glamorous way. And Neither would he have been seen to get away with his crimes.
Still, it was jolly good fun.
He ran a legitimate cafe/nightclub as a cover for his improprieties, in a way that was probably lifted from those old Humphrey Bogart films like Sirocco and Casabalanca. He had a glamorous young girl who danced and served the bar, and would today be seen to provide other services after the 9 o-clock watershed.
When you stop to consider the limited production budgets, I'm not so sure that the program was actually filmed on location in Morocco. Crane's cafe and environs had a very studio sound and appearance, as did Mahmoud's police station. Most of the nefarious activities took place at night and might as easily have been on Canvay Island. The few long shots of 'Morocco' could likewise have been anywhere in North Africa, and I never saw the actors actually filmed in these locations. I suspect they were just archive out-takes from other programs and newsreels. But what the hell?
One other thing; I thought the program ran for at least two series - early black and white and later colour. The early series had a theme music that was entirely instrumental. It had a swirling, exotic rhythm that immediately conjured-up images of belly-dancing and may well have been authentic - for some odd reason I have it entirely memorised. Later, it was replaced by a theme with slightly more 'westernised' riffs, and a male singer extolling the artfulness of 'Crane, crane, crane' which was chanted as a chorus.
I guess it would seem pretty stagy and tame today.
Contributor Lindac 5 seems to have an excellent memory of this program; far better than mine at any rate.
It was unusual because Crane was indeed a British criminal expat and yet he was presented as the tacit hero of the program. He wasn't always successful, but at least he never got caught. Presumably, the authorities of the day thought that breaking the smuggling laws in some exotic African state was fun and fair game. Whereas one can't help thinking that a Crane who practiced his art against British Customs and Excise would have been presented in a much less glamorous way. And Neither would he have been seen to get away with his crimes.
Still, it was jolly good fun.
He ran a legitimate cafe/nightclub as a cover for his improprieties, in a way that was probably lifted from those old Humphrey Bogart films like Sirocco and Casabalanca. He had a glamorous young girl who danced and served the bar, and would today be seen to provide other services after the 9 o-clock watershed.
When you stop to consider the limited production budgets, I'm not so sure that the program was actually filmed on location in Morocco. Crane's cafe and environs had a very studio sound and appearance, as did Mahmoud's police station. Most of the nefarious activities took place at night and might as easily have been on Canvay Island. The few long shots of 'Morocco' could likewise have been anywhere in North Africa, and I never saw the actors actually filmed in these locations. I suspect they were just archive out-takes from other programs and newsreels. But what the hell?
One other thing; I thought the program ran for at least two series - early black and white and later colour. The early series had a theme music that was entirely instrumental. It had a swirling, exotic rhythm that immediately conjured-up images of belly-dancing and may well have been authentic - for some odd reason I have it entirely memorised. Later, it was replaced by a theme with slightly more 'westernised' riffs, and a male singer extolling the artfulness of 'Crane, crane, crane' which was chanted as a chorus.
I guess it would seem pretty stagy and tame today.