The Baron

The Baron is a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour. (Previous ITC series Stingray and Thunderbirds had been filmed in colour, while The Adventures of Sir Lancelot in 1956-57 had the last fourteen of its thirty episodes shot in colour and Man of the World 1962 pilot episode was also filmed in colour.)

Plot outline

The show starred an American actor, Steve Forrest, as John Mannering, an antiques dealer and sometime undercover agent working in an informal capacity for the head of the fictional British Diplomatic Intelligence, Templeton-Green (Colin Gordon). He is assisted by Cordelia Winfield (Sue Lloyd) and David Marlowe (Paul Ferris).

In Creasey's original novels Mannering was British and, after the few first entries, married. In transforming him into a bachelor and casting a Texan in the role, the producers decided that 'The Baron' would be nicknamed after the cattle ranch once run by his grandfather that was described as being "200,000 acres (809.371 km2) 300 miles from Dallas". In the books he was a reformed jewel-thief (the first few novels described that "career" from Mannering's decision to steal to his going straight) whose criminal ties served him well in investigating jewel, art or antiques-oriented mysteries. For the TV series, Mannering's persona was depicted as absolutely straight with no suggestion of past criminality, a fact underlined by his co-opting by British intelligence. In the episode Red Horse, Red Rider it is revealed that Mannering was in the US Army in World War II in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program where he recovered art works from the Nazis. Following the war he owned three antique stores and was a "charter member of the jet set.

The Baron (film)

The Baron (Portuguese: O Barão) is a 2011 Portuguese film directed by Edgar Pêra.

During the second world war, an American crew of B-Movies took refuge in Lisbon. In 1943, producer Valerie Lewton married with a Portuguese actor that translated to her Branquinho da Fonseca's short story "The Baron". The dictator heard about the movie and ordered that the film was destroyed. The crew was repatriated. The Portuguese actors were deported to Tarrafal's Concentration camp. They died tortured in the "skillet", a cubicle where humans were roasted. In 2005, 2 reels and the screenplay were found in the archives of Barreiro's kino-club. For the next 5 years the film was restored and reshot. In 2011, was shown for the first time.

Cast

Reception

At the 2012 Globos de Ouro, the film was nominated for Best Film and Nuno Melo won the award for Best Actor.

Critical reception

Dejan Ognjanovic in BEYOND HOLLYWOOD:

The Baron (horse)

The Baron (foaled 1842) was a Thoroughbred racehorse from Ireland, who also raced in England. Sired by Birdcatcher out of Echidna (by the English stallion Economist), he was also an influential sire in England, France and Australia.

Racing career

A dark chestnut colt with a star, snip, and white sock on his near (left) hind leg, The Baron won three of his four starts at the Curragh in Ireland as a three-year-old before being shipped to England in 1845 by his breeder, veterinary surgeon George Watts. He was then sold to John Scott with whom he won the 1¾-mile St. Leger Stakes and the 2¼-mile Cesarewitch Handicap, the latter under 7 st 9 lb (107 pounds or 49 kilograms) for 3,200 guineas. This was the largest purse ever awarded a three-year-old up to that time. The Baron was then purchased by Edward Rawson Clark.

The Baron raced as a four-year-old in 1846, but did not perform well and suffered from bad feet. Clark sold him to John Mytton, a gambler; after he left Scott, The Baron never won another race. His best result was a second-place finish in the 1846 Craven Stakes at Epsom Downs.