Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Lauren Bacall in Bold Venture

My Antique Radio

The day after Robin Williams took his life at age 63, another Hollywood great died today with the passing of Lauren Bacall at age 89.  While there are so many amazing roles that Bacall played in her career, one that I would like to focus on is her radio series with then husband Humphrey Bogart.

From 1951 to 1952, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall started in the radio series "Bold Venture."  Bold Venture is a pretty cool series. Humphrey Bogart plays Slate Shannon, a boat and hotel owner who caters to travelers, especially Americans, and Lauren Bacall plays Sailor Duval, who was his ward and sidekick. The two are continually meeting up with smugglers and other people operating on the wrong side of the law in pre-comunnist Havana, Cuba. The stories capture the flavor of Cuba and the Caribbean with calypso music and a laid back style. There are stories about sunken treasure, espionage, etc. Maybe it is just because I saw Casablanca recently, but I could hear Humphrey Bogart read the phone book.

The funny thing about this series is when the announcer says "Bold Venture."  It sounds just like "BO Venture."  That will have to be a character in a story someday.

Here is the link to all the episodes of Bold Venture at the Internet Archive. There are 57 episodes available at the Internet Archive and are quite fun to listen to.  These were produced by the Frederic W. Ziv Company and distributed independently.  Great information about the series is available at the Digital Deli.  This is definitely a keeper & I hope you enjoy them.