"Captains and the Kings" (1976) TV mini-series 1976-

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

30 September 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Rags-to-riches tale of an Irish immigrant in late 1800s.

Plot Keywords:

TV Mini-Series | Based On Novel

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Richard Jordan	...	Joseph Armagh (8 episodes, 1976)
Harvey Jason	...	Harry Zieff (8 episodes, 1976)
Patty Duke	...	Bernadette Hennessey Armagh / ... (6 episodes, 1976)
Blair Brown	...	Elizabeth Healey Hennessey / ... (6 episodes, 1976)
Robert Vaughn	...	Charles Desmond (6 episodes, 1976)
Perry King	...	Rory Armagh (4 episodes, 1976)
Katherine Crawford	...	Mary Armagh / ... (4 episodes, 1976)
Jane Seymour	...	Marjorie Chisholm / ... (4 episodes, 1976)
Bernard Behrens	...	Gentleman (4 episodes, 1976)
Cynthia Sikes	...	Claudia / ... (4 episodes, 1976)
Charles Durning	...	Ed Healey (3 episodes, 1976)
David Huffman	...	Sean Armagh (3 episodes, 1976)
Terry Kiser	...	Courtney Wickersham (3 episodes, 1976)
Vic Morrow	...	Tom Hennessey (3 episodes, 1976)
Barbara Parkins	...	Martinique (3 episodes, 1976)
Joanna Pettet	...	Katherine Hennessey (3 episodes, 1976)
Doug Heyes Jr.	...	Kevin Armagh (3 episodes, 1976)
Jenny Sullivan	...	Honora Houlihan / ... (3 episodes, 1976)
Beverly D'Angelo	...	Miss Emmy (3 episodes, 1976)
Peter Donat	...	Clair Montrose (2 episodes, 1976)
Henry Fonda	...	Sen. Enfield Bassett (2 episodes, 1976)
John Houseman	...	Judge Newell Chisholm (2 episodes, 1976)
Celeste Holm	...	Sister Angela (2 episodes, 1976)
Joe Kapp	...	Strickland (2 episodes, 1976)
Ann Dusenberry	...	Anne-Marie (2 episodes, 1976)
Rod Haase	...	Mace / ... (2 episodes, 1976)
Charles H. Gray	...	Captain Calvin (2 episodes, 1976)
Charles O. Lynch	...	Hotel Clerk (2 episodes, 1976)
Roberta Storm	...	Mrs. Calvin (2 episodes, 1976)

Series Directed by
Douglas Heyes		(5 episodes, 1976)
Allen Reisner		(3 episodes, 1976)

Series Writing credits
Taylor Caldwell		(8 episodes, 1976)
Douglas Heyes		(8 episodes, 1976)
Elinor Karpf		(7 episodes, 1976)
Steven Karpf		(7 episodes, 1976)

Series Produced by
Dorothy J. Bailey	....	associate producer (8 episodes, 1976)
Roy Huggins	....	executive producer (8 episodes, 1976)
Jo Swerling Jr.	....	producer (8 episodes, 1976)

Series Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein		(7 episodes, 1976)

Series Cinematography by
Isidore Mankofsky		(6 episodes, 1976)
Vilis Lapenieks		(2 episodes, 1976)
Ric Waite		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Edwin F. England		(8 episodes, 1976)
Larry Lester		(8 episodes, 1976)
Lawrence J. Vallario		(8 episodes, 1976)
Christopher Nelson		(3 episodes, 1976)

Series Art Direction by
John W. Corso		(8 episodes, 1976)
Joseph R. Jennings		(unknown episodes)

Series Set Decoration by
Jerry Adams		(8 episodes, 1976)

Series Production Management
Ben Bishop	....	unit manager (5 episodes, 1976)
Ray Taylor Jr.	....	unit manager (3 episodes, 1976)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gary Grillo	....	assistant director (5 episodes, 1976)
Wayne A. Farlow	....	assistant director (3 episodes, 1976)
John Slosser	....	second assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Claudia Gilligan Ivanjack	....	stand-by painter (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Harold Lewis	....	sound (8 episodes, 1976)
Roger Sword	....	sound effects editor (5 episodes, 1976)
John Stacy	....	sound effects editor (3 episodes, 1976)
Robert Bradshaw	....	sound editor (unknown episodes)
Glenn Hoskinson	....	sound editor (unknown episodes)
Randy Kelley	....	sound editor (unknown episodes)
John B. Schuyler	....	boom operator (unknown episodes)

Series Stunts
Craig R. Baxley	....	stunt double (unknown episodes, 1976)
Paul Baxley	....	stunt coordinator (unknown episodes, 1976)
Jean Coulter	....	stunt double (unknown episodes)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Roberta Weiner	....	costumes: women (2 episodes, 1976)

Series Music Department
Elmer Bernstein	....	composer: Best Sellers theme (8 episodes, 1976)
Al Teeter	....	music editor (8 episodes, 1976)

Production Companies

• Roy Huggins-Public Arts Productions
• Universal TV (in association with)

Distributors

• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1976) (USA) (TV)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Elephant Films (2013) (France) (video)
• Koch Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Studios USA Television

Other Companies

• Universal Title  titles and opticals

Also Known As:

Runtime:

540 min | 60 min (9 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

2421 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Roy Huggins-Public Arts Productions

Trivia:

Producer Jo Swerling Jr. remembers "We had a lovely young actress named Beverly D'Angelo doing a love scene with Harvey Jason. It was your typical TV shot across her back to Harvey as she lets the negligee drop to the ground, and she's standing there naked. Then we did closeups of Harvey, and then of Beverly. And in Beverly's closeup we put a TV matte on the lens so that our matted field of vision would cut just at the nipple line; that was it was obvious that she was nude, but you didn't see any nipple. However, when the show was telecast, there were in the new TV sets variances in the field of vision, and half the sets in the country saw more of Beverly than the other half. The following morning, we got a panic call from Broadcast Standards that we had violated the nudity ban and that more people saw Beverly's nipples than didn't. But nobody complained. Nobody but the censors. The upshot was that we were told not to cut it that close in the future."

One of the best "family saga" miniseries.

I really can't say enough about it here, because I've been hugely attached to it since it came out. There are several reasons to watch it - along with the "historical romance" reasons, there are the political ideas (which are that much bigger in the novel, but a very big part of this TV version). Whether it's borderline "conspiracy" thinking (with "those men" who influence everything) or not, those ideas have influenced plenty of my political thinking. (Partly because of this story, I always think the phrase "opportune little war" when I hear about ANY given war- and quite some time BEFORE the past three years.) Richard Jordan was just great as Joseph, an Irish character who hardly fits any of the images of Irishmen (even the positive ones), who's almost completely "cool", and whose emotions don't come out (in a big way) except in certain dramatic scenes, like the scenes with Catherine or Tom (for opposite reasons). There isn't enough room to mention all the best actors and characters, or scenes, but there's Perry King as Rory Armagh, Patty Duke Astin as Bernadette (I think someone here mentioned how great she was as a tragic character, and she won an Emmy for it, very deservedly), Jane Seymour as Margery, Cliff DeYoung as Brian Armagh, the aviator-film-maker etc., with his star Pearl Gray (Pearl White), Vic Morrow, who was extremely good as Tom Hennesey (and whom you really feel sorry for in that last scene with him, in spite of everything he's done), Beverly D'Angelo as Miss Emmy, Charles Durning as Big Ed Healy (I don't know if he's ever played a more entertaining character), and Harvey Jason as Harry Zeff. As far as I know, he's mainly a supporting actor in comedies, and you see that in his "sidekick" kind of relationship with Joseph, but of course with other levels to it - the scene where Joseph accuses Harry of being disloyal to him, which is the one kind of talk Harry can't stand to hear from him, and the scene where Joseph turns his back on blackmailing the senator, and Harry is glad for all three of them (not knowing what's coming next). And of course, the big guest stars, like John Houseman as Mr. Chisholm and Henry Fonda as Senator Bassett (two of the best scenes). Again, I could go on and on, but it's simply a very underrated story, as far as I know (in spite of the Emmy). Though to me, underrated is putting it pretty mildly.