A recent acquisition: A Lone Star die-cast 'Burke's Law' snub nose cap gun
Lone
Star was the brand name used by Die Cast Machine Tools Ltd for it’s
toy products, in particular toy guns.
The
toy appears to be based on the Smith & Wesson Model 36
Chiefs Special which was, for many years the revolver
used as the standard plain-clothes police detective carry weapon by
several American police agencies.
I
always enjoyed watching Burke’s Law on TV as a youngster ,way back
in the early sixties, and over the years I’ve picked up the odd
piece of Burke’s Law merchandise that’s crossed my collecting
path.
TV
Century 21 ran
it’s
Burke’s
Law comic strip during the publication’s first year, and
offered the toy gun as a competition prize a couple of times during
1965, along with discounts on other Lone Star toy guns.
At
the time the Burke’s Law cap gun would have cost the princely sum
of 5/11
For
anyone who isn’t familiar with the series, I did a post on Burke’s
Law back in 2013:
Hollywood
glamour, big name guest stars, slick patter and a murder every week :
It’s
Burke’s
Law!
When
TV Century 21 launched in January 1965 as
a dedicated
publication
for comic strip adaptations of Gerry &
Sylvia
Anderson’s Supermarionation puppet shows. At
that point it covered Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray along with
pre- Thunderbird Lady Penelope stories. It
also carried some additional
non-Anderson
strips. The Daleks on the back cover fitted nicely into the science
fiction bias of the comic, as did the comedic ‘My Favourite
Martian’ strip with the mischievous alien, Uncle Martin.
But
one strip bucked
the sci-fi
element of the comic. A strip adaptation based on the glossy TV cop
show, Burke’s Law featuring the glossy Gene Barry as Captain Amos
Burke.
Burke’s
Law was a very popular prime time series way back in the early
sixties, featuring the suave Captain Burke, assisted by enthusiastic
rookie detective, Tim Tilson, and seasoned veteran cop, Les Hart.
These
are some lines taken from an article I wrote some years back for the
Programme Preservation Society magazine which was subsequently
reprinted on the Gene Barry Fan
Page
Burke’s
Law was a typical formula show. Each episode had the title ‘Who
Killed...?’ followed by the victims name. The teaser revealed the
murder, but not the murderer.
With
a blend of comedy and drama, the regular cast would sift through an
assortment of star-studded eccentrics. Each suspect was individually
questioned by Burke and his fellow detectives, Rookie Tim Tilson
(played by Gary Conway) and grizzled veteran Sergeant Lester Hart
(played by Regis Toomey), until the guilty party was identified. And
in case you hadn’t guessed, the privilege of revealing the guilty
party was solely the Captain’s.
Once
the sultry and sensuous feminine tones had announced the title and
the laid back glitzy theme played along to the scene of Burke’s
speeding Rolls Royce, you were in no doubt that this show had it’s
tongue firmly in it’s cheek. Almost every week Captain of Homicide,
Amos Burke (played by Gene Barry) would have to leave some gorgeous
fawning female, or an exclusive Hollywood party, to be driven in his
Silver Cloud II to the murder scene. Why a Rolls Royce? Because he
was a millionaire! Why a cop? Because that’s what he did best!
The
Burke’s Law strip was given a two page black and white spread and
stayed on board until the following year ending in TV Century 21,
issue 51. During that time the strip appeared in the 1965 TV Century
21 summer extra , and featured on the front cover on the comic’s
first annual.
Some
examples are this Burke’s Law jigsaw from 1964. Produced in
Britain, the artwork is more than likely another piece done by the
prolific artist, Walt Howarth.
This
Primrose sweet cigarette wrapper from 1965 clearly shows Captain
Burke with Tim Tilson in the background, however it’s using the
updated title for the less than successful third series of Burke’s
Law, which following the spy craze changed it’s title and format to
‘Amos Burke - Secret Agent’
The
Burke’s Law annual from 1964/65. A mixture of text stories and two
of the three Dell comic reprints - ‘Who Killed The Curious Crew’
and' Who Killed Harry Dare’.
The
Burke’s Law story book from 1965 and another example of Walt
Howarth's work perhaps?. A smaller page count than the annual, this
has a couple of text stories and the final Dell comic reprint -’Who
Killed The Hollywood Hopefuls’.
The
original Dell comics.
Two
paperbacks.
The
original soundtrack album.
Gene
Barry released his own album featuring a vocal version of the
‘Burke’s Law’ theme - priceless!
Finally
from 2005, a CD release of the original soundtrack. The sleeve notes
in the accompanying booklet were quite familiar. Unbeknown to me the
publishers had simply copied my article that had been reprinted on
the Gene Barry Fan Page.
I
suppose I should be flattered really.
Put
something on the web and don’t be surprised if it turns up were you
least expect it -That’s
Burke’s Law!
Link to my previous Burke's Law post from 2013
