Wade McCall is an agent with an unnamed American Intelligence organization.
He is also an actor working hard to make it in Hollywood.
As a blurb for these adventures puts it: "Wade McCall went to Hollywood on a whim, got into acting by chance, and became a spy out of boredom. Now he's a spy pretending to be an actor-or is it the other way around?"
The action for this series takes place just into the second half of the 50s. McCall has been living and working in Los Angeles for the past 3 years, ever since he has left the Marine Corps at the end of the Korean War. It was during a lull time during that conflict that a fellow Marine and friend, Ronnie, convinced McCall that his "good looks and natural charm made him a shoo-in". That was, unfortunately, when the lull ended and Ronnie took a bullet between the eyes from a Chinese infantryman. When it came time to say goodbye to the Corps and seek employment elsewhere, McCall thought of Ronnie and headed to Hollywood.
The three years had not been a rousing success; he had a fair number of small roles here and there but was seriously considering transitioning to stunt work instead of acting. Then a minor earthquake spooked a horse pulling a wagon on a movie set and the young actress in said wagon was unable to stop the racing animal and only the quick thinking and brave actions of McCall prevented serious injury to either steed or woman. It got him a few congratulatory slaps on the back and a very appreciative response from the lady and notice by a man named Roger Gates.
It was obvious to McCall that Gates, who came onto the set later and asked to talk with him, was not a fellow actor, or worse yet an agent, nor was he likely anyone connected with the studio. What he turned out to be was the head of a small group inside the Agency. As Gates puts it, "I run a small team of people with certain talents, such as yourself, to gather information around the world. We're always on the lookout for new talents to add to the team."
He would go on to explain, "Officially, we don't have a name. We only exist on paper as a small line item of the budgets of about twelve different federal departments". As to who he and his people answer to, he admits, "That's where it gets a little fuzzy. You see, no one really wants to take responsibility for us, but at the same time, no one's ever complained about the information we've given them."
The other members of the group were no strangers to McCall though they had never met before. Two of them were Davina Davis and Penny Rose, both very well known and popular film actresses. Another was the well listened to big band leader Tony Canetti. The fourth and last was Foster Stoudt, a popular barnstorming pilot from before WWII who was made even more famous when he enlisted after Pearl Harbor and was used by the government to sell war bonds.
Each of these people would use their fame to be invited to placed few others would be allowed to go and they would use training to look and see, listen and hear, ask and be told things that would be of great use in the intelligence field.
And to make his participation produce similar results, Gates would use his considerable influence to see that McCall would rise from a bit actor cum would-be stunt man into a star who also got invited places where he could look, listen, and ask.
Good Lines:
- Said to us in the first paragraph: "A successful spy is a better actor than any movie star in Hollywood. A spy needs to stay in character around the clock. Failing doesn't result in a bad review, it gets them a bullet in the head."