Tag: Ziv Television Programs

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S02 E01 – To The Manner Born (1959)

Bat Masterson

DirectorJohn Rich
ProducerFrank Pittman, Andy White
Production CompanyZiv Television Programs, Metro Goldwyn Mayer
AiredOctober 1st, 1959, NBC
CastGene Barry (Bat Masterson), Myron Healy, Audrey Dalton, Jack Hogan, Ernestine Barrier, David Thursby, James Hong, Maria Tsein (sic) (Card Dealer)
Maria McClay as a card dealer in a San Francisco casino

An old friend asks Bat to San Francisco to look into the background of her daughter’s fiancée. Bat learns she is a frequent visitor at a casino where she seems to win but her fiancée seems to lose – even his life. Maria appears as a card dealer employed by the casino who refuses to hand more chips to the dubious fiancée, when he busts out and finds himself broke at the table.

This is one of Maria’s more limited roles with very few lines and not a lot of screen time. On the other hand she gets to wear a rather fancy outfit while staring down Bat Masterson as she deals the House 21 and takes his money.

One thing that must be pointed out is that whoever was responsible for proof reading the credits messed up greatly and left her name on screen as “Maria Tsein” instead of “Tsien”.

Scenes Featuring Maria

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S01 E10 – Local Hero (1956)

The Man Called X

DirectorLeon Benson
ProducerEddie Davis, Maurice Unger
Production CompanyZiv Television Programs
AiredMarch 30th, 1956, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, Channel 10
CastBarry Sullivan (Agent Ken Thurston), Marie Tsien (Sou Hei), Rolfe Sedan, Alex Montoya, Stella Lynn, George T. Lee, James Hong, Leslie Banning, Harold Fong, W. T. Chang, Joy Lee, Sammee Tong, Edwin Luke, Lawrence Ung
Maria McClay as Sou Hei, speaking with her husband.

Maria’s character, Sou Hei, finds herself with her husband among a group of refugees, desperately trying to escape from China. But a no-good traitor lurks among them. Agent Ken Thurston, the man called “X”, played by Barry Sullivan, is assigned to find the rat in the group and help them make it across the border alive. Among them a suspicious white lady, and thinly veiled love interest for Mr. X, whom none of the other members of the group trust as far as they could throw her.

Maria McClay as Sou Hei, expressing her distrust of the suspicious white lady in no uncertain terms: “She must die too!”

Compared to other shows and movies of the era, including many of the ones Maria appeared in, this episode has a surprisingly low amount of yellow face, though it is certainly not free of it. It also features a surprisingly high number of non-white actors in speaking roles.

Scenes Featuring Maria

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Maria McClay