The August 1957 issue of the show-business journal Variety reported that Men of Annapolis—the only television series ever to feature the U.S. Naval Academy—was one of the top ten syndicated shows in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Atlanta. The rise and fall of this popular dramatic series and the events that transpired during its production involve classic Hollywood motives, Naval Academy expectations, enthusiasm from all involved, and ultimate disillusionment.
Several alumni credit Men of Annapolis for inspiring their interest in attending the Naval Academy, including the current Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony Principi, and Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral John R. Ryan, both from the class of 1967. Secretary Principi said, "Ever since I was a young boy I was addicted to watching Men of Annapolis . . . and I think the idea of attending Annapolis came from those days."1 After watching the series as a youngster of middle-school age in Mountainhome, Pennsylvania, Admiral Ryan recalled 43 years later: "This series inspired me to seek entrance to USNA! . . . Men of Annapolis clearly resulted in increased public awareness of the Naval Academy during the 1950s and '60s and positively influenced a number of young men to pursue admission."2
In fall 1998, alumni from the classes of 1962 through '69 provided their recollections of the program by way of alumni online networks. Of the 152 respondents, an overwhelming majority (97%) stated with various degrees of assuredness that they were influenced to attend the Academy by the dramatic series. Among the positive respondents was now-retired Admiral William Owens, Class of 1962, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Credit for the idea of producing entertainment television about the Naval Academy goes to the ZIV Television Programs corporation. Frederic W. Ziv had established the company first in radio syndication, then gravitated to television syndication.3 In fall 1955, ZIV presented a concept for two weekly half-hour dramatic programs—one based on the Naval Academy and another on the Military Academy (titled West Point)—to the Office of Public Information, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense. Authenticity was a key word in both proposals. Subsequently, the Navy Department granted approval and agreed to cooperate, subject to approval of each script by the Naval Academy superintendent and final review and acceptance by the Navy Office of Information.
Formal negotiations for the series began on 7 December 1955, when ZIV's Head of Creative Programs, Richard Dorso, met with Academy officials to clarify terms. A follow-up letter from ZIV Vice President Robert Friedheim to then-Academy Superintendent Rear Admiral Walter F. Boone outlined the agreement: With Naval Academy cooperation, a series of 39 half-hour episodes would be produced, and if satisfactory, ZIV could continue with more episodes thereafter. To this latter statement, Admiral Boone inserted a marginal note: "This is not be considered a prior commitment on our part to assist in a further series." The terms included ZIV agreements that the Naval Academy would have the "right of approval of each final script for authenticity and propriety," essentially providing the Navy with leverage to ensure a favorable image.4
The President of ZIV, John L. Sinn, emphasized his company's intentions for the series in an internal memo for his producer, William Castle: "It is essential that we capture in this series the youthful virility, drive, action, conflict, and enthusiasm that exists at Annapolis."5 At about that time, the new Superintendent, Rear Admiral William R. Smedberg, commented on the Navy's expectations: "Millions of Americans will learn more about their Naval Academy. They will learn of its high educational and disciplinary standards, of its character-building and honor concepts, of its dedication to the production of leaders. Realistic portrayal of the virtues of the Academy regimen will serve to militate against today's tendency to embrace the 'easy' and the 'immediate' rather than the worthy and the enduring."6
Hollywood filmmakers had been using the Naval Academy as a popular Navy stage for romance, comedy, and drama since the release of the movie The Midshipman in 1925. Thereafter, some 17 films involved the Academy, including An Annapolis Story (1955), the last to portray life at the institution. In Sailing on the Silver Screen: Hollywood and the U.S. Navy, author Lawrence Suid characterized the Naval Academy's appeal to Hollywood: "The glamour of the uniforms, the perfection of the parades, the utter sincerity and patriotism of the midshipmen, and the highly romanticized boy-girl relationships all conspired to give the Annapolis films an appeal that transcended their stories."7
The Academy's cooperation with ZIV commenced on 14 January 1956. Commander A. G. Esch, the Naval Academy Public Information Officer and principal point of contact with ZIV, forwarded a compilation of 66 basic themes and ideas that were the "collective thoughts" of officers, professors, and midshipmen that "might be appropriate for human-interest dramatization." This became a basic reference for ZIV's scriptwriters.
On 17 January, a Naval Academy "TV Story Board"—chaired by Commandant of Midshipmen Captain R. T. S. Keith and composed of the head of the Department of English, History and Government, Captain B.J. Harral; the Director of Athletics, Captain C. E. Loughlin; Commander Esch; a battalion officer, Commander M. E. Stewart; and a company officer, Lieutenant R. K. Ripley—was established to "make final recommendations to the superintendent on story themes and story scripts." At the Academy's recommendation, Gene Starbecker, a Naval Reserve lieutenant and Maryland resident with filmmaking credentials, was hired by ZIV to be the Annapolis assistant to producer Castle. Starbecker's function was to interface with the Academy, specifically with Esch and the chairman of the story board, and facilitate review of ZIV's outlines and scripts.
Scriptwriters initiated the Hollywood production effort with the creation of proposed story outlines. After several had been submitted for review by the board, ZIV internal communications, from Starbecker (in Annapolis) to vice president Friedheim (at the New York headquarters) to producer Castle (in Hollywood), indicated the strong stand the story board was taking. Two of the outlines were rejected because "they [the story board] objected to a rigged raffle" and "they want no implication that sporting events could be fixed."8 Starbecker subsequently provided more detailed comments about the sensitivities of the Naval Academy (as adjudged by the story board) to some of the dramatic situations envisioned by ZIV's writers. "The policy is that dishonesty and violations of regulations, no matter how altruistic the motives, should be avoided in all "Men of Annapolis" stories.'" Starbecker added: "This does not mean you cannot show men breaking regulations, or being dishonest. But if they do such things, they are to be punished and the story is to point out why they are punished." In the same letter, he reported that three of the story outlines were unacceptable unless changes were made in the story line and action.9 The board continued to exert strong control, from outline to final script.10
By May 1956, production of the pilot episode, titled "Counter Flood," about a midshipman who finally demonstrates his real potential during a crisis situation, was nearly completed. From New York, ZIV President Sinn corresponded with Admiral Smedberg: "All of us here are most enthusiastic about the project. . . . May I only add that all of us here at ZIV are determined to make this a series of which you, as well as we, may be proud."11 Subsequently, "Counter Flood" was previewed at the Academy's Mahan Hall before the superintendent, staff, and wives on Friday evening, 1 June 1956. It was well received and used later to sell the series to potential sponsors.
As production of the episodes continued into the fall, ZIV began to be concerned about the difficulty of scripting the kind of dramatic stories it had envisioned. In a memo dated 15 October to Castle in Hollywood, Sinn wrote, "The only reason I am pressing the panic button . . . [is because] I really am terrified of the scripts we are going into production on. . . . I do not want to make this series a series of adult character studies. These are essentially stories of action and conflict."12 In contrast to the "panic" he stated to his producer, two weeks later Sinn wrote to Admiral Smedberg: "The high quality of the pictures we have already seen in the 'Men of Annapolis' series indicates quite clearly the success of our mutual cooperation."13
By mid-November, ZIV had filmed 11 episodes and was planning for a January debut for the series. In December, Commander Marcy Dupre, the replacement for Esch as the Academy's Public Information Officer, wrote to ZIV's Dorso to convey the Academy's "intended and desired effect" for the series: "that of telling the people of the United States about their Naval Academy in such a way that young men of high purpose, who seek and welcome responsibility, will be encouraged to make the Navy their career via the Academy." He continued, "Let's always keep in mind what we're trying to do, i.e. tell the Academy's story . . . the story of a life of a midshipman while he is at the Academy."14
The pilot episode, one of the most dramatic and one remembered by many alumni, premiered on KDKA-TV Pittsburgh on 7 January 1957, then in Sacramento on 19 January. The story portrayed a first classman (actor Fred Beir) who had become ineligible for the Navy swim team because of a low grade in his course in shipboard damage control. The instructor, a Navy commander (actor Richard Eastham), considers the midshipman to have great promise and places pressure on him to perform to his potential, both in the classroom and out. In the climactic scene, the midshipman, under pressure to answer correctly and quickly, confidently orders the right sequence of counter flooding procedures on the damage control trainer. The instructor praises his ability with the lines: "I never had any doubts about you. . . . Someone helped me over this kind of hurdle once. I got the chance to help you."
Nationwide syndication on 180 stations was completed on 12 February when WTOP-TV began airing the show in the Washington, D.C., area.15 In a letter to Dorso in mid-February, Commander Dupre wrote, "From all indications so far the series is apparently well received. . . . We have received many letters from various parts of the country. . . . Except for one irate citizen in Houston who demands that we 'put a stop to the whole thing,' everybody seems to like the stories."
Despite the apparent popularity the series was achieving across the country, correspondence between the New York headquarters of ZIV and the Hollywood studio indicated the front office's growing dissatisfaction with the quality of the scripts and productions. In a personal memo dated 1 March 1957 to Hollywood Executive Jon Epstein, Dorso criticized the story content of a script then in the review process. "My vote is against doing this script as written because it hasn't got any guts. And more than anything else, we need guts in the Men of Annapolis series." A month later, on 1 April, Dorso wrote additional memos to Epstein, again taking issue with the story content of one of the scripts. "If the series to date was a hard hitting on target string of stories we could possibly tolerate a script like this, however, we have had nothing but soft scripts in this series which is exactly what we don't want." In a second memo, Dorso complained, "What we all want is hard hitting physical action pictures for this series but we seem unable to get the proper scripts to shoot."
On 25 April, Maurice Unger, ZIV's vice president for West Coast operations, reaffirmed ZIV's policy for the production. Writing to Epstein and Castle, he opened his memo with, ". . . everyone involved in this unit has done an exceedingly poor job." Then he got serious. "The Annapolis pictures are not the kind of pictures we agreed to make. . . ." Commenting on an episode already completed, Unger wrote, "I can't imagine how anybody in show business could conceivably think of this picture as entertainment. It's dull, slow, pointless, has no rising action, has no conflict, has no rooting interest, and every basic rule of dramatics has been ignored. . . . It can't be considered a good show for Ziv, the Naval Academy, the sponsor, or the audience. Which brings us to the question: 'For whom are we making our pictures?'"
The growing frustration at ZIV did not extend, however, to the viewing audience or, at that time, to the Naval Academy. On 13 May, Admiral Smedberg wrote to Dorso about his satisfaction with an episode titled "Mister Fireball," a story about a midshipman baseball pitcher who chooses to remain at the Academy rather than pursue a lucrative career in professional baseball. The admiral included a request for copies of Mister Fireball and another episode, "Honor Bright" (about a plebe who violated the honor system and was dismissed from the academy), for use during Plebe Summer indoctrination. "Let me add my personal congratulations to you and the rest of the ZIV organization for your fine work and your continued efforts to produce the best stories possible about the men who comprise the Brigade of Midshipmen." Later, on 30 July, Commander Dupre forwarded a statement from Admiral Smedberg to ZIV's Robert Friedheim, commenting on the effectiveness of the series, with permission to use the admiral's words in ZIV's advertising program. "The effectiveness of this series in telling the Naval Academy's story . . . is best measured in the heightened interest of potential candidates. There has been a considerable increase in the number of letters from young men seeking information on admission to the Naval Academy or guidance in their academic preparations for entrance at some time in the future. At the Naval Academy alone, this increase in correspondence has more than doubled since the first of the year. . . ."16
On 29 August 1957, in a letter to the Superintendent, Dorso reported that the filming of the first 39 episodes in the series had been completed. Trumpeting the show's top-ten ranking, he wrote, "These ratings indicate that Men of Annapolis is reaching a large segment of the television viewing audience." Despite ZIV's internal dissension about quality, he closed the letter with a comment about a second season. "All of us here at Ziv hope and look forward to another season of the production. . . . If the Naval Academy has benefited from the appearance of Men of Annapolis on television as seems to be indicated, I think Ziv also has benefited; we have found the making of this series a truly satisfying experience."
Even with the show's apparent popularity, however, satisfaction with the series was beginning to fade in Annapolis. The warning signs had been there. Eight months earlier, Commander Dupre's letter to Dorso had conveyed the Academy's concern that the script writers were trending toward action "in relatively unsavory circumstances" and "the tendency to get away from the Naval Academy . . . in stories which are not necessarily unique to this school." Stating that he understood the desire to "spice up the story with plenty of action," Dupre commented, "it's a tough job to find enough action around here to fill up 39 different shows." He concluded, "I think we'll do better if your writers will consider at least the two points I have mentioned here."17
On 26 August 1957, after previewing the last of the 39 episodes and just prior to receiving Dorso's letter praising the series' ranking, the Superintendent reported his impressions to the Chief of Naval Information: ". . . it is suspected that it [the series] has been adequate as advertising and promotion for the Naval Academy." But Admiral Smedberg also revealed for the first time a negative consensus among "those who have been associated with the Navy, either directly or indirectly" that ranged from "appeals to put an immediate stop to the series to general dislike for the tone and story lines." He enclosed a listing of the episodes with an adjective description of the quality of the story and with a numerical grade to indicate benefit to the Academy, as adjudged by a "consensus of Naval Academy opinion."
Of the 39 episodes, "Honor Bright" was the only one rated as having "outstanding" quality, four were "excellent," ten were "good," and the rest were either "fair" or "poor." The Superintendent closed his letter by stating, "In the opinion of the Naval Academy, the series should not be renewed. It is realized that 'Men of Annapolis' was conceived as a dramatic rather than documentary series, but the writers have almost exhausted the possibilities here at the Naval Academy for suitable dramatic material."18 Later, on 8 November, Admiral Smedberg was more explicit in a letter to a retired naval officer: "You may know that there have been mixed feelings among Naval Academy graduates, especially those near Annapolis, concerning the quality of this series. I, myself, have felt that the range in quality has been great, from very poor and 'corny' to one or two outstanding shows."19
Broadcast of the series continued during 1957 until all 39 original programs and 13 re-runs were aired. Subsequently, ZIV succeeded in syndicating the original series for broadcast on several other stations throughout the country, commencing in fall 1958.
The Navy's cooperation with ZIV for the production of new episodes had ended. Hal Erickson, writing in Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, theorized that the series managed only 39 episodes because it was expensive to produce and lacked the backing of a major network.20 The producer of West Point, Leon Benson, was quoted as saying, "Both West Point and Annapolis were terminated after one year in production. Annapolis couldn't continue without combining production with West Point as it had, since it was too expensive."21 ZIV had not produced the kind of "suitable" stories the Navy had expected, resulting in frustration within the production company and disillusionment within the Navy. Reflecting on the issue after 44 years, Dupre commented, "The ZIV writers had the difficult task of dramatizing a rather specialized formative period in the lives of young men from every walk of life in the United States . . . [they] simply ran out of steam . . . I don't remember ZIV protesting very much over the decision to discontinue."22 A TV Guide reviewer even wrote: "Where Annapolis could be a great Navy show . . . it's just not the show it should be."23
In retrospect, Men of Annapolis turned out to have been a far more valuable public information vehicle and recruiting tool than anyone realized at the time. Judging by comments from alumni of the 1960s, the stories had, in fact, made a positive and memorable impact on many potential midshipmen.
- Bob Jones, '64: "The TV programs brought the ultimate goal of going to the Academy to vivid life for me and spurred me on to . . . make it a reality."
- Alan Nilsen, '67: "The real message that I received from the series, was [the] moral value of USNA . . . the honor code, the discipline and the sense of being part of a team."
- Rear Admiral Geof Chesbrough, '62: "I have always claimed that Men of Annapolis was the reason I attended USNA and I still believe it."
Editor's Note: The original 35-mm production masters and a 16-mm copy of each Men of Annapolis episode are archived as part of the ZIV Television Programs collection at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research in Madison, where they are available for research. The Nimitz Library at the U.S. Naval Academy has a complete set of all 39 episodes on videotape available for viewing at the library.
1. See author's article on Men of Annapolis in U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Magazine Shipmate, April 2001, p. 6.
2. VAdm J. R. Ryan, USN, letter to author, 14 January 2000.
3. Morleen Rouse, A History of the F. W. ZIV Radio and Television Syndication Companies: 1930-1960 (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 1976), p. 211. Archived at Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Madison, Wisconsin (WCFTR).
4. Vice President of ZIV Television Programs Inc., Robert W. Friedheim, to Superintendent U.S. Naval Academy, 9 December 1955. Archived at the Nimitz Library, U.S. Naval Academy (Nimitz).
5. John L. Sinn to William Castle, 15 October 1956 (WCFTR).
6. Rouse, A History of the F. W. ZIV Radio and Television Syndication Companies, p. 215.
7. Lawrence Suid, Sailing on the Silver Screen: Hollywood and the U.S. Navy (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996), p. 9.
8. ZIV internal memo reporting telephone comments received from Mr. Friedheim, 5 July 1956 (WCFTR).
9. Gene Starbecker to Robert W. Friedheim, 10 July 1956 (WCFTR).
10. About 125 scripts were proposed by ZIV and reviewed by the board. A total of 39 finally were approved and produced and 13 of these were re-run during the 52-week season.
11. President of ZIV Television Programs Inc., John L. Sinn, to RAdm William R. Smedberg, 11 May 1956 (Nimitz).
12. John L. Sinn to William Castle, 15 October 1956 (WCTFR).
13. John L. Sinn to RAdm. William R. Smedberg, 31 October 1956 (Nimitz). This letter was written to apologize for "the unfortunate incident" involving an intoxicated actor in midshipman uniform at the Carvel Hall hotel in Annapolis. Subsequently, actors were not permitted to wear a midshipman's uniform unless engaged in filming.
14. Commander Marcy M. Dupre to Dick Dorso, 14 December 1956 (Nimitz).
15. After producing pilot episodes in 1956, ZIV had offered both West Point and Men of Annapolis to the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). According to Hal Erickson, author of Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 1989), "CBS decided upon West Point, leaving Men of Annapolis to make do with syndication, where it did well, thanks to the nationwide sponsorship of Cities Service Gasoline." As is customary in syndication, ZIV also marketed the episodes to local/regional advertisers (sponsors) through advertising agencies and television stations. Among the local sponsors, the Albers Milling Company, a division of the Carnation Company, and W. B. Fuller & Company, were represented in the western states; in Virginia, the Nolde Baking Company; in upstate New York, the Syracuse Savings Bank; in Pittsburgh, the Fidelity Trust Company; and so on across the nation. According to one agreement with the Quality Bakers of America Cooperative, ZIV leased each episode for $484.
16. Commander Marcy Dupre to Robert Friedheim, 30 July 1957 (Nimitz).
17. Commander Marcy M. Dupre to Dick Dorso, 14 December 1956 (Nimitz).
18. Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy, to Chief of Naval Information, 26 August 1957 (Nimitz).
19. RAdm W. R. Smedberg to Commander E. E. Wilson, 8 November 1957 (Nimitz). Wilson had written to offer a story line based on an event from his midshipman experience.
20. The production costs of both of the ZIV service academy series averaged about $40,000 an episode, which was expensive for 30-minute shows in the late 1950s. Erickson, Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987, p 67.
21. Despite appearing on a major network with the backing of General Foods, West Point was terminated on CBS after the 1956-57 season. Producer Leon Benson recalled, "It was a fairly highly rated show . . . but CBS and other networks were closing down . . . and didn't want outside production [e.g., by ZIV]." West Point reruns appeared subsequently in syndication. Rouse, A History of the F. W. ZIV Radio and Television Syndication Companies, p. 214.
22. Interview (via e-mail) with Capt. Marcy Dupre, USN (Ret.), 26 April 2001.
23. TV Guide, 6 July 1957, p. 16.