DVD Review: OVERSEAS PRESS CLUB – THE COMPLETE SERIES

Overseas Press Club is an odd anthology series, which details 13 ‘extraordinary, real life’ news stories from the post-World War II era. Each story clocks in at just less than 30 minutes and they rattle through quite a lot of plot in that condensed time-frame. However, while the show is enjoyable, it hasn’t aged particularly well. It’s very superficial and some of the portrayals of foreign nations come across as racist in this politically correct age.

Overseas Press Club plays like a scrap book of interesting news stories, or even a cross between old newsreel footage and a Wikipedia entry. The show touches on some interesting tales, but the episodes just don’t have enough information to come across as truly involving – or even accurate. For example, the best episode is the opening tale, The Man Who Changed Faces, detailing how a Norwegian resistance fighter named Lars Hansen, ‘changed faces’ with a Nazi Major, named Otto Hoffman to destroy a nest of German submarines during the war. It’s a great tale, but there doesn’t appear to be any historical fact to it. While this ‘off the record’ reporting is mentioned within the confines of the show, it just appears to be a good yarn, rather than an ‘extraordinary’ news story.

Overseas Press Club is a decent time passer, but the series lacks depth and integrity. It can really only be recommended to aficionados of old television shows.