Location Shooting:
Squaw valley

Photo copyright Earl Parker. All rights reserved.

For the third-season opener, producers sent a crew to Squaw valley to film snow sequences for Combat's only winter episode, " The Silver Service. " The October 10, 1964 issue of TV Guide describes the location shooting. Local ski instructors, members of the area ski patrol, and Squaw valley residents were hired for the background shots. The actors remained in Los Angeles, filming all their scenes on a sound stage with plastic snow. The location shooting was completed in five days at a cost of ten thousand dollars. They had enough footage left over for another snow episode: "Mountain Man."

Associate producer Richard Caffey, said in the TV Guide article that the Squaw valley filming was grueling. They kept having the change camera positions to shoot trackless snow. Because they could not mark the snow, they had no idea how deep or safe the snow cover was. Two crew members broke ribs and one broke his hand.

See TV Guide article about filming at Squaw Valley.

Bob Beattie of the US Olympic ski team and Pierre Jalbert give guest star Claudine Longet a skiing lesson in this publicity photo for "Silver Service."