THE HONEYMOONERS SPECIALS

Ralph and Ed Norton do drag!

THE HONEYMOONERS SPECIALS

"Just what I always suspected! I'm calling Anita Bryant in the morning!" -- Alice's mother after seeing Ralph rubbing Ed's back. 

"The Honeymooners: Second Honeymoon" (1976). Director: Jackie Gleason.
"The Honeymooners Christmas Special" (1978). Director: Jackie Gleason.
"The Honeymooners Valentine Special" (1978). Director: Jackie Gleason. 

Jackie Gleason brought back most of the cast of the original Honeymooners  -- Jane Kean of the Color Honeymooners replaced Joyce Randolph -- for four reunion specials in the late seventies, three of which are available on DVD. In "Second Honeymoon" Ralph (Jackie Gleason) and Alice (Audrey Meadows) are going to renew their vows at the raccoon lodge when Ralph gets the mistaken impression that Alice is pregnant. In the Christmas special, Ralph gets another hare-brained idea and uses his savings, his mother-in-law's social security check, and Norton's Xmas bonus to buy hundreds of lottery tickets. 

Trixie and Ed and Ralph and Alice

In the Valentine special, the funniest of the three, Ralph is convinced that Alice is plotting to murder him due to a gigolo she's met, and he and Ed (Art Carney) dress in drag to trap this other man. Some of the routines in these are over-familiar, the apartment looks especially stark on a large stage and in color, and Ralph and Alice still don't have a phone or most modern conveniences, but the cast's timing is still impeccable and there are a lot of laughs. Eileen Heckart [The Bad Seed; Miracle in the Rain] plays Ralph's mother-in-law in the Valentine special, and while she's a fine actress, she's not really suitable for the role. Templeton Fox is a little more on the mark, but neither of them can compare to Ethel Owen, who really nailed the role in the original series in the fifties. The fourth special had Ralph putting on "A Christmas Carol" for the Raccoon lodge, but this has not yet been released on DVD. Jane Kean was in the right time and place when these reunions were announced and got the part of Trixie again, but in all fairness it should have gone to Joyce Randolph, the original Trixie, as these were "reunions."

Verdict: Everyone's a little grayer, but the magic is still there. ***.

YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG

YOO-HOO, MRS. GOLDBERG (2009). Written, produced, and directed by Aviva Kempner.

Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is primarily a biography of Gertrude Berg, who played the much-beloved character of Molly Goldberg on the long-running radio/TV series The Goldbergs. (Her neighbor would yell out of her window, "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg.") But it is also an evocation of a particular time in history, and a look back at the radio, television and motion picture industries as they were during a different era. In addition, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg also covers everything from WW2, the holocaust and anti-Semitism to the often tragic consequences of the blacklist in the fifties and its effect on many careers in show business. Berg, born Tilly Edelstein, became "the first woman to build a media empire." She wrote but originally had not intended to act on the radio show The Rise of the Goldbergs, but she was so suited for the lead role that she got it, and continued to play the part when it debuted as the TV series The Goldbergs on 1/10/49. Philip Loeb was excellent as her husband, but due to his liberal and labor causes he was branded a communist and CBS dropped the show when Berg refused to drop Loeb. However, Loeb finally had to leave the series when it became apparent that no other network would air the program as long as he was a part of it (he later committed suicide). 

The Goldbergs continued with first Harold Stone, and then Robert Harris, as Mr. Goldberg, but it lost much of its audience when the family moved from the Bronx to the suburbs. Although focusing on a Jewish family, it was the universal themes on the program that made it a hit with so many. Berg later wound up doing more than one project with, of all people, Sir Cedric Hardwicke! The movie is bolstered by interviews with the late Berg's relations, co-workers, and many people both in and out of the industry who were greatly influenced by her. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is charming, sad, and altogether excellent. NOTE: The DVD release of Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg contains many extras, including a few episodes of the series itself. 

Verdict: This is a superb documentary on every possible level. ****

HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR

Peter Cushing

HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR (1980 British television anthology series).

This British anthology series of horror stories lasted for one season and 13 episodes. It is a mixed bag with arguably only one really outstanding episode and a lot of stories with intriguing premises that are ruined by weak scripts and flat wind-ups. Peter Cushing stars in what may be the best episode, "The Silent Scream," in which a former Nazi scientist (Cushing) imprisons an ex-con and his wife in a cage along with several animals. There are some interesting twists and turns to the plot, although the ending is a little implausible. Among the more notable episodes are "Rude Awakening," directed by Peter Sasdy, in which a man (Denholm Elliott) has increasingly sinister dreams involving his wife and his mistress. There's an exciting sequence inside a building that is being demolished. "Children of the Full Moon" has to do with a honeymoon couple who encounter the inhabitants of an old house, a cult of werewolves, with a depressing conclusion. "The Two Faces of Evil" is a disquieting episode, well-directed by Alan Gibson,  in which a paranoid woman is besieged by demonic duplicates of her husband (Gary Raymond of The Millionairess) and son. "The House That Bled to Death" details odd occurrences in a house where grisly murders were committed, and bears a resemblance to The Amityville Horror but has its own shrewd and devilish twist.

Diana Dors in "Children of the Full Moon"

One of the most disappointing episodes is "The 13th Reunion," in which plane crash survivors have turned into a cannibal sect, but this great premise is completely muffed.  "Witching Time" is a mediocre story of a 17th century witch who is on the loose in modern times. "Growing Pains," in its story of weird things that happen after a scientist and his wife adopt a strange little boy, is initially absorbing but then becomes too confusing for its own good. An African fetish statue that causes death is the title object in the unoriginal and hum-drum "Charlie Boy," although it has some suspense. Pierce Brosnan is one of the victims of the "Carpathian Eagle," which butchers a series of men, and "Guardian of the Abyss" concerns a young lady in a cult and a supernatural mirror. "The Mask of Satan" is a stupid episode in which a man is convinced that he's been infected with a very strange virus. Kathryn Leigh -Scott of Dark Shadows fame stars in "Visitor from the Grave," in which a woman kills an intruder who keeps appearing wherever she goes; a poor script sinks this one, unfortunately.

Verdict: Not enough great episodes but most are at least reasonably entertaining. **1/2. 

IN PIECES: SALLY FIELD

IN PIECES. Sally Field. Grand Central; 2018.

After appearing in the short-lived sitcom Gidget, and then toiling for three years on the hit series The Flying Nun -- a show she absolutely hated and denounced as "drivel" -- Sally Field thought she would never be taken seriously in Hollywood. But after appearing in several telefilms -- as well as another short-lived series, The Girl With Something Extra (she has little good to say about co-star John Davidson) -- she managed to win an Emmy for the multiple personality drama Sybil, and then went on to garner two Best Actress Oscars for Norma Rae and Places in the Heart. She also received accolades for playing Mary Lincoln in Lincoln, and won another Emmy for her role in the TV series Brothers and Sisters. But Field's private life wasn't so successful. In between two marriages to men she admitted she wasn't really in love with, she had a long-term relationship with Burt Reynolds, a control freak and (in my opinion) long-time asshole (he deemed Field the "love of his life," however; his first wife was Judy Carne). She had a  very problematic relationship with both her biological father and her mother, actress Margaret Field [The Man from Planet X], who divorced her husband to marry actor Jock Mahoney [Tarzan's Three Challenges]  and eventually developed a drinking problem. Field claims that Mahoney molested her continuously for several years when she was a minor, but he would only admit to her mother that it was one drunken incident. (After Lex Barker -- who was married to Lana Turner --  Mahoney is the second actor to play Tarzan who allegedly molested a step-daughter.) Trying to be a good mother to her three sons, and (in her eyes, at least) failing more often than not, she couldn't quite avoid the mistakes her own mother made. In Pieces is an extremely well-written memoir, full of honest reflection and in-depth ruminations on life, career, and loves, as well as the usual dose of movie star self-absorption. Field doesn't spend as much time on her films as one might have hoped, but there's plenty of meat in here for people who want to know the inside life of a movie star and for aspiring actors who are hoping to follow in her footsteps.

Verdict: Thoroughly absorbing page-turner proves that Field can write as well as act. ***1/2.  

THE PERRY MASON TV SHOW BOOK

THE PERRY MASON TV SHOW BOOK. Brian Kelleher and Diana Merrill. St. Martin's; 1987.

This heavily illustrated book looks at the creation of Perry Mason, gives us a history of the character on radio and in films, explains how the show came together, and offers backgrounds of the creative team and chapters on Raymond Burr and all of the major players. Over half of the book is given over to brief synopses and limited credits for each and every episode of the 9 year show, some of which -- for shame -- sort of give away the ending! The book explores how the National Association of County and Prosecuting Attorneys were so upset at Hamilton Burger's (William Talman) depiction, that a scene was included in which Mason praises his opponent in no uncertain terms. There is also a section on some of the early Perry Mason telefilms which also starred Burr.

Verdict: The ultimate Perry Mason TV book has yet to be written, but this tome has some good information and lots of photos. ***.

JOAN ON GE THEATER

"Because I Love Him:" Crawford

JOAN CRAWFORD ON G.E. THEATER.

General Electric Theater was hosted by future president Ronald Reagan. Joan Crawford appeared in three episodes of the dramatic series, which ran for nine seasons:

Joan's first appearance on GET was in 1954 in a story entitled "The Road to Edinburgh." In this she plays Mary, a determined newspaper columnist driving from London to Edinburgh who meets a stranger named Wickers (John Sutton of The Invisible Man Returns) when he comes out of nowhere to fix her flat tire. She gives him a lift, but gets understandably freaked out when he tells her he just got out of prison after eighteen years after murdering his wife's elderly aunt. Fearing for her life, Mary does her best to get help from a hitch-hiking U.S. soldier (Chuck Connors) and the police. Although suspenseful, the wind-up in this episode is especially stupid, and considering the things that Wickers told her about himself, her self-contempt over her unfounded suspicions are ridiculous. **.

Strange Witness: Tom Tryon, Crawford

"Strange Witness" is listed on imdb.com as being an episode of GET as well as of The Joseph Cotton Show: On Trial; possibly a rerun. In the best of her GET appearances, Joan plays Ruth. who takes a lover, David (Tom Tryon), and is trapped in a loveless marriage with Chris (John McIntire.) Chris comes home earlier than expected and tells David, "You should have fixed your face when Ruth did," referring to the lipstick on David's cheek. With the affair out in the open, David cold-bloodedly shoots Chris. As they're deciding what to do with the body, Chris' blind friend, John (Sidney Blackmer) comes a' callin'. The couple think they have it made, but there's a shocking surprise waiting for them. Tryon [The Unholy Wife] is fine as the handsome sociopath; McIntire and Blackmer are excellent; and Joan, despite some "actressy" moments, offers a very good performance. The script was by Gavin Lambert. ***.

Joan's final GET appearance was in 1959. "And One Was Loyal" takes place in the tropics where George Manson (Tom Helmore of Shadow on the Wall) asks if he can briefly enjoy the hospitality of Roger (Robert Douglas) and Ann (Crawford) Howard. Roger is a mean drunk whose tormenting actions resulted in Ann becoming mute. Her ability to speak comes back when Roger is murdered, and George begins to wonder about Ann's actions. Crawford looks radiantly beautiful and makes good use of her very expressive face in this story. **1/2.

In 1953 Joan also appeared in an episode of The Revlon Mirror Theater, in a story entitled "Because I Love Him." In this very weird and contrived bit of fiction, a doctor (William Ching) tells Margaret Hughes (Crawford) that her husband, David (I believe this was Philip Dorn), has only a year to live. She is importuned to keep it a secret, and do everything she can to help him achieve his potential in that year. Despite her devotion, however, David falls in love with a colleague, Ann (Virginia Gray). Now what? While the situation is intriguing, this has a final twist that makes virtually no sense at all. Crawford handles the dubious plot turns even better than expected, and is quite good. **1/2.

JOAN DOES TV IN THE SIXTIES AND AFTER

Joan with Milner and Corbett on Route 66

JOAN DOES TV IN THE SIXTIES AND AFTER. 

Primarily a film star, Crawford, as mentioned, had numerous appearances on television in addition to GE Theater and Zane Grey Theater.

In 1963 Joan appeared in the episode "Same Picture, Different Frame" on Route 66. In this young Linc Case (Glenn Corbett, who had taken over from George Maharis) inexplicably gets involved with the "mid-forties"Morgan Harper (Joan was actually 57 at the time), whose husband, Eric (Patrick O'Neal), has escaped from an institution. Case comes to her rescue when Eric goes on a murder spree. Crawford gives a good performance, but the script, meant to be moving, is only mediocre, and Case's interest in Morgan is never explained. But then, I've always thought, perhaps wrongly, that Route 66 was a vastly over-rated TV series. In any case, this is not one of its better episodes. Martin Milner, the show's other star, doesn't interact much with Crawford. **.

Joan appeared on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 1967 on "The Five Daughters Affair," one of the least memorable UNCLE episodes. Even though Crawford would have made an exciting THRUSH villainess, she is only cast in a minor role and.is killed off in the first few minutes of the show,  As the two part Uncle episodes were often turned into feature films in Europe, it was hoped that Joan's name would have marquee value. **.

Joan appeared in "Lucy and the Lost Star" on The Lucy Show in 1968. Lucy and Viv (Vivian Vance) have car trouble near Joan's house. She makes them lemonade, and the two wacky ladies come to the conclusion that Joan is broke. They all put on a show, and in a sketch Crawford comes to work in a speakeasy with Lucy and Viv as molls. Joan is fine, and the show is cute. Joan also appeared in what I believe may have been a pilot for a variety series starring comic actor Tim Conway. This was very silly and negligible but Joan is funny and maintains her dignity. **1/2.

In 1969 Joan appeared in the Night Gallery telefilm, which later became an hour-long series hosted by Rod Serling. Joan was excellent as an imperious blind woman in her segment "Eyes," which was directed by a very young Steven Spielberg, ***.

Joan's last TV appearance -- her final credit, in fact -- was on The Sixth Sense, a spooky anthology series. Star Gary Collins played a psychic investigator. In the first episode, "Dear Joan, We're Going to Scare You to Death,"directed by John Newland, Crawford was the guest-star. In the version of this that I saw on youtube, Collins only provides narration. Joan Fairchild (Crawford) encounters a group of young people who are experimenting with their paranormal abilities, and some decide to see if they can literally frighten the woman to death. Crawford is good, but this seems padded, and has characters wandering around to little effect. Dull, slow-paced, and with a terrible musical score. .*1/2.

Joan substituted for her daughter, Christina, on a couple of episodes of the soap opera, The Secret Storm. Joan also did two TV movies, Woman on the Run (1959) and The Foxes (1961) but I haven't been able to find these.

CRANE: SEX, CELEBRITY, AND MY FATHER'S UNSOLVED MURDER

CRANE: SEX, CELEBRITY, AND MY FATHER'S UNSOLVED MURDER. Robert Crane and Christopher Fryer. University Press of Kentucky; 2015.

Whatever the title may say, this is more a book about the life and career of Robert Crane, the son of actor Bob Crane (Hogan's Heroes) than a biography of the elder Crane or an investigation into his murder. There has already been a book about the murder investigation, as well as a film, Auto Focus, which looked at Crane's life and death and his obsession with making videos of himself having sex with numerous women. Whether Crane was a "sex addict" or used this pastime to deal with his disappointment over a fading career (he was doing dinner theater at the time of his death), is open to debate. Crane [Man-Trap] was a typical self-absorbed "star" who jettisoned his first wife for the bimbo who played a bosomy secretary on Hogan's Heroes, causing a rift between two families that has never been healed. Large sections of the book deal not with Bob Crane's life and death, but with the younger Crane's job as publicist and gofer for forgotten actor John Candy. The best sections of the book actually deal with young Crane's moving account of his first wife's battles with, and death from, cancer. Young Crane, who is not so young anymore, comes off in some ways as a little old-fashioned. His preoccupation with himself means that there are gaps in his father's story, such as a more detailed examination of his affair (and subsequent marriage to) the Hogan's Heroes secretary and his first wife's reaction to its revelation. Crane objects to his half brother Scotty selling "porn" videos of their father on line, but the elder Crane's ego and joy in his sexual prowess as well as his obvious exhibitionism may have meant that he couldn't care less and even would have liked the idea. [While Bob Crane may not have been a fighter for sexual freedom, as Scotty suggests, he was not a molester or rapist and the condemnations of his activities seem a little hypocritical in Hollywood and elsewhere.] Young Crane argues that he didn't auction off the jacket his father wore on Hogan's Heroes, which he had every right to do, for money -- it brought in $40,000 --  but to see how much interest there would still be in his father. Sure. A freelance writer who formerly worked for Playboy, Crane's prose is memorable, but the chief feeling you take away from this book is his contempt for his father, whose side he can rarely see. Young Crane writes how his father wasn't interested in hosting a party for his son's book on Jack Nicholson (the actor cooperated with the book but years later snubbed the younger Crane), and it doesn't seem to occur to him that this might have made his dad feel rather small.

Verdict: If you're interested in the life of Bob Crane's son ... **1/2.

THE MANY FACES OF HENRY BRANDON

Edge of Darkness

HENRY BRANDON (1912 - 1990). Born Henry Kleinbach in Berlin.

I always got a kick out of watching the evil Barnaby in Laurel and Hardy's Babes in Toyland (aka March of the Wooden Soldiers), but little did I realize when I was a child that the actor playing the old wretch was only 22 at the time -- and that the actor, Henry Kleinbach, was also Henry Brandon, who appeared in a great many movies, starred in The Drums of Fu Manchu, and was one of those versatile actors, along the lines of Jay Novello, who got so lost in the role that he, unfairly, never became quite famous.

Anything -- and I mean anything -- you'd like to know about Brandon has been exhaustively covered on the web site Poseidon's Underworld, and you can read about Brandon, his life and career right here. (You can even learn about his strange connection to Judy Garland!) Loads of photographs, too!

Babes in Toyland as Barnaby

 Other Brandon appearances were in Doomed to  Die, The Land Unknown, Jungle Jim, Tarzan's  Magic Fountain, Captain Sindbad, Secret Agent  X-9, and even Auntie Mame, among many others.  (Notice how in virtually every one of these I  refer to "the incredibly versatile Henry  Brandon!")

 Brandon also did TV, appearing on everything  from Bourbon Street Beat to Kolchak.  the Night  Stalker.

Lady Godiva of Coventry

The Searchers

NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS

Kate Jackson and David Selby

NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS (1971). Produced and directed by Dan Curtis.

"Mrs. Collins, did you ever stop to think that perhaps you don't belong here?" -- Carlotta.

Painter Quentin Collins (David Selby) and his wife Tracy (Kate Jackson) move into Collinwood with their spooky housekeeper Carlotta (Grayson Hall). Quentin is fascinated by a portrait of long-dead Angelique (Lara Parker), who was hung as a witch. But her spirit still haunts the place, and Quentin finds himself possessed by his lookalike ancestor, Charles Collins, who was Angelique's lover even though she was married to his brother, Gabriel (Christopher Pennock). Quentin imagines that Tracy is Charles' wife Laura (Diana Millay) and tries to kill her. John Karlen and Nancy Barrett, who played Willie and Carolyn on the TV show, herein are cast as writer-couple Alex and Claire Jenkins, friends of Quentin and Tracy. Thayer David has a small role as a witch-hunting reverend, and Jim Storm is the unpleasant handyman, Gerard. Night of Dark Shadows was hastily cobbled together to cash in on the success of the previous big-screen version of the show, House of Dark Shadows, but it is in no way in the same league. The story is weak, the production (despite the grand house that stands in for Collinwood) cheapjack, the direction equally slipshod, badly scored (with what sounds like tin cans on occasion) and poorly photographed. The actors do the best they can, with Selby [Falcon Crest] and Jackson [Making Love], who was "introduced" in this picture (first appearing on the TV show), doing reasonably well, although John Karlen gives the liveliest performance. Millay is also good but hasn't enough to do, which is also the case with Parker. Grayson Hall is, well, Grayson Hall.

Verdict: Simply terrible. *.

DARK SHADOWS: RETURN TO COLLINWOOD

DARK SHADOWS: RETURN TO COLLINGWOOD. Pomegranate Press; 2012.

Kathryn Leigh Scott, who played Maggie Evans on Dark Shadows, came out with this new photo book on the eve of the release of Tim Burton's quite dreadful big-budget film adaptation. Scott writes of how the members of the old cast, especially Jonathan "Barnabas" Frid, were disappointed that they were given no actual characters to play but were condescendingly cast as "party guests" (whom I never even spotted). Helena Bonham Carter, cast as Dr. Hoffman, was pleasant to their faces but later announced that the old series was "awful." (Apparently she said this before she saw the movie!) The rest of the book is full of notes and photographs pertaining not just to the original series, but the 12 episode remake starring Ben Cross as Barnabas. Then there are such anecdotes as the time Gale Sondergaard showed up on the set of the sixties series, and apparently auditioned for a role she either didn't get or didn't want. Scott also writes of what went on behind the scenes of the two Dark Shadows movies, such as House of Dark Shadows, that were made immediately after the cancellation of the TV show. The main focus of the book, of course, is on Scott, but there are interesting observations of the other actors as well.

Verdict: Primarily for Dark Shadows fanatics but packed with good photos. ***.

THE FLASH (2014)

Grant Gustin as The Flash

THE FLASH (2014 WB television series).

This hit TV series is based on a comic book character that first appeared in 1956 (Showcase 4), who in turn was based on a speedster of the same name (if different origin) that appeared in the 1940's (or "golden age" of comics). The silver age series ran for 350 issues over many years, after which that character's nephew, Wally West, took over. The Flash was police scientist Barry Allen, who was killed off about the time that the comic book series ended. Barry Allen came back from the dead, and got his own series again, although the character has been reinvented for modern times. The same is true for this television series, which mixes various comic mythologies to come up with its own take on the character. There was also a series about The Flash, in 1990, in which Barry Allen was played by John Wesley Shipp, who is cast as Barry's father in the new series.

The Flash is a little more realistic (if that's the word!) than the old comic series, which was often comically, but charmingly, absurd, yet it borrows many characters and concepts from the comic while fashioning some of its own. Although the boyish Grant Gustin  -- he looks about sixteen -- doesn't seem old enough to be a police scientist, he is a fine, sensitive actor and is perfect casting for this Barry Allen/Flash. The comic book Flash works on his own or with members of the Justice League, but in this show he has a whole group of supporting characters -- too many, perhaps, as if it's a super-hero committee -- assisting him, although most of these characters are as appealing as the actors who play them.

As in the comics, the main adversary is the Reverse-Flash or Professor Zoom. In the silver age these sinister speedsters were the same person, one Eobard Thawne from the future, but when Allen's nephew Wally West took over as Flash, there was also a new Zoom, Hunter Zolomon. Frankly, it's hard to tell these two characters apart. Making things even more confusing, the Zoom of the first season of the show was Thawne, but now he appears to be Zolomon, a Zoom from a different dimension, perhaps. Adding to the confusion is that the sympathetic character of Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears), who plays the Flash of "Earth-2" (essentially the golden age Flash, who had the same secret identity and also wears a helmet like Mercury) turns out to actually be Zoom! Hopefully this will all be explained in subsequent episodes.

The creators and writers of The Flash obviously know their comic book history and are respectful of the character's colorful past, rich back story, and often bizarre villains. In the episode in which Barry discovers the dimension of "Earth-2" where another Flash, Jay Garrick resides, the show uses a variation of a scene which appeared on the cover of the classic issue 123 of the silver age Flash: a person calls out for help from the Flash as he's about to be killed and both Jay and Barry, in costume, rush toward the near-victim shouting "I'm coming!' The title of this episode is the same as the title of Flash 123: "Flash of Two Worlds." Cute, eh?

The Flash has an exceptional multi-cultural cast. On the show Barry was raised by his father's black friend, Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), and grew up with his daughter, Iris (a luminescent Candace Patton), with whom he has fallen in love. Unfortunately Iris got engaged to her father's handsome partner, Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett, the only cast member killed off in the first season). Playing Barry's scientific associates are Danielle Panabaker [Mr. Brooks], Tom Cavanagh, and Carlos Valdes as Cisco, who loves coming up with names for the various super-powered characters (and which are always taken from DC comics). Cisco has developed some powers of his own in this second season, which may be a little more of the likable Cisco than we need. Patrick Sabonqui plays the openly gay police captain David Singh, but he only shows up on occasion.

The Flash isn't perfect -- and this season it seems a little too clever for its own good -- but it has sharp acting, excellent special effects work, some intriguing situations and characters, and more than a few good stories. NOTE: The Flash will also be a separate theatrical film due in 2018, but this time the character will be played by Ezra Miller. You can read more about the Flash in The Silver Age of Comics.

Verdict: Snappy show that combines the new with the old in an appealing and often exciting mixture. ***.

GUNN

GUNN (1967). Director: Blake Edwards. Screenplay by Edwards and William Peter Blatty.

"My theory is that the human race is just a temporary experiment on the earth, and the experiment is failing" -- Lt. Jacoby

The TV series Peter Gunn had been off the air for seven years -- it ran three seasons from 1958 - 1960 -- when this big-screen adaptation played in theaters. Craig Stevens [Where the Sidewalk Ends] was forty-nine when he reprised the character in spite of the fact that private eyes in the movies were quickly being replaced by super-spies like James Bond. [The poster art for the movie tried to make it seem like an 007-type adventure, which it isn't.] The supporting players on the TV show were replaced in the movie, with Laura Devon filling in for Lola Albright as singer/sometime girlfriend, Edie; Ed Asner substituting for Herschel Bernardi as Lt. Jacoby; and -- of all people -- Wagnerian opera diva Helen Traubel taking over from Hope Emerson and Minerva Urekal as Mother, who owns the nightclub where Edie sings and Peter kibitzes. Gunn, despite being in color with slightly more elaborate production values, plays like an extra-long episode of the series. When a mobster named Scarlatti is murdered, the chief suspect is another criminal character named Fusco (Albert Paulsen). A shady lady named Daisy Jane (Marion Marshall) hires Peter to prove that Fusco was the killer. Along the way there are a couple more dead bodies for Gunn to trip over. To make the whole thing more contemporary, Mother's nightspot is turned into a rock club (after it is, once again, blown up, as it was at least once in the series), and one of the characters turns out to be a transvestite/transsexual a la Mickey Spillane [see the Mike Hammer novel, Vengeance is Mine.] There are a couple of twists and a fairly vicious final fight scene. Stevens plays Gunn in the same [one] note as before, and the other actors are fine, with Jean Carson making an impression as a flippant waitress in a diner.

Verdict: Perhaps this "gunn" was fired once too often. **.

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. Season 3

Reta Shaw as a sinister THRUSH agent

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. Season Three.  1966.

Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kurakin (David McCallum), as well as Mr. Waverly (Leo G. Carroll), are back for a third season of Uncle. Fans of the show generally consider this the worst of the four seasons, as there were times the program began to resemble an out and out comedy a la Get Smart. In spite of this, some of the more absurd episodes were fun. The first two episodes concerned homicidal females: "Her Master's Voice" had the mesmerized staff at a girls' school taking after the agents; and the memorably batty "The Sort of Do-It-Yourself Dreadful Affair" featured killer robots modeled on beautiful women. The entertaining two-part "Concrete Overcoat Affair" was turned into the theatrical feature The Spy with the Green Hat. A silly but zesty episode had the wonderful Reta Shaw [Sanctuary] as a THRUSH operative trying to find a scientist (Victor Borge) with a dangerous formula in his head in "The Suburbia Affair." A ray that could put people into instant suspended animation figured in "Deadly Smorgasbord." "Off-Broadway Affair" starred Shari Lewis in a tale of THRUSH using a theater to gain access to computer info. At least two of the season's episodes were not campy. "Galatea Affair" starred Joan Collins [Tales that Witness Madness] as a woman trained to take the place of a lookalike, a baroness working for you-know-who. "The Candidate's Wife" also featured a double substituted for the wife (Diana Hyland of Jigsaw) of a presidential nominee. Understandably, these were two of the season's best episodes.

Fans generally consider the worst episode to be "The Super Colossal Affair" in which the mob drops a bomb on Los Angeles which turns out to be -- unfortunately for poor Illya -- a ten ton stink bomb! Okay, this is a far cry from what the fans were hoping for, but I have to say this episode is absolutely hilarious, which was generally not true for many of its campy, would-be comical episodes -- yes, "Super Colossal" was not the worst episode of season three. J. Carrol Naish is very funny in this story as well.

Verdict: A comedown from seasons one and two, but still entertaining. **1/2.

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. Season 4

The Fiery Angel: Madylyn Rhue

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. Season Four. 1967.

  

Seventh Wonder: Eleanor Parker

Toning down some of the more absurd situations and comedy of season three episodes, Uncle's truncated fourth and final season was a big improvement. Virtually every episode was well-worth watching and a few were outstanding. "J for Judas" featured Broderick Crawford and Chad Everett in a tale of THRUSH wanting to take over a business run by a combative father and son. The episode was serious, well-acted and well-done. "Test Tube Killer" starred Christopher Jones as a top THRUSH specimen sent to wipe out an entire Greek village. Jack Lord and Nehemiah Persoff try to outwit one another in a THRUSH battle of power in "Master's Touch." Michael Rennie tries to brainwash and/or murder people in his exclusive, private casino in the "THRUSH Roulette Affair." In "The Fiery Angel" an excellent Madlyn Rhue plays a besieged but feisty and independent Democratic lady president of Querida. A THRUSH double agent causes mayhem at the UNCLE "Survival School" with Richard Beymer and Charles McGraw. Will Kuluva and George Macready guest-star in a story in which THRUSH wants to work with two old Nazis. THRUSH wants a deadly molecular gun invented by scientist William Marshall in the clever "Maze Affair." In the two-part "Seven Wonders of the World" -- the series' final episode -- Barry  Sullivan plays a scientist who hopes to create peace with a docility gas, but doesn't realize that his faithless wife (Eleanor Parker) is working with THRUSH.

    The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  again became a very worthwhile show in its forth year, but alas, the damage had been done and it was canceled halfway through the season. It was followed by the telefilm The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.and the new theatrical film many years later.

Verdict: Highly entertaining spy series. ***.

SIZE IS RELATIVE

Marvel's Ant-Man

SIZE IS RELATIVE.

This week we've got a round up of movies dealing with differences in sizes. While I hesitate to say this is in honor of the opening of Marvel's Ant-Man movie tomorrow -- the movie might be too awful to "honor" -- it has got me thinking about the size of things in movies and on television shows, especially the size of people. This blog has already posted on such films as The Amazing Colossal Man, War of the Colossal Beast, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Cyclops, Dr. Cyclops, Fantastic Voyage, and Attack of the Puppet People and this week we look at The Devil-Doll*, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver and TV shows World of Giants and Land of the Giants. There's also a look at classic Twilight Zone episodes that deal with the relativity of size.

As for Ant-Man, the original character from the sixties, Henry Pym, is being played by Michael Douglas in the movie. The younger Ant-Man is "Scott Lang," who is sort of Pym's protege. The old comic book stories from Tales to Astonish were ridiculous but charming. [For more info see The Silver Age of Comics.] Michael Crichton and Richard Preston wrote Micro, an interesting novel about miniaturization, but it has yet to be made into a movie.

* I actually watched this movie last night and wrote a review, only to discover I had already reviewed it on this blog some years ago. My opinion of it has gone down half a star. Both reviews are available on Great Old Movies.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT Cable TV Show

The Crypt-Keeper reads a comic

TALES FROM THE CRYPT HBO series; 1989.

This gruesome TV show lasted for seven seasons and all of the 93 episodes were based on stories published in E.C.'s horror comics, such as Tales from the Crypt. As many of these stories were only a few pages long and were chiefly interested (in many cases) with just the final twist or shock-gore ending, the telewriters often had to "flesh out" the scripts and plot lines, sometimes felicitously, sometimes not.

Among the most memorable episodes: "And All Through the House," involving a murderess and a Santa Clause on a deadly rampage. "Til Death," with a love potion affecting a wealthy woman who never dies to her lover's extreme consternation. "My Brother's Keeper," in which a Siamese twin's falling in love causes extreme complications. In "The New Arrival," a radio shrink deals with a very weird child in a creepy old house. "Spoiled" features a neglected wife, her lover, and the husband who enacts a diabolical revenge involving a truly grotesque switch in parts. An old magician (a splendid Martin Sheen) gets even with a younger rival  in "Well-Cooked Hams." Arguably the best episode is the extremely gruesome "Split Second," in which a handsome lumberjack dallies with the boss's wife and the highly bloody developments this leads to involving a chainsaw.

Other notable episodes: "House of Horror;" "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime;" "Started in Horror;" "Only Skin Deep;" "Till Death Do We Part;" "Oil's Well that Ends Well;" "Came the Dawn;" "Escape;" "Smoke Wrings;" "Mournin' Mess;" "What's Cookin'"; "Death of Some Salesman;" "The Switch;" "Collection Completed;" "The Ventriloquist's Dummy;" "Television Terror;" "Dig that Cat -- He's Real Gone;" and "The Man Who Was Death."

Tales from the Crypt could be overly campy at times (to say the least) and can be best described as very black comedy. The writers added lots of blatant sexuality to the original stories.The hideous puppet "Crypt-Keeper" was expertly voiced by John Cassir, who somehow managed to make him somewhat lovable [?] despite the atrocious puns. NOTE: See The Horror Comics for more information on these and other horror stories.

Verdict: Only about half of these or less are really worth watching, but the good ones are quite entertaining. **1/2.

SURFSIDE 6

Troy Donahue, Lee Patterson, Van Williams

SURFSIDE 6 (1961).

This hour-long action-mystery series lasted for two seasons. Dave Thorne (Lee Patterson of The Flying Scot) and Kenny Madison (Van Williams of The Green Hornet) lived on a houseboat in Miami Beach and formed the Thorne-Madison private detective agency. Their rich buddy, Sandy Winfield III (Troy Donahue of Parrish) lived at the yacht club and kibitzed with the other two until he seemed to be working for, or with, them full-time. Each episode would star one of these three actors, although there were times when the others would appear; sometimes all three guys would get involved in a particularly difficult case. Beside the assorted women who would appear in each episode, there were two female regulars: Diane McBain as Daphne Dutton, a pretty heiress who hangs around the boys and occasionally gets mired in one of their cases; and Margarita Sierra as "Cha Cha" O'Brien, a poor man's Carmen Miranda and night club entertainer. Sierra was never a good fit for the program, as sometimes the story would have to stop dead to include one of her numbers while the other actors wore frozen smiles in reaction shots. On rare occasions "Cha Cha" would have something to do with the main storyline. Sierra over-sang everything terribly. In the first season the boys' police liaison was the gruff, nearly barking Lt. Snedigar (Don "Red" Barry), while in the second season he was replaced by Lt. Plehn (Richard Crane), who was a bit more pleasant but just as professional. Both actors offered interesting and adept portrayals, and Crane was especially good.

The most memorable episodes of the series include: "The Old School Tie," with Gloria Talbott involved with murder at a reunion; "Midnight for Prince Charming," with a lonely man conned by a criminal couple; "Race Against Time," with Lee's associates desperately trying to save his life after he's been poisoned on an airliner; "Vengeance is Bitter," concerning a roman a clef about a murder case and the attempts to uncover the author; "Anniversary Special," a twisted domestic drama about a TV host and his unhappy wife, with both roles played superbly by William Windom and Jeanne Cooper; and "Overdose of Justice," in which a ferociously good Mara Corday [Tarantula] plays a vicious beauty involved with a love-sick insurance man played by Ed Platt [Get Smart]. The vast majority of episodes in the series were solid "B"s if not better with a few clunkers along the way. Although Donahue tended to be a bit stiff, he was okay in most episodes, with Williams and Patterson exhibiting a bit more flair and charm. Diane McBain was lovely and talented. I can't make up my mind if the theme music is catchy or really annoying.

Verdict: Entertaining mystery series with handsome studs and pretty gals awash in intrigue. ***.

WISEGUY Seasons 2, 3, and 4

Jerry Lewis

WISEGUY Season 2, 3 4. 1988 - 1990.

Wiseguy continued to be a good and watchable series throughout its second season. As already noted, the "Dead Dog Records" arc was not included on the official DVD but was the highlight of the second season if not of the show itself. There were other fine story arcs in season 2, however, such as one in which Jerry Lewis and Ron Silver played father and son in the garment industry who were in conflict with a riveting Stanley Tucci as a gangster. For several of these episodes Anthony Dennison filled in for an injured Ken Wahl, and was fine. There was also a shorter arc with an excellent Fred Dalton Thompson as a politician involved with a white supremacy group. Vinnie's priest brother is murdered, and in a truly unlikely development his mother marries an old retired mafioso well-played by George Petrie (who frequently appeared on The Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason). One of the best second season episodes was a stand-alone story in which Frank's wife is dying and he and Vinnie try to figure out how to get the money for an operation for her.Wahl continued to exhibit his star charisma and Jonathan Banks was superb as Frank McPike.

Wiseguy  took a real nose dive in its third season, however. It started off well enough with story arcs in which Vinnie takes his stepfather's place at the table of assorted mafioso -- surely a very strange situation -- and has to contend with assorted rivalries and resentments all the while maintaining his cover. Another story arc in which Vinnie goes to Washington D.C., uncovers all sorts of skulduggery, including a plot to ruin the Japanese economy, and winds up arrested, featured fine performances from Ray Stricklyn and especially Norman Lloyd. Wahl exhibited his versatility by playing Vinnie's father in a stand-alone flashback episode, but another single episode in which an old girlfriend turns out to be a cop and thinks Vinnie is a hood, was left dangling. Instead we got the worst story arc in the series' history, in which Vinnie goes to a small town to investigate a man who seems to hold sway over the citizens like an old time European lord. This man, Volcheck, badly played by Steve Ryan, is obsessed with the film Mr. Sardonicus, which is a hell of a lot more watchable than these truly awful episodes of Wiseguy. The unbelievable story also brought back Roger LoCocco (William Russ) in a completely contrived manner, and had Vinnie freaking out and running off in the middle of an assignment, a development which was even more implausible than the rest of the story arc. The season ended up with Eddie Bracken playing a priest and giving a poor performance that matched the general third-rateness of these episodes. We saw more of Jim Byrnes as Lifeguard, who got a girlfriend.

For the fourth and final season, Vinnie -- or rather Ken Wahl -- ran off for good and left the series. Vinnie Terranova was killed off off-screen, but as his body was not found it may have left the door open for a return which never happened. Instead the new hero of the show was Michael Santana (Steven Bauer) a former prosecutor who winds up working with Frank McPike to take down a powerful man (an excellent Maximilian Shell) who thinks of Michael as a son. These episodes weren't terrible, but it just wasn't the same show. In further changes, both Michael and McPike joined the U.S. Attorney's office when the OCB [Organized Crime Bureau] was dissolved. Yet another change occurred in the final episode which featured a dynamic Billy Dee Williams as a tough high school principal who is asked to run for mayor and wants Santana to help in his campaign. How McPike would have fit in with this, no one knows; the series was canceled and the last three episodes, including the one with Williams, were never telecast. The best fourth season episode, in which Michael's friend Hillary (Cecil Hoffman) tries to bring a company that sells defective plane parts to justice, was also never aired. Bauer, Banks and Hoffman gave very good performances, however, and there was also nice work from Michael Learned as Hillary's mother and Fredric Lehne as lawyer Winston Chambers.

Verdict: Season 2: ***1/2. Season 3: **1/2. Season 4: **1/2.

WISEGUY Dead Dog Records Arc

Tim Curry as the diabolical Winston Newquay

WISEGUY. The "Dead Dog Records" arc. 1989.

Because the cost of acquiring the music rights would have been too prohibitive, the "Dead Dog Records" arc from season two of Wiseguy was not included in the official DVD release, more's the pity. In this story undercover agent Vinnie Terranova (Ken Wahl) is assigned to investigate corruption in the recording industry by using federal money to buy the dying Dead Dog Records, which does not sit well with certain government officials who get no thrill out of being record moguls like Vinnie does. Deborah Harry plays a washed-up singer, Diana, who is working in a cocktail lounge when Vinnie decides to engineer her comeback, but he has to reckon with the schemes of near-psychotic music bigwig Winston Newquay (Tim Curry), the former Sam Fishbine, who is also Diana's former lover, a fact that does not sit well with his wife, Claudia (Deidre Hall). Vinnie gets assistance from the enthusiastic Bobby Travis (Glenn Frey), as well as from husband-and-wife record company owners Amber (Patti D'Arbanville) and Isaac Twine (Paul Winfield). Vinnie's producer is a coke-snorting "genius" named Johnny Medley (Paul McCrane), who is difficult to work with, to say the least, and has a sixteen-year-old wife (Pamela Segall Adlon) who is more mature than he is. [This last business is kind of creepy, frankly, but fits into the weird tone of the episodes.] With more humor and craziness than most episodes of this show, the Dead Dog arc was atypical Wiseguy -- for one thing, Vinnie seems more interested in having a hit record than in putting anyone in jail -- but it is marvelously entertaining, and the scripts by David J. Burke and Stephen Kronish, among others, probably influenced the more outrageous serial dramas of today. Highlights include a dress-tearing catfight at a fancy party, a couple making passionate love who wind up crashing through a skylight, and a certain someone who's pissed off Winston being thrown off a rooftop by thugs. The acting from the entire cast is excellent, with McCrane, Frey and Winfield taking top honors, but even they take a back seat to Tim Curry, who gives an absolutely mesmerizing and ferocious portrayal of the devilish, always sleek and sophisticated, Winston Newquay, a fascinating character -- but not one you'd want to know personally. Jonathan Banks and Jim Byrnes also appear and are as good as ever. The song Harry sings, "Brite Side" was recorded by her, but only in a version that has none of the impact of the original.

Verdict: Deliriously entertaining and sharply acted. ***1/2.