[narfstar]

As a young kid watching them on a small black and white TV I did not know it was a different actor so I liked them both equally. When I got older and realized it I tried to not differentiate so I could still enjoy both.

[profh0011]

I feel sure it was Toler's deadpan monotone that Joey Foreman was doing a parody
of with the character "Harry Hoo" on GET SMART.




"Two cigarettes indicate there were two smokers in room and one non-smoker."

"Perhaps two smokers and TWO non-smokers."

"Perhaps two smokers and FOUR non-smokers!"

"Well then what you're saying is, there could have been as many as FIFTY people
in this room, provided only TWO of them were smokers."

"Precisely."

"Must have been awfully crowded in here."


(At that moment, two homicide detectives grab their cigarettes before leaving
the scene of the crime.)

[Menticide]

As of a few hours ago, I've been working my way through a bunch of Boston Blackie movies. Once I've finished that, I am considering the idea of entering into a Durango Kid festival, but I'm also hearing Eddie Dean calling, so, either way it will soon be a B-Western fest for me.

[narfstar]

My son is a big Boston Blackie fan

[profh0011]

Thanks to TCM, I managed to get most of the BOSTON BLACKIEs on tape 3-4 years ago.  I really liked the first one, after that it settles into a nice pattern, although it bugged me a fgew films in that they contradicted the brief continuity of the series.  In the 1st one with Chester Morris, half the plot hinges on the fact that the cops have nbever gotten Blackie's fingerprints, because he's never been arrested or served time!  Yet a few films later, it becomes part of his history from then on that some years back, he DID serve time, and although he was paroled, the cops refuse to believe he's gone straight. 

I had to agree with whoever said that, if the cops mistrusted him for a couple of pictures, okay, but by the 3rd or 4th time, it just makes them look INCREDIBLY stupid. Someone said the same thing about McCLOUD. It's clear from early-on that Chief Clifford realizes how sharp and unusually good at his job Sam McCloud is.  Yet by the 4th season, Clifford was having fits and conniptions every time McCloud crossed his path, mostly because McCloud bends the rules every chance he gets in order to get the job done.  It did make for great comedy, but I was happy that by the 6th season they'd toned it down with the Chief some.


A similar series I picked up at the same time as BB was THE LONE WOLF with Warren William.  As far as I know, his character never did time. I loved his debut, THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT, where he had a butler, a daughter and a steady girlfriend.  But someone must have decided to tinker with the format, because starting with the 2nd film, the daughter and girlfriend were gone, and the butler was recast with a MUCH more outrageous actor in the part (who at times could be downright ANNOYING).  Following the death of Warren William, they cast Gerald Mohr in the part, while simultaneously tiknkering with the concept by changing him from a rich retiree to an ex-serviceman looking for work. Perhaps this made him more relatable to movie audiences, but you wouldn't do a thing like this with Simon Templar, would you?

[josemas]

At the Movies-

I have been way off in my usual cinema going for the last several months.  This past weekend was only the second time this year I'd gotten out to see a movie.  Hope to get back on track there soon.

Battle Los Angeles-  This movie seemed to get really ravaged in every review I stumbled across when it came out a few weeks back but since it was still playing at my local multi-plex I figured the public must have liked even if the critics didn't.  Well I liked it too.  It's kind of a standard war story with a standard plot and some standard characters I've seen in many war films featuring such types as- the new Marine Lt. fresh from his class and ready to fight but unsure of himself,-and the veteran Sgt. with a checkered past (he lost his whole squad in his last action in the middle east) and ready to retire who gets foisted on a new squad who have little faith in him,- and all the various enlisted men from all parts of the country under them.  The main switch here is that instead of a WWII (or wherever) setting the Marines are fighting invading aliens in Los Angeles.  It's a very simple movie with decent effects, lots of action, and some heroic characters you can care about.  Only small complaint was that it might have been a smidgen too long.  So the critics can go jump in the lake.

Best

Joe   

[bowers]

I, too, have been pretty lax in theater-going but have found a great way to remedy that situation. Our local "2nd run" theater has recently started a "One Dollar Wednesday" policy. Great way to catch up on recent movies. Last night we saw (and enjoyed) "Unknown" and will be watching "Battle Los Angeles", which will be coming soon. Also saw the trailers for "Green Lantern"- any opinions on if this movie will be any good? Cheers, Bowers 

[paw broon]

Not so fond of Boston Blackie but I enjoy The Lone Wolf. Always preferred Roger Moore's Saint to Ian Ogilvy - especially the b&w episodes.  Last night, we watched the new Castle. Excellent. Tonight the Twins game was a bit one sided so a couple of Diana Rigg Avengers episodes should cheer us up.
My pals saw Thor last night and are raving about it. 

[profh0011]

THE RETURN OF CHARLIE CHAN (1971)
Happiness Is A Warm Clue     *****

A number of classic detective characters had revivals in TV-pilots in the early 70's, including Stewart Granger as SHERLOCK HOLMES, Robert Conrad as NICK CARTER, and, it figures, Ross Martin as CHARLIE CHAN. The 1st 2 were "period" pieces, but CHAN was a sequel to the Fox & Monogram series, updated to the present-day (1971) and featuring 2 of his kids grown up plus several grand-kids in cameo. It could have been interesting, but like the others I mentioned, it didn't sell. Not only didn't it sell, it wasn't even aired until 8 years after it was made! That's gotta hurt.

I usually have no problem watching "old" movies or TV shows, but somehow this one screams "1971" a little too much. The fashions, the loud blaring jazz music, but worse (and this is something I bet most viewers aren't even aware of), the style of directing and editing. I just came off watching my entire CHARLIE CHAN collection, and the entire way this thing is written, directed, acted, photographed & edited is just JARRING beyond belief. Among other annoyances, too many close-ups, too much fast-cutting between 2 or more things going on at the same time... Honestly, if you want to revive a "classic" character, would it HURT that much to study the STYLE of the old films and try to bring at least a LITTLE of that ambiance to the present project?

One thing that bugged me in many of the late-70's and 80's "revivals" was the way so many stories insisted on telling us that our heroes had "retired" and stopped doing their thing. STAR TREK, WILD WILD WEST, THE MOD SQUAD, MAN FROM UNCLE... I'd forgotten this trend actually started almost a decade earlier. But then, nobody had ever seen this film when most of those sequels were being made.

Something that I actually found amusing in this film was that no less than 3 of its leads were not using their regular accents. Not only is Ross Martin playing a Chinese detective, but Leslie Nielsen (FORBIDDEN PLANET) is playing a Greek tycoon, while Richard Haydn (AND THEN THERE WERE NONE) is NOT doing his usual "nasal" whine thing. Actually, Ross Martin's regular voice creeps in far too much of the time. He LOOKS right in the part, but he doesn't SOUND right. I'd have almost preferred if they'd gotten Joey Foreman, who played "Harry Hoo" on GET SMART (doing a dead-on Sidney Toler impression).

I kept rattling my brains trying to figure out where I'd seen Louise Sorel before... I narrowed it down to one of the NBC MYSTERY MOVIES (yes, she did a BANACEK) or STAR TREK. But I'd forgotten it was "Requiem For Methusaleh", where she played the last of the various women Jim Kirk FELL HARD for. I'm astonished to see how many episodes of daytime soap-operas she's been in since! Wow.

The story itself is monstrously over-complicated. Having watched tons of murder mysteries in the last few months (SHERLOCK HOLMES, POIROT, MISS MARPLE, MR. MOTO, and yes, CHARLIE CHAN), this may get the vote for the MOST indecipherable. I just saw it, and have almost no idea who did what to who and why.

Ironically, THIS film was apparently the inspiration for the cartoon series THE AMAZING CHAN AND THE CHAN CLAN, which debuted on Saturday mornings just a year later. In that, they got Keye Luke (alias "Number One Son" Lee Chan) to do the voice of Charlie. It's too bad nobody thought of having him star in THIS first.

[josemas]

The Ross Martin Charlie Chan TV movie is one of the few Chan movies that I've never seen.  Thanks for your outlook on this odd piece of Chanmania, Henry.

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

I found a blog devoted to movies series, written in the most CYNICAL way imagineable... some of it was hilarious, but definitely cynical. The guy had one section devoted to Chan.  And I posted a message, telling him, HEY, you forgot Ross Martin!  I had seen the cartoon show in 1972, but at the time had no idea that it MAY have been a spin-off of the UNAIRED and unsold pilot. I still have no proof, but it was made one year later, and both featured Charlie's grand-kids.  the tv movie mentions (but didn't show) that some of Charlie's grandkids had "started a rock band".  No kidding! A bit of reading online reminded me, THIS was a big part of the premise of the cartoons. A sort of Chinese "Josie and the Pussycats"-- I'M NOT making this up!!

Charlie himself-- voiced by Keye Luke, would appear briefly in each episode. This reminds me of THE PEBBLES AND BAMM BAMM SHOW, which had Fred & Barney's kids grown up as teenagers, hanging out with their high school friends and having adventures, while Fred & Barney would show up briefly in each episode.


Ahhhh so, 70's were indeed strange time for cartoons.



Unless I have some more that have been mis-filed, I have one more Chan film left to watch, today... the one with Peter Ustinov. (My main memory was, it wasn't NEARLY as awful as the Peter Sellers FU MANCHU film. Or the Miles O'Keefe TARZAN. You know the one...)

[profh0011]

Okay, the short form... this week:

DARK ALIBI
SHADOWS OVER CHINATOWN
THE CHINESE RING
THE RETURN OF CHARLIE CHAN
CHARLIE CHAN AND THE CURSE OF THE DRAGON QUEEN


Peter Ustinov, somehow, is slightly better than Ross Martin, but seems to be in a completely different movie from every single other actor. He plays it straight, he actually has the ONLY REALLY FUNNY lines in the film, but the rest is a mess. No need to do a "comedy" CHAN, more than half the originals WERE funny already! They should have gone for wit, not slapstick. Put another way, if they wanted to do over-the-top comedy, they should have tried for MARX BROTHERS... instead, I think they went with RITZ BROTHERS.  (I've seen CRAZY HOUSE, which is why I say this.)


Meanwhile, at night...

THIS ISLAND EARTH
FORBIDDEN PLANET
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

Did you know both Robert Cornwaite & Paul Frees (from THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD) have cameos in WOTW ?  Never noticed that before.


I was considering watching THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL tonight, but instead, went with THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES.  I had to watch a GOOD murder mystery to get the really BAD one out of my system.

[profh0011]

Tonight:


"Why we doin' this?"
"For the good old American way. For the money, for the glory, and for the fun.
Mostly for the money."

[paw broon]

I mentioned the Scottish elections recently and yesterday was polling day.  Needless to say there's wall to wall coverage on t.v. and radio.  Also, there are local council elections in England and that means the U.K. chanels are covering this and our results.  It's important because, in Britain we are being asked if we want to change the voting system from first past the post to AV. And in Scotland, the SNP (the independence party) were thought to have a good chance of doing well.  They've been running Scotland as a minority government for the last 4 years. This morning it looks as if they will be the biggest party and be able to form a majority government.  Never happened before and the whole thing is rather exciting.  Not a lot of time to watch much else.  Except Castle, which was great and tonight we'll make time for The Mentalist.

[profh0011]

Tonight:

GOLDEN RENDEZVOUS  (1977)

This is the movie that made me a fan of Richard Harris. Alistair Maclean thriller about a ship hi-jacked by terrorists.  It's been compared to DIE HARD a decade early.  The funny thing is, the first time I saw this, about 20 minutes in, I realized I'd seen it before... on DOCTOR WHO!  Only there, it was part of "The Trial of a Time Lord"-- "TERROR OF THE VERVOIDS" to be exact.  Writers Pip & Jane Baker kept insisting they were doing "an Agatha Christie tribute", but I think that was just a dodge so people wouldn't realize how closely they were plagiarizing Maclean!

[paw broon]

Do you know, you're right.  Never thought of that before.  Nice one.
In case anyone is even remotely interested in the democratic process in Scotland, the SNP won an outright majority for the Scottish parliament.  Labour took a right battering and the Liberal Democrats (who are in coalition with the Tories in Westminster) were almost wiped out.  Doesn't mean we'll all vote for independence, it's just that many folk here feel that the SNP did a no' bad job as a minority administration that we've given them the chance to do even more.
Spent way too much time watching the drama unfold on tv and radio.
Hope I haven't bored you but it was exciting for us.

[profh0011]

Currently watching 3 early-60's UK shows in rotation at dinnertime...

THE AVENGERS
DANGER MAN
THE SAINT

Got thru the first 3 I have of each, today THE SAINT was "The Careful Terrorist", one of the few that took place in America (NYC), one of only two Roger Moore episodes to feature Inspector Fernack (Alan Gifford, he's no Jonathan Hale), and the only one to feature "Hoppy", his dim-witted ex-gangland assistant (here played by Percy Herbert, who'd been in Harryhausen's THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND).  Both Fernack & Hoppy are on the "stiff" side as far as acting goes, and considering how many SAINT stories had him working with some kind of friend or sidekick, it's almost a shame the bulk of Roger Moore's 120 episides had him almost exclusively as a "lone wolf" (no relation to Michael Lanyard, heh).

Oh yeah-- the villain in this was was played by Peter Dyneley, who (I knew it sounded familiar!) was the voice of Jeff Tracy on THUNDERBIRDS!


I just found out courtesy of the IMDB that there was a French SAINT film made in 1966 that I've never seen.  I wonder if I ever will?


For breakfast I'm current watching SHERLOCK HOLMES (Jeremy Brett) and POIROT (David Suchet) in rotation, while last Saturday, I began watching the 1930's-40's SAINT films. I figure between those and THE FALCON films I'll have a few months at least before I run out and have to dig out something else.  This'll give me a chance to watch all those George Sanders flicks back-to-back (9 in all) plus the others, and being able to compare them with the 60's stuff. Sort of like when I was watching Ronald Howard & Jeremy Brett's HOLMES at the same time.

[josemas]

Henry, while waiting for this morning's episode of Lawman to come on I was both reading your post (in which you were talking about Roger Moore in The Saint) and watching the tail end of a 4th season episode of Maverick in which Moore was playing Beau Maverick. 
It was an episode entitled "Dutchman's Gold" which I've seen a few times.  It's based on a real story.  The Lost Dutchman was a real character who found gold in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix, where I live.  I grew up hearing the various stories and hiked through the mountains on a number of occasions as my Dad was an avid hiker and often took me along when I was a kid and teenager.  Even got lost once up there once (but that's another story).
The Superstitions are desert mountains but when they came to show them at the end of the Maverick episode Roger Moore and company (sitting on horseback on an obvious Hollywood stage) looked up, in some awe, at the mountains and then they cut to a stock shot of some high altitude mountain range (The Rockies?) with Pine trees growing on them that looked not a bit like the Superstitions!!  While most people viewing the show wouldn't have had a clue I couldn't help but laugh at the scene!   

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

Back when I still had cable (been without it for over 3 years), I ran across a station running MAVERICK, which I had somehow never seen until then (apart from 2 episiodes of the late-70's revival). And the thing I found most baffling was, it seemed as though the station was running about a dozen episodes in rotation, over and over.  I mean-- WTF???  About half were James Garner, the other half with Roger Moore.  Don't recall them running any of the Jack Kelly's.

It amused me when, after all these years, I just recently read that Dirk Benedict based his portrayal of Lt. Starbuck on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA after James Garner!  All of a sudden, I could SEE it!

[josemas]

Back when I still had cable (been without it for over 3 years), I ran across a station running MAVERICK, which I had somehow never seen until then (apart from 2 episiodes of the late-70's revival). And the thing I found most baffling was, it seemed as though the station was running about a dozen episodes in rotation, over and over.  I mean-- WTF???  About half were James Garner, the other half with Roger Moore.  Don't recall them running any of the Jack Kelly's.

It amused me when, after all these years, I just recently read that Dirk Benedict based his portrayal of Lt. Starbuck on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA after James Garner!  All of a sudden, I could SEE it!

It's weird that you never caught any of Jack Kelly's episodes of Maverick as he's in more episodes than any of "Mavericks" in the series being the only actor who appeared in all five seasons of the show.  I first remember watching it with my Mom when it was in rerun syndication playing afternoons on a local station in the early-mid 1960s.  Caught it again as a teen when another local station reran in afternoons in the 1970s and then again in the mid-late 1980s running  late nights on yet another local station.  It is my favorite of all those Warner Bros western shows and apparently the favorite of a lot of others judging by how often it has been rerun over the years.
The Encore Westerns Channel has been running it for quite a while now and also added Warners' Cheyenne two or three years back and then last year Warners Lawman.  Maybe they'll yet add some more of Warners westerns such as Sugarfoot, Bronco and Colt 45.
And if the Encore Mysteries Channel would start adding some of those 1950s and 60s detective shows (77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside Six, Peter Gunn, Johnny Staccato,Bourban Street Beat, etc, etc...) I'd be real happy.

Never heard the story about the Benedict/Garner connection but now that you mention it I can see it too!

Best

Joe

[bowers]

Yeah, Warner Brothers pretty much had a monopoly on early sixties TV with their stable of westerns and several detective series. Well-written and with good casts, including several of Warner's old contract players. Made for a time when the whole family could watch the same program and all ages would actually enjoy it. Cheers, Bowers

[profh0011]

Yeah, it happens a lot, I mean, it took me until the middle of the 5th season of NIGHT COURT before I ever turned it on, and I was a fan of Harry Anderson from back when he was appearing on SNL!

And I didn't get around to seeing James Whale's version of THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK until about 4 years ago, even though I remember my Dad mentioning it as far back as the late 60's. Her used to rave about Louis Hayward, but long before I saw ...MASK I saw THE SAINT IN NEW YORK, and then AND THEN THERE WERE NONE.



In truth, I did see Jack Kelly once... during BRET MAVERICK.  The very 1st MAVERICK I ever saw involved James Garner going thru elaborate shennanigans in order to "clean up" a lot of things he had going on in town, because he had a sucker coming on the stagecoach, and he didn't want any distractions once the guy arrived.  This went on for the entire episode, until, finally, everything was sqaured away, and he waited for the stage to arrive.  So imagine his surprise and disappointment when the guy who stepped off the stage was... Jack Kelly, who had ALSO been hoping to fleece a sucker.  Obviously, they couldn't pull a scam on EACH OTHER.  

The following week, Garner had the week off, and the entire episode focused on Jack Kelly!  I haven't seen these since they were first-run in the late 70's.

[josemas]

And I didn't get around to seeing James Whale's version of THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK until about 4 years ago, even though I remember my Dad mentioning it as far back as the late 60's. Her used to rave about Louis Hayward, but long before I saw ...MASK I saw THE SAINT IN NEW YORK, and then AND THEN THERE WERE NONE.

The wife and I just watched Louis Hayward last weekend in The Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950).  He is just as good playing in swashbucklers as he is playing suited smooth guys like the Saint or the Lone Wolf.

In truth, I did see Jack Kelly once... during BRET MAVERICK.  The very 1st MAVERICK I ever saw involved James Garner going thru elaborate shennanigans in order to "clean up" a lot of things he had going on in town, because he had a sucker coming on the stagecoach, and he didn't want any distractions once the guy arrived.  This went on for the entire episode, until, finally, everything was sqaured away, and he waited for the stage to arrive.  So imagine his surprise and disappointment when the guy who stepped off the stage was... Jack Kelly, who had ALSO been hoping to fleece a sucker.  Obviously, they couldn't pull a scam on EACH OTHER.   

The following week, Garner had the week off, and the entire episode focused on Jack Kelly!  I haven't seen these since they were first-run in the late 70's.

Henry, I think you're misremembering something here. 
Kelly only worked with Garner twice in the late 70s and early 80s playing Bart Maverick.  He appeared with him in the pilot movie The New Maverick (1978) which was the setup for the short-lived (8 episodes) 1979-80 series Young Maverick which actually starred Charles Frank as Ben Maverick (the son of Beau Maverick [Roger Moore]).
Kelly next appeared in the very last episode of Garner's 1981-82 (18 episode) series Bret Maverick.  Your description sounds like this episode.  He was supposed to become a regular in the show during its second season but the show was unexpectedly cancelled before that could happen.  He would have both teamed up with and alternated with Garner if this had come about (just like in the original series).
The Encore Westerns Channel often runs Bret Maverick on Saturdays so I've had a chance to review those shows in recent years.  Also picked up the DVD of The New Maverick pilot movie.  I haven't seen any of those Young Maverick episodes since the initial run but am pretty positive that Kelly is only in the pilot movie and Garner only in the pilot movie and first episode (in a cameo).
Kelly did later play Bart Maverick in an episode of Lee Majors' The Fall Guy and one of those Kenny Rogers' Gambler movies.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

It's been many years since I saw any Maverick  nad, as far as I know, it's not shown anywhere here.
I think some of you might be interested in a ne detective show that's recently started here in ITV . Vera is a 2 hour crimi with Brenda Blethyn as DCI Vera Stanhope.  Set in the north east of England, the 4 stories are adapted from the novels by Ann Cleeves, 2 0f which I've read. A bit unsettling and well done all round, this is good viewing.

[profh0011]

No, I'm not mis-remembering, what I said was exactly what I saw, and exactly what you described. Obviously, I started watching ONE week before it got yanked off the air, so I only ever got to see the last 2 episodes!


Without looking it up, I'll take a guess the later thing was the 3rd Kenny Rogers movie, THE GAMBLER: THE LUCK OF THE DRAW, a 4-hour 2-part story which featured cameos by about a DOZEN different western heroes from 60's TV, as well as David Carridine as Kwai Chang Caine-- 2 years before KUNG FU: THE LEGEND CONTINUES.  An episode of that show later involved "Dark Shadows"-style time travel, and featured further appearances by 2 or 3 of the same characters who'd been in the GAMBLER movie a few years earlier.  (I'd have to look it up to be sure WHICH ones.)


Don't you love crazy S*** like this?




By the way, anybody ever see Garner on EIGHT SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY DAUGHTER ?  After the sudden death of John Ritter, he became a regular on the series, playing Katie Sagal's father. Her mother (and his ex-wife) was briefly played by Susanne Pleshette. I really got to love that show, despite never seeing it until it was already in reruns.