Rustifer
Senior HTF Member
Dang! I had “Bullets for Santa” on a VHS tape but lost it in a basement flood. I was so looking forward to recording and writing a commentary on it.
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77 Sunset Strip / Hawaiian Eye, etc. (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Frank Soyke
- Start date
Gary16
Screenwriter
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- Gary
This is an outrage!
Bob Gu
Screenwriter
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- Bob Gudera
No Joy in Yulesville.
Has DECADES shown it since 2016?
Has DECADES shown it since 2016?
criblecoblis
Supporting Actor
Forgive me if I've posted this link before, but "Bullets for Santa" is available on Dailymotion:
MartinP.
Senior HTF Member
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- Martin
Sorry I hadn't answered...just saw this. I can't find the post I originally read that said where you could get it, and I don't have the CD at the moment for any other info. (It was a place that made CD's from an original album.)
criblecoblis
Supporting Actor
Thanks. I'll search around again. I'd actually like to have a copy of the LP, but the only one I found was $50.
criblecoblis
Supporting Actor
Richard Long was born on this day, December 17, in 1927.
Rustifer
Senior HTF Member
Episode Commentary
"A Nice Social Evening" (S1Ep3)
As an early 77 SS Season One episode, by reasoning one could consider this a classic though not necessarily a top ten contender for originality or creativeness. However, anytime we can get Ray Danton performing (once again) as a Latin playboy, Dorothy Provine as an ingenue looking for a good time, and most of the regular cast involved in the caper--why, just mix your martini and settle back with an unfiltered Camel and leave most of any critique on the back porch.
Stu Bailey arrives at Dino's in his pearl-white T-Bird with Betty (Dorothy Provine) riding shotgun and Marilyn (Arlene Howell) sitting behind. Why two beautiful girls--as Kookie asks Stu while shuffling up to park the car-- "Always carry a spare in the back seat?", he ventures. Inside Dino's sits Velasquez (Ray Danton), international Trump-type playboy, or, as he calls himself--El Dorado or "the Loved One". His humility is stark in its sincerity. He is immediately attracted to Stu and the girls like an otter to a clam, and is quickly playing host to the trio while Frankie Ortega (his first appearance in the series) beats the piano like a misbehaved stepchild. Somewhere between the cocktails and bottles of champagne, Velasquez confides to Stu that somebody is trying to kill him.
Ray Danton, Dorothy Provine, Mario Alcalde
Well, for sure. We learn that Stu has been hired by the U.S. Government (which branch is not disclosed) to protect the gadabout playboy, thus the setup with the two girls to lure him into Stu's good graces. It only makes sense that the rest of the episode takes place on the Velasquez yacht along with a hundred party-hungry hangers-on to celebrate his birthday. This sets up the standard scenario with an unknown someone in the crowd hired to kill the playboy. Fortunately and inexplicably, both Jeff Spencer and Kookie have also been invited to the soiree to help discern the killer and his intentions.
True to WB's tiny budget, all scenes on the yacht appear to take place within painted cardboard walls with an occasional life preserver positioned here and there to impart the sense of an actual sea-faring vessel. On board, Kookie makes smooth time with anything in a low-cut dress and imparts many first-heard Kookie-isms that will eventually build his legend to the point of holding Jack Warner hostage to his burgeoning popularity.
The killer (Mario Alcalde) is on board posing as a waiter, and clumsily inserts a time bomb into the birthday cake meant for the host. Being about as sharp as a marble, he realizes too late he has no plan B to escape the yacht before it blows up into a trillion toothpicks and is therefore frantic to jump ship. Meanwhile, the chef and staff are preparing appetizers for the massive crowd that looks like it might suffice for about 7 picky eaters. Probably just a few leftovers from the studio catered lunch service. Needless to say, Stu and the gang discover the whereabouts of the bomb in the last seconds before detonation and toss the culprit cake overboard before it puts a severe damper on the party.
I'm just guessing that this episode provided a great day for studio extras and WB bit players to earn a few bucks in front of the cameras. Some I even recognized from future episodes. In one nifty scene, Stu, Jeff and Kookie are leaning over the ship's railing being ultra cool while puffing cigs and discussing their mission. Being such an aficionado of the series, seeing the three of them together was wistfully akin to me viewing the Beatles in their first appearance on Ed Sullivan. Such an iconic grouping...at least to me. Trying to explain the comparison to my wife got me nothing but a sympathetic smile without a shred of comprehension. But she's too damn smart and pretty for me to be upset.
NOTE:
Ray Danton was married to actress Julie Adams. Danton and Adams worked together a number of times in film and on television. In addition to being in the films The Looters (1955) and Tarawa Beachhead (1958), they both guest starred on a January 1972 episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery entitled 'The Miracle at Camafeo', and Danton directed his wife in the 1975 horror flick Psychic Killer. Although the couple was married for many years, they divorced in 1981. Ray died in 1992 at age 60. Julie, 92, is still with us.
"A Nice Social Evening" (S1Ep3)
As an early 77 SS Season One episode, by reasoning one could consider this a classic though not necessarily a top ten contender for originality or creativeness. However, anytime we can get Ray Danton performing (once again) as a Latin playboy, Dorothy Provine as an ingenue looking for a good time, and most of the regular cast involved in the caper--why, just mix your martini and settle back with an unfiltered Camel and leave most of any critique on the back porch.
Stu Bailey arrives at Dino's in his pearl-white T-Bird with Betty (Dorothy Provine) riding shotgun and Marilyn (Arlene Howell) sitting behind. Why two beautiful girls--as Kookie asks Stu while shuffling up to park the car-- "Always carry a spare in the back seat?", he ventures. Inside Dino's sits Velasquez (Ray Danton), international Trump-type playboy, or, as he calls himself--El Dorado or "the Loved One". His humility is stark in its sincerity. He is immediately attracted to Stu and the girls like an otter to a clam, and is quickly playing host to the trio while Frankie Ortega (his first appearance in the series) beats the piano like a misbehaved stepchild. Somewhere between the cocktails and bottles of champagne, Velasquez confides to Stu that somebody is trying to kill him.
Ray Danton, Dorothy Provine, Mario Alcalde
Well, for sure. We learn that Stu has been hired by the U.S. Government (which branch is not disclosed) to protect the gadabout playboy, thus the setup with the two girls to lure him into Stu's good graces. It only makes sense that the rest of the episode takes place on the Velasquez yacht along with a hundred party-hungry hangers-on to celebrate his birthday. This sets up the standard scenario with an unknown someone in the crowd hired to kill the playboy. Fortunately and inexplicably, both Jeff Spencer and Kookie have also been invited to the soiree to help discern the killer and his intentions.
True to WB's tiny budget, all scenes on the yacht appear to take place within painted cardboard walls with an occasional life preserver positioned here and there to impart the sense of an actual sea-faring vessel. On board, Kookie makes smooth time with anything in a low-cut dress and imparts many first-heard Kookie-isms that will eventually build his legend to the point of holding Jack Warner hostage to his burgeoning popularity.
The killer (Mario Alcalde) is on board posing as a waiter, and clumsily inserts a time bomb into the birthday cake meant for the host. Being about as sharp as a marble, he realizes too late he has no plan B to escape the yacht before it blows up into a trillion toothpicks and is therefore frantic to jump ship. Meanwhile, the chef and staff are preparing appetizers for the massive crowd that looks like it might suffice for about 7 picky eaters. Probably just a few leftovers from the studio catered lunch service. Needless to say, Stu and the gang discover the whereabouts of the bomb in the last seconds before detonation and toss the culprit cake overboard before it puts a severe damper on the party.
I'm just guessing that this episode provided a great day for studio extras and WB bit players to earn a few bucks in front of the cameras. Some I even recognized from future episodes. In one nifty scene, Stu, Jeff and Kookie are leaning over the ship's railing being ultra cool while puffing cigs and discussing their mission. Being such an aficionado of the series, seeing the three of them together was wistfully akin to me viewing the Beatles in their first appearance on Ed Sullivan. Such an iconic grouping...at least to me. Trying to explain the comparison to my wife got me nothing but a sympathetic smile without a shred of comprehension. But she's too damn smart and pretty for me to be upset.
NOTE:
Ray Danton was married to actress Julie Adams. Danton and Adams worked together a number of times in film and on television. In addition to being in the films The Looters (1955) and Tarawa Beachhead (1958), they both guest starred on a January 1972 episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery entitled 'The Miracle at Camafeo', and Danton directed his wife in the 1975 horror flick Psychic Killer. Although the couple was married for many years, they divorced in 1981. Ray died in 1992 at age 60. Julie, 92, is still with us.
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criblecoblis
Supporting Actor
Fun writeup, Russ, of a fun episode. The three guest stars went on to get their own steady gigs the next year (Provine and Danton in The Alaskans, Arlene Howell in Bourbon Street Beat). I would really love to see some episodes of The Alaskans; it had a great cast.
I really enjoy Arlene Howell's performance in this episode; it indicates how misused she was in Bourbon Street Beat until near the end of her run on the show. They should have made her character in that show like the one in this episode, instead of making her a chaste Southern-belle-next-door type.
Rustifer
Senior HTF Member
Hey Rob---I have to admit I was unaware of The Alaskans series, even though it was right along the same timeline of 77 SS--albeit a much shorter run. Roger Moore also starred in that show, along with Dorothy Provine and Ray Danton. Apparently Roger got into a bit of hot water with his then-wife Dorothy Squires for some alleged hibba-dibbidy with co-star Provine.
It makes some sense that Arlene Howell was cast in Bourbon Street Beat, as she was a native of Louisiana--although probably not a foot of series' film was ever actually shot in that state.
Note the similarity of the Alaskans opening credit artwork to that of its WB sister series, Maverick and Lawman. Jack Warner probably got a discounted rate from the artist for volume production.
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Flashgear
Senior HTF Member
Russ, I took these screen caps from my homemade DVD of A Nice Social Evening, not the ideal image quality, but perhaps you might want to grab one of these pictures and use it on a gag Christmas card for your wife, ha, ha...however, I do obviously share our common affliction of affection for these wonderful characters from a 60 year old TV series...
Merry Christmas to all you hipsters!
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Rustifer
Senior HTF Member
Great, Randall—and thanks! I doubt that it will move the needle on my wife’s attitude though. She’s more likely to get all buzzed over a cast photo of Downton Abbey.
I can only shake my head in bewilderment.
Bob Gu
Screenwriter
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- Messages
- 1,863
- Real Name
- Bob Gudera
Downtown Abbey? Is that the snitch from POLICE SQUAD?
Maybe not.
They should set it in present time.
Maybe not.
They should set it in present time.
Flashgear
Senior HTF Member
Russ, if I'm not mistaken, that would make her the "High Brow" to your "Hipster", ha, ha...
Rustifer
Senior HTF Member
Most definitely, Randall!
criblecoblis
Supporting Actor
I've wanted to see this series ever since I learned of its existence, but it's unavailable except as a bootleg. It's a compelling cast.
You know, those screen caps do not look all that similar to me. I'm no expert, but the Lawman drawing appears to be a woodcut, and the other two appear to be charcoal drawings in different styles. Plus, the logos are all quite different from one another.
On the other hand, if memory serves there is a definite similarity among the titles of Maverick, Cheyenne and Sugarfoot. And it made sense for at least the Cheyenne and Sugarfoot titles to be similar, because they shared the same time slot in rotation (along with Bronco at some point, I believe, although I've never seen that show).
Rustifer
Senior HTF Member
You may be correct that the medium used in the artwork may be slightly different--but my main point is that there's no mistaking the "feel" of the WB series' opening credits during that time period. That's my argument and I'm sticking with it like the spoiled brat I am .
criblecoblis
Supporting Actor
That's definitely true.
Rustifer
Senior HTF Member
Ha! Rob--my hat's off for your clever response of possibly dual-meaning purpose....
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