77 Sunset Strip / Hawaiian Eye, etc. (4 Viewers)

[Dolly8]

Episode Commentary
"The Disappearance" (S4Ep32)

This episode is a good 'un--for two reasons: First, it's a rare 77 SS story that's shot almost entirely on location in and around a golf course in the hills of California. (I tried to identify the course, but no luck.) Second, John Dehner plays an erudite crook with one of the more unique schemes on retrieving kidnap ransom without being caught.

He who's only identified as the "Distinguished Visitor" has flown into Pine Lake for a restful interlude and to write his memoirs. One gets the impression that Pine Lake is essentially good for nothing other than a placid respite, especially for those who are quickly closing in on crossing over the rainbow. The local airport looks like what I imagine the municipal landing field in Muncie, Indiana must have looked like around 1932 while awaiting for your biplane connection to Hooterville. A coffee vending machine in the gate area would have been considered near science fiction in its inventiveness.
View attachment 54989

View attachment 54990
John Dehner, victor Buono, Mike Road

Stu Bailey is on hand to meet the "Distinguished Visitor", who we're led to believe is a retired president-like figure (think Ike) by the way Stu does a lot of polite deferential chuckling--as one is wont to do around a famous person who says something that might be construed as amusing--whether it is or not.
For reasons the director thought were necessary, we never see the face of the Visitor--I suppose to further foster the idea that this is some sort of real national figure. Stu's purpose is to help the gentleman verify parts of his biographical manuscript--as if a professional secretary might not have been more reasonable in fee structure for the task. If fact, there are uncharacteristically no females in this episode other than a brief scene with Suzanne--who looks particularly fetching perched on a desk:

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Even JR looks like he's entertaining ideas on burglarizing Suzanne's body in some sort of unholy consort.

The Visitor, his entourage and Stu repair to the golf clubhouse near the local missionary. Brother John rings the mission bells in his unique fashion twice a day--as the Visitor points out to Stu. Keep this small fact in mind, as it is the key to solving the unfolding mystery.
While the group is playing golf, John Dehner and his henchmen (including Victor Buono in a completely squandered role) kidnap the Visitor. The FBI is called in (Mike Road, also in a thankless role), a ransom of $1 million is demanded, and a bubble-nosed helicopter is hired to buzz the countryside for clues. All it finds is a pregnant lady in the back of a pickup about to give birth. The scriptwriter must have been told to come up with two extra minutes to fill out the allotted time. Apparently it didn't matter what to throw in.

Well, as I hinted, the mission bells being rung by Brother John have changed their tune and give Stu a clue as to the whereabouts of the Visitor. The bad men are quickly aerated by Stu and the FBI and the Visitor is rescued. No clue as to whether the golf round was ever finished.

Randoms:
Really, if any of you CA natives are familiar with this episode and recognize the location of the golf course--it would be keen to report on it.
Granted, the landscape probably looks a bit different after 60 years. There is a Pine Lake located in the Sierra National Forest.

 

[Dolly8]

Rustifier,

Another fine review!!!!

 

[Rustifer]

You get easily distracted in L.A. God, I love that city.

I'm with you, Lutz. If I was 20 or 30 years younger, I'd have moved to LA in a heartbeat. I was at least lucky enough to have business dealings there that allowed me significant time in the area to really fall in love with it. It seemed like everything I saw was iconic---due to years and years of watching TV shows based on the city.
I remember driving along with one of my native CA business associates around the hills of LA and oohing / aahing at the landscape. He asked "What the hell is so interesting?" All he saw were plain old hills. To me, they all looked like settings for the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, Rockford Files, 77 Sunset Strip and on and on...

Not one square inch of Indiana looks like Southern California.

 

[criblecoblis]

Thanks to all for the kind words regarding my home town. It's still a great place to live. Although it's becoming alarmingly overbuilt, and getting to the Westside from the Eastside has become quite an ordeal, at least the smog is effectively gone. No more second-stage alerts, no more irritated lungs and eyes. And the weather is still fantastic!

We've never been to Morton's, but we plan to do so soon. I can report that the Smoke House is still an excellent place, with good food and old-school superb service. And very good prices!

 

[criblecoblis]

So my stomping ground was everywhere in between, usually spending an inordinate amount of time at the rustic Hotel Laguna Beach for martinis on the deck overlooking the ocean. For a landlocked Indiana boy, it could get no better than that.

Russ,

Laguna is my favorite Southern California beach. I used to go there frequently in my youth, but unfortunately getting there from here now takes too long to be practical.

 

[criblecoblis]

Season 3, Episode 8, "Double Trouble":

1. At 0 minutes, Dino's lot in the light, best view I have found with little looking of the steep decline to the lower lot and cars parked on lower lot.

Dolly,

I checked this and some of your other references, and you're right! In the establishing shots of the actual Dino's, you can see glimpses of the lot. I'd never noticed that before.

 

[Rustifer]

Thanks to all for the kind words regarding my home town. It's still a great place to live.

Yeah, you lucky stiff--living there your whole life. I am truly envious. But I bet you, too, probably think those are just plain old hills surrounding you.

We've never been to Morton's, but we plan to do so soon. I can report that the Smoke House is still an excellent place, with good food and old-school superb service. And very good prices!

Please let us know your thoughts on Morton's and your experiences at the Smoke House. I'm an inveterate foodie and this kind of stuff just fascinates me. My next hobby will be collecting retro menus from long-standing restaurants--such a gas to see how entree offerings have changed over the years--and the prices...jeezo-meezo!

Laguna is my favorite Southern California beach. I used to go there frequently in my youth, but unfortunately getting there from here now takes too long to be practical.

I really miss my times in Laguna Beach. To me, it was quintessential Southern California. Just driving down PCH from my office in Santa Ana gave me chills--cool houses nestled in the hills on one side, the Pacific on the other. All I needed was a Bentley convertible for an additional happy element to my trek.

I can sense Gary's head about to explode for us getting so far off topic....

 

[Rustifer]

Dolly,

I checked this and some of your other references, and you're right! In the establishing shots of the actual Dino's, you can see glimpses of the lot. I'd never noticed that before.

Good eye for spotting all these details in the episodes, Dolly!

 

[Gary16]

I can sense Gary's head about to explode for us getting so far off topic....

Ha. No explosion. This isn’t really off topic and I’m enjoying it. Carry on.

 

[Rustifer]

Ha. No explosion. This isn’t really off topic and I’m enjoying it. Carry on.

I may start a whole new thread here-- famous food scenes in movies.
Although somewhere in the labyrinth of this forum it probably already exists.
I wouldn't be surprised if something like "Film Stars' Bunyons" is a thing in here.

 

[criblecoblis]

Yeah, you lucky stiff--living there your whole life. I am truly envious. But I bet you, too, probably think those are just plain old hills surrounding you.

Oh, not at all. I love our mountains. I'm a mountain kind of guy. Our vacation home is a mile high, up in the Los Padres National Forest, where they actually have this weird cold white stuff that falls out of the sky in winter.

When I first visited Chicago in college, I found the utter lack of variation in elevation disturbing. I was in the USC Marching Band, and we were there for the 1977 USC vs Notre Dame game. That was the one where Notre Dame wore the green jerseys. All the way up to South Bend, the horizon was utterly flat.

Later, my oldest brother raised a family in the Chicagoland area, and in 2008 he sent his son out to us to attend the Rose Bowl game, which is about two miles away from us. My nephew's alma mater was playing mine. He specifically requested that we drive him up into the mountains, because he'd never seen mountains before.

While I appreciate living in the LA area, I am constantly surprised to discover that Pasadena itself is a year-round tourist destination. Sure, I get why people want to come here around New Year's, but Colorado and Lake are lined with obvious tourists in the 100-degree weather of August. That I don't get, because at that time I'm wishing I were somewhere else.

I'll share my observations upon the Smoke House in another post.

 

[Rustifer]

While I appreciate living in the LA area, I am constantly surprised to discover that Pasadena itself is a year-round tourist destination. Sure, I get why people want to come here around New Year's, but Colorado and Lake are lined with obvious tourists in the 100-degree weather of August. That I don't get, because at that time I'm wishing I were somewhere else.

Rob,
I was in Pasadena in 1967. My very first trip to California. Barely 18 years old, I was a freshman at Indiana University and our football team was to play USC (O.J. Simpson) at the Rose Bowl for the national championship. For a scant $200, The University gave me a round trip plane ticket, hotel room and a pass to the game. Unbelievable deal. I went with a dorm mate (who, incidentally, now lives a stone's throw from the stadium) for a wild two days. 52 years ago.

I can hardly believe now that I didn't take the opportunity to hit the Strip--only a mere 2 years after 77 SS series ended. Dino's and the Mary Webb Davis would have still been standing and in good use. I grind my teeth every time I think about it--woulda, coulda, shoulda.

I.U. versus USC in 1967 Rose Bowl

 

[Rustifer]

When I first visited Chicago in college, I found the utter lack of variation in elevation disturbing. I was in the USC Marching Band, and we were there for the 1977 USC vs Notre Dame game.

Coincidences abound! In 1977, I was a young Advertising sprout living and working in Chicago. My main task was lugging ad copy and art up and down Michigan Ave. I was pretty happy for the flatness of the area for that reason alone.

 

[criblecoblis]

I was in Pasadena in 1967. My very first trip to California. Barely 18 years old, I was a freshman at Indiana University and our football team was to play USC (O.J. Simpson) at the Rose Bowl for the national championship.

Refresh my memory--who won that game?

For a scant $200, The University gave me a round trip plane ticket, hotel room and a pass to the game. Unbelievable deal. I went with a dorm mate (who, incidentally, now lives a stone's throw from the stadium) for a wild two days. 52 years ago.

Wow, you were SO fortunate! Rose Bowl tickets are as rare as tickets to Heaven around here, even though the stadium seats 75 million. Our Councilman gets two, and he always raffles them off (gratis) to a denizen of his district. I've never been inside the Rose Bowl.

And your old dorm mate must have done well for himself. A stone's throw from the Rose Bowl is an elite neighborhood. Two stone's throws, not so much.

I can hardly believe now that I didn't take the opportunity to hit the Strip--only a mere 2 years after 77 SS series ended. Dino's and the Mary Webb Davis would have still been standing and in good use.

If it's a comfort to you, the Mary Webb Davis building had already morphed into the Tiffany Theater well before then.

 

[criblecoblis]

Coincidences abound! In 1977, I was a young Advertising sprout living and working in Chicago. My main task was lugging ad copy and art up and down Michigan Ave. I was pretty happy for the flatness of the area for that reason alone.

Astounding! I deeply love the Loop area, and my recent visit only reinforced that. It's a spectacular cityscape.

And count my mind blown at our being in the same cityscape at the same time. I was just eighteen, and at that time the drinking age in Illinois was eighteen. So I went to a disco and had a beer, and felt quite wicked.

I also deeply love propinquity. Our being in Chicago at the same time reminds me that my wife and I were in London at the same time--four years before we met. Oh, and that's not all. WELL before that, we were both at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, watching the Smothers Brothers.

Great minds think alike.

 

[Rustifer]

Refresh my memory--who won that game?



Wow, you were SO fortunate! Rose Bowl tickets are as rare as tickets to Heaven around here, even though the stadium seats 75 million. Our Councilman gets two, and he always raffles them off (gratis) to a denizen of his district. I've never been inside the Rose Bowl.

And your old dorm mate must have done well for himself. A stone's throw from the Rose Bowl is an elite neighborhood. Two stone's throws, not so much.



If it's a comfort to you, the Mary Webb Davis building had already morphed into the Tiffany Theater well before then.

USC beat us 14-3. OJ ran all over us.

I think my buddy owned some sort of computery techie company. Yeah, big house almost in the shadow of the stadium from what I could tell from the photo.

I'm somewhat comforted by your MWD news. Thanks.

 

[Rustifer]

Astounding! I deeply love the Loop area, and my recent visit only reinforced that. It's a spectacular cityscape.

And count my mind blown at our being in the same cityscape at the same time. I was just eighteen, and at that time the drinking age in Illinois was eighteen. So I went to a disco and had a beer, and felt quite wicked.

I also deeply love propinquity. Our being in Chicago at the same time reminds me that my wife and I were in London at the same time--four years before we met. Oh, and that's not all. WELL before that, we were both at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, watching the Smothers Brothers.

Great minds think alike.

Chicago is near and dear to my heart. Born there. I asked my wife to marry me in the Cape Cod Room in the famous Drake Hotel. I was never as nervous in my whole life as I was in that moment. I think it was a 4 martini event. For courage.

When she said "yes", I drank 4 more.

 

[MartinP.]

Sure, I get why people want to come here around New Year's, but Colorado and Lake are lined with obvious tourists in the 100-degree weather of August.

Since you mention it, I was walking around Colorado and Lake last night. In the 40 degree weather!
(A few of us went to the Pasadena Playhouse.)

 

[MartinP.]

I've never been inside the Rose Bowl.

Twice for me. A soccer game in 1978. And the final Gold Medal soccer match in the 1984 Summer Olympics.
A glorious evening with the game, pomp & circumstance and fireworks! For a long time that was the largest
attendance for a soccer game in the United States. I wouldn't mind going to the annual 4th of July fireworks
show at the Rose Bowl sometime.

 

[Dolly8]

Yeah, you lucky stiff--living there your whole life. I am truly envious. But I bet you, too, probably think those are just plain old hills surrounding you.


Please let us know your thoughts on Morton's and your experiences at the Smoke House. I'm an inveterate foodie and this kind of stuff just fascinates me. My next hobby will be collecting retro menus from long-standing restaurants--such a gas to see how entree offerings have changed over the years--and the prices...jeezo-meezo!


I really miss my times in Laguna Beach. To me, it was quintessential Southern California. Just driving down PCH from my office in Santa Ana gave me chills--cool houses nestled in the hills on one side, the Pacific on the other. All I needed was a Bentley convertible for an additional happy element to my trek.

I can sense Gary's head about to explode for us getting so far off topic....

I agree Laguna was very nice the last time I was there, but it has been a great while.