77 Sunset Strip / Hawaiian Eye, etc. (5 Viewers)

[criblecoblis]

That's what I thought but he has never returned an e-mail to me.

Wow, that's ridiculous. Please let us know if he ever does get back to you. I can tell you that my own former source presented his offerings in similar lists, and it always took him a little while to get back to me.

 

[criblecoblis]

An author friend of mine is doing an exhaustive book on the series; he expects it to be finished and out this year.

That is excellent news, Mike! Be sure to let us know when it is available, because I will be looking forward to reading it.

 

[Rustifer]

That is excellent news, Mike! Be sure to let us know when it is available, because I will be looking forward to reading it.

Ditto!!

 

[Rustifer]

Well, Russ, you certainly were successful with me. Your posts there were the reason I started watching the show, and for that I will always be grateful.

But you should keep hanging out there, too.

I do still sneak a peek into the Noirish LA thread now and again, Rob. I just don't generally offer comments anymore (especially since I could never figure out how to post a pic even though it was explained to me several times). I stand in envy of you residents that know all the cool nooks, crannies and stories of the city as I am woefully ill equipped to discuss. If I were a much younger man, I would have relocated to LA due to my longtime fascination with the city. Indianapolis is a nice place, but it's no SoCal...
I often have the thought that had I been 30 years old in 1960 with the financial resources that I have now, I would have bought a house on Miller Drive overlooking my favorite part of the Strip. But that fantasy has faded considerably since the Strip no longer resembles that era at all. Plus, I'd most likely be dead by now.

If I could, I'd import some of my posts here over to that site in hopes of attracting more 77 SS aficionados to this thread. Not being a Facebook, Twitter, Blog or Skype kind of guy, this is my only insertion into social media. I spend a fair amount of time and effort trying to ensure that most of my posts here are meaningful, informative and/or entertaining because I get such a kick at relating to others (such as yourself) who share my interest in this subject. We've got a long way to go to get to 2,000 pages worth of discussion (as in Noirish LA), but I'm giving it my best shot!

 

[Rustifer]

There is one car in the show that continues to baffle me. It is the car driven by Jeff in Jeff's version of the story in "Once Upon A Caper" when Kookie comes upon him stranded with a flat tire.

Can anyone here identify that car? I'm as certain as I can be that it is not a FoMoCo product, unless it is some sort of concept car.

Speaking of concept cars, I was watching one of the latest episodes of American Pickers (which is a great show if one is into all things retro) that had a segment on 1950's "bubble" cars. There's a guy in Ann Arbor, Michigan that restores these beauties and resells for up to $400,000.

These were imagined what the cars of the future (such as the year 2000) would be like, which of course do not remotely resemble anything on the road today. But gosh, they were sure cool to look at.

 

[Rustifer]

Baxter Kellog is the middle-aged star attraction at the county fair in "Open and Close In One"(S3Ep27). Baxter (Buddy Ebsen), formerly a silent movie star, now makes his living as a high platform dancer. Stu Bailey, a longtime admirer of Baxter, has been summoned to find his lost good luck charm without which he cannot perform. If he does well with his act, he's promised a TV show of his own, so he needs that damn charm. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the premise of the TV show is about a country bumpkin that strikes it rich and moves his family to a spiffy suburb of Los Angeles. Just guessin', mind you.
Baxter has a list of acquaintances who could be the thief of the charm, which causes Stu to puff vigorously on his pipe while pondering the vagaries of the case.
Back at Dino's, Stu and Kookie are enjoying coffee when Baxter's wife (Julie Adams) shows up to announce the charm has been found and Stu's services are no longer needed.

Buddy Ebsen and Julie Adams, Joel Grey, Dawn Wells

Baxter's nephew (an incredibly young and stick-thin Joel Grey) arrives and denies that the charm has turned up. He introduces Stu to another suspect played by Dawn Wells. I always preferred Dawn over Ginger in Gilligan's Island due to her girl-next-door sexiness vs. Tina Louise's overt eyelash-batting traits. I understand that this can be a highly debatable topic.
Also on the hook is Rochelle Adrian (Carol Ohmart) who when Stu meets is wearing a diaphanous nightgown, backlit to be completely transparent. Let me tell you, that scene alone is worth the other 55 minutes. She puts the moves on a disinterested Stu, who apparently is suffering from ice water in his arteries at the time. Carol always struck me as a Shelley Winters sort of hard-edged woman.

Carol Ohmart / Buddy proving his balance prowess

The plot thickens when Roxanne is found murdered holding the aforementioned lost charm. There's a completely unnecessary story segment in a gym that exists only to highlight Kookie doing an Olympic-quality dismount off the parallel bars. Mr. Byrnes was quite a limber lad in his youth.
With the charm found and the murderer revealed, Baxter is able to perform his 50-foot high act successfully after which we assume he loads up the truck and moves to Beverly. Hills, that is.

After over-indulging in martinis the previous evening watching "Strange Bedfellows", I decided to give my vodka-soaked liver a respite and pick up on Rob's preference with a couple of Makers Mark bourbons on the rocks. I was a better man for it.

 

[disctrip]

An author friend of mine is doing an exhaustive book on the series; he expects it to be finished and out this year.

Mike S.

There is also a book that came out in 1985 with McFarland called Warner Bros. Television That featured some pages on each series along with a list of all the episodes.

 

[criblecoblis]

Baxter Kellog is the middle-aged star attraction at the county fair in "Open and Close In One"(S3Ep27). [. . .]
Also on the hook is Rochelle Adrian (Carol Ohmart) who when Stu meets is wearing a diaphanous nightgown, backlit to be completely transparent. Let me tell you, that scene alone is worth the other 55 minutes. She puts the moves on a disinterested Stu, who apparently is suffering from ice water in his arteries at the time. Carol always struck me as a Shelley Winters sort of hard-edged woman.

View attachment 44359
Carol Ohmart / Buddy proving his balance prowess

A kind word for Carol Ohmart: I love her, and not just because she's pretty. She is delightful in the Dante episode "The Bavarian Barbarians." I think she often brought intelligence to her roles.

 

[criblecoblis]

After over-indulging in martinis the previous evening watching "Strange Bedfellows", I decided to give my vodka-soaked liver a respite and pick up on Rob's preference with a couple of Makers Mark bourbons on the rocks. I was a better man for it.

I feel honored! You know, Maker's Mark is the only oaky bourbon I know of that tastes good both straight and on the rocks.

 

[Rustifer]

I feel honored! You know, Maker's Mark is the only oaky bourbon I know of that tastes good both straight and on the rocks.

Yep, Makers Mark is my general go-to bourbon when indulging in that particular spirit. But for a really oaky / charcoal-smoky bourbon, there's a small artisanal distillery here in Indy that produces small batch spirits. I'm familiar the guys that own the place as my niece works there. My first taste of their bourbon blew me away--and I can't get enough of the stuff now (despite cost of $50 a fifth). Check it out at:
www.1205distillery.com
You won't find their bourbon listed as they make such a small amount. If you'd like to try, I'd be happy to hook you up.

 

[Rustifer]

"The Legend of Leckonby" starts out with the guise of being another larkish caper played more for fun than seriousness. Stanley Leckonby (Richard Carlyle) has just been released from jail after having been arrested 5 years earlier for a bank robbery. Some $85,000 was never recovered and Stanley maintains he lost it all at the race track. The insurance company for the bank hires Bailey & Spenser to retrieve the money, as they're convinced Stanley still has it hidden somewhere.
At first, Stanley is only a shadowy figure (ala Adam Gallante) to whom we only catch glimpses, and is touted as a "genius" by all who are acquainted with him. Dangerous, he is not--having pulled off the robbery with a squirt gun.

Richard Carlyle--who had a fairly limited acting career / Rochelle Hudson

Jeff begins his search for Stanley at his previous residence, a seedy boarding house run by a former speakeasy madame (Rochelle Hudson) who intuitively identifies Jeff as "a scotch and soda man". He follows up at a really depressing, dingy bar Sliver Whistle with an assortment of even dingier patrons, one being an over-imbibing Victor Buono. I always use the appearance of the brilliant Victor to reproduce a snippet of one of his clever poems on being overweight:

Right now, I want a wedding cake
Some lemonade, a cashew shake,

Two waffles and a bowl of chili
A hot dog full of piccalilli,

Some purple poi, and a loquat leaf
And french fries with a side of beef.

Restrain me lest I run amok
And mug a passing ice cream truck...

When we finally meet the meek and donut-loving Leckonby, we learn that he's long been in love with Francey Sheldon (Jean Allison), a former waitress at the Silver Whistle. She's been holding a mysterious package for Stanley while he's been in jail. It's suspected of containing the missing $85,000. The landlady steals it and gets murdered for her efforts. But by who? When the package is recovered, it contains nothing but old race track slips and a little black book filled with women's names and phone numbers. As Jeff reads off the names, one is Joanne Breitenberger, which is actually the name of Edd Byrnes real-life sister. I suppose the writers just threw that in as a bit of an inside chuckle knowing no one outside the cast would actually know that. I did.

Because there's a murder in this episode, it misses the mark of being a pure spoof but still stands up as highly entertaining. Not to spoil the ending, but the little black book turns out to be in code--and reveals what Leckonby really did with the stolen cash. It's quite a nifty twist. Stanley Leckonby is a genius.
Directed by Robert Douglas, I rate it 2 and 1/2 martinis.

 

[criblecoblis]

Yep, Makers Mark is my general go-to bourbon when indulging in that particular spirit. But for a really oaky / charcoal-smoky bourbon, there's a small artisanal distillery here in Indy that produces small batch spirits. I'm familiar the guys that own the place as my niece works there. My first taste of their bourbon blew me away--and I can't get enough of the stuff now (despite cost of $50 a fifth). Check it out at:
www.1205distillery.com
You won't find their bourbon listed as they make such a small amount. If you'd like to try, I'd be happy to hook you up.

That's very kind of you, but it sounds a bit too oaky (and pricey!) for me. If I see it available at a bar, though, I will definitely try it and give you a review.

 

[criblecoblis]

"The Legend of Leckonby" starts out with the guise of being another larkish caper played more for fun than seriousness. Stanley Leckonby (Richard Carlyle) has just been released from jail after having been arrested 5 years earlier for a bank robbery. Some $85,000 was never recovered and Stanley maintains he lost it all at the race track. The insurance company for the bank hires Bailey & Spencer to retrieve the money, as they're convinced Stanley still has it hidden somewhere.

Richard Carlyle gives an impressive performance in the Bourbon Street Beat episode "Inside Man." This episode is a re-make of White Heat, with Carlyle in the Cagney role. This is a rough assignment to give any actor, but Carlyle meets the challenge convincingly, without his trying to play the role as Cagney did.

 

[Rustifer]

I had every intention of settling in last night to watch "A Face in the Window" and write a review today. However, I found myself alone in the house and therefore subject to the whims of our household pet community of 2 dogs and 4 cats. They obviously had other ideas as to what "settling in" means. Hopefully I can get to it tonight, although once again I emphasize that the Rex Randolph episodes are my least favorite.

This was one of the furry beasts keeping me company--although not so complacent last night as she is here...

 

[Rustifer]

TIDBIT
After seeing Dawn Wells in Open And Close In One the other night, I decided to look a bit more into her history--beyond the obvious Gilligan's Island stint. Which, by the way, did you know what Mary Ann's last name was in the show? Summers. I don't think I knew that. She wasn't in the pilot--in fact, Mary Ann, Ginger and the Professor were all school teachers in the original script. By the end of the show's run, she outdid all the other cast members in number of fan mails. Even Bob Denver.
She was Miss Idaho in the 1960 Miss America contest. Didn't win, but certainly gained some fame and creds from that. Miss Wells was named among TV Guide's 50 Sexiest Stars of All Time in 2005, which confirms my opinion that she surpassed Ginger (Tina Louise) in that department.

Not sure who this guy is, but he's most certainly looking for love in all the right places...

Published a cookbook in 1993, so I'm guessing she knows how to boil water.
She got busted for having a car load of joints in 2007, kinda dampening the Mary Ann image a tad. Her scheduled Girl Scout appearance and speech got cancelled.
Invented My Easy Dressing--which makes specialized clothes for elderly people.
She established and runs the Idaho Art & Film Institute these days.
I can think of three 77 SS episodes she's appeared in: The Inverness Cape Caper, The Rival Eye Caper, and Open And Close In One.

Chad Everett, Dawn and Edd Byrnes in The Rival Eye Caper, and making my heart go pitter pat...

 

[Gary16]

TIDBIT
After seeing Dawn Wells in Open And Close In One the other night, I decided to look a bit more into her history--beyond the obvious Gilligan's Island stint. Which, by the way, did you know what Mary Ann's last name was in the show? Summers. I don't think I knew that. She wasn't in the pilot--in fact, Mary Ann, Ginger and the Professor were all school teachers in the original script. By the end of the show's run, she outdid all the other cast members in number of fan mails. Even Bob Denver.
She was Miss Idaho in the 1960 Miss America contest. Didn't win, but certainly gained some fame and creds from that. Miss Wells was named among TV Guide's 50 Sexiest Stars of All Time in 2005, which confirms my opinion that she surpassed Ginger (Tina Louise) in that department.

View attachment 44449
Not sure who this guy is, but he's most certainly looking for love in all the right places...

Published a cookbook in 1993, so I'm guessing she knows how to boil water.
She got busted for having a car load of joints in 2007, kinda dampening the Mary Ann image a tad. Her scheduled Girl Scout appearance and speech got cancelled.
Invented My Easy Dressing--which makes specialized clothes for elderly people.
She established and runs the Idaho Art & Film Institute these days.
I can think of three 77 SS episodes she's appeared in: The Inverness Cape Caper, The Rival Eye Caper, and Open And Close In One.

View attachment 44450

Chad Everett, Dawn and Edd Byrnes in The Rival Eye Caper, and making my heart go pitter pat...

She was also in The Corsican Caper” which was her first appearance on 77. Also two Hawaiian Eye and two Surfside 6.

 

[Rustifer]

She was also in The Corsican Caper” which was her first appearance on 77. Also two Hawaiian Eye and two Surfside 6.

I just knew you'd come through with a more complete list, Gary...

 

[criblecoblis]

I had every intention of settling in last night to watch "A Face in the Window" and write a review today. However, I found myself alone in the house and therefore subject to the whims of our household pet community of 2 dogs and 4 cats. They obviously had other ideas as to what "settling in" means. Hopefully I can get to it tonight, although once again I emphasize that the Rex Randolph episodes are my least favorite.

View attachment 44446
This was one of the furry beasts keeping me company--although not so complacent last night as she is here...

Nice pup! We have a similar menagerie, 3 dogs and four cats, and they can also be quite demanding.

Oh, and also, I wanted to ask: what is your opinion of "Old Card Sharps Never Die"? That's one of my favorites. William Fawcett was never better.

 

[criblecoblis]

Dawn Wells also apparently had a nose job some time between 77 and Gilligan's Island, although I don't think she particularly needed one.

She appeared in most of the WB series of the time, appearing in one episode each of The Roaring 20s, Maverick, Cheyenne and Lawman.

 

[criblecoblis]

We're watching "Pasadena Caper" (for the dozenth time) right now, which I particularly love because we live in a Victorian home in Pasadena that a nice lady lived in from 1900 until her passing at 104 in 1969, and for much of that time this house, just like the one in the episode, had no electricity.

I am fascinated by the home shown in the episode; it is so complete in so many details that I wonder whether it was a set, or a real home. I mean, it even has plumbed gas lighting fixtures. But IMDb does not list anything but studio locations.

I suppose this could have been a built set. Does anyone here recognize this home from older WB films, or have knowledge of the existence of this set?