Best of Route 66 (1 Viewer)

[Stephen Bowie]

I wouldn't be too quick to pounce on Leonard Freeman (who wrote "Blues for the Left Foot"). He was a writer originally and did some fine scripts for Four Star Playhouse and the Alcoa/Goodyear Theatre.

Often when a producer of that era wrote for his own show he was doing it to fill a gap in the schedule, not out of inspiration. That's why, for instance, Leslie Stevens' scripts for The Outer Limits and Gene Roddenberry's scripts for Star Trek generally don't represent their best efforts.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I wouldn't be too quick to pounce on Leonard Freeman (who wrote "Blues for the Left Foot"). He was a writer originally and did some fine scripts for Four Star Playhouse and the Alcoa/Goodyear Theatre.
Often when a producer of that era wrote for his own show he was doing it to fill a gap in the schedule, not out of inspiration. That's why, for instance, Leslie Stevens' scripts for The Outer Limits and Gene Roddenberry's scripts for Star Trek generally don't represent their best efforts.

Sorry for the perceived slight on Leonard Freeman. I didn't know about his previous writer credits. But, as a writer, it's natural to cringe when you see a producer get a writer credit on a show. That's a slot that could have gone to another writer who could use the gig. But, you're right, that sometimes production schedules dictate a quick slot needs to be filled, and the fact that this episode was filmed right in CBS' back yard probably confirms that this was one of those scripts.
But, for the record, I also cringed at the Leslie Stevens scripts for The Outer Limits. Surely Joseph Stefano could have had a few more coffees and pulled a few more 24/7s and filled those slots.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

S2 2 cents continued ...
"love is a skinny kid" Okay, we're back on track with a very good episode. Tuesday Weld wearing a Kabuki mask (thankfully not for the entire episode). Burt Reynolds as a greaser (in a toupee-off with George Maharis). And Cloris Leachman playing ... a grown woman's mother (in 1962). Which begs the question ... was Cloris Leachman EVER young. She's like the Benjamin Button of guest stars - she first showed up playing old.
Another great Silliphant soliloquy for Buz about how hate can be a powerful, sustaining force and "love is a skinny kid" (fragile and fleeting) that needs all the nuturing it can get. Oh, and did I mention Tuesday Weld?

 

[Tim Tucker]

Which begs the question ... was Cloris Leachman EVER young. She's like the Benjamin Button of guest stars - she first showed up playing old.

Presumably... but I remember watching her in a 1959 episode of One Step Beyond ("The Dark Room") and thinking how middle-aged her character looked, even though she was only 33 at the time.

 

[Mike*HTF]

I didn't think she looked so old in Kiss Me Deadly.
Recently I rewatched The Rack and was surprised to find her in it - she didn't look at all as I remembered and I had to check the credits to be sure.

 

[Tim Tucker]

TBH, I didn't recognize her in One Step Beyond until I saw her name in the credits.

I believe we never think of her as young, because she made her biggest splash in the '70s with Mel Brooks and Mary Tyler Moore, when she was in her forties.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Anyone remember Cloris Leachman from that Big Valley episode? That one also guested Frank McGrath (Wagon Train).

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

S2cents
"kiss the maiden all forlorn" Here's another episode dealing with faith and spiritual committment in a way Hollywood wouldn't touch today (or probably on most series in the last 30 years): A young woman (Zina Bethune) chooses to be a Bride of Christ instead of a Daughter of Rich Daddy. That the father is "richly" and warmly played by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. makes it especially poignant. And then there's Beatrice Straight playing a nun again (named Mother Teresa!). Am I confused in thinking she's made a near career playing nuns? Oh, and the stars of the show, Buz and Tod? They have about three lines each. Perhaps they got paid as under-five-line extras for this episode, saving budget room for Fairbanks.

 

[Bob Hug]

Here's another episode dealing with faith and spiritual committment in a way Hollywood wouldn't touch today (or probably on most series in the last 30 years): A young woman (Zina Bethune) chooses to be a Bride of Christ instead of a Daughter of Rich Daddy. That the father is "richly" and warmly played by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. makes it especially poignant. And then there's Beatrice Straight playing a nun again (named Mother Teresa!). Am I confused in thinking she's made a near career playing nuns? Oh, and the stars of the show, Buz and Tod? They have about three lines each. Perhaps they got paid as under-five-line extras for this episode, saving budget room for Fairbanks.

Wayne, this episode is not among my favorite episodes of season 2 but, once again, "Route 66" deals with matters of faith and religious beliefs in an honest and respectful way which I greatly appreciate and, as Gary OS commented in an earlier post, "That's what makes the show real, IMHO." It was also good seeing young Zina Bethune return to the series after her season 1 appearance in the memorable "The Swan Bed." And, as to the minimal lines that Buz and Tod had in this episode, you will see this same scenario played out in Leonard/Silliphant's "Naked City," where the series regulars are occasionally relegated to "bit players." That's one of the things that I like about both series . . . if the dramatic situations in the episode calls for the series' leads to come "front and center," so be it, but if they're just peripheral characters, both series aren't afraid to move them to the sidelines, at least on a temporary basis. It's the honesty in the writing that elevates both of these great series.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

S2cents con'd
"two on the house" Another father-son tale. This one about a 11 year-old boy who fakes his own kidnapping to get attention from his rich workaholic father (Ralph Meeker). Perhaps this type of story should be listed as another cliche staple in many classic TV series, particularly of that era. I get the feeling that these stories also appeal to the producers who hire the writers (Gilbert Ralston, here) because of their own guilt ignoring their families and children. They feel good about the ending where the dad finally changes his ways, and then they don't have to. A good portion of Jimmy Stewart's career was making pictures that made Hollywood moguls feel good about themselves, even though they continued to be schmucks.
"there i am, there i always am" Wow. This episode is all you need to explain how George Maharis got sick and left the series (I think he misses the last four episodes of Season 2 after this). It's just the story of Buz trying to rescue Joanna Moore from a deserted beach on Catalina where she got her foot stuck in the rocks and the tide is rising. And, boy, the producers must have hated Maharis by this point because they torture him throughout this episode. He's running here, running there, climbing telephone polls (that's no stunt double for that shot), running down hills, banging trash cans, climbing rocks, jumping into the surf, getting wet, running around wet, jumping into the surf again, getting wet some more and basically spending the entire episode wet (which means they had to throw buckets of water on him to maintain continuity for every shot). And keep in mind, that Pacific Ocean water is about 57 degrees. And they must not have liked Joanna Moore either, keeping her wedged under a rock with the waves splashing around her the entire time. I read that Maharis claims he first got sick after jumping in icy cold water to rescue Barbara Barrie two episodes earlier. But this is clearly the episode that put him in the hospital directly after.* I don't think I've ever seen a series actor put through so much in a single episode. Could you really blame him for never fully playing ball with the producers again after this ordeal?
*Another contributing factor could have been the episode in between these two where, once again, Maharis has to dive into the drink, this time to save the boy in "two on the house." This was the Cuyahoga river in Cleveland which was so polluted that, notoriously, it actually caught fire in 1969.

 

[Bob Hug]

Wow. This episode is all you need to explain how George Maharis got sick and left the series (I think he misses the last four episodes of Season 2 after this). It's just the story of Buz trying to rescue Joanna Moore from a deserted beach on Catalina where she got her foot stuck in the rocks and the tide is rising. And, boy, the producers must have hated Maharis by this point because they torture him throughout this episode. He's running here, running there, climbing telephone polls (that's no stunt double for that shot), running down hills, banging trash cans, climbing rocks, jumping into the surf, getting wet, running around wet, jumping into the surf again, getting wet some more and basically spending the entire episode wet (which means they had to throw buckets of water on him to maintain continuity for every shot). And keep in mind, that Pacific Ocean water is about 57 degrees. And they must not have liked Joanna Moore either, keeping her wedged under a rock with the waves splashing around her the entire time. I read that Maharis claims he first got sick after jumping in icy cold water to rescue Barbara Barrie two episodes earlier. But this is clearly the episode that put him in the hospital directly after. I don't think I've ever seen a series actor put through so much in a single episode. Could you really blame him for never fully playing ball with the producers again after this ordeal?

I thought this was one of the lesser episodes of season 2 . . . . just way too many scenes of Buz running back and forth to the beach shack and around Catalina Island like a madman. For me, this is one of the few episodes that I've seen thus far that would have played much better in a half hour format. Still, there is tension created in the episode with the rising tide creeping up around Moore. The seemingly endless shots of Buz running just seemed like unnecessary padding, IMHO.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

S2cents con'd
"between hello and goodbye" I could stare at Susan Oliver (with or without a platinum or brunette wig) all day, but this predictable episode doesn't do much but provide her a nifty showcase for playing a schizophrenic. And if you think that writer Silliphant's eccentric, kooky, and often crazy women are unrealistic, just spend 10 minutes talking to an aspiring actress hanging out at the Improv on Melrose Avenue and you'll see that Claire, Chris, Vicki, "Sweet Thing," and all the others are more documentary than fiction. And it's very cool to see the Ocean Park pier with its roller coaster, cable cars and fake aquarium before it burned down later in the decade after this was shot.
"a feat of strength" Jack Warden is always good, even when doing a poor Hungarian accent, but there's a lot of motionless talking scenes getting us to that penultimate moment where we come to accept that being a monkey on a string professional wrestler entertainer can have its noble purpose. I think Mickey Rourke is spinning pure Oscar gold after this same premise in the current feature, "The Wrestler." And the scene where Tod gets tossed around by a double that bears no resemblance whatsover to Jack Warden is a hoot.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

S2cents con'd
Last two episodes of Season 2
"hell is empty, all the devils are here" Great title. And it's true. This episode revolves entirely around the device of jungle show owner Peter Graves getting his theatrical agent drunk and trapping him in a cage to have him torn apart by an enraged tiger in an act of vengeance. Gee, I wonder what inspired the writer (Silliphant) to come up with this concept? Oh, that's right ... he HAS an agent, too. And keep this in mind; Ari Gold is one of the NICER ones.
"from an enchantress fleeing" Now here's a real oddball episode that I don't remember seeing before, where Arthur O'Connell plays a cybernetic inventor running away from a wealthy, all-business wife who runs an orthodontic clinic where Tod is employed to use "psycho-dontia" to distract kids before they get their teeth drilled. There's a scene where the inventor unveils a "love machine" (a computer) that interfaces with a woman and produces violin music, perfume scents and bouquets to her exact desires. There's a scene where the inventor, a washed up boxer, and a film producer trade philosophies about women while wearing robes in a men's meditation retreat (is that the Self-Realization center off Sunset?). Listen to the film producer complain about all the interference he gets, and then speculate ... "I should go into television, I bet it never happens there." In other words, this is Stirling Silliphant's episode to do just whatever the heck he feels like doing, say whatever he wants to say, and get a few licks in. On controlling women. On controlling studios. On a life punched out like a computer card itself.
For me, the most brilliant moment of the writer's 'uncontrolled' philosophy on display is the scene where O'Connell has retreated to Mexico to carve chairs and is selling them for $35 for one, or $1,000.50 for six. Tod asks him how he came up with this pricing. O'Connell replies basically, "Well, carving the one chair was fun. Making five more just like it would be boring." That basically tells you everything you need to know about his attitude about writing for television, and why he put up a noble fight against cookie cutter TV scripts.
The other thing most stark about these last four episodes is just how dead on arrival they are without Buz (George Maharis). It's easy to understand how the producers basically knew the series would never survive without him. It's like a brain with only the left side and not the right. The analytical without the poetic or irrational. It doesn't make for good theater. It's missing the passion and soul. And Glen Corbett's dreamy eyes (I remember my mom always swooned over him) are just no substitute.
I'm sure there are good episodes coming in Season 3 (Vicki, the sequel!), but with the world weariness on display from the principal writer in the last episode here, and Maharis missing in action, we may have passed the stage where this classic Corvette was running on all cylinders.
But please, Infinity, continue to let it run it's course for us on DVD.

 

[Stephen Bowie]

"From an Enchantress Fleeing" originated with Abe Ginnes, a terrific writer and a friend, late in his life. Also blacklisted, like Will Lorin. Silliphant kept rewriting him on ROUTE 66 -- his one subsequent episode bears a pseudonym (I'll let you guess which one it is). But rent Ginnes's NAKED CITYs; that was more Howard Rodman's show than Silliphant's, and Ginnes's contributions there are unfettered and mostly brilliant.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

"From an Enchantress Fleeing" originated with Abe Ginnes, a terrific writer and a friend, late in his life. Also blacklisted, like Will Lorin. Silliphant kept rewriting him on ROUTE 66 -- his one subsequent episode bears a pseudonym (I'll let you guess which one it is). But rent Ginnes's NAKED CITYs; that was more Howard Rodman's show than Silliphant's, and Ginnes's contributions there are unfettered and mostly brilliant.

Thanks for the information. Forgive me for not mentioning his story credit on that episode (I believe the episode itself lists him along with Silliphant, or at least a story credit. Imdb does not. But then it is NOT complete on these things or anything else). It was just obviously a writer's episode, too, where there was some self-commentary on the process, the grind, etc., and I enjoyed it for those reveals.
I have some Naked City sets and will look for Ginnes' work there. I suppose he didn't use Alan Smithee as a psuedonym since that would be the director.

 

[Stephen Bowie]

No, that's a great observation about that speech being an obvious bit of writer's autobiography. And I honestly have no idea which one wrote it, Silliphant or Ginnes.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Okay, I confess, I double-dipped and ordered the Producer's Picks DVD (aka Best of Route 66). The more support we can give to these releases, the better chance Infinity sticks with their release schedule for Season 3 (or so my twisted logic goes).
I also figure that once I watch the four episodes I haven't already seen recently (from Seasons 3 and 4), I can always pass this set on to the un-initiated friend or relative and help create another fan for the show (again with the twisted logic).
Also, I spent more on lunch today than this release (boy, the rationalizations just keep on coming).
Movies Top Sellers - Route 66-producer's Picks
And then there's the part about keeping this thread active.
BTW - since there are multiple producers credited, it should be called Producers' Picks. And that's not twisted logic, that's just correct grammar.

 

[Flashgear]

Oh, I agree with you Wayne, and with the same reasoning...I'm thinking of getting the "...Picks" collection too...because I just can't wait for season 3 and really want to see "Poor little Kangaroo Rat" and "Soda pop and paper flags"...There's something about this series that still deeply affects me...yes, the eloquence and intelligence evident in MOST episodes...I want to commit to memory some of the beautiful dialogue heard here..complex, conflicted, vulnerable and tragic characters encountered along the way...the allure of the road trip undertaken by unencumbered youth...carrying their own burden along the way, but retaining the optimism that youth should grant them...the panorama of America as I remember it from my youth...people of the everyday working world that you rarely see depicted in contemporary shows...I'm politically and philosophically conservative, but with an appreciation for the good accomplished for the greater society by people of liberal ideals...very much in evidence in this series...it's fascinating to see the incipient social revolution just getting underway in the early '60s as depicted on Route 66...even with the constraints of network TV back in the day, a lot is said that amazes me and more yet hinted at...yes, it appeals to my nostalgia, but with a realistic retrospection too...the early '60s were a great time, but with the rot of racial, ethnic and religious bigotry much in evidence...I remember loving this show as a kid and it's only better now...

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Full circle. This thread is actually now about the Best of Route 66 again, or Producer's Picks, as it's now called.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the episodes include the original Chevrolet ads AND previews of the next show with voiceovers from Maharis or Milner. How cool is that? (Rod Steiger coming in a Season 3 episode). But it makes me wonder why these prints weren't available for the Season sets. I haven't cross checked against the Season 1 set the one episode from the first half of Season 1 here, "play it glissando," but the print here looks good. Imagine someone picking up this best of set, running out to get the Season 1 set, and discovering the hideous quality of the first half of that set. Talk about switch/bait advertising.
But, hey, I can now do another episode mini-review starting with a Season 3 selection ...
"lizard's legs and owlet wings" Route 66 has done silly before, but never this corny. But who's going to complain? It's got horror legends Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr. and Boris Karloff meeting at a hotel near Chicago to debate whether the "old" monsters still have it, or it's time to move on. And, of course, the hotel is also hosting a convention of executive secretaries, so much fainting ensues as Lon dons his Wolf Man garb and howls through the hallways overacting to the moon. Boris even puts on his Frankenstein make up for the first time in about 30 years. And Peter Lorre, well, with those rolling eyeballs, he doesn't need any monster make up. Tod and Buzz take another back seat in this episode with minimal screen time. And Buz dons his goofy smile for his appearances (last seen mooning over Vicki in "how much a pound of albatross?"). Silliphant probably could have done something meatier with this unique cast, but his fondness for these legends shines through with an unusual lack of cynicism, and that makes for a sweet valentine to the "old" masters of horror.
I once attended a memorial event for Boris Karloff at the Motion Picture Academy hosted by Vincent Price and featuring film clips from throughout his career and testimonials from his fans and fellow actors. What a personal thrill that was. And what a tribute it would be to finally get Thriller on DVD to help keep his legacy alive.

 

[Bob Hug]

on DVD to help keep his legacy alive.

It's not much, but a single public domain episode from "Thriller" titled "The Return of Andrew Bentley" has surfaced on Mill Creek's Sci-Fi TV collection.
Mill Creek Details Page