Tributes To Your Favorite Classic TV Stars (3 Viewers)

[The 1960's]

Jon Provost (March 12, 1950) 74th Birthday Tribute

Continued From Previous Page



The Hunter

​

Going back to their secret place, Timmy ponders about the love of his life. He momentarily forgets she is missing and throws a stick for her to chase, but then, reality hit hard!

Tears For Lassie / Series Ending Theme

End Part 2

S08E25 The Odyssey: Part 3 (Mar.04.1962)​

Part 3 begins with Ruth and Paul considering a new pet for Timmy while Lassie leaves the Hunter, still yearning for home.

​

Cully (Andy Clyde) brings over a puppy and lets it enter Timmy’s room.

​

When the new puppy begins playing with Timmy’s home coming gift for Lassie, he becomes angry and realizes he doesn’t want a new puppy. He and Cully have a heart to heart talk. He returns the pup.

​

After his talk with Cully, Timmy comes to terms with his loss. He cleans out his closet containing all the the toys belonging to Lassie. He places them in a box which he will bury at their secret place.

Ruth: What are you doing dear?
Timmy: Cleaning some things out of my closet.
Ruth: But these are Lassie’s toys.
Timmy: I know, I’m getting rid of them.
Ruth: Why I don’t understand.
Timmy: Lassie’s never coming back mom. I don’t think she’s dead or anything. I bet she’s got a new home right now with someone real nice. We’ll just never see her again, that’s all.
Ruth: Oh Timmy. [crying] I’m sorry. You have to excuse your mother. I’m pretty fond of Lassie you know.
Timmy: You won’t feel so bad later on mom. Takes time to get over things.
Ruth: [nods yes] I’m very proud of you Timmy.
Timmy: I have to take these somewhere mom.

​

As he begins burying Lassie’s toys, Timmy sees something.

Spoiler Clip Ruth & Timmy / Homecoming

​

Closing comments: As I viewed this just now, I remember how I felt watching it first run back in 1962 and although it doesn’t hit me in the same way, I still feel it’s brilliance. I hope in some small way you did too.

Thank you June Lockhart (now 98 years old), and Jon Provost for so many years of allowing us to share in the Lassie classic television family experience.

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S05E25 Jon Provost Meets Mister Ed (Jun.09.1965)
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Johnny gets into trouble with Gordon after breaking one of his windows while delivering on his paper route.



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Lassie is still seen worldwide. Here is an episode from Germany.

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Happy 74th Birthday Jon Provost!​

 

[Sky King]

Neal,

Great Sunday night memories.
Lassie at 7, Ed Sullivan at 8.
This series really needs a high definition restoration from 35mm masters. The current prints from 35mm standard definition prints, don’t do this show justice.
Also, the beautiful episodic music from this show, which currently resides at UCLA, needs a CD release.
The closing theme still makes my eyes water not only for its beauty, but also seeing Baby now long gone, wave goodbye. While many of the TV Lassies lived long lives into their mid teens, Baby (Jon’s favorite), died at age 8 from cancer in 1965.

John

 

[timk1041]

Neal,

Great Sunday night memories.
Lassie at 7, Ed Sullivan at 8.
This series really needs a high definition restoration from 35mm masters. The current prints from 35mm standard definition prints, don’t do this show justice.
Also, the beautiful episodic music from this show, which currently resides at UCLA, needs a CD release.
The closing theme still makes my eyes water not only for its beauty, but also seeing Baby now long gone, wave goodbye. While many of the TV Lassies lived long lives into their mid teens, Baby (Jon’s favorite), died at age 8 from cancer in 1965.

John

Absolutely! Thanks for sharing.

 

[ponset]

Nancy Kovack.

Nancy got to swing with Tarzan, later she had a swinging good time playing the Joker's moll "Queenie" in Season 1 of BATMAN.

 

[The 1960's]

Barbara Feldon (March 12, 1933) 91st Birthday Tribute​

Barbara Feldon (born Barbara Anne Hall; March 12, 1933) is an American actress primarily known for her roles on television. Her most prominent role was that of Agent 99 in the 1965–1970 sitcom Get Smart. She studied acting at HB Studio. Following working as a model, Feldon's break came in the form of a popular and much-parodied television commercial for "Top Brass", a hair pomade for men by Revlon. Lounging languidly on an animal-print rug, she purred at the camera, addressing the male viewers as "tigers”. This led to small roles in television series. In the 1960s, she made appearances on Twelve O'Clock High (season one episode "End of the Line"), Flipper (season one two-parter episode "The Lady and the Dolphin") and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (in "The Never-Never Affair", which aired spring 1965). In 1964, she appeared with Simon Oakland in the episode "Try to Find a Spy" of CBS's short-lived drama Mr. Broadway…Continue @ Wikipedia

The obvious choice for a Barbara Feldon Tribute would be from her signature role as Agent 99 in Get Smart. But I’m not a fan of that series. Nevertheless I have chosen another of Ms. Feldon’s classic tv appearances, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the Twenty-Fifth Episode of the First Season entitled, The Never-Never Affair. Original Airdate March 22nd, 1965. It is without a doubt an eye candy Barbara Feldon extravaganda!! Here she plays a character which plays out like as pre-cursor for her role as Agent-99 only 6 months later in Get Smart. Cesar Romero is the THRUSH bad-guy you just can’t really hate, and he and Ms. Feldon work magic together. She is absolutely charming, adorable, innocent and funny. This is my delayed Birthday Tribute to Barbara Feldon. Agent 99 is 91, Happy Birthday!

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968)

Series Theme

S01E25 The Never-Never Affair (Mar.22.1965)

Directed by
Joseph Sargent
Writing Credits
Dean Hargrove Writer
Sam Rolfe Developer

Stars
Robert Vaughn … Napoleon Solo
David McCallum … Illya Kuryakin
Leo G. Carroll … Alexander Waverly
Barbara Feldon … Mandy Stevenson
Cesar Romero … Victor Gervais
Robert Gibbons … Donald Baker
Leigh Chapman … Sarah
Kate Murtagh … Miss Raven
Mel Gallagher … Mechanic
Clarke Gordon … Ice Cream Vendor
Hank Grant … Thrush Agent
David Armstrong … Thrush Agent
David Banks … Thrush Agent
Herbert Bress … Movie Fan
John Stephenson … Varner
Walt Davis … UNCLE Agent (uncredited)
George Ford … Pedestrian (uncredited)
Jimmie Horan … Man with Clothesline (uncredited)
Ron Rich … Pedestrian (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre … Pedestrian (uncredited)
John Herman Shaner … UNCLE Agent (uncredited
Norman Stevans … Pedestrian (uncredited)

Produced by
Norman Felton … executive producer
Robert Foshko … associate producer
Sam Rolfe...producer
Music by
Jerry Goldsmith
Morton Stevens
Cinematography by
Fred J. Koenekamp director of photography
Editing by
Henry Berman
Art Direction by
George W. Davis, Merrill Pye
Set Decoration by
Budd Friend
Henry Grace
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bill Finnegan assistant director
Sound Department
Franklin Milton recording supervisor
Camera and Electrical Department
Earl C. Williman...lamp operator (uncredited)
Editorial Department
John D. Dunning
Music Department
Frank E. Anderson
Jerry Goldsmith
Morton Stevens
Additional Crew
George Lehr​

The story opens with Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) being incinerated by THRUSH agents from the New York Divison. French Division Leader Victor Gervais (Cesar Romereo), expresses his displeasure for their killing.

Victor Gervais: Ha ha ha ha. Fascinating. It would have seemed simpler perhaps to shoot him in the leg. Then we could have searched and interrogated him. But then I never did understand your American strategy although I must say it intrigues me.

Gervais makes a request.

Victor Gervais: Perhaps now we can concentrate on getting results. For example, getting the small list of names that courier is taking to UNCLE headquarters. Do you suppose we could channel our energies in that direction, hmmm?

Mandy Stevenson (Barbara Feldon) is an UNCLE translator, however she’s also been delegated the task of getting Waverly more pipe tobacco and she is extremely bored to death with both. She wants excitement and she’s willing to do just about anything to get it. As a prank to garner attention she holds Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) at gunpoint. It’s obvious the two have played this game before.

Napoleon Solo: Hello Mandy
Mandy Stevenson: Hello Napolean
Napoleon Solo: I see you brought the file with your customary … efficiency
Mandy Stevenson: To the wall Mr. Solo, your back to it.
Napoleon Solo: I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Mandy Stevenson: Feet apart.
Napoleon Solo: It’s rather clever of you I must admit.
Mandy Stevenson: I hoped you’d like it. Keep your hands against the wall.
Napoleon Solo: It’s not bad 37 seconds.
Mandy Stevenson: Too late for you Mr. Solo. [shoots gun]
Napoleon Solo: NO DON’T!
UNCLE Security Officer: What’s going on here?
Mandy Stevenson: Uhhhh OH!
UNCLE Security Officer: What’s this all about?
Mandy Stevenson: I didn’t know they were here.
Napoleon Solo: That’s right and they didn’t know this was a toy. You know they could have killed you? I would have let them too but good Portuguese translators are hard to find.
Mandy Stevenson: That isn’t very sensible. I was just showing him how self sufficient I’m going to be when he takes me with him to the American conferences as his personal translator.
Napoleon Solo: Oh really I didn’t know anyone was going with me to Rio? Mandy really wants very much to find the romance and glamour of espionage work.
UNCLE Security Officer: So would I!
Mandy Stevenson: See I have this time coming to me and I felt if I ah just happend to be in Rio at the same time you were that you ..
Napoleon Solo: Mandy ..
Mandy Stevenson: That, would be a very bad idea.
Napoleon Solo: Mr. Waverly is waiting for the files.

Dying Of Acute Dullness

​

Mandy’s next attempt earns her much attention from Solo.

Napoleon Solo: Well hello there.
Mandy Stevenson: Hello.
Napoleon Solo: Mandy what are you doing?
Mandy Stevenson: Now you’ve got to listen to me.
Napoleon Solo: Mandy take your finger off that emergency alarm button.
Mandy Stevenson: Nope not until you hear me out. Now I just want you to understand something Naploean. I came to work to find a little excitement really? Well so far the most exciting thing that’s happened to me is to miss my subway connection. I might as well be working for the telephone company.
Napoleon Solo: Well I’ll tell you in a about 30 seconds you’re going to have all the excitement because everybody in the buliding is going to be coming down that elevator shaft after us if you don’t get your finger off that button.
Mandy Stevenson: Oh Napolean you know what I’m talking about. If I could just get involved win something, just do something then at least I’d have a memory. I mean it’s bad enough I don’t have a future. I can’t even have a past.
Napoleon Solo: Mandy listen I wish I could help you.
Mandy Stevenson: Oh Napolean I just don’t even care if they have weather in Brazil anymore. I’m dying of acute dullness.
Napoleon Solo: Alright gentlemen, put away your tools. Just a little personal malfunction.
UNCLE Security Officer: Let’s go have some lunch.
Mandy Stevenson: Oh well I guess I’ve bored you enough with my troubles. You’ve been a good sport. There is another way to look at it, without me Baker would starve to death.

The Man From UNCLE was not known for comic relief but here we see Solo playing a practical joke on Mandy Stevenson and the dialogue is brilliant. What Solo doesn’t know yet is that the joke’s on him.

Napoleon Solo: Mandy wait a minute. If there was something you could do in New York would that satisfy you?
Mandy Stevenson: Of course it would, I just want to do one thing that.
Napoleon Solo: Now I’m not going, not going to kid you it’s a dangerous assignment.
Mandy Stevenson: That’s the best kind.

Napoleon Solo: It’s a special courier emergency for Mr. Waverly ahh, all our regular couriers are tied up.
Mandy Stevenson: What is it?
Napoleon Solo: I want you to make a delivery to the tobacco shop
Mandy Stevenson: Tobacco shop.
Napoleon Solo: That’s right. You’ll take Mr. Waverly’s Humidor and make the delivery to the tobacco shop, and when you get there you’ll ask the man for Mr. Waverly’s special blend, Isle of Dogs 22. Ilsle of Dogs number 22. Got that?
Mandy Stevenson: Mmm mm, oh, what’s the address?

Napoleon Solo: Ahh.
Mandy Stevenson: Ohh ohh.
Napoleon Solo: It’s on East 76th street at that number.
Mandy Stevenson: Any special route?
Napoleon Solo: Of course. You’ll use the evasion pattern, number 8, now pay attention. You’ll leave the building here you’ll walk three blocks North you’ll get into a taxi cab and go six blocks West. Now walk up to 49th street.
Mandy Stevenson: 49th street.
Napoleon Solo: The 49th street cross town bus.
Mandy Stevenson: Cross town bus, right.
Napoleon Solo: Get off at the next avenue and double back go twelve blocks South again. That’s right twelve blocks. You’ll be in an area now that has lots of theaters, houses
Mandy Stevenson: Yes I…

​

Napoleon Solo: You know that area? You go into one of the theaters and wait five minutes, five minutes only, get out, go three blocks North take a taxi cab one block to the West, and you’re there, You get that?
Mandy Stevenson: Umm.
Napoleon Solo: You got it?
Mandy Stevenson: Yes, right.
Napoleon Solo: Alright. Mr. Waverly’s secretary will give you the Humidor, just tell her I sent you.
Mandy Stevenson: Right, I’ll leave right away.
Napoleon Solo: Mandy!
Mandy Stevenson: Yes yes, what?
Napoleon Solo: Ahh, when you get to the tobacco shop, make sure that the man who is there is the only one that opens the humidor.

 

[The 1960's]

Mandy Stevenson: Ohhhhhh, it’s wired to explode that’s right isn’t it.
Napoleon Solo: Welll, let’s just say he knows how to open better than anyone else. He will put something in it and you will return it here using reverse evasion pattern number 8.
Mandy Stevenson: Right.
Napoleon Solo: And Mandy, good luck.
Mandy Stevenson: Oh Napolean, thank you!
[Kisses Napoleon]

Dying Of Acute Dullness

When Mandy informs Baker that she’s the special courier. Baker then gives her the Microdot containing a list of the top 12 Thrush Agents in France. Her life is now very much in danger.

Waverly orders Solo and Kuryakin to find her before Leader Victor Gervais the head of THRUSH in France does.

On her way to the Tobacconist, Mandy is being trailed by Solo and Kuryakin as they in turn are followed by two THRUSH Agents disguised as Ice Cream Salesman.

Mandy hides in a movie theater. Solo and Kuryakin follow.

Mandy escapes the theater into a Coffee Shop where she accidentally bumps into Victor Gervais and in so doing looses her contact lens.

 

[The 1960's]

Back in the theater, Solo and Kuryakin eliminate two THRUSH agents.

Thanks to a THRUSH agent from the NY Division, Victor Gervais is now aware that Mandy Stevenson is the UNCLE courier. He’s grown fond of her, and why not? The handles of his Limo are locked on the inside.

Mandy Stevenson: How would you like it if I screamed?
Victor Gervais: An UNCLE agent scream? Now I am surprised. I’m sure you realize that car is completely sound proof?
Mandy Stevenson: Well uh, just that I, happen to scream rather well.
Victor Gervais: You should relax now mademoiselle. You’ve done very well so far besides we both know that this part of the game is over.
Mandy Stevenson: Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure of that.
Victor Gervais: Haha, you’re very charming mademoiselle. Ah here look at this. This is a gift from a friend of mine in Paris. Here. There now smell that.
Mandy Stevenson: Doesn’t smell so good.
Victor Gervais: Haha.
Mandy Stevenson: What is it?
Victor Gervais: A cologne center tranquilizer. Bonsoir mademoiselle.

Mandy is brought to a THRUSH Field Center. Gervais wants the list. He holds the humidor. Mandy thinks it’s wired to explode. When she refuses to hand over the Microdot containing the list of Thrush agents. A rather large woman (Miss Raven) is brought in to search her.

Victor Gervais: That will be all Miss Raven.
Mandy Stevenson: Yes sir.
Victor Gervais: Mandy Stevenson. It seems we overlooked the formalities of our encounter. I am Victor Gervais. I know you’ve had a very trying day Miss Stevenson. May I relieve you of the information you are carrying?
Mandy Stevenson: Ahh, what information is that?
Victor Gervais: Please, please let us treat each other with some respect after all we are both professionals.
Mandy Stevenson: That’s true.
Victor Gervais: Now you are carrying a little list in some form and you are conseding this in some manner, I wonder what it looks like? Could I encourage you to show it to me?
Mandy Stevenson: Oh I uh would really hate to disappoint you. Maybe you shouldn’t try.
Victor Gervais: I uh saved this for the last because it is most interesting. A girl and her Humidor.
Mandy Stevenson: Uh humph
Victor Gervais: Odd that a girl should be carrying it, isn’t it? Well it looks like a Humidor. The right size at least. Smells like a Humidor. What you suppose it is?
Mandy Stevenson: Ahhh, a Humidor, [snork]
Victor Gervais: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, a discerning answer. Ahh of course, if it is not the common place everyday type of Humidor, it might be dangerous to open unless one knew how.
Mandy Stevenson: Ommm, that is one way of looking at it.
Victor Gervais: Would you oblige me please?
Mandy Stevenson: Oh no. I don’t know how to open it either. See that Humidor belongs to a friend of mine, he just lets me carry it.
Victor Gervais: A most difficult decision.
Mandy Stevenson: What are you gonna do?
Victor Gervais: Gamble with our lives. I’m going to open your Humidor. You have lost your amusement value! I’m afraid you know the next step, now please give me the information.
Mandy Stevenson: It won’t work Mr. Gervaism, and let me warn you, I don’t crack under pressure.
Victor Gervais: Not at all?
Mandy Stevenson: Not noticably, no!
Victor Gervais: We shall see. I’m afraid we must start by searching you.
Mandy Stevenson: Oh boy.

Oh Boy!

​

As with most all UNCLE episodes, well, just leave it at that.

Closing Credits

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Red Skelton Hour (1951-1971)

S19E21 People Who Like People Are Cannibals (Feb.17.1970)
Stars Red Skelton Barbara Feldon David Rose and His Orchestra​

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A lady scientist (Barbara Feldon) tests out her new chicken-feed formula on "human guinea pig" Clem Kadiddlehopper (Red). Musical Highlights: The Lettermen sing "Traces" and "Memories." The Lettermen join Barbara Feldon and the Tom Hansen Dancers for "Sweet Georgia Brown"; also, the Dancers and the Jimmy Joyce Singers team up for "Call Me". "The Silent Spot”. A harried househusband is victimized by a room full of recalcitrant toys and appliances.

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Happy 91st Birthday Barbara Feldon, Yet Another Living Icon!​

Upcoming Tributes through March ...

March 17th Kurt Russell 73rd Birthday Tribute
March 18th Peter Graves Birthday Memorial
March 20th Ozzie Nelson Birthday Memorial
March 22nd William Shatner 93rd Birthday Tribute
March 23rd Barbara Rhoades 78th Birthday Tribute
March 31st Richard Chamberlain 90th Birthday Tribute

 

[JohnHopper]

BIRTHDAY MEMORIAL • PETER GRAVES (March 18, 1926-March 14, 2010)

Peter Graves Biography
Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor who portrayed Jim Phelps in the television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973 and in its revival from 1988 to 1990. Continue to read at Wikipedia.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE SEASON 2

Episode #21
“The Town” (1968)
producer: Joseph Gantman
executive producer: Bruce Geller
associate producers: John W. Rogers and Robert F. O’Neill
script consultants: William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter
script supervisor: Allan Greedy
writer: Sy Salkowitz
director: Michael O’Herlihy
cinematographer: Michel Hugo
theme music: Lalo Schifrin

Quote:
“Rollin, how can I get across to you? Rollin, they’re doing this to me. Look at me. I’m going to try to control my breating.”
—thought by mute Jim Phelps lying in a bed.

Tape scene:
No scene.

Summary:
En route to find again his friend Rollin Hand (actor Martin Landau) to spend his holiday in order to shoot deers in the mountain, Jim Phelps (actor Peter Graves) stops his car at a countryside gas station where he witnesses a couple of Est Bloc agents on their way to assassinate—faking a bathtub’s accident—a Russian rocket scientist defector named Mosnyevov in Park Regent, a Los Angeles’ hotel. Jim is taken prisoner and drugged with curare to simulate aphasia. But suspicious Rollin smells something abnormal and alerts the IMF team to confound the enemy’s plan.

Cast and details:
• The Doctor and Head of Intelligence played by Will Geer
• Nurse Liz played by Dee Carroll
• Garage mechanic Williams played by Eddie Ryder
• The Deputy Sheriff played by Greg Palmer
• The Instructor played by William O’Connell
• Waitress Gina played by Robyn Millan
*The killer couple:
• Jan posing as a hotel maid played by Brioni Farrell
• Marty posing as a groom played by Robert Pickering
• Soviet defector Mosnyevov played by George Perina

Jim Phelps
After witnessing a gas leak incident coming from a smoke gun at the pharmacy with a couple whose opened luggage shows the name of a Los Angeles hotel (Park Regent), Jim is held prisoner and immobilized. As in the season 2 “The Spy”, Jim is drugged but to shut his mouth. Good use of parallel editing between the scenes of Jim’s agony (sweating hard) stuck in the bed and the journey by car in the desertic highway tracked with the action-packed cue from the season 2 “Trek”—see the effective forward-tracking-reverse-zooms on the assassins’ car cruising down the highway (this is an alternate use of dolly and zoom shot created by Alfred Hitchcock for the 1958 Vertigo). Jim’s thoughts to call Rollin are translated with reverb—Jim masters his breath and blink his eyes for basic communications. The Doctor injects two massive shots in Jim’s body: first in his back (to stop any motions) and then his neck (the lower cranial nerves: to avoid any talks).

Rollin Hand
Rollin disguises as the Doctor (he anaesthetizes the Doctor with some ether and then coat the face with some plaster for the mask mold while Cinnamon sterilizes a plastic sheet and dyes a wig). Rollin answers to a phone call from killer Marty and gives him the yellow signal.

Cinnamon Carter
Cinnamon pretends to be Mrs. Phelps—she has a baby and her lad is little Willy.

Barney Collier
Barney poses as Mrs. Phelps’ chauffeur. Barney tries to delay mechanic Williams with his broken down limousine.

Willy Armitage
Willy poses as a truck driver, stages a mechanical accident and hurts his arm that heavily bleeds with some some fake blood, of course!

The Actions of the IMFers
Rollin Hand takes over as the leader. From Act 3, the remaining members of the team arrives: Barney, Cinnamon and Willy. Two IMF agents neutralize the medical staff: first, Rollin who neckschops from the rear the Doctor and then Cinnamon who asphyxiates the nurse with a thick compress from the rear in Jim’s bedroom. Rollin communicates with Jim through morse code to be informed about the killer couple. Rollin and Cinnamon act like surgeons and operate on the Doctor in order to create a realistic mold for a face mask. The team stages the official death of Jim and orders a hearse that contains a coffin with the body of Jim. Rollin as the Doctor eventually neck chops complaining mechanic Williams at the exit of the night briefing cellar when the police arrives full force.

Comments:
This departure from the series’ format features no tape scene and no dossier scene. We see Rollin Hand in a lodge which anticipates another kidnapped IMFer episode: the season 5 “My Friend, My Enemy”. Actor Will Geer is real good and, as John Randolph, he is a former American communist; Geer appears in I Spy’s best episode: “Home to Judgment”. The character of the Soviet defector is reminiscent of the season 1 “The Short Tail Spy”. The Instructor and the Doctor are shot tilted when they talk to the rural audience; write down the instruction’s codes: Green for Go, Yellow for Hold and Red for Cancel! The mechanic Williams watches and controls the whole town: see the hidden warning button and the bugged telephone lines. As in the pilot’s ending, a latex mask is spread on the floor. The main plot about a sealed off countryside town by an enemy power can remind two episodes of The Avengers entitled: “The Town of No Return” and “Murdersville” but also the sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). For the anecdote, “The Town” merely featured a solitary sign marked “Woodfield” between Williams Garage and Doc’s office—Woodfield is the last name of writer and story consultant William Read Woodfield. The killer couple passes many Californian towns: Needles, Essex, Barstow, San Bernardino.

Review:
The unusual episode that justifies the watching of season 2 not only for the narrative but for Peter Graves’ character and director Michael O’Herlihy’s fine input. One of my favourite season 2 episode owing to the theme: an entire small American town substituted and ruled by Est bloc agents; the ideal companion piece to the season 1 “The Carriers”. Find my favourite scenes: Jim’s brief peaceful countryside prologue with the silky smooth jazz track used in “The Photographer” combined with the Mission: Impossible logo appearing and transforming as in the season 2 “The Condemned” followed by Jim’s drink in the pharmacy when the couple make their paper bag fall that let see a smoke gun that release a blue gas—Jim is arrested by the local sheriff (the authorities are part of the conspiracy). Notice Rollin’s first encounter with Doc scene is shot tilted as a visual beacon to alert the audience.

Actor Notes:
“The Town” is the first of a series of personal episodes centered around the character of Jim Phelps and from Act 2, we (the audience) can hear the thoughts of Jim begging Rollin Hand to help him and that kind of desperate predicament anticipate a WWI movie entitled Johnny Got His Gun (1971). Actor Peter Graves was the brother of actor James Arness from Gunsmoke. Graves started his acting career in the genre films of the 1950’s decade from western (Fort Defiance, The Raid, Fort Yuma, Wichita, Canyon River) to science fiction (Red Planet Mars, Killers from Space, It Conquered the World, Beginning of the End) and even appeared in notorious feature films like Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17 (1953), Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter (1955) and Otto Preminger’s The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955). But the bulk of his work lied in television as a guest or a leading man in anthologies, series, telefilms from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. He was the leading star in four productions: the western series Fury (1955-1960) and Whiplash (1960-1961), the WWI series Court Martial (1965-1966) and the spy series Mission: Impossible (1967-1973). Appeared in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (the season 1 “I’ll Be Judge - I’ll Be Jury”) and three QM series (12 O’Clock High: the season 3 “A Long Time Dead”, The FBI: the season 2 “Rope of Gold”, The Invaders: the season 1 “Moonshot”). Daystar producer Leslie Stevens directed Graves in the title role of an unsold pilot entitled Mr. Kingston (1963). Another failed pilot entitled Call to Danger (1967) got him the replacement part of Jim Phelps for the second season of Mission: Impossible—originally, the series was conceived for actor Steven Hill as Dan Briggs. And the same pilot Call to Danger was remade in 1973 after the demise of Mission: Impossible with some cast and crew members of the series. The Seventies allowed him to play in some effective movies made for television like The President’s Plane is Missing, Scream of the Wolf, The Underground Man, Where Have All the People Gone, Dead Man on the Run.

Stock music:
“Operation Heart” by Gerald Fried
“Trek” by Gerald Fried
“Echo of Yesterday” by Robert Drasnin
“Memory” by Lalo Schifrin
“The Council” by Jerry Fielding


Mission: Impossible | The Town | Main Titles/Trailer

Mission: Impossible | The Town | Jim stops at a Gas Station

Mission: Impossible | The Town | Jim witnesses an Incident

Mission: Impossible | The Town | Jim receives two Curare Injections

Mission: Impossible | The Town | Jim is safe with the Team

Picture of IMF agent Jim Phelps (actor Peter Graves).

 

[JohnHopper]

BIRTHDAY MEMORIAL • PETER GRAVES (March 18, 1926-March 14, 2010)

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE SEASON 7

Episode #11
“Kidnap” (1972)
producer: Barry Crane
executive producer: Bruce Geller
assistant to the producer: Dale Tarter
story consultant: Laurence Heath
story editor: Stephen Kandel
script supervisor: Barbara Atkinson
writers: Sam Roeca and James L. Henderson
director: Peter Graves
cinematographer: Ronald W. Browne
theme music: Lalo Schifrin
music supervisor: Kenyon Hopkins

Quote:
“What boss? I… What am I doing here? I don’t understand.”
—Jim Phelps (actor Peter Graves), lost and confused.

Prologue:
Pan and zoom out to the left from a green field (possibly, a golf court) to the entrance of a tennis court where a limousine (driven by Proctor) comes out, turns, goes up on the ramp and stops (we see the credits: “Directed by Peter Graves”) to let go two men wearing tennis outfits: henchmen Hawks in white and Henzel with a yellow jacket. They borrow a metal staircase leading to the tennis courts. A blonde waitress brings a cup of tea at the table of Andrew Metzger. Hawks and Henzel walk to the table of Metzger who describes Jim (“The silver-haired gentleman calls himself Fletcher”) and Barney (“His friend calls himself Harding”) drinking teas on a table near the courts. Metzger specifies the target: “Fletcher’s our man.” At their table, Jim is talking about the game of a man named Horton. Barney cuts Jim’s serious talks because they’re on vacation and exclaims: “Why don’t we just play some friendly tennis, get some sun and relax?” The voice of an announcer calls on the speakers Barney as Douglas Harding to go to the lounge. Jim reminds Barney to play tennis in five minutes and says: “All right, whoever she is, tell her later.” Barney gets up and moves forward. Jim is drinking his cup of tea. Barney bumps into the two henchmen in the passageway. Jim continues to savour his tea. The two men head to the board and pretend to check the schedules. Jim is testing his racket when Hawks asks him if he is playing in the tournament? Jim replies he is just a guest. Henzel unzips his bag, takes a bludgeon while Hawks asks Jim to join them. Jim thanks him but he is already engaged when Henzel knocks him out from the rear. Hawks supports his body. Both men carry his body and drag him to the exit while Metzger is watching them. They place Jim in the backseat of the limousine. At the lounge, Barney is on the phone and asks the operator the name of the person who had him paged because he can’t find his party? Out of the blue, we hear the voice of Metzger saying: “I had you paged, Mr. Harding.” The camera pans quickly to the left and we discover Metzger himself who comes closer. Barney cancels his request to the operator. Metzger asks Barney if he knows him. Barney pretends not to know: “Should I?” Metzger introduces himself and tells Barney he knows him by reputation as well as Fletcher (Jim). He reminds him the robbery of the Aquarius Casino that they performed one year ago. Barney still pretends not to understand. Metzger shows him color pictures taken at the Aquarius Casino. Barney is examining the pictures and on his way to leave, he’s stopped by Metzger who informs him he abducted Jim. Metzger invites him to have a talk on a table in order to negociate a release deal. Barney is listening to Metzger who informs him that the casino had automatic security cameras which allowed him to pinpoint them after three weeks of research. Metzger tells Barney he spotted Fletcher (Jim) two days ago. Barney asks him if he wants the money he stole back? Metzger tells Barney he tried to trace them out but found nothing and orders him to do a job. Metzger asks him if he knows Mitch Connally and he replies: “He’s been your sidekick ever since Chicago. When you got to be a big man on the coast, you fixed him up with a juicy territory all his own.” Metzger confesses that he helped him because of a compromising letter of his hidden in a safety deposit box that Connally is about to give to the feds at 3 o’clock today when he receives an immunity deal by phone from Washington. The letter will buy Metzger a conviction for murder. Metzger wants the letter by 4:30 today. Barney is looking at the wall clock that reads “9:39” and tells him it’s impossible on such short notice but, instead, can abduct Connally. Metzger refuses because of two federal agents who guard him. He informs Barney that the letter is in the Westland National Bank, box 6901-A, gives his business card with his number to be called when Barney own the document, gets up and promises to exchange Jim. Barney adds a warning: “Metzger… if anything happens to my partner, I’ll kill you.” Metzger confirms the exchange deal.

Tape scene:
No scene.

Summary:
It’s around 9 A.M., Jim (actor Peter Graves) and Barney (actor Greg Morris) enjoy their holidays in a tennis club but gangster Andrew Metzger (actor John Ireland) has followed them because of the past stickup at the Aquarius Casino, orders two of his men to kidnap Jim and asks Barney, in exchange of his friend’s release, to steal a compromising letter (that will sentence him to prison for murder charge) owned by his former associate Mitchell Connally (actor Charles Drake) who is under the protection of the FBI. Barney, helped by Casey and Willy, must deliver the document before 4:30 P.M. Unfortunately, Hawks (actor Jack Ging), a man of Metzger, enters the competition for his own greed.

Cast and details:
• Syndicate chief Andrew Metzger played by John Ireland
• Metzger’s second-in-command Hawks played by Jack Ging
• Hawks’ henchman Henzel played by Glen Wilder
• Metzger’s driver/henchman Proctor played by Geoffrey Lewis
• Metzger’s ex-associate Mitchell Connally working for the Feds played by Charles Drake
• Federal agent Armsby played by Edmund Gilbert
• Federal agent Ecksworth played by Marc Hannibal
• Bank clerk Sandra played by Arline Anderson
• Security guard John played by Chuck Hicks

Guest IMFer
Featuring female extra Dowager (actress Monty Margetts), a mature woman who steps into an elevator for Casey’s con job and signals Barney with a buzzer.

Jim Phelps
Jim poses as thief Fletcher; Jim is locked in a concrete room of an air raid shelter and ties in to a bunk bed with metal wires; Jim frees himself from his bonds by touching the hot electrical resistances of the heat system that blows up the fuses and also prepares a counterattack by using a cleaning fluid.

Barney Collier
Barney poses as thief Douglas Harding and as a maintenance elevator inspector to go to the basement and to stop the elevator of the Hudson Towers for Casey’s key con and sticks some plastic explosive in the tyre of the Feds’ car; Barney also poses as a Red & White cab driver to lead Connally and the Feds to the bank.

Lisa Casey
Casey poses as wealthy chronic asthmatic Mrs. Holbrook from Fort Worth (Texas) who coughs and stores her jewels in the Westland National Bank; inside the main vault and along with a female bank clerk, Casey drops on purpose her box containing $100,000 worth of jewelry and her key in order to fashion a mold of the bank’s master key thanks to an injection of quick-set plastic in the lock; a banker working for Hawks notices Casey’s comings-and-goings; Casey poses as a claustrophobic lady with a pickpocket knack during the elevator scene to borrow Connally’s key; at the exit of the bank, Casey is robbed by running Hawks.

Willy Armitage
In the back of the van, Willy fashions two keys to open the safety deposit box of Mitchell Connally, poses as a doctor during the elevator con to print Connally’s key in some clay and forges “the” letter at Barney’s apartment.

Comments:
John Ireland is a notorious B-movies character-actor: see Fim Noir as Anthony Mann’s Railroaded! and Raw Deal, Gordon Wiles’ The Gangster and Nicholas Ray’s Party Girl or western films as Howard Hawks’ Red River and Samuel Fuller’s I Shot Jesse James. Note that, as in the season 6 “Committed”, actor Geoffrey Lewis plays again a nasty hood and his character of Proctor is particularly against Jim because he used to be the head of security at the Aquarius Casino and he is now reduced to a lower rank: driver; Proctor warns Jim about any escaping attempts: “You know what’s make me real happy? For you to try to bust out of here. Then I could blow your head off”; Proctor watches Jim and even teases him by throwing him a glass of water out on his face. There’s one comical line that the writer slips in with a double entendre when Proctor is cleaning up his pistol, Metzger says very seriously: “Stop making love to that gun.” Actress Arline Anderson is one of the oldest cast member as Jack Donner for the male and she appears in the season 1 “Action!”, in season 2 (“Operation—Heart”, “Charity”), season 4 (“Fool’s Gold”, “The Falcon”), season 5 (“The Catafalque”), season 6 (“Encounter” and “Trapped”). As in the season 6 “Underwater”, a second-in-command foe is called Hawks. As usual, minor characters receive no credits: the banker with black frame spectacles working for Hawks, the federal chauffeur, the female desk clerk at the apartment building, the real elevator inspector. As in some season 7 (“Break!”, “Leona” and Cocaine”), cinematographer Ronald W. Browne composes a wide angle lens-oriented work and plays with the gimmick of the scale of shots in the same frame to suggest a threat: at the end of Act 4 when both Proctor and Metzger are double-crossed by Hawks, we see the face of Proctor in the foreground and Metzger in the background and when Hawks warns Jim and his IMFers he can’t let them leave, we see the face of Hawks in the foreground and Henzel in the background. The season 5 concept of human failure is present when Casey is robbed by intruder Hawks during Act 3. As in season 2 and 3 (see “Doomsday”), Barney tricks an elevator. As David Redding in the season 2 “The Photographer”, Andrew Metzger owns a ranch with an air raid shelter. The apartment of Connally contains the cube clock from “Ultimatum”. The interior set of Metzger’s house is Dr. Cooper’s one from “Ultimatum” and inside the lobby of Metzger’s house, you can see the woman painting from the season 3 “The Mind of Stefan Miklos”, already used in “Leona”. As in “The Deal”, find another plastic key. As in “Underground”, Willy poses as a doctor. The prologue in the tennis court is a direct reference to a previous spy series: I Spy (replace Kelly Robinson and Alexander Scott by Jim Phelps and Barney Collier). Note that each time Jim is in trouble or goes undercover (see the season 6 “Trapped” and the season 7 “Underground” and “Ultimatum”), Barney becomes the surrogate leader. Instead of the IMF’s usual rituals (tape and apartment scenes), Barney is briefing Casey and Willy around the table of his apartment.

Review:
This is the only departure from the series’ format that borrows from the season 1 “The Ransom” (replace Dan by Barney), directed by actor Peter Graves that is genuinely good and enjoyable because of the turn of the events and actor Geoffrey Lewis’ crazy revengist performance: one of the best of the season. Note that Peter Graves enjoys pan shots (the introduction shot of the prologue) and quick pan shots aka swish pan shots a la The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (see: the appearance of Metzger at the lounge during the prologue, the arrival of Proctor in the air raid shelter room during Act 2 and the transition from the departure of Hawks and Henzel to the arrival of the IMF’s brown van at the ranch of Metzger during Act 4). This episode makes references to the season 6 “Casino” (the stickup at the Aquarius casino) in which Jim and Barney used to have different names: Roger Neeley and Frederick Dawson; the gangsters have pictures of the IMFers from that episode in their pockets but on the wrong side, none of the original guest cast returns here so the connection is not realistic. Hopefully, Lynda Day George returns to her season 6’s engaging performances and her manners remind Cinnamon’s way. For the anecdote, Peter Graves’ favorite episode “The Mind of Stefan Miklos” (season 3) is used via its music and sound effects and, besides, Casey tries to emulate Stefan Miklos by performing instant total recall (she is searching her memory and we see subliminal shots of the envelop) during Act 4 to help Willy’s duplication job.

Actor Notes:
Actor Peter Graves directed his second episode for a CBS series because his first one was the lighthearted season 11 “Which Dr.” (#26) from Gunsmoke, starring his brother James Arness. All the episodes focused on the persona of Peter Graves as Jim Phelps were truly good: “The Town” (season 2), “Nicole” (season 3), “Homecoming” (season 5), “Blind” (season 6), “Trapped” (season 6).

Stock music:
• “The Miracle” by Lalo Schifrin (prologue: at the entrance of a tennis court, a limousine comes out, turns, goes up on the ramp and stops to let go two men wearing tennis outfits; Act 4: the IMF brown van arrives at the ranch of Metzger)
• “The Contender” by Lalo Schifrin (prologue: Barney bumps into the two henchmen in the passageway; Barney offers Metzger to abduct Connally instead of the letter; Act 4: Metzger examines the envelop and discovers it’s empty; Jim launches the pot towards the heater which explodes and releases a big flame)
• “The Bride” by Richard Hazard (Act 1: Casey drops the contents of her jewelry box in the vault)
• “Underground” by Lalo Schifrin (Act 1: Jim turns his head to look at Proctor and the three hoods get out from the concrete cell; the banker watches Casey leave the establishment and checks out her picture; Act 3: In the elevator control room, Security guard John points his handgun at Barney; In his dark cell, Jim tries to cut his bonds; Once alone, Casey heads to the opposite side of the central safes, reaches Connally’s safe, inserts her two duplicate keys)
• “The Killer” by Lalo Schifrin (Act 2: Jim frees himself from the bunk bed; Jim is exploring and searching the room; inside the basement, Barney picks the lock on the door of the elevator control panel; Barney picks up two cables from the chest; Act 3: Barney sticks a radio-controlled explosive charge on the tyre of the feds’ car)
• “Encore” by Lalo Schifrin (Act 2: in the basement, Barney is still looking at his wristwatch and Connally is getting his key from the safe)
• “Takeover” by Lalo Schifrin (Act 1: the limousine stops at Metzger’s residence with Jim aboard; Act 2: Security guard John rushes to the basement; Out of the blue, Security guard John pops up in the elevator room and points his handgun at Barney; Act 4: Jim moves to Hawks to confiscate the envelop and locks the door of the concrete room)
• “Ultimatum” by Duane Tatro (Act 1: Casey starts her asthma act by coughing and holding her chest; Act 3: Hawks is on a public phone and turns his head to watch Casey coming; Act 4: Out of the blue, armed Hawks and Henzel popup from the rear)
• “The Mind of Stefan Miklos” by Richard Markowitz (Act 3: Once alone in the dark, Jim gets up and takes a look around; the wall clock of the bank reads “14:56”, Casey steps into the place and passes by the banker; Act 4: In the vault of the Westland National Bank, Connally unlocks his safety deposit box; In his cell, Jim opens a cupboard and takes a bottle of cleaning fluid; in the cell, Jim is pouring the entire cleaning fluid into the metal pot; Proctor points his handgun at the IMFers from the top of the stairs)
• “Pilot” by Lalo Schifrin (Act 3: Casey is driving the brown van while Willy just finished achieving the key in the back)


Mission: Impossible | Kidnap | Main Titles/Trailer

Mission: Impossible | Kidnap | Jim is kidnapped by two Hoods

Mission: Impossible | Kidnap | Jim is tied up by the Hoods

Mission: Impossible | Kidnap | Proctor teases Jim

Mission: Impossible | Kidnap | Jim locks up the Mobsters

Picture of IMF agent Jim Phelps (actor Peter Graves).

 

[The 1960's]

The Month Of Living Classic TV Icons Continues!

Leslie Parrish (March 18, 1935) 89th Birthday Tribute​

Leslie Parrish (born Marjorie Hellen; March 13, 1935) is an American actress, activist, environmentalist, writer, and producer. She worked under her birth name for six years, changing it in 1959. Leslie Parrish co-starred/guest-starred in numerous films and television shows throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She gained wide attention in her first starring role as Daisy Mae in the movie version of Li'l Abner (1959), where she changed her name from Marjorie Hellen to Leslie Parrish at the director's request. She appeared in the film The Manchurian Candidate (1962), playing Laurence Harvey's on-screen fiancée, Jocelyn Jordan. Other film credits include starring opposite Kirk Douglas in For Love or Money (1963) and Jerry Lewis in Three on a Couch (1966), among others. Parrish amassed an extensive résumé of television credits. Among many other credits, Parrish appeared in guest starring roles on episodes of The Wild Wild West, My Three Sons, Perry Mason, Family Affair, Bat Masterson, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Adam-12, Good Morning World, Police Story, Batman and McCloud. In 1967, she guest-starred on the Star Trek episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?", portraying Lt. Carolyn Palamas, the love interest of the character Apollo. In February 1968, she played opposite Peter Breck in the episode "A Bounty on a Barkley" of The Big Valley. The following month, Parrish made her first guest appearance on Mannix in the episode "The Girl in the Frame”… Continue @ Wikipedia

When I began this thread someone here at HTF commented to me that “we already have a Rest In Peace thread.” March has been the month of Living Classic TV Icons and we continue today with Leslie Parrish on her 89th Birthday. Likely her most notable television role was in Star Trek, S02E02 Who Mourns for Adonais? (Sep.22.1967) as Carolyn opposite the Greek God Apollo (Michael Forrest). Before her last acting role in 1978 she had amassed a considerable resume with 77 film credits and though most were comprised of classic television appearances she did quite a few successful and notable motion pictures (see below). Here are eight of her best classic television appearances.

Steve Canyon S01E17 Operation Big Thunder (Jan.03.1959)
Stars Dean Fredericks Jerry Paris Ted de Corsia Leslie Parrish
​

Gorgeous 24-year-old Leslie Parrish is credited as Marjorie Hellen (her birth name) in a small role as Brannigans's Girl.

Hawaiian Eye S3E21 Four Cornered Triangle (Feb.14.1962)
Stars Grant Williams Anthony Eisley Connie Stevens Chad Everett Leslie Parrish​

Chad Everett as Larry Brand is the object of affection by both a younger woman (Leslie Parrish as Kathy Marsh) and an older woman (Peggy McCay as Julia Tyler Brand), all leading to murder. Good episode!

My Three Sons S07E01 Stag at Bay (Sep.15.1966)
Stars Fred MacMurray William Demarest Don Grady Leslie Parrish​

When a Stag party is raided by the cops, (why?), kind-hearted Steve Douglas takes pity on call-girl Flame LaRose (Leslie Parrish). Is this really a My Three Sons episode???

The Wild Wild West 02E06 Night Of The Flying Pie Plate (Oct.21.1966)
Stars Robert Conrad Ross Martin William Windom Ford Rainey Leslie Parrish​

Three green alien women who are all coincidentally extremely attractive, steal the gold reserve from a bank. One of these ladies is Leslie Parrish as Morn. Really? Could it be all three were Lost In Space and somehow ended up here?

Mannix S01E24 The Girl In The Frame (Mar.16.1968)
Stars Mike Connors Joseph Campanella Leslie Parrish​

After wealthy art collector Calvin Norris (William Windom) sees model Linda Marley (Leslie Parrish) he becomes obssessed with finding her as she’s a clone of the subject in a Renoir painting he owns. He hires Joe Mannix to track her down.

Adam-12 S05E12 Gifts And Long Letters (Dec.20.1972)
Stars Martin Milner Kent McCord Leslie Parrish​

A woman attempts suicide over unrequited love with someone who wants nothing to do with her. Leslie Parrish at her loveliest!

McCloud S05E05 The Concrete Jungle Caper (Oct.13.1974)
Stars Dennis Weaver J.D. Cannon Terry Carter Leslie Parrish​

This one has a little bit of everything in it. A Movie set, Fernando Lamas as Mob Boss Max Cortez and Larry Hagman with Leslie Parrish as Lynne O'Connell romancing star McCloud.

Police Story S01E15 The Ripper (Feb.12.1974)
Stars Darren McGavin Kathie Browne Leslie Parrish​

An episode that would likely be subjected to present day Cancel Culture sees a serial killer mutilating homosexual men. Good episode co-starring Darren McGavin, Kathie Brown, Peter Mark Richman, Marcia Strassman and Michael Cole. With Leslie Parrish as Mrs. Delaley.

Leslie Parrish Related Media

Tank Battalion (1958)
Stars Don Kelly Leslie Parrish Edward G. Robinson Jr Frank Gorshin Regina Gleason BarBara Luna Robert Paget Mark Sheeler Baynes Barron Tetsu Komai John Trigonis Don Devlin Troy Patterson Warren Crosby​

Four men in their tank, during the Korean War in 1951, find themselves behind enemy lines.

Li'l Abner (1959)
Stars Leslie Parrish Stubby Kaye Peter Palmer Howard St. John Julie Newmar Stella Stevens Billie Hayes Joe E. Marks Bern Hoffman Al Nesor Robert Strauss William Lanteau Ted Thurston Carmen Alvarez Block Alan Carney Stanley Simmonds Diki Lerner Joe Ploski​

As Sadie Hawkins Day approaches, Daisy Mae hopes to win the hand of Li'l Abner by catching him in the traditional race.

Three on a Couch (1966)
Stars Jerry Lewis Janet Leigh Mary Ann Mobley Gila Golan Leslie Parrish James Best Kathleen Freeman Jesslyn Fax Buddy Lester Renie Riano Renzo Cesana Fritz Feld​

An artist has an opportunity to go to Paris and wants to bring his fiancee along. However, she's a psychiatrist who currently has three female patients who don't like men. So, he guises himself as three different men to gauge their trust and hopefully cure them so that his fiancee can go with him

Three on a Couch (1966) Promo



The Money Jungle (1967)
Stars John Ericson Lola Albright Leslie Parrish Nehemiah Persoff Charles Drake Kent Smith Don Rickles Michael Forest Mark Roberts Edy Williams Marilyn Devin Jim Adams Leslie McRay Dale Monroe Dub Taylor R.L. Armstrong John Cliff George DeNormand Byrd Holland Richard Norris Ed Parker​

When four geologists who form a combine of five industrial companies are murdered, a trouble-shooter is hired to find himself in a net of deadly intrigue and treachery. The prize: a field to be leased to private industry by the state.

The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)
Stars Steve Brodie Barbara Hale Robert Easto Leslie Parrish Alan Hale Jr. Bill Williams Kevin Brodie Diane Lee Hart Tain Bodkin Paul Bentzen J. Stewart Taylor Christiane Schmidtmer William W. Gillett Jr. David B. Hoff Joel Thingvall​

Giant spiders from another dimension invade Wisconsin.

Happy 89th Birthday To Leslie Parrish, Another Living Icon!!!​

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Ozzie Nelson Birthday Memorial​

Oswald George Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975) was an American actor, filmmaker, musician, and bandleader. He originated and starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, a radio and television series with his wife Harriet and two sons David and Ricky Nelson. In the 1940s, Nelson began to look for a way to spend more time with his family, especially his growing sons. Besides band appearances, Harriet and he had been regulars on The Raleigh Cigarette Program, Red Skelton's radio show. Nelson developed and produced his own radio series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. The show originally aired in 1944, with their sons played by actors until 1949. In 1952, it moved to television, where David and Ricky appeared on camera. The radio version continued for another two years, and the last television episode aired in 1966. The TV show starred the entire family, as America watched Ozzie and Harriet raise their boys. Nelson was producer and director of most of the episodes, and he co-wrote many of them. Nelson's brother, Don, was also one of the writers. Ozzie was hands-on, involved with every aspect of both radio and TV programs. Throughout the 1950's, notably, Ozzie's prior bandleading career and Harriet's singing, acting, and dancing careers were seldom mentioned. The younger audience would have had no idea that Ozzie and Harriet had previously been involved in music… Continue @ Wikipedia

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Here's to the great Ozzie Nelson, as we celebrate the man on his birthday. Ozzie's low-key screen persona was...well, basically himself - or at least a version of himself, carefully tweaked to emphasize the sweetly comical side and hide the hardworking, master-of-all-trades facets of his personality. He was obviously a supremely talented and competent man, directing every single one of the show's 435 episodes, as well has having his hand in every aspect of production, from writing, producing, casting, etc., and was only too happy to poke fun of himself onscreen. But Ozzie was not your normal befuddled, put-upon TV sitcom dad. No, he was a true original, his character not easily pigeonholed. He often let himself be the butt of many of the show's more outlandish jokes and physical gags, yes...but he was also shown to be sharp, self-aware and not afraid of expressing strong emotions - especially directed toward his wife and sons.

Ozzie on camera was by turns equal parts lazy and ambitious, querulous and warm, empathetic and clueless, generous and selfish, skillful and clumsy, headstrong and indecisive, steadfastedly faithful to Harriet, yet a helpless flirt when confronted with a beautiful young woman. In other words, he was a very recognizably human character, which makes him a consistently lovable figure to follow through his myriad adventures. As the show went on, and both David and Ricky grew up into handsome young men, Ozzie shifted the focus more onto them and the amusing ups and downs of their college and dating lives...but he was always there, a welcome presence brightening up the story, even with only a scene or two.

In the end, along with the dedicated team of professionals that he built both in front of and behind the scenes, he created an enduring comic world that was both real and surreal, a place full of warmth and heart, but never schmaltzy or sickly sweet. And now, with the release of all 14 seasons of The Adventures or Ozzie and Harriet on remastered DVD (and streaming in HD), in a mammoth restoration effort spearheaded by Ozzie's grandson, Sam Nelson, and the good folks at MPI Home Video, audiences both old and new can enjoy the gentle genius of the show in full.

So to celebrate Ozzie's life and legacy, here are some reviews of select episodes from the show's long run, all of which I feel show his laid-back charm and legit comic skills off to good advantage. (Note: all screencaps taken from MPI's DVD sets).

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
3.22 “The Pajama Game”
Very funny episode, which begins with Ozzie and Thorny getting locked out of their houses in the middle of the night, clad only in pajamas, then winding up stranded downtown, and eventually hitchhiking back from the lake where they had originally planned to go fishing. Just one outlandish (and very funny) scenario after the other. More sight gags, extras and locations than usual add to the specialness of this episode.

4.21 “A Day in Bed”
Ozzie is determined to stay in bed all day, but he soon finds out that it's not going to be as easy as he had first imagined. Another good one, featuring fine guest star turns by Diane Jergens as a bubbly, well-meaning neighbor, and Marvin Miller as a lugubrious member of the Masonic Lodge “Cheer up” committee, who spectacularly fails to raise Ozzie's spirits. While a good show from its very first episode, it’s obvious that the series was by this point really hitting its stride.

5.1 “The Kappa Sig Party”
Ozzie and Harriet end up hosting a last-minute party for David's fraternity. Ozzie dispenses football tips to the team, Harriet cooks up a mess of hamburgers – with David’s pal Wally (the irrepressible Skip Young) nominating himself as taste-tester - and Ricky spins some records, plays the bongos and does a mean dance with one of the young lady guests. Needless to say, the Nelson’s are consummate hosts and the exceedingly well-behaved college kids all have a grand time. Another enjoyably low-stakes outing, which concludes with a touching, heartfelt little speech full of wisdom and love from Ozzie to his eldest son. Sweet stuff.

5.2 "Captain Salty and the Submarine"
Another of my favorite episodes, just a joyous, oddball slice of silliness, with lots of great zingers delivered by Ozzie's family at his expense. Ozzie gets mildly obsessed with an offer of a toy submarine from local afternoon kid's show, Captain Salty. He can't get the boys interested, so he sends in the required six Seafoam Root Beer bottle caps plus 50 cents under his own name. While the toy sub (according to the postman, they are apparently in big demand from other fathers in the area) proves a bit of a bust, Ozzie finds that his order of the submarine automatically entered him in a related Captain Salty contest, and he is the lucky winner of a shiny new bicycle. The only catch: Ozzie has to appear live on the Captain Salty show to accept it...

A very entertaining episode, this also marks one of the final appearances by the great Don DeFore as Ozzie's neighbor Thorny, who claims Ozzie's bicycle prize at the fade-out. In addition to it being just plain funny, and the sort of off-kilter premise that fits this gently surreal show to a T, I get a special kick out of this episode, as it calls to mind some of the low-budget afternoon kids shows which I watched as a youngster back in the '70s. Side note: Jack Wagner, the actor playing Captain Salty, appeared in a whopping 122 episodes of the show in a variety of roles.

5.19 "The Duenna"
David meets a pretty Spanish girl named Lucita in the malt shop and asks her to the dance, but she can only go out with him if she brings along her "duenna," or chaperone. Ozzie, expecting the duenna in question to be a nice little grandmotherly type, agrees to accompany David, but is surprised to find that Lucita's duenna, Carmelita (Lina Romay), is much younger (and foxier) than he expected.

Ozzie's embarassment grows when he realizes that Carmelita believes that he's her date, not helped by the fact that the women don't speak English and neither Ozzie nor David know much Spanish. The foursome head to a local Mexican restaurant and engage in a little dancing, just as Harriet arrives on the scene with three of her attractive Women's League pals. A wonderful episode all around, with many funny lines, lovely ladies galore and even a climactic musical number.

5.24 “The Jet Pilot”
Ozzie gives a speech at an event welcoming the opening of a nearby air force base. As thanks, the new AF colonel (Vinton Hayworth) gets special permission from the White House to allow Ozzie a chance to fly in one of their spiffy new fighter jets. Of course, Ozzie is nervous, but all it takes is a few hits off the jet’s oxygen tank and he turns into a daredevil speed demon. Very funny episode, especially Ozzie’s oxygen-fueled commentary during his flight.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Ozzie Nelson Birthday Memorial Tribute (Cont.)​

5.27 “The Hawaiian Party”
Every year, Ozzie brings home a bundle of travel brochures to plan the family’s vacation…and every year, the Nelsons always end up at the lodge at Lake Murphy. This time, Harriet and boys have their heart set on going to Hawaii, so they take Ozzie to a Hawaiian luau at Harry Owens’ house. (Apparently Owens was a bandleader and famous exponent of Hawaiian music and culture in real life). The party takes up the entire second half of the episode, and sees Ozzie play the ukulele with Perry Botkin (guitarist and musical arranger for Bing Crosby), sing a song with his family, get kissed by five lovely hula dancers in a row, and ultimately, decide to go on vacation to – you guessed it, Lake Murphy. Blond bombshell Joi Lansing has a small bit at the start as a flirtatious customer at the travel agency.

6.2 “Man without a Family”
After many noisy evenings with Rick and his pals hanging out at the Nelson home working on their homework and going through gallons of ice cream, Ozzie suggests to Rick that the boys spread the wealth at some other parents’ houses for a change. But he comes to regret it when the kids suddenly stop coming over at all. As usual, the wifely wisdom of Harriet solves the problem in the end, and all is once again put right with the world.

6.8 "Ozzie's Triple Banana Surprise"
A wonderfully off-the-wall and creative episode, this, as Ozzie chows down on two double banana torpedoes at the local malt shop right before gong to bed and reaps the consequences, with a very strange dream that begins to seem all too real. He wakes up the next morning convinced that part of it really happened, and retraces his steps to find out. Consistently funny and original story, with the added benefit of being loaded with some really nice-looking ladies, including the King Sisters (who croon out a catchy little Hawaiian-flavored ditty), a pair of hula dancers, Claire James (as a brunette waitress) and Gloria Marshall (as a blond one). Also with Frank Cady (as Doc Williams), Hal "Otis the Drunk" Smith as a gas station attendant, and Willard Thompson as the mysterous, cigarette-smoking Mr. Bishop.

6.26 “The Top Gun”
Urged on to win a tepee for the neighborhood kids, Ozzie finds himself in a contest to outdraw cowboy and western TV star, Tex Barton (Ben Johnson), at the grand opening festivities for a new supermarket. Hilarious episode, which features some affectionate digs at TV westerns of the era, as well as yet another of this show’s patented dream sequences, as “Six Gun” Nelson confronts the Laramie Kid (John Doucette) in a saloon showdown.

7.23 “The Small Tent”
Really enjoyed this one, which finds Ozzie's bluff called, leaving he, Darby and Joe having to sleep on the cold, cold ground during a wintertime campout with their wives, who commandeer the lone tent. The campground is near a warm, comfortable lodge, but the guys’ pride – and a lack of cash – force them to return to their campsite and tough it out. The omnipresent Jack Wagner (who, according to IMDB, has roles scattered throughout all 14 seasons) shows up as a hotel clerk.

10.8 “The Barking Dog”
Ozzie makes a wager with Darby (Parley Baer) and Joe (Lyle Talbot) that he can catch more fish than they at his preferred lake destination. He plans to get an early 5:30am start, but a new neighbor’s barking dog is making sleep impossible. The dog takes an instant liking to Ozzie, so the only way he can get him to stop barking is to take him home. The dog ends up accompanying Ozzie on his fishing trip (cruising around the country lanes in his sweet Chevy Impala), but Ozzie sleepiness starts to catch up with him. Connie Harper (who has a recurring role as the secretary at the law office where David works) pops up briefly here as a diner waitress.

12.14 “David and the Mermaid”
David has been put in charge of entertainment for the Women’s League dance (which has a nautical theme) and arranges for an extremely attractive model (Stephanie Hill) to dress up in a mermaid outfit and splash around in a pool during the party. June is not best pleased when she finds out David has volunteered to travel way out of the city to pick the girl up and bring her to the dance venue. Cue a series of unfortunate events which leave David stranded with the mermaid and June getting increasingly cross. Eventually, Ozzie comes to the rescue, but ends up in a bit of hot water himself. This one’s a real hoot, and the nubile Ms. Hill is super cute (and her character a real good sport).

14. 10 “Flying Down to Lunch”
Harriet and Clara accuse Ozzie and Joe (Lyle Talbot) of being set in their ways and never doing anything different. So, when a friend of Joe's offers to take them along on an company errand, by airplane, down Mexico way, the boys decide to go with him. They think it’ll be a gas to call their wives and tell them they’re lunching in Mexico City, but instead, they wind up in tiny, one-burro town Poco Loco way out in the middle of nowhere, with only a single taco truck (run by Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez) and a iffy phone line to keep them occupied.

14.13 “The Ghost Town”
Ozzie and Harriet unexpectedly wind up spending the night in a ghost town, where the lone occupant, a garrulous old coot (Paul Hartman), informs them that the name of the town is Harrietville, and just might have been named after a distant relative of Harriet’s. Rick sings a couple of songs, including a nice, honky-tonk version of "Truck Drivin' Man." I love how MPI included some of the original closing commercials and sponsor bits on these sets.

---

So happy birthday, Ozzie! Thanks for the hours and hours of diverting entertainment and pleasure you, your family and friends gifted to the world. May you and your work never be forgotten.

 

[Gary OS]

Unfortunately, the extreme hectic nature of life has prevented me from creating a tribute to one of my favorite actors of all time, Ozzie Nelson. But I want to thank all of you that have gone to the trouble of writing up such wonderful tributes on his birthday!

in the meantime, I highly recommend everyone pull out their Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet DVD sets and watch a couple of episodes in tribute to Mr. Nelson today. And if you ever have a chance, here’s a book that I bought years ago that is great reading for any fan of his. Find it if you can, and enjoy.

Gary “next year…” O.

 

[The 1960's]

Thank you Jeff for your superb multiple episode Tributes to Ozzie Nelson and to Gary for his love of everything Ozzie!

Ozzie Nelson (March 20, 1906-June 3, 1975) Birthday Remembrance

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet HD Stream

S06E10 Tutti-Frutti Ice Cream (Dec.11.1957)

Directed by
Ozzie Nelson
Writing Credits
Don Nelson Jay SommersOzzie Nelson

Stars
Ozzie Nelson … Ozzie Nelson
Harriet Nelson … Harriet Nelson
David Nelson … Dave Nelson
Ricky Nelson … Rick Nelson
Parley Baer … Darby
Bruce Belland … The Four Prep (as The Four Preps - Bruce)
Ed Cobb … The Four Preps (as The Four Preps - Ed)
Glen A. Larson … The Four Preps (as The Four Preps - Glen)
Marvin Ingram …The Four Preps (as The Four Preps - Marvin)
Joseph Kearns … Druggist
Frank Sully … Sergeant Dolan
Mack Williams … Grocery Clerk
Joe Byrne … Malt Shop Customer
June Fenley … Malt Shop Worker
Barbara Gayle … Malt Shop Customer
Carl Greyson … Self (Announcer)
Connie Harper … Malt Shop Worker

Produced by
Ozzie Nelson Leo Pepin
Music by
Basil Adlam
Cinematography by
Neal Beckner
Editing by
Jim Faris
Production Design by
James Roth
Set Decoration by
Jack D. Moore
Makeup Department
Naomi Cavin
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Bremerkamp
Art Department
Jack Iannarelli
Sound Department
Victor Guarnier
Max M. Hutchinson
Camera and Electrical Department
Joseph Edesa
Costume and Wardrobe Department
George Sedilla
Editorial Department
Bill Murphy
Music Department
Frank McKelvey
Robert Bain
Script and Continuity Department
Dorothy Aldrin​

While the family discusses the picture in the paper showing a little boy eating Tutti Frutti Ice Cream, Ozzie mentions the best Tutti Frutti he ever ate was at the Wrede & Koops Ice Cream Parlor in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. Then, a few moments later in the episode dream sequence, Ozzie is seen eating Tutti Frutti Ice Cream at an actual ice cream parlor, the very same Wrede & Koops Ice Cream Store where he grew up! In real life, Ozzie loved ice cream. David said it was his only weakness. Ozzie talks himself right out of his diet.

The episode focuses on Ozzie’s yearning for Tutti Frutti Ice Cream and his search to find someone who has any. Along the way he manages to get everyone else obssessed with his craving as well.

Ozzie: Why is it when you’re on a diet you automatically turn to the ads showing good things to eat.
Rick: Hey was I ever lost?
David: Yeah a long time ago and they never found you.
Harriet: What brought that up?
Rick: See this picture of this little boy in here?
Harriet: Oh he’s a cute little fellow. He’s lost but he likes it. No wonder? Sgt. Dolan is keeping him happy with a large Tutti Frutti Ice Cream Cone until his parents show up.
Ozzie: Oh yeah , I saw that.
Rick: Tutti Frutti Ice Cream. Pretty good deal, huh pop? Think I’ll go out and get lost. And don’t show up at the Police station until I’ve had 6 or 7 cones.
David: Relax will ya.
Harriet: I haven’t tasted Tutti Frutti Ice Cream in years. I remember they use to run a special on it about once a week when I was in High School.
Ozzie: Uhh Wrede & Koops Ice Cream Store back in Ridgefield Park used to have about the best I ever tasted. Gave you a great big dish of it for a dime.
Rick: Let’s go
Ozzie: Where?
Rick: Back to Ridgefield Park.
Ozzie: I don’t even know if they have the Ice Cream Store there anymore.
Rick: I’m willing to take a chance, I’m desperate.
Harriet: You think I was starving you guys to death or something.
Ozzie: No not me I had a good dinner. They sure used to serve big portions.
Harriet: The same thing in Kansas City, there’s a little Ice Cream store right down the corner from our house. Well it was right on the corner, it was about 2-3 blocks that was the place I was telling you about before. They use to run specials on their homemade Ice Cream.
Ozzie: Somehow you just don’t get Ice Cream like that anymore.
David: You don’t get anything like that anymore.
Ozzie: When you ordered a quart of Ice Cream in those days you use to pack it down real tight, then they wouldn’t level it off. They’d heap it up so high you could hardly get the corners on the box closed. A quart of Ice Cream was really a quart of Ice Cream!
Harriet: The same thing if you ordered it by the dish, they really gave you big portions.
Ozzie: Say have we got any Tutti Frutti Ice Cream out in the freezer?
Harriet: Not unless you put some in there, why?
Ozzie: Oh I was just wondering.
Harriet: Did you want some now?
Ozzie: Oh no, not necessarily, we had a fine big dinner it’s just that we didn’t have any desert.
Rick: How about getting some Tutti Frutti Ice Cream?
Harriet: I thought we all agreed we could do without deserts for a few days and cut down on our calories.
Rick: It’s alright with me if pop can take it.
Ozzie: Hah if pop can take it, are you kidding?

That night, Ozzie dreams about Tutti Frutti Ice Cream.

Wrede & Koops Ice Cream Parlor Dream Sequence

♫ Goody Goody [Tutti Frutti] ♫ *

The Revised lyrics of Goody Goody sung by the entire Nelson Family incorporating the Tutti Frutti theme.

Harriet Nelson
So you found someone who set you back on your heels,
Goody goody!
So you found someone and now you know how it feels,
Goody goody!
So you gave him your heart too, just as I gave mine to you,

Harriet Nelson
And he broke it in little pieces, now how do you do?
So you lie awake just singin' the blues all night,
Goody goody!
And you think that love’s a barrel of dynamite,
Hooray and Hallelujah, you had it comin' to ya
Goody goody for him!
Goody goody for me!
I’m glad hope you're satisfied you rascal you.

David Nelson
Oh pardon me boy but what can I do for you?

Ozzie Nelson
Tutti Frutti!

David Nelson
And you young lady?

Harriet Nelson
Well I’ll have the same thing to,

Ozzie Nelson
Tutti Frutti!
With Peaches and Pineapples too,

Harriet Nelson
And Cherries sprinkled through,

Ozzie Nelson
Do you chop them in little pieces?

David Nelson
That’s exactly what we do!

Rick Nelson
And what about you and you and you?
Tutti Frutti!

Rick Nelson
That’s a lot of Tutti Frutti but I’m tryin’ to do my duty for you,

Ozzie Nelson
I thought you’d come through,

Hooray and Hallelujah!

Rick Nelson
You got it comin’ to ya.

Ozzie Nelson
Tutti Frutti for me,

Harriet Nelson
Tutti Frutti for me,

Tutti Frutti for me,
Tutti Frutti for me,

Tutti Frutti Tutti Frutti Tutti Frutti Tutti Frutti Tutti too Tutti Frutti, too too!

Harriet Dances The Charleston! ​

At the time this episode was filmed, Harriet Nelson was 48 years of age. As she danced the Charleston we can see she was quite agile.

As Ozzie awakens from his dream his yearning for Tutti Frutti Ice Cream has increased.

Ozzie: Give me my Tutti Frutti! I want my Tutti Frutti!
Harriet: Ozzie?
Ozzie: David come back, give me back my Tutti Frutti!
Harriet: What’s the matter?
Ozzie: It’s David, he knows I’m good for it. I’ll pay him.
Harriet: What are you talking about?
Ozzie: My Tutti Frutti Ice Cream!
Harriet: Oh is that what you’re dreaming about.
Ozzie: Oh I’m sorry I woke you up.
Harriet: Yeah, you were strumming on my backbone.
Ozzie: Ahh I was playing the Banjo. Harriet are you sure we don’t have any Tutti Frutti Ice Cream?
Harriet: I’m positive. Why don’t you go back to sleep?
Ozzie: Wait a minute. I have an idea. Maybe Darby has some. He likes Ice Cream almost as well as I do.
Harriet: Oh Ozzie, it’s 12 o’clock, he’s probably fast asleep.
Ozzie: No no he goes to bed very late.

Ozzie awakens a very grumpy next door neighbor, Darby (Parley Baer).

Grumpy Darby

​

When Ozzie comes back empty-handed, Harriet is dressed and ready to go out and find some Tutti Frutti Ice Cream!

 

[The 1960's]

First stop is Miller Drugs where the Druggist (Joseph Kearns) somehow convinces a dissatisfied Ozzie into buying a quart of Cherry Ice Cream as a replacement for the Tutti Frutti he doesn’t have.

Finally home and back to bed Ozzie is awakened by Darby, now locked out of his house. Ozzie invites him to play some cards. Thanks to Ozzie now Darby has the same craving for Tutti Frutti Ice Cream. Darby suggests they make some Tutti Frutti Ice Cream from scratch. While searching for recipes, Ozzie stumbles on a better one and they break out the frying pan and make a Hamburger instead. According to Darby, you just couldn’t ask for anything better than that.

They realize their burger requires a Tutti Frutti Ice Cream topper and Darby asks Ozzie what started this whole Tutti Frutti Ice Cream obsession. After Ozzie explains about the little boy in the newspaper article, Darby suggests they call Sgt. Dolan and find out just where they get their Tutti Frutti Ice Cream at the Police Station!

Ozzie and Darby are off to McDonald’s Market where the Tutti Frutti Ice Cream is the flavor of the month. However, once again, no Tutti Frutti Ice Cream, it’s all sold out. But the manager recommends a place called Lang’s.

The boys drive around and get lost. Ozzie has an idea.

The story ends as it began, in a Police Station eating Tutti-Frutti Ice Cream, only this time it’s Ozzie doing the eating.

Closing Credits

​

* The song Goody Goody was composed by Matty Malneck back in 1936 with the lyrics by Johnny Mercer Here’s that original recording by the Benny Goodman Orchestra with vocals by Helen Ward.

​

Goody Goody (1951) - With Johnny Mercer singing vocals. Some history. Back in the '30s, Johnny encountered the words "Goody Goody" on the menu of a Chinese restaurant and jotted them down for future use. The song was first recorded in January of '36 by Ted Wallace (Ed Kirkeby, who managed Fats Waller) and His Swing Kings, but it was the second recorded version, from the following month, by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, that became the monster hit. When Helen Ward was presented with the number, she was rather less than enthusiastic, imploring of her boss, "Please don't make me sing that damn song!" She admitted, though, that eventually she did learn to appreciate the insistent and impudent ditty. Many hits and a "Best Original Song" Oscar after writing "Goody Goody," Johnny sounds very pleased here with his song -- and why not?

The original Johnny Mercer Lyrics.

Good thing, got yourself a good thing
It's a good thing
It's a good thing, got yourself a good thing
I won't let you go
So you met someone
Who set you back on your heels
Goody goody
So you met someone
And now you know how it feels
Goody goody
So you gave him your heart too
Just as I gave mine to you
And he broke it in little pieces
Now how do you do?
So you lie awake
Just singin' the blues all night
Goody goody
So you think that love's
A barrel of dynamite
Hooray and Hallelujah
You had it comin' to ya
Goody goody for him
Goody goody for me
And I hope you're satisfied
You rascal you.

Ozzie Nelson Related Media

Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra - This Is No Dream (1932)



Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra (1943)



HARRIET NELSON - Just Because / Goody Goody (1957)



Ozzie and Harriet Interview (Nov.18.1969)



Day at Night: Ozzie Nelson, TV actor-producer (Jan.1.1974)​

Day at Night originally aired on public television from 1973-1974. This episode was restored by CUNY Television. Taped at WNET in New York, June 6, 1974. CUNY TV is proud to re-broadcast newly digitized episodes of DAY AT NIGHT, the popular public television series hosted by the late James Day. Day was a true pioneer of public television: co-founder of KQED in San Francisco, president of WNET upon the merger of National Educational Television (NET) and television station WNDT/Channel 13, and most recently, Chairman of the CUNY TV Advisory Board. The series features fascinating interviews with notable cultural and political figures conducted in the mid 1970's.

Tomorrow Show - Ricky & David Nelson Interview (1979)​

1979 interview with David and Ricky Nelson on NBC's Tomorrow Show. Hosted by Peter Graves.

Biography (1987-)
Stars Jack Perkins Peter Graves Harry Smith
The life stories of various historical figures and celebrities are told.

Ozzie and Harriet: The Adventures of America's Favorite Family (Jun.21.1998)
Stars Parley Baer Joyce Brothers Peter Fornatale Peter Graves Kristin Harmon Sally Hughes Art Linkletter David Nelson Gunnar Nelson Harriet Nelson Matthew Nelson Ozzie Nelson Ricky Nelson Sam Nelson Tracy Nelson Paul Petersen Dwight Yoakam​

Ozzie and Harriet Nelson and their sons Ricky and David become well-known thanks to their 1950s TV show.

In Memory to a Genius of a Man, Happy Birthday Ozzie Nelson!​

 

[ponset]

 

[ponset]

Leslie Parrish.

Peter Graves.

Peter and his brother James Arness in uniform.

 

[benbess]

Star Trek’s “Balance of Terror,” Starring William Shatner
Original airdate: December 15th, 1966

I was two years old when this episode first aired, and although my Mom later told me that one of my babysitters dressed me up as Mr. Spock for Halloween in 1969, I didn’t become a regular viewer of Star Trek in re-runs until 1973. That’s still more than half a century ago, and my mind reels to think that for most of my already long life I’ve been enjoying and thinking about the various Star Trek shows, off and on.

I’ve sometimes taught a class on sci fi films, and this class is in part about exploring how real world issues are highlighted in science fiction. One of the episodes I picked from the original Star Trek to watch together and then analyze is, as you’ve already guessed, “Balance of Terror,” whose title was actually something that Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1968, used to describe the threat of mutually assured destruction from nuclear weapons in the Cold War with the Russians. This grim reality, obviously, is still part of our world today. The illustrated video below that I created some years ago for my class does a deep dive into the “Balance of Terror” episode on this issue, and others, over nineteen minutes.

But this is a tribute day for William Shatner, who as Captain Kirk was one of my heroes growing up. Mr. Shatner as Kirk conveyed wise leadership, problem-solving, charisma, humor, and more, all while having great on-screen rapport with Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock and DeForest Kelley’s Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, who were also heroes of mine. In 1976 I went with some friends to my first and only Star Trek convention in Los Angeles, and it was packed. Featured speaker William Shatner had the huge audience in the palm of his hands with his charming, funny, and insightful speech and Q & A session. Rumors were already swirling around the convention that Star Trek was going to be revived, either as a TV show or a movie, and Mr. Shatner said he was excited about bringing Captain Kirk back—to which the audience cheered wildly. At the end of Mr. Shatner’s speech, one of my older sister’s women friends, 20 or so at the time, who had a bit of a crush on Mr. Shatner, got his autograph and chatted with him a little, and then even kissed him on his cheek. After that, when we watched Star Trek together we would joke, “You kissed that man!” and laugh. Anyway, I still enjoy watching the original Star Trek sometimes, which is now approaching its 60th anniversary, and I hope some of you reading this do too. Below are some stills from this great episode, featuring an outstanding performance by William Shatner.

19-minute youtube video on "Balance of Terror."

 

[JohnHopper]

93rd BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE • WILLIAM SHATNER (March 22, 1931)

William Shatner Biography
William Shatner OC (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship Enterprise in the second pilot of the first Star Trek television series to his final appearance as Captain Kirk in the seventh Star Trek feature film, Star Trek Generations (1994). Continue to read at Wikipedia.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE SEASON 6

Episode #2
“Encore” (1971)
producer: Bruce Lansbury
executive producer: Bruce Geller
associate producer: Barry Crane
story consultant: Laurence Heath
script supervisor: Barbara Atkinson
writer: Harold Livingston
director: Paul Krasny
cinematographer: Ronald W. Browne
composer: Lalo Schifrin
theme music: Lalo Schifrin
music supervisor: Kenyon Hopkins

Quote:
“It can’t be... Can’t be... A whole lifetime… flew away. What are you looking at me like that for? You think I’m crazy?”
—Thomas Kroll talking to himself and then to Frank Stevens.

Prologue:
A police car from the City of New York drives to the Memorial Hospital. An old woman is lying on a bed under an oxygen tent while her doctor reads and writes down on her log. A tall medic steps into the bedroom and goes checking the oxygen device. He then comes out of his coat pocket a mini magnetic time bomb that he sticks to the oxygen tank. He leaves and bumps into a policeman escorting an attorney on their way to the bedroom. Outside the corridor, the fake medic named Arthur (actor James Daris) removes his white coat and watches both men behind the window of the door. The attorney asks the guard the health state of witness Gladys Collins and he answers: “She came out of it [the coma] ten minutes ago”. They enter the bedroom and the attorney asks the doctor if she is able to hear him. He moves close to her, introduces himself as David St. James with the District Attorney’s office and asks her full cooperation against Kroll and Stevens. She gives a nod. An explosion occurs and the door of the bedroom is destroyed.

Tape scene:
Wearing his dark brown casual blouson-style jacket (from season 5), Jim walks to open the door of a museum and penetrates a hangar containing vintage firemen’s trucks: you can hear Jim’s footsteps because of a strong echo inside. Jim walks straight ahead, turns and comes closer to the fourth firemen truck. He unlocks the padlock of a little box located in one side of the vehicle, grabs and activates a reel player (i.e., a brand-less Craig Panorama 212 portable reel-to-reel recorder) and watches two pictures of gangsters (Kroll and Stevens) from his A4 kraft envelop.

Summary:
It’s 10:45 A.M. in New York City: Thomas Kroll (actor William Shatner), senior gangster, goes to his barber shop (“Jack’s - Men’s Hair Styling Salon”) for his usual services (a hot towel and a shave) where the IMF drugs him and makes him travel back to June 30, 1937—thanks to the facilities of the Majestic Studios—in order to locate the hideout of the body of rival gangster Danny Ryan and the guns that killed him which will be used as evidence to send he and his partner in crime Frank Stevens (actor Michael Baseleon) in jail.

Cast and details:
• Limping Thomas “Tommy” Kroll played by William Shatner
• Frank “Franky” Stevens (with a scar on his cheek, a fat salt and pepper beard and orange sunglasses) played by Michael Baseleon
• Stevens’ tall hitman Arthur played by James Daris
• Kroll’s young blonde girlfriend Carole Swanson played by Janaire
• Gangster Danny Ryan played by Charles Picerni
• Attorney David St. James played by Paul Bryar
• Memorial Hospital Doctor played by Martin Ashe
• Jewelry proprietor played by Alex Gerry
• Majestic Studios gate guard played by William Benedict

Guest IMFers
Featuring agent Bill Fisher (Paul Mantee: returning from season 1 “The Psychic”) who poses as a 1930’s killer and, later, disguised as a young Frank Stevens, Kroll’s 1937 cell-mate wino (Sam Edwards) and extras posing as 1937 people from the Crowley Square district.

Jim Phelps
Jim poses as the 1937 police Lieutenant Eagan. But, before that, he first picks the lock on Kroll’s apartment to get his pocket watch back before Kroll awakes when his girlfriend sees him and reports him back to Frank Stevens.

Barney Collier
Barney poses as Jim’s faithful policeman. During the barber shop procedure, he carries his hip season 5 blue jeans jacket.

Lisa Casey
Casey poses as young Gladys Collins aka Danny Ryan’s 1937 girlfriend.

Willy Armitage
Willy poses as barber Albert who replaces his uncle Paul and drugs Kroll with a towel filled with a dissolving red pill so that his vision blurs and eventually stings Kroll with the slap needle ring to stun him when agent Bill Fisher shoots him with blanks. He also pretends to be shot: at his awakening, Kroll sees the body of Willy lying on the floor inside the new “Joe’s Barber Shop”. Willy carries his light brown casual jacket from season 5.

Doug Robert
This is Doug’s last part, disguised as the late Danny Ryan (working as both Doctor and makeup artist unlike season 5 as a doctor only). The opening titles doesn’t feature Sam Elliott’s vignette unlike in season 5.

Characters’ Associations
Doug, Willy and Barney remodel Kroll’s physical appearance like plastic surgeons.

Comments:
This is the first produced episode of that season 6. Producer Bruce Lansbury recycles the last name Kroll of the foe from a season 4 episode (“The Night of the Doomsday Formula”) of The Wild Wild West, his previous commission for CBS. Actor William Shatner is known for his part as Captain James T. Kirk in the 1966 science fiction series Star Trek but in the 1970’s, he plays many heavies parts. Shatner’s self-conscious acting is very convincing and the thin line that separates reality and fantasy is very ambiguous: see the 1937 apartment scene. Further more, Shatner’s sincerity elevates his character and adds an existential and tragic dimension as the episode of The Twilight Zone entitled “Walking Distance” in which the time traveler also suffers from his leg but also “A World of Difference” because the character of Kroll escapes from a manufactured reality—here, the Majestic Studios aka the Paramount Studios—and that dramatic process is called the principle of “mise en abyme” or the film-within-a-film, where a film contains a plot about the making of a film, is an example of “mise en abyme”. The fake Majestic Studios was already used in Mannix: see the season 3 “The Playground”. The existential aspect is best-symbolyzed by Kroll looking into a mirror thrice (at the barber shop, at the precinct, at the apartment) to witness the shock of his young self. Underneath, the story tackles the theme of eternal youth from the alchemy. First time that Casey shows her makeup expertise by giving Bill Fisher his latex mask of Frank Stevens. As in the last season’s premiere (“The Killer”, also directed by Paul Krasny), the main foe is unsteady and the 1937 sets are already used in the same episode, especially Fallon’s Café for the Bower Hotel. Shatner receivs a “Council” treatment to make him young, meaning an injection of paraffin under the skin. The old makeup of both Shatner and Baseleon is very showy and crude. For the anecdote: when the limo of Stevens stops in the western town, we can see the Colonnade section of the Cortina prison set from “The Hostage” in the background. Oddly enough, Kroll, Casey-as-Gladys and Fisher-as-Stevens go to the movie theatre and watch a gangster film (redundant private joke!). Kroll feels uneasy in his flat and tries to find an evidence of the right time: Jim asks a plane to pass by (see the quote to the 1965 film 36 Hours, directed by George Seaton). The season 5 concept of human failure is still present with the interventions of the blonde girlfriend and hitman Arthur and two incidents: the wino in the cell and the failed phone call to the mother. The irony of this scheme is that a missing pocket watch can compromise the whole operation. One un-realistic detail in the Big Store con is Barney posing as a cop. As in “Blind”, the prologue starts with an explosion, some IMFers watch the foe and an IMFer colleague through a two-way mirror (pay attention to the detail of the reflection pow) and the 1937 flat of Kroll is Casey’s one from the same episode. The barber shop is located near the offices of Paramount Pictures. During the apartment scene, Jim tells his team that they must confine Kroll in the district of Crowley Square which consists of three blocks: barber shop, a movie theatre, Fallon’s Café, the apartment of Kroll and the police station. As in the season 5 “The Merchant”, a character (IMFer Paris played by Leonard Nimoy) is named Kroll. Ultimately, the fate of Kroll foreshadows the horror film The Devil’s Rain (1975) with William Shatner that has the same melting face outcome.

Review:
One of the best season 6 episodes ever and a good potpourri of previous episodes as “Echo of Yesterday” (backwards time con with a reference to Hitler), “The Killer” (tailor-made location), “Operation Rogosh” (the look into the mirror, the amnesia, the prison’s cell), “The Killing” (mask decomposition), “The Council” (restructuring a face with the plastic surgery), “Flight” (the final confrontation with his partner). Despite the past references, this top episode is fresh, well-paced and tightly edited containing intricate effective scenes: see the dual cellar scenes. Actually, this adventure is derived from David Maurer’s The Big Con and foreshadows George Roy Hill’s The Sting (1973) due to the 1930’s setting—the IMF players from the 1937 use the underworld slang of the era, especially Bill-as-Stevens who refers to the word “torpedo” for a gunman. To conclude, the IMF almost does the job of Eliot Ness and The Untouchables: a Desilu Production! Peter Graves’ performance as the tough-as-nails cop talking with the popular street lingo is amusing, especially the strict interrogation scene: “Was what?... Was what?” William Shatner also travels back to the 1930’s in a season 1 Star Trek episode (“The City on the Edge of Forever”) and also lands on a planet based on the prohibition era mold in a season 2 episode (“A Piece of the Action”). My favourite “compromising” scene remains: Kroll is arrested by the 1937 police and locks in a cell with an IMF actor posing as a wino who clumsily drops a 1964 silver coin with the profile of Kennedy. Needless to add that the final standoff between Kroll and Stevens is priceless and memorable and play like a showdown between two gunfighters from the Old West. Powerful martial score by Lalo Schifrin: according to companion book author Patrick J. White, Schifrin re-orchestrated the tracks “Cinnamon” (the background music at Fallon’s Café) and “Danger” from the MISSION soundtrack album. The music from the prologue is similar to the suspenseful side of the track “Minefield” from Kelly’s Heroes (1970). “The Plot” is re-orchestrated and tracked over and over and it becomes hyperbolic due to the dominant military snare drum. The score also reflects the nostalgic feeling of Kroll because of the subdued and ethereal jazz music with a sad saxophone which become the Syndicate trade mark.

Actor Notes
Actor Williams Shatner starts his career in the 1950’s on many live and videotaped anthologies of the day (Studio One, Suspicion, Climax!, Playhouse 90), on notorious fantasy anthologies (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone: the season 2 “Nick of Time” and the cult season 5 “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”—so good it was remade into the 1983 feature film—, One Step Beyond, Thriller: the season 1 “The Hungry Glass” and “The Grim Reaper”, The Outer Limits: the season 2 “Cold Hands, Warm Heart” as suffering astronaut Jeff Barton), has a part in Richard Brooks’ The Brothers Karamazov (1958), is the leading man in the lawyer series For the People (1965), is mostly associated with the science-fiction series Star Trek but one part foreshadows his Star Trek connection: a great season 1 episode (“The Project Strigas Affair”) of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. featuring Leonard Nimoy. Shatner’s most inspired performance on Star Trek remains the season 1 “The Enemy Within” because he plays a dual part and his evil self is particularly expressive and fantastic and I always like the quote: “I said: give me the Brandy!”. Shatner works for QM productions (12 O’Clock High, The Fugitive, The FBI: see the season 6 “Antennae of Death” as drug dealer Arthur Majors, Barnaby Jones), for producer Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible, Mannix: the season 6 “Search for a Whisper”) and for producer Leslie Stevens in the indie and satanist feature film Incubus (1965).

In the 1960’s, he appears in three major western series: The Big Valley (the season 1 “A Time to Kill”), Gunsmoke (the season 12 “Quaker Girl”), The Virginian (the season 4 “The Claim” and the season 8 “Black Jade”). He collaborates twice with actor Richard Basehart at 1970 television movies: the military fantasy Sole Survivor—that plays like a remake of a season 2 segment (“King Nine Will Not Return”) of The Twilight Zone—and the Civil War-oriented The Andersonville Trial. In the 1970’s, I only remember him playing agonizing astronaut Josh Lang in the season 1 episode (“Burning Bright”) of The Six Million Dollar Man—a nod to his previous Outer Limits part—and in a horror and satanist film directed by British film-maker Robert Fuest entitled “The Devil’s Rain” (1975) but his name appears on some Paramount series (Hawaii Five-O: the season 5 “You Don’t Have to Kill to Get Rich - But It Helps”, The Magician, Petrocelli) and on many Universal television series like Columbo (the season 6 “Fade in to Murder”), Ironside, The Name of the Game, The Sixth Sense, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Bold Ones: The New Doctors. Find the best performance of his two Mission: Impossible assignments that includes the season 6 “Encore” as gangster Thomas Kroll and the season 7 “Cocaine” as second-in-command gangster Joe Conrad.


Star Trek Preview: The Enemy Within (1966)



Mission: Impossible | Encore | Main Titles/Trailer

Mission: Impossible | Encore | Kroll is drugged and stunned by Willy

Mission: Impossible | Encore | Kroll is in a 1937 Precinct

Mission: Impossible | Encore | Kroll looses his Mind

Mission: Impossible | Encore | Kroll escapes from the Majestic Studios

Pictures of gangster Tommy Kroll (actor Williams Shatner).

 

[timk1041]

93rd BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE • WILLIAM SHATNER (March 22, 1931)

William Shatner Biography
William Shatner OC (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship Enterprise in the second pilot of the first Star Trek television series to his final appearance as Captain Kirk in the seventh Star Trek feature film, Star Trek Generations (1994). Continue to read at Wikipedia.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE SEASON 6

Episode #2
“Encore” (1971)
producer: Bruce Lansbury
executive producer: Bruce Geller
associate producer: Barry Crane
story consultant: Laurence Heath
script supervisor: Barbara Atkinson
writer: Harold Livingston
director: Paul Krasny
cinematographer: Ronald W. Browne
composer: Lalo Schifrin
theme music: Lalo Schifrin
music supervisor: Kenyon Hopkins

Quote:
“It can’t be... Can’t be... A whole lifetime… flew away. What are you looking at me like that for? You think I’m crazy?”
—Thomas Kroll talking to himself and then to Frank Stevens.

Prologue:
A police car from the City of New York drives to the Memorial Hospital. An old woman is lying on a bed under an oxygen tent while her doctor reads and writes down on her log. A tall medic steps into the bedroom and goes checking the oxygen device. He then comes out of his coat pocket a mini magnetic time bomb that he sticks to the oxygen tank. He leaves and bumps into a policeman escorting an attorney on their way to the bedroom. Outside the corridor, the fake medic named Arthur (actor James Daris) removes his white coat and watches both men behind the window of the door. The attorney asks the guard the health state of witness Gladys Collins and he answers: “She came out of it [the coma] ten minutes ago”. They enter the bedroom and the attorney asks the doctor if she is able to hear him. He moves close to her, introduces himself as David St. James with the District Attorney’s office and asks her full cooperation against Kroll and Stevens. She gives a nod. An explosion occurs and the door of the bedroom is destroyed.

Tape scene:
Wearing his dark brown casual blouson-style jacket (from season 5), Jim walks to open the door of a museum and penetrates a hangar containing vintage firemen’s trucks: you can hear Jim’s footsteps because of a strong echo inside. Jim walks straight ahead, turns and comes closer to the fourth firemen truck. He unlocks the padlock of a little box located in one side of the vehicle, grabs and activates a reel player (i.e., a brand-less Craig Panorama 212 portable reel-to-reel recorder) and watches two pictures of gangsters (Kroll and Stevens) from his A4 kraft envelop.

Summary:
It’s 10:45 A.M. in New York City: Thomas Kroll (actor William Shatner), senior gangster, goes to his barber shop (“Jack’s - Men’s Hair Styling Salon”) for his usual services (a hot towel and a shave) where the IMF drugs him and makes him travel back to June 30, 1937—thanks to the facilities of the Majestic Studios—in order to locate the hideout of the body of rival gangster Danny Ryan and the guns that killed him which will be used as evidence to send he and his partner in crime Frank Stevens (actor Michael Baseleon) in jail.

Cast and details:
• Limping Thomas “Tommy” Kroll played by William Shatner
• Frank “Franky” Stevens (with a scar on his cheek, a fat salt and pepper beard and orange sunglasses) played by Michael Baseleon
• Stevens’ tall hitman Arthur played by James Daris
• Kroll’s young blonde girlfriend Carole Swanson played by Janaire
• Gangster Danny Ryan played by Charles Picerni
• Attorney David St. James played by Paul Bryar
• Memorial Hospital Doctor played by Martin Ashe
• Jewelry proprietor played by Alex Gerry
• Majestic Studios gate guard played by William Benedict

Guest IMFers
Featuring agent Bill Fisher (Paul Mantee: returning from season 1 “The Psychic”) who poses as a 1930’s killer and, later, disguised as a young Frank Stevens, Kroll’s 1937 cell-mate wino (Sam Edwards) and extras posing as 1937 people from the Crowley Square district.

Jim Phelps
Jim poses as the 1937 police Lieutenant Eagan. But, before that, he first picks the lock on Kroll’s apartment to get his pocket watch back before Kroll awakes when his girlfriend sees him and reports him back to Frank Stevens.

Barney Collier
Barney poses as Jim’s faithful policeman. During the barber shop procedure, he carries his hip season 5 blue jeans jacket.

Lisa Casey
Casey poses as young Gladys Collins aka Danny Ryan’s 1937 girlfriend.

Willy Armitage
Willy poses as barber Albert who replaces his uncle Paul and drugs Kroll with a towel filled with a dissolving red pill so that his vision blurs and eventually stings Kroll with the slap needle ring to stun him when agent Bill Fisher shoots him with blanks. He also pretends to be shot: at his awakening, Kroll sees the body of Willy lying on the floor inside the new “Joe’s Barber Shop”. Willy carries his light brown casual jacket from season 5.

Doug Robert
This is Doug’s last part, disguised as the late Danny Ryan (working as both Doctor and makeup artist unlike season 5 as a doctor only). The opening titles doesn’t feature Sam Elliott’s vignette unlike in season 5.

Characters’ Associations
Doug, Willy and Barney remodel Kroll’s physical appearance like plastic surgeons.

Comments:
This is the first produced episode of that season 6. Producer Bruce Lansbury recycles the last name Kroll of the foe from a season 4 episode (“The Night of the Doomsday Formula”) of The Wild Wild West, his previous commission for CBS. Actor William Shatner is known for his part as Captain James T. Kirk in the 1966 science fiction series Star Trek but in the 1970’s, he plays many heavies parts. Shatner’s self-conscious acting is very convincing and the thin line that separates reality and fantasy is very ambiguous: see the 1937 apartment scene. Further more, Shatner’s sincerity elevates his character and adds an existential and tragic dimension as the episode of The Twilight Zone entitled “Walking Distance” in which the time traveler also suffers from his leg but also “A World of Difference” because the character of Kroll escapes from a manufactured reality—here, the Majestic Studios aka the Paramount Studios—and that dramatic process is called the principle of “mise en abyme” or the film-within-a-film, where a film contains a plot about the making of a film, is an example of “mise en abyme”. The fake Majestic Studios was already used in Mannix: see the season 3 “The Playground”. The existential aspect is best-symbolyzed by Kroll looking into a mirror thrice (at the barber shop, at the precinct, at the apartment) to witness the shock of his young self. Underneath, the story tackles the theme of eternal youth from the alchemy. First time that Casey shows her makeup expertise by giving Bill Fisher his latex mask of Frank Stevens. As in the last season’s premiere (“The Killer”, also directed by Paul Krasny), the main foe is unsteady and the 1937 sets are already used in the same episode, especially Fallon’s Café for the Bower Hotel. Shatner receivs a “Council” treatment to make him young, meaning an injection of paraffin under the skin. The old makeup of both Shatner and Baseleon is very showy and crude. For the anecdote: when the limo of Stevens stops in the western town, we can see the Colonnade section of the Cortina prison set from “The Hostage” in the background. Oddly enough, Kroll, Casey-as-Gladys and Fisher-as-Stevens go to the movie theatre and watch a gangster film (redundant private joke!). Kroll feels uneasy in his flat and tries to find an evidence of the right time: Jim asks a plane to pass by (see the quote to the 1965 film 36 Hours, directed by George Seaton). The season 5 concept of human failure is still present with the interventions of the blonde girlfriend and hitman Arthur and two incidents: the wino in the cell and the failed phone call to the mother. The irony of this scheme is that a missing pocket watch can compromise the whole operation. One un-realistic detail in the Big Store con is Barney posing as a cop. As in “Blind”, the prologue starts with an explosion, some IMFers watch the foe and an IMFer colleague through a two-way mirror (pay attention to the detail of the reflection pow) and the 1937 flat of Kroll is Casey’s one from the same episode. The barber shop is located near the offices of Paramount Pictures. During the apartment scene, Jim tells his team that they must confine Kroll in the district of Crowley Square which consists of three blocks: barber shop, a movie theatre, Fallon’s Café, the apartment of Kroll and the police station. As in the season 5 “The Merchant”, a character (IMFer Paris played by Leonard Nimoy) is named Kroll. Ultimately, the fate of Kroll foreshadows the horror film The Devil’s Rain (1975) with William Shatner that has the same melting face outcome.

Review:
One of the best season 6 episodes ever and a good potpourri of previous episodes as “Echo of Yesterday” (backwards time con with a reference to Hitler), “The Killer” (tailor-made location), “Operation Rogosh” (the look into the mirror, the amnesia, the prison’s cell), “The Killing” (mask decomposition), “The Council” (restructuring a face with the plastic surgery), “Flight” (the final confrontation with his partner). Despite the past references, this top episode is fresh, well-paced and tightly edited containing intricate effective scenes: see the dual cellar scenes. Actually, this adventure is derived from David Maurer’s The Big Con and foreshadows George Roy Hill’s The Sting (1973) due to the 1930’s setting—the IMF players from the 1937 use the underworld slang of the era, especially Bill-as-Stevens who refers to the word “torpedo” for a gunman. To conclude, the IMF almost does the job of Eliot Ness and The Untouchables: a Desilu Production! Peter Graves’ performance as the tough-as-nails cop talking with the popular street lingo is amusing, especially the strict interrogation scene: “Was what?... Was what?” William Shatner also travels back to the 1930’s in a season 1 Star Trek episode (“The City on the Edge of Forever”) and also lands on a planet based on the prohibition era mold in a season 2 episode (“A Piece of the Action”). My favourite “compromising” scene remains: Kroll is arrested by the 1937 police and locks in a cell with an IMF actor posing as a wino who clumsily drops a 1964 silver coin with the profile of Kennedy. Needless to add that the final standoff between Kroll and Stevens is priceless and memorable and play like a showdown between two gunfighters from the Old West. Powerful martial score by Lalo Schifrin: according to companion book author Patrick J. White, Schifrin re-orchestrated the tracks “Cinnamon” (the background music at Fallon’s Café) and “Danger” from the MISSION soundtrack album. The music from the prologue is similar to the suspenseful side of the track “Minefield” from Kelly’s Heroes (1970). “The Plot” is re-orchestrated and tracked over and over and it becomes hyperbolic due to the dominant military snare drum. The score also reflects the nostalgic feeling of Kroll because of the subdued and ethereal jazz music with a sad saxophone which become the Syndicate trade mark.

Actor Notes
Actor Williams Shatner starts his career in the 1950’s on many live and videotaped anthologies of the day (Studio One, Suspicion, Climax!, Playhouse 90), on notorious fantasy anthologies (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone: the season 2 “Nick of Time” and the cult season 5 “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”—so good it was remade into the 1983 feature film—, One Step Beyond, Thriller: the season 1 “The Hungry Glass” and “The Grim Reaper”, The Outer Limits: the season 2 “Cold Hands, Warm Heart” as suffering astronaut Jeff Barton), has a part in Richard Brooks’ The Brothers Karamazov (1958), is the leading man in the lawyer series For the People (1965), is mostly associated with the science-fiction series Star Trek but one part foreshadows his Star Trek connection: a great season 1 episode (“The Project Strigas Affair”) of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. featuring Leonard Nimoy. Shatner’s most inspired performance on Star Trek remains the season 1 “The Enemy Within” because he plays a dual part and his evil self is particularly expressive and fantastic and I always like the quote: “I said: give me the Brandy!”. Shatner works for QM productions (12 O’Clock High, The Fugitive, The FBI: see the season 6 “Antennae of Death” as drug dealer Arthur Majors, Barnaby Jones), for producer Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible, Mannix: the season 6 “Search for a Whisper”) and for producer Leslie Stevens in the indie and satanist feature film Incubus (1965).

In the 1960’s, he appears in three major western series: The Big Valley (the season 1 “A Time to Kill”), Gunsmoke (the season 12 “Quaker Girl”), The Virginian (the season 4 “The Claim” and the season 8 “Black Jade”). He collaborates twice with actor Richard Basehart at 1970 television movies: the military fantasy Sole Survivor—that plays like a remake of a season 2 segment (“King Nine Will Not Return”) of The Twilight Zone—and the Civil War-oriented The Andersonville Trial. In the 1970’s, I only remember him playing agonizing astronaut Josh Lang in the season 1 episode (“Burning Bright”) of The Six Million Dollar Man—a nod to his previous Outer Limits part—and in a horror and satanist film directed by British film-maker Robert Fuest entitled “The Devil’s Rain” (1975) but his name appears on some Paramount series (Hawaii Five-O: the season 5 “You Don’t Have to Kill to Get Rich - But It Helps”, The Magician, Petrocelli) and on many Universal television series like Columbo (the season 6 “Fade in to Murder”), Ironside, The Name of the Game, The Sixth Sense, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Bold Ones: The New Doctors. Find the best performance of his two Mission: Impossible assignments that includes the season 6 “Encore” as gangster Thomas Kroll and the season 7 “Cocaine” as second-in-command gangster Joe Conrad.


Star Trek Preview: The Enemy Within (1966)



Mission: Impossible | Encore | Main Titles/Trailer
View attachment 217293
Mission: Impossible | Encore | Kroll is drugged and stunned by Willy
View attachment 217294
Mission: Impossible | Encore | Kroll is in a 1937 Precinct
View attachment 217295
Mission: Impossible | Encore | Kroll looses his Mind
View attachment 217296
Mission: Impossible | Encore | Kroll escapes from the Majestic Studios
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Pictures of gangster Tommy Kroll (actor Williams Shatner).
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Really fine tribute. Shatner appeared in some very good Twilight Zone episodes too.