What did you watch this week in classic TV on DVD(or Blu)? (22 Viewers)

[Jeff Flugel]

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Nice screencaps, Howie! That's a good lookin' gal, for sure (this seems to be the only credit for the actress, Joyce Gladman)...Dick Van Dyke sure seems to be enjoying that hug.

Still, you'd think she would have been happy for him to take the $125 Gs and send it on home...

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Kung Fu – 2.7 “Night of the Owls, Day of the Doves”
Caine comes to the aid of a brothel madam (Anne Francis) and her stable of girls when they inherit a will deeding them a piece of land with river access that the local cattlemen’s association (a group of supposed moral crusaders who are actually murderers that like to dress up in sackcloth masks, call themselves "the Owls" and terrorize the town) will go to any lengths to get their hands on. Caine, our ever-so-humble pacifist hero, has no choice but to kick many creeps in the face to ensure the ladies escape safely. Barry Atwater is effective as the leader of the bad guys; he was one scary-looking mofo, even when he wasn’t playing a vampire in The Night Stalker. Also with Ken Swofford and a young George Dzundza.

The Virginian – 1.28 “The Mountain of the Sun”
My first time watching this series. Always knew of it, but as it didn’t air in syndication in my neck of the woods when I was growing up in the ‘70s (at least that I recall), I had never gotten into the show. Picked up the S1 DVD set a while back and finally cracked open the case. Tried watching the celebrated tragicomic episode “West,” but was put off by the goofy aging cowpoke guest characters, played by Steve Cochran, Claude Akins and James Brown (no, not that one), so switched over to this episode and enjoyed it quite a bit. The Virginian (James Drury) befriends three widows who are determined to venture into Yaqui territory as missionaries, despite their husbands having been killed doing the same thing months earlier. Of course, one of the women (Dolores Hart) being exceedingly pretty adds extra incentive for the Virginian to guide them deep into hostile terrain, against his better judgment. Lots of nice outdoor location filming here, and some good performances, including Jeannette Nolan, Joe De Santis and Rodolfo Acosta. This was the luminous Ms. Hart’s last acting role; appropriately enough, regarding this story about faith and commitment to a higher cause, she left Hollywood behind and became a nun.

Dolores Hart, then and now. ​

The Huckleberry Hound Show
1.1 “Yogi Bear’s Big Break/ Cousin Tex/ Huckleberry Hound Meets Wee Willie”
The animation on these early (1958) Hanna-Barbera made-for-TV cartoons might be a bit crude, but the gags are funny and the voice work (mainly by Daws Butler and Don Messick) is first-rate. I laughed a bunch, which is all you can ask of a cartoon, really. I know I saw my share of Yogi and Huckleberry Hound growing up, but I don’t recall ever seeing any Pixie, Dixie and Mr. Jinks shorts before. All three are good stuff.

The Jetsons – 1.1 “Rosey the Robot”
Here’s another one I remember from childhood. Wasn’t a big fan then, but I got a real hoot out of it when I watched it the other day. It’s basically the flip-side of The Flintstones, a 60s family sitcom awash with clever jokes about a futuristic family’s lives being ruled by gadgets. This is the first (of only two in the original one season series) appearances of the Jetson’s robot maid, Rosey…I wonder, was she inspired by Shirley Booth’s Hazel? She seems to have some of the same personality traits. Watched this episode off my Saturday Morning Cartoons: the 1960s Volume 1 DVD. Guess I’ll be ordering the Warner Archive Blu-Ray set soon…

Mr. Rose – 1.2 “The Naked Emperor”
The third series featuring the great William Mervyn as arch, eccentric Chief Inspector – and in this series, the now retired Mr. – Rose. The character first appears in the last two seasons of The Odd Man (1963), then headlined his own series for two seasons in It’s Dark Outside, before moving on to this final series, Mr. Rose, which ran for 3 seasons and 24 episodes from 1967 – 1968. Mr. Rose is a delightful, lighthearted mystery series, revolving around the famous, now-retired detective moving to the countryside, with the intention of writing his memoirs…but somehow, he can’t quite keep from getting involved in crime-solving. He’s aided by his new secretary (the prim but sexy Gillian Lewis) and his valet/legman, the multitalented John Hallifax (Donald Webster). The witty rapport between the three leads is fantastic, and the guest casts are chock-a-block with classy British thesps. There’s a bit of an Honor Blackman The Avengers vibe to these black-and-white productions.

This episode takes a common detective story trope and gives it its own unique spin. When Mr. Rose clashes with the power mad, ailing owner of a publishing empire, Lord Chedworth (Ronald Radd) in a meeting about selling his memoirs, the old geezer, used to lording it over all his employees, is impressed enough with Rose’s backbone to ask him to try to find out which of his acolytes is trying to kill him. On his way out of the meeting, Rose is seen by several staff and family members. The next morning, it's reported that Lord Chedworth has died, by apparent heart attack. His curiosity piqued, Rose returns to the estate, where everyone who saw him there the previous day claims to have never laid eyes on him before. Needless to say, something hinky is definitely going on...

A very enjoyable little mystery, and Rose is a marvelous character, played with relish by Mervyn. Also with Adrienne Corri, Bernard Archard and Ivor Dean (better known as Inspector Teal on The Saint) as the dead man’s butler. The complete series is available on DVD from those nice people at Network.

Redcap – 1.2 “A Town Called Love”
Long before Inspector Morse - yes, even long before The Sweeney - John Thaw graduated from a brief stint on the venerable British police drama Z Cars (pronounced “Zed Cars”) to headline this gritty show from ABC Weekend/ITV, for two seasons from 1964 to 1966. Thaw plays Sgt. Mann, who works for the Special Investigation Branch of the British Military Police. In this episode, Mann is newly stationed in Berlin, and has been keeping an eye on errant Private Pendlebury (Michael Robbins), who – estranged from his young wife - has gotten involved with a bar girl who is two-timing him with a local criminal. An altercation between Pendlebury and the girl ends with her unconscious and bleeding on the floor, leading the soldier to sneak across the border and defect to East Germany. The man’s wife then shows up wanting him back, no matter what...and Sgt. Mann, posing as a defector himself, goes on a dangerous quest to bring Pendlebury back.

Mann ends up in a place called “Molschtadt,” a “love” town where defectors are kept plied with booze, cigarettes and female companionship as they adjust to life in East Germany…with the likelihood of them eventually spilling some useful information to the Communist authorities during an unguarded moment of pillow talk. Mann soon makes contact with Pendlebury, but he is being closely watched by suspicious agents, including a longtime Irish dissident (Garfield Morgan, later Thaw’s boss on The Sweeney) and a friendly “companion” (Yootha Joyce, who would go on to fame in the Britcoms Man About the House and its spinoff, George and Mildred). A tough-minded series, this, and Thaw is, predictably, terrific as the dogged military policeman. Also with familiar faces Peter Copley, Glynn Edwards and Tony Steedman. I didn’t realize until the credits rolled that the same actress (Gwendolyn Watts) played both the injured bar girl (in a blonde wig) and Pendlebury’s young wife. And yes, Network put this one out, too.

Just to prove that John Thaw did look (somewhat) young once:

It doesn't appear that Diana Rigg ever guest starred on Redcap, but here she is, fooling around with Thaw in 1966, while he was filming the second series. She would have been about 28 in this photo, and Thaw 24...but which one looks younger?

 

[GMBurns]

Jeff, glad to hear you're enjoying The Virginian. It is an epic western that I love watching. But there were two season 1 episodes that I just couldn't make it through. One was "West", which you encountered. It just seemed silly beyond necessity and after 20 minutes I switched to the next episode. The other was "Brazen Bell", with George C. Scott as a milquetoast teacher who is kidnapped by the bad guys. As great an actor as he is, I just found it really uncomfortable to watch his performance in that role and moved on after 30 minutes of that one. Otherwise I love that show, including that sweeping, dramatic theme song.

 

[GMBurns]

Thanks also for the picture of Dolores Hart as a nun. I met her 2 years ago at a fundraiser here in Connecticut where she serves. I am a huge Elvis fan so it was a treat to meet someone who had shared the screen with him. They had a few of those corny Elvis impersonaters performing, but she was there because it was a cause that she supports. She was very gracious in the brief time that I spoke with her.

 

[bmasters9]

Where I am now on The Man From U.N.C.L.E.:

 

[BobO'Link]

Gillian Lewis looks *remarkably* like Jeanne Crain in that shot:

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Jeff, glad to hear you're enjoying The Virginian. It is an epic western that I love watching. But there were two season 1 episodes that I just couldn't make it through. One was "West", which you encountered. It just seemed silly beyond necessity and after 20 minutes I switched to the next episode. The other was "Brazen Bell", with George C. Scott as a milquetoast teacher who is kidnapped by the bad guys. As great an actor as he is, I just found it really uncomfortable to watch his performance in that role and moved on after 30 minutes of that one. Otherwise I love that show, including that sweeping, dramatic theme song.

Yeah, those aging cowpokes in "West" were just too stupid to seem true to life...I liked what the episode was trying to say, but their broad, borderline goofy portrayals took me right out of the drama. That George C. Scott "cowardly schoolteacher" episode doesn't sound much like my cup of tea, either. I do think I'm going to very much like this series overall, though. The production values are high, the caliber of guest stars is very impressive, and some of the plot synopses sound very interesting. And yes, that theme song is a winner all the way.

Thanks also for the picture of Dolores Hart as a nun. I met her 2 years ago at a fundraiser here in Connecticut where she serves. I am a huge Elvis fan so it was a treat to meet someone who had shared the screen with him. They had a few of those corny Elvis impersonaters performing, but she was there because it was a cause that she supports. She was very gracious in the brief time that I spoke with her.

You're welcome, and thanks for sharing your anecdote about meeting Dolores Hart. While I can't help feeling that we missed out on many more fine performances from her when she retired from acting, I admire her dedication and service. She brings not only beauty, but a real purity and innocence to her character in that Virginian episode that feels (and obviously was) genuine. I liked a quote she made several years back, that her brief kiss with Elvis had sustained her for all her life. I wonder if she remembers smooching with James Drury. I bet he did, anyway.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Gillian Lewis looks *remarkably* like Jeanne Crain in that shot:
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Good call, Howie! Gillian Lewis is very good in S1 of Mr. Rose...shame she didn't return for the (much shorter) second and third seasons. She also has a recurring role in another wonderful '60s detective series which I've mentioned here before: The Mind of J.G. Reeder...plus appearances in an Emma Peel The Avengers episode ("Man_Eater of Surrey Green"), Public Eye and several ITC shows, such as Gideon's Way, The Baron and Department S.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Where I am now on The Man From U.N.C.L.E.:

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How have you been enjoying those S1 episodes of U.N.C.L.E. so far, Ben? Are you satisfied with your complete series purchase?

Just be aware that things get really campy in season 3!

 

[Jasper70]

Well after watching on and off for years I finally finished Mannix last night. I doubt I’ll revisit it again but you never know.
In season 6 of St Elsewhere. It’s still enjoyable but I really don’t care much for Ronny Cox coming in to take over. He’s a solid actor but it just doesn’t work for me. A dozen or so episodes and this series will be finished. It has been very entertaining.
Midway through season three of NCIS . Starting to get some well written episodes, less of the cookie cutter formula episodes. May be able to go the long haul with it.

 

[bmasters9]

How have you been enjoying those S1 episodes of U.N.C.L.E. so far, Ben? Are you satisfied with your complete series purchase?

Just be aware that things get really campy in season 3!

The first go of it is taking some getting used to, being B/W; I think I'll like it, though.

I'm also very well aware of how campy/silly the third go was (reading a lot of reviews that have said that); I hope that doesn't derail this for me.

Oh, and on an unrelated note, the first three gos on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. have the same colors on the packages as for O-R NBC Star Trek (yellow/gold on the first one, blue on the second, and red on the third).

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
That Girl
"A Limited Engagement" (S5E15)

I don't see much activity in the thread focused on this series, and after watching a few episodes--I completely understand why. First, it's a poor cousin to the the Mary Tyler Moore Show, lacking the magnificent ensemble of that cast. Second, the show takes place in the late 60's early 70's and we're to suspend belief that two people who have be going together for years have yet to bump their privates together. I was a product of that era and can attest that us young folks were doing it anywhere a prone position could be achieved--and sometimes in even less space. It was a prime objective of the time. Lastly, the scripts just sucked--an unimaginable result since the show was created by Sam Denoff and Bill Persky, the two head writers of the highly creative Dick Van Dyke Show.

About the only appeal carrying this series was Marlo Thomas herself--impossibly cute and perky with hair so shiny clean one could eat scrambled eggs off her luxurious mane. One certainly had a better chance of that than sucking a shot of tequila out of her naked navel as she stretches languidly on a bartop counter. None of that overindulgence stuff going on in this show, by god. Her only drawback was her voice--which sounded like she had about 7 pounds of perforated snot hibernating in her air passages.

Donald and Ann hold their privates to discourage the elevator boy; Donald works on his bra unfastening abilities, then explains to Ann his wedding night objectives

In this episode, Ann (Marlo Thomas) and boyfriend Donald (Ted Bessell) are giddily sorting through their bridal shower presents. Yeah, after 4 years of dating her, Donald finally proposes to Ann in hopes for permission to squish her squishibles--after the ceremony, of course. But as in all badly scripted sitcoms, crap is predictably about to hit the fan despite the frantic enthusiasm of the laugh track. Ann turns into a needy pest over their approaching nuptials, causing Donald to get cold feet--eliminating all fantasies of lustful evenings with his new bride. The whole scene is so overplayed as to border on plain obnoxiousness. He tells Ann about his plans to call off the wedding--causing her chastity belt to tighten more than a nervous sphincter at the proctologist's office. It's enough to depress even an hyena.

Well, we know such depression is not the currency of issue in this sitcom, so events are sure to workout in the end. ZZzzzz. The series called it quits shortly after this episode. R.I.P.

 

[BobO'Link]

I watched That Girl during it's original airings and have the series on DVD. It's "OK" but nothing special. A real vanilla sitcom which, believe it or not, was actually a bit progressive as it was one of the first series to feature a single working woman. It did "OK" in the ratings but never scored very high.

From Wikipedia:

Don and Ann became engaged, but they never actually married. The decision to leave the couple engaged at the end of the run was largely the idea of Thomas. She did not want to send a message to young women that marriage was the ultimate goal for them, and she worried that it would have undercut the somewhat feminist message of the show.

 

[Rustifer]

It did "OK" in the ratings but never scored very high.

Correct, Howie. The show never even made it into the top 30 in ratings. The fact that it lasted 5 seasons was probably more an outcome of the times rather than the quality of the series.

 

[Rustifer]

Redcap – 1.2 “A Town Called Love”
Long before Inspector Morse - yes, even long before The Sweeney - John Thaw graduated from a brief stint on the venerable British police drama Z Cars (pronounced “Zed Cars”) to headline this gritty show from ABC Weekend/ITV, for two seasons from 1964 to 1966.

Fascinating tidbit, Jeff. I had no idea John Thaw's career featured this show in his history. I was always (and still) a fan of Inspector Morse and his long-suffering sidekick Lewis, having just finished re-watching all the seasons up to the last episode of his death. I still find that too hard to watch.

 

[BobO'Link]

Correct, Howie. The show never even made it into the top 30 in ratings. The fact that it lasted 5 seasons was probably more an outcome of the times rather than the quality of the series.

From what I've read, Marlo Thomas wanted to end it after S4 but the network talked her into another season.

 

[Flashgear]

That Girl
"A Limited Engagement" (S5E15)

It's enough to depress even an hyena.

Ha, ha! Whoever provided the canned laughter should indeed have used a chorus of hyenas instead. I too wanted to like That Girl more than I did. The overbearingly intrusive and "protective" father too often just seemed creepy to me. Otherwise, very bland and contrived. There are some good episodes though, usually buoyed up by a guest star...as part of my Carl Reiner marathon lately, in honor of his passing, I watched a pretty good fourth season That Girl episode guest starring the great Carl Reiner in a Las Vegas set story.

Correct, Howie. The show never even made it into the top 30 in ratings. The fact that it lasted 5 seasons was probably more an outcome of the times rather than the quality of the series.

And even outside of the top 30, it would have drawn far more viewers than the typical airing of most "hit" shows produced these days for the current fragmented audience shares. In the sixties, Nielsen ratings for the upper 30's shows were often well over 10 million in the good ol' three network days.

But there were two season 1 episodes that I just couldn't make it through. One was "West",

Yeah, those aging cowpokes in "West" were just too stupid to seem true to life...I liked what the episode was trying to say, but their broad, borderline goofy portrayals took me right out of the drama.

I agree with both of you, with a caveat, about The Virginian's season one episode West...the ridiculous, irrationally exuberant caricatures of the three aging and reckless cowpokes was hard to take, despite them being played by such reliably fine actors like Steve Cochran and Claude Akins...but I'm sorry for anybody who gave up on watching that episode through to the shocking, tragic ending...as it features some of the best work that Doug McClure ever committed to film, and is thus, to me, an essential Trampas episode. Steve Cochran was also in two memorable episodes in other series that same season...Death Rides a Pale Horse on Stoney Burke, and in Route 66's Shall Forfeit His Dog and Ten Shillings to the King...and the hard living guy was dead 2 years later, having dropped dead on his yacht, adrift off the coast of Mexico, crewed by a bevy of beauties with apparently no sailing skills...

I do think I'm going to very much like this series overall, though. The production values are high, the caliber of guest stars is very impressive, and some of the plot synopses sound very interesting. And yes, that theme song is a winner all the way.

Many great episodes in season one of The Virginian Jeff. I look forward to your reviews. I really like Throw a Long Rope, Ride a Dark Trail, It Tolls for Thee, The Accomplice, If You Have Tears, Strangers at Sundown, Run Away Home etc., I see that the season one set is still really affordable, a fraction of the price I paid more than ten years ago. I have seasons 1 to 8, and between those and the Wagon Train tin box collectible sets that TMG also released, they take up a full shelf in one of my bookcases!

I started S3 of Sgt. Bilko (aka The Phil Silvers Show) last night. I get to E3, "Hillbilly Whiz", to see Dick Van Dyke, in his very first role, as Private Hank Lumpkin, a recent draftee from the south who regularly hunts squirrels armed only with rocks. And he hits as well as he pitches. Bilko sees $$$ and schemes to sell him to the NY Yankees -

Hank Lumpkin on the mound with a fast ball:

It's such a great series Howie, and the cast and crew sure didn't have far to go in filming a young Dick Van Dyke on the pitcher's mound at Yankee stadium, as the show filmed nearby in the Bronx at the old Biograph studios...the same production house for Naked City, Decoy and Car 54, Where Are You? The historic Biograph studio was built by Charlie Chaplin, and regrettably destroyed in a fire in later years. The precinct exteriors you see in the opening of Car 54 is the Biograph. For vintage scenes at Yankee stadium and the Bronx environs, you can't do better than Naked City season two's A Hole in the City, with Robert Duvall as a crazed tommy-gun killer who, after robbing an armored car, leads Paul Burke, Ed Asner and squad on an epic chase and gun battle to a hide-out just over the outfield fence at Yankee stadium...

 

[Flashgear]

With news of the great Carl Reiner's passing, I've embarked on a Marathon viewing of favorite Dick Van Dyke Show episodes, and some of my favorite Carl Reiner movies like The Gazebo, The Thrill of it All, The Russians are Coming, etc., and a few of his TV guest starring appearances including Burke's Law season one, Who Killed Snooky Martinelli? (Jan. 10, 1964)...a typically star-studded outing with Hoagy Carmichael (songwriter of such immortal classics as Stardust, Georgia on my Mind, The Nearness of you, etc.), Broderick Crawford, Cesar Romero, Arlene Dahl and Janice Rule...

Gene Barry plays two roles in this one, his usual Amos Burke of course...and the murder victim, international playboy Snooky Martinelli...who, as this episode opens, accompanied by a jazz combo, is crooning C'est Si Bon to a room full of high style hipsters winding down an all night party...with the Vodka, Gin and Quaalude's having apparently kicked-in, many of said hipsters are nodding off or fully asleep...except perhaps one unknown party-goer who shoots Snooky in the chest, killing him dead as he finishes the last few bars of this lounge lizard standard...

Anybody familiar with this entertaining show knows it was done for laughs, but the suspects include...

"Binky Fawcett", a disgraced career British Army officer cashiered and dishonorably discharged for manslaughter (Carl Reiner effecting a hilarious upper class British accent, and proudly displaying his toupee collection just as he did in the classic Dick Van Dyke episode Coast to Coast Big Mouth)...did Binky kill Snooky? ha, ha...

Other Jet-Set hangers-on... "Jango Jordan", a washed-up piano player (Hoagy Carmichael),

"Eva Martinelli", Snooky's non-grieving widow (lovely Arlene Dahl),

French Race car diver "Louis Simone" (Cesar Romero),

Vane metro-sexual ex-pugilist "Carlos Varga" (epic tough guy Broderick Crawford in hair curlers getting a manicure!)...reflecting on his infamous boxing career, Amos Burke cracks "you were first off the diving board"...

And last but not least, "Seraphim Parks", a lovely and flirtatious Jet-Set "floater" (an insanely hot Janice Rule)...

A running gag has Amos Burke disputing his dead-ringer resemblance to the deceased Snooky, looking at his corpse and saying he was "older, heavier, more jowly" ha, ha...many of Snooky's party pals remain passed-out even as Amos, Lester (Regis Toomey) and Tim (Garry Conway) investigate the crime scene and have his body carried away! My screen caps from the VCI DVD set...

 

[Flashgear]

It's too bad that VCI, having released season one of Burke's Law in 2 volumes on DVD starting in 2008, couldn't give us the equally great season two and the third season retooling as Amos Burke, Secret Agent...the story we have been told was that Fox asked far more for licensing rights from VCI...but seeing as there was quite a delay in the release of Burke's Law volume 2 (as I remember it), perhaps the truth was just that the sales target wasn't met, just as with Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater (TMG released seasons 2 and 3) ...VCI did also give us the Four-Star companion series and spin-off, Honey West in 2009, which was great...the volume 1 four disc set of Burke's Law was a bulky affair, with volume 2 being much more compact...as a result, they look quite strange on the shelf together...

The bonus feature of vintage commercials does briefly show a bumper card for Burke's Law that is not retained in the full cuts of the episodes themselves...

God, I get a kick out of this scene...

The Barkley hacienda from the soon-to-be series The Big Valley dressed up as a French restaurant and night club...both shows being shot at 20th Century Fox...

Rest in Peace, Carl Reiner...

Janice Rule looking smokin' hot...

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Great stuff, Randall! That looks like a very fun episode of Burke's Law, and what a cast! It seems that Gene Barry had more of a sense of humor back then...he apparently was quite the curmudgeon later in his career. It's been a while since I watched this show...might have to give this episode a spin soon.

I had completely forgotten the large discrepancy in packaging between those two S1 volumes. As I put nearly all of my DVDs in binders (for easier transport to Japan) and leave the cases boxed in storage at my family's house, I don't tend to think about the packaging of these releases very much. Your photo above was a neat reminder. What a strange decision from VCI there...and as you say, too bad we never got the subsequent two seasons of the show. I especially would like to see the Amos Burke, Secret Agent incarnation of the show.