vrkalak
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@vrkalak
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Post by vrkalak on Jul 3, 2020 16:18:44 GMT
“The interior of Moseley's house is the same set used for Morgan's house in "The Night of the Surreal McCoy".
And many, many, many other West and Big Valley episodes. 😎
I love Underground Terror. Quite the educational episode. I learned Shakespeare lines and what antimacassars are used for. 🤓
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Post by alpha128 on Jul 8, 2020 11:53:37 GMT
"The Night of the Death Masks"I had written earlier in this thread that, going just by the title, this was an episode I drew a complete blank on. Having now rewatched the episode, I know why, it's not very memorable. In her book Sue Kesler gives the episode, "four stars for an original story." I respectfully, but emphatically, disagree. IMO, like "The Night of the Vipers", this episode contains a lot of repetition and mediocrity. Jim's early scenes in Paradox Nevada are strongly reminiscent of "The Night That Terror Stalked the Town", where Jim also wandered a seemingly deserted town with piped in sound. And the later scenes when Jim is drugged and then manipulated into a gunfight with Artie, are similar to "The Night of the Murderous Spring". It also doesn't help that the villain of this piece is no Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless. Who did the production cast as "vicious killer" Emmet Stark? Milton Selzer. Yeah, this guy: Apparently realizing that Selzer's countenance did not make for an intimidating villain, they attempted to compensate with heavy makeup. So while it's not a bad episode, IMO we've seen this kind of story done before and done better. Some thoughts:
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Post by alpha128 on Jul 15, 2020 0:46:18 GMT
"The Night of the Amnesiac"This episode precedes "The Night of the Undead" on the DVD set, even though other sources like the IMDb and Susan Kesler's book both show the correct order being "Undead" then "Amnesiac". Going into this one I remembered only two things: - Jim loses his memory (the title is a dead giveaway in this regard)
- Edward Asner plays the villain
I really like the episode from the fourth act to the end. I thought Furman Crotty's villain speech was excellent, and found the trap with the wagon scale memorable. The finale was also a lot of fun. The problem is there are almost forty minutes of very traditional, not particularly memorable, western scenes before that point. Apparently the powers that be felt the same way, as this episode was shot eighth but aired twenty-second. Some thoughts: - I knew the stagecoach in the opening scene was on an incredibly important mission even before I saw its cargo. At 0:09 the driver loses his hat but doesn't stop to retrieve it.
- At 9:13 Furman Crotty says the West/Gordon team "installed me here (Leavenworth) two years ago." According to Wikipedia this is an anachronism as construction on the first Leavenworth prison began in 1875, a year after the setting of this episode.
- However, the map we see on the Warden's wall does appear to be accurate circa 1874, as it seems to show the Dakota Territory west of Minnesota.
- At 19:39 Artie, in his Dr. Zorbis disguise, drives his wagon right by Jim without noticing him. I know that Jim is in different clothes, his back is turned, and he's with an unfamiliar woman. Still, I would think Artie might recognize the back of Jim's head at such close range.
- At 21:06 I had forgotten about Artie's clever use of Gas!
- At 28:19 I thought it odd that Cloris (Sharon Farrell) knocks before entering her own room.
- At 31:38 the bartender is told, "Shame on you Pinocchio." This is another anachronism as the story of Pinocchio was originally published in serial form starting in July 1881.
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Post by alpha128 on Jul 24, 2020 0:44:39 GMT
"The Night of the Undead"Before starting this one I wrote down the following list of my fairly clear recollections: - Hurd Hatfield (Liston Day in "The Night of the Man-Eating House") returns as a different villain character.
- Hatfield's character was long ago engaged to be married, but for some reason the marriage never happened.
- The dining room in the house was set for the wedding reception and left that way, accumulating dust and cobwebs for years afterward.
- A young girl somehow gets involved with the plot, with Hatfield's character looking to use her to replace that which he lost.
- There's some kind of underground complex with "undead" guys shambling about.
I checked off each one of those items as I watched the episode. Since I recalled them all with 100% accuracy, I think it's safe to say that this is a better episode than the last two I watched, "The Night of the Death Masks" and "The Night of the Amnesiac". However, I could clearly recall the name of Hatfield's previous character, Liston Day, but not his character in this one, Dr. Articulus. This, and an important plot point I forgot (see tagged spoiler below), indicate this episode is not quite good/memorable enough for all-time classic status. Some thoughts: - Artie's disguise of Beldon Scoville, Jr. looked familiar. I'm not sure if I remember it from this episode, or if it's similar to a previous disguise. I suspect the latter.
- I remembered that the head seen on the top of a shelf at 22:56, as part of fortune teller Phalah's display, was more than it first appeared.
- Artie's second disguise, which we first see in close-up at 27:58, looks a lot like Teddy Roosevelt to me.
- When Phalah reappeared at the house, I remembered she would see through Artie's disguise.
- However when Articulus
was shot, I did not remember who pulled the trigger. - The fake tower of cards is a repeat of the fake tower of matchsticks gag in "The Night of the Ready-Made Corpse".
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 24, 2020 6:08:07 GMT
Nick Adams did a WWW episode!?!
I have to wait a while to check it out!
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 509
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Post by vrkalak on Jul 24, 2020 11:30:08 GMT
Nick Adams did a WWW episode!?! I have to wait a while to check it out! Adams was in two episodes of West.
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Post by alpha128 on Jul 24, 2020 12:23:14 GMT
Nick Adams did a WWW episode!?! I have to wait a while to check it out! Adams was in two episodes of West. And the first one was "The Night of the Two-Legged Buffalo" in Season 1. So keep watching Season 1 and you'll be there soon!
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 25, 2020 6:22:13 GMT
I watched The Night of the Double-Edged Knife
Didn't recognize John Drew Barrymore. We get to see the train conductor! He isn't what I expected. You briefly glimpse another guy poking his head out after the horse is let down the ramp.
No engineer uniform. Boy I hate that butler.
I noticed during the fight neat the end they were both stunt men. I am guessing it is because Nielsen was much taller so they needed a stunt man for Conrad. I am guessing the reason they had Artie with that girl in the camp was so they could end with that two-fer joke for West.
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Post by alpha128 on Jul 25, 2020 16:00:36 GMT
I watched The Night of the Double-Edged Knife Boy I hate that butler. At this point you've seen two of the three episodes with the butler. The last one is "The Night of the Fatal Trap", which is six episodes later in air date order. Here are my comments on the episode from when I last saw it: The most recently viewed episode in my rewatch is "The Night of the Double-Edged Knife". Although that is a more traditional western episode, it is still well made and entertaining. In his introduction, Robert Conrad notes what a terrific guest cast it has.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 25, 2020 19:02:40 GMT
Elisha Cook Jr exited faster than I expected. Katherine Ross wasn't in it as much as I expected. She spent a fair bit of time in that mine car with Artie, the butler, and the train engineer!
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Post by alpha128 on Jul 31, 2020 0:50:08 GMT
"The Night of the Simian Terror"Like the previous episode, "The Night of the Undead", I wrote down a list of my recollections before starting my rewatch. - Richard Kiel returns to the series, but not reprising his role as Voltaire.
- Instead Kiel plays
one of many brothers, but unlike his siblings, he was the black sheep of the family. - The Barkley "The Big Valley" set is used again, but this time we get to see behind the curtains on the landing.
- Behind the curtains is an abandoned nursery. Much like the dining room in "The Night of the Undead", the nursery was left to accumulate dust and cobwebs for years afterward. Seriously, who decides not to clean one room in their otherwise beautiful house for decades?!?
- However, the lack of cleanliness provides Artie with a vital clue that there was another
Skywalker brother. - The ape that gives the episode its title isn't as important to the plot as you might think.
- The father sits on/near the staircase,
regretting what he did to his "Abbie Normal" son. I misremembered that the father died, but he actually lives.
So I had a pretty good recollection of the episode, except for the one part I misremembered. Overall it's a good and memorable episode. Some thoughts: - At 3:31 we hear the guard dog growling but see it sheepishly moving away with its mouth closed. Obviously, the growl was dubbed in.
- The interior of the church, seen at 20:56, seems awfully small. Or is this supposed to be an office inside the church? The way the episode is edited it seems that Benjamin Buckley entered that room directly from the outside. However, when Reverend Hastings enters at 23:11, we can see there is indeed a room between the outside door and the interior door of the records office.
- At 28:06, it's a good thing for Artie Dr. Von Liebig's closet is outfitted with a curtain and not a door!
- The underground complex set from "The Night of the Undead" reappears at 34:53.
- The episode ends rather abruptly.
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 509
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Post by vrkalak on Jul 31, 2020 11:19:46 GMT
Trivia tidbit, Naomi Buckley, played by Grace Gaynor, was Mrs Underhill on “Fletch.”
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Post by alpha128 on Jul 31, 2020 12:25:41 GMT
Trivia tidbit, Naomi Buckley, played by Grace Gaynor, was Mrs Underhill on “Fletch.” I never saw the Fletch movies. However, just now I noted that Grace Gaynor previously played Pearline Hastings in "The Night of the Bogus Bandits" (1967). Speaking of previous appearances, H.M. Wynant also returns in this episode for his fourth (and final) appearance on the series: - The Night of the Simian Terror (1968) ... Aaron Buckley - The Night of the Poisonous Posey (1966) ... Little Pinto - The Night of the Sudden Plague (1966) ... Coley Rodman - The Night of the Torture Chamber (1965) ... Durand
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 6, 2020 1:17:12 GMT
"The Night of the Death-Maker"I had written earlier in this thread this was an episode I remembered quite well. So I did not write down my recollections beforehand as it would take too long. For the record, I remembered the villain's name, plot, motivation, and hideout. I remembered how the hideout is discovered. I remembered specifics about which sets were used, and a significant blooper. In summary, I remembered the first scene, the last scene, and just about everything in between. That includes the first three act breaks! So Season 3 opened with, and now closes with, 24 Karat Pure Classic West with all four elements on display. Not surprising considering Irving J. Moore had previously directed such classics as "The Night of the Puppeteer" and "The Night of the Tottering Tontine". Some thoughts: - vrkalak and I had discussed earlier in this thread that one famous building gets used in numerous episodes, including this one. I believe the last time we saw it was in the Season 2 finale, "The Night of the Bogus Bandits", where it appeared as the Territorial Communications Center. This time it's the "Hotel Proctor Hotel", according to the signs. I'm not sure if it's properly called the "Hotel Proctor" or the "Proctor Hotel".
- At 27:32, Jim reuses the pressure point technique on Marcia, that he used repeatedly on Vixen in "The Night of the Firebrand". That was one of the few things I didn't remember about this episode.
- The significant blooper I mentioned occurs at 29:16 where Cullen Dane says Jim will get a military execution "befitting your rank as a former Major in the United States Army." But in "The Night of the Lord of Limbo", and the pilot, it was mentioned that Jim's former military rank was Captain.
Season 3 Recap:Overall Season 3 was good, but a step down from the previous two seasons. But compared to its contemporary series Star Trek, The Wild Wild West did a much better job of maintaining its quality level in its third season. Still, the emphasis on traditional western elements did, to some extent, rob the show of its unique identity. Looking back at my earlier comments, I can summarize my opinions on the season as follows: - A few all-time classics including "TNOT Bubbling Death", "TNOT Falcon", "TNOT Turncoat" and "TNOT Death-Maker"
- A large number of episodes that are either great or good
- A couple of mediocre episodes: "TNOT Vipers" and "TNOT Death Masks"
- An increased number of stinkers compared to last season, including "TNOT Cut-Throats", "TNOT Amnesiac", and especially "TNOT Iron Fist"
Review Index: (Added 01/16/2021) An episode index, with hyperlinks to each of my reviews, can be found here.
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 509
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 6, 2020 9:27:18 GMT
“ and I had discussed earlier in this thread that one famous building gets used in numerous episodes, including this one. I believe the last time we saw it was in the Season 2 finale, "The Night of the Bogus Bandits", where it appeared as the Territorial Communications Center. This time it's the "Hotel Proctor Hotel", according to the signs. I'm not sure if it's properly called the "Hotel Proctor" or the "Proctor Hotel".
It is nicely disguised when Artie meets up with Roman Legend types in TNOT Underground Terror.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 6, 2020 12:02:53 GMT
“ and I had discussed earlier in this thread that one famous building gets used in numerous episodes, including this one. I believe the last time we saw it was in the Season 2 finale, "The Night of the Bogus Bandits", where it appeared as the Territorial Communications Center. This time it's the "Hotel Proctor Hotel", according to the signs. I'm not sure if it's properly called the "Hotel Proctor" or the "Proctor Hotel". It is nicely disguised when Artie meets up with Roman Legend types in TNOT Underground Terror. Perhaps you should do that definitive list, and test if this particular building is used, as you estimated, in one-third of the episodes.
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 509
Likes: 415
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 8, 2020 10:22:38 GMT
“ and I had discussed earlier in this thread that one famous building gets used in numerous episodes, including this one. I believe the last time we saw it was in the Season 2 finale, "The Night of the Bogus Bandits", where it appeared as the Territorial Communications Center. This time it's the "Hotel Proctor Hotel", according to the signs. I'm not sure if it's properly called the "Hotel Proctor" or the "Proctor Hotel". It is nicely disguised when Artie meets up with Roman Legend types in TNOT Underground Terror. Perhaps you should do that definitive list, and test if this particular building is used, as you estimated, in one-third of the episodes. 🤔🤔🤔
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 509
Likes: 415
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 9, 2020 16:23:49 GMT
Going through the list of 104 episodes quickly the other, day, I counted at least 20 episodes with the infamous street corner and building. At some point soon, I will post the actual total.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 9, 2020 17:31:48 GMT
Going through the list of 104 episodes quickly the other, day, I counted at least 20 episodes with the infamous street corner and building. At some point soon, I will post the actual total. Looking forward to it. Inquiring minds want to know!
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 25, 2020 0:06:06 GMT
"The Night of the Big Blackmail"Season 4 opens with 24 Karat Pure Classic West. Sue Kesler calls this episode "a winner", and I could paraphrase President Ulysses S. Grant and say, "I want to congratulate you on a marvelously fun piece of entertainment." I wish I could say that all four elements were on display. But this is one of the few episodes of the series (and the only one of Season 4) that lacks a Beautiful Woman. Yes, we briefly see Jim embracing a woman in a red dress at 8:47. But we never see her face, and her name is not listed in the credits. Some thoughts: - The first act ends with this image which became part of my desktop wallpaper collection several years back. I also put that image to good use in the quote thread for Wild Wild West (1999).
- At 25:12 we see an apparent reuse of the garden house from "The Night of the Legion of Death".
- Gotta love the train's "Gas-lion" at 32:19! No home should be without one!
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