vrkalak
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@vrkalak
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 26, 2020 12:11:24 GMT
Big Blackmail has been a favorite of mine since it aired back in September 1968. One of the best things about West is that he makes you believe the unbelievable. One example is Harvey Korman playing a serious role.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 26, 2020 12:30:36 GMT
Big Blackmail has been a favorite of mine since it aired back in September 1968. One of the best things about West is that he makes you believe the unbelievable. One example is Harvey Korman playing a serious role. Another example is the fantastic (in every sense of the word) underground security area with its traps (poor Whitey Hughes!), and a safe with a steam powered cylinder for a door. I love the scene where Jim has to fight off a group of guys with only one hand, while holding on to the lever that controls the cylinder with the other - to prevent Artie from being crushed by the cylinder.
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 511
Likes: 417
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 26, 2020 19:12:51 GMT
Our favorite building is in the background towards the end when Hiram Ulysses Grant gets off his coach ride to enter the embassy.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 26, 2020 22:28:30 GMT
Our favorite building is in the background towards the end when Hiram Ulysses Grant gets off his coach ride to enter the embassy. Yes, I noticed that! How's that definitive count coming?
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 511
Likes: 417
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 26, 2020 23:59:45 GMT
Our favorite building is in the background towards the end when Hiram Ulysses Grant gets off his coach ride to enter the embassy. Yes, I noticed that! How's that definitive count coming? September release date.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 27, 2020 0:01:45 GMT
Yes, I noticed that! How's that definitive count coming? September release date. All right. Looking forward to it!
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 29, 2020 6:54:29 GMT
The Night That Terror Stalked the Town
I knew Artie would clue in that it was a fake Jim Kirk I mean West! Jim West! When Marie showed up I thought--I know her! Then I saw the credits--aha Myrtle from The St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
They didn't say what happened to Janus.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 29, 2020 18:01:35 GMT
The Night That Terror Stalked the Town They didn't say what happened to Janus. It had been so long since I had seen this one, I couldn't remember what happened to Janus. I rewatched the last few minutes, and you're right - they don't say what happened to Janus. Presumably he was incarcerated along with Loveless and Voltaire, as it didn't appear that Jim killed him in their final fight.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 29, 2020 18:36:38 GMT
The Night That Terror Stalked the Town I knew Artie would clue in that it was a fake Jim Kirk I mean West! Jim West! BTW, since you're familiar with the adventures of Jim Kirk, you might enjoy the content on the IMDB v2.1 Movie Quotes board, where we've "trekked" over 230 movies to date.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 29, 2020 21:19:25 GMT
It had been so long since I had seen this one, I couldn't remember what happened to Janus. I rewatched the last few minutes, and you're right - they don't say what happened to Janus. Presumably he was incarcerated along with Loveless and Voltaire, as it didn't appear that Jim killed him in their final fight. Janus wasn't too smart-he should have switched to his regular voice to let Loveless know he was Janus!
Or maybe he was so much in the role he couldn't slip out of it-since they made him to be kind of weird early on-never speaking. Plus, could Jim West afford to keep him alive? He'd have to mess up his face or tattoo it or something...
Someone on IMDB reviews of this episode said it reminded them of the Kirk robot episode which is why I made the Kirk comment. And that reminds me, when I saw Richard Kiel I thought of an interview with Ted Cassidy (possibly his last) where Kiel was mentioned and he got upset, saying-"Don't compare to that guy! He can't act!"
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 29, 2020 21:52:11 GMT
Another thing--I had trouble telling who was Conrad and who was the double--was the double here the same one who replaced him after the injury?
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 511
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 29, 2020 23:32:54 GMT
Another thing--I had trouble telling who was Conrad and who was the double--was the double here the same one who replaced him after the injury? Janus, Chuck O’Brien, did other stunt work on West.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 30, 2020 16:26:07 GMT
Janus wasn't too smart-he should have switched to his regular voice to let Loveless know he was Janus!
Or maybe he was so much in the role he couldn't slip out of it-since they made him to be kind of weird early on-never speaking.
Plus, could Jim West afford to keep him alive? He'd have to mess up his face or tattoo it or something... Yes, having an exact duplicate of Jim West in circulation is something U.S. Government can't tolerate. You'll see in next season's "The Night of the Big Blast" the problems that can create. I'd like to think they were more or less able to restore Janus' original appearance, perhaps fixing his scar in the process.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 30, 2020 16:36:53 GMT
Another thing--I had trouble telling who was Conrad and who was the double--was the double here the same one who replaced him after the injury? Susan Kesler's book states Jimmy George wasn't added to the stunt team until after Conrad's injury. The book doesn't seem to mention who doubled Conrad in this episode.
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 30, 2020 18:51:14 GMT
"The Night of the Doomsday Formula"This is a solid, but not spectacular, episode. It's not as good as "Big Blackmail" despite the fact that both episodes were directed by prolific TWWW director Irving J. Moore. "Doomsday Formula" seems a bit slow and talky. Some thoughts: - As I noted previously, "The Night of the Big Blackmail" lacks a Beautiful Woman. This episode more than makes up for that omission by including Miss Verna Scott played by Gail Billings, and Lorna Crane played by Melinda Plowman (AKA Melinda Casey).
- Starting around 22:41 Jim begins crawling through a tunnel system, which is somewhat reminiscent of the one in Dr. No.
- At 26:21 the ring of fire surrounding Lorna Crane really does look dangerous. In real life, I would think her long dress would catch on fire.
- I remembered Artie's trick with the music box, the suspenseful act break where it malfunctioned, and how Artie got out of this predicament.
- Artie's song is also very memorable, but not necessarily in a good way!
- I think that a stunt double replaced Robert Conrad for the slide down the rope. It looks like the shot was staged so that "Jim's" face was hidden from the camera.
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 511
Likes: 417
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 30, 2020 19:01:44 GMT
“I think that a stunt double replaced Robert Conrad for the slide down the rope. It looks like the shot was staged so that "Jim's" face was hidden from the camera.“
I’ll also bet Lorna Crane was actually Whitey Hughes too. 😎
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Post by alpha128 on Aug 30, 2020 19:11:43 GMT
“I think that a stunt double replaced Robert Conrad for the slide down the rope. It looks like the shot was staged so that "Jim's" face was hidden from the camera.“ I’ll also bet Lorna Crane was actually Whitey Hughes too. 😎 Was it standard practice to use a male stunt performers to double female actors on TWWW? Susan Kesler's book doesn't seem to address this point.
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 511
Likes: 417
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 30, 2020 22:06:35 GMT
“I think that a stunt double replaced Robert Conrad for the slide down the rope. It looks like the shot was staged so that "Jim's" face was hidden from the camera.“ I’ll also bet Lorna Crane was actually Whitey Hughes too. 😎 Was it standard practice to use a male stunt performers to double female actors on TWWW? Susan Kesler's book doesn't seem to address this point. Idk. Whitey was only 5’6”, so I’ll bet when needed. You also Can tell it is Hughes dressed up as Colonel Beaumont Carson In “Returning Dead.”
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 31, 2020 0:02:53 GMT
That was a mean trick he pulled on his partner, pretending to be Janus and saying he was going to shoot him. You could say in their line of work that was kind of "gallows humor" they wouldn't be nonplussed by-those Pinkertons sounded like rough dudes---but I think it would be like pointing a fake gun at Brinks guards. He must have felt Artie could never be a threat to him.
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Post by alpha128 on Sept 9, 2020 3:16:08 GMT
"The Night of the Juggernaut"As I noted in my comments on "The Night of the Freebooters" back in Season 1, "The Turtle" concept was enhanced and reused in "The Night of the Juggernaut". The Juggernaut could also be considered a "cousin" of the Dragon Tank in the first Bond film, Dr. No. Juggernaut Dragon Tank"The Night of the Juggernaut" also seems to draw on "The Night of the Golden Cobra" for inspiration, as both episodes have the basic plot of driving rightful owners off their land, so that hidden oil reserves can be exploited by the villain - played by Simon Scott in both episodes! So this isn't the most original episode, but it is a lot of fun! And I'm glad this episode is part of the fourth season. The plot of "homesteaders being driven out of the Grey Ridge area" could have been turned into a very traditional western episode if this show had been made in the previous season. Some thoughts: - I knew that this episode was shot after Ross Martin broke his leg, and his injury was written into the script. If you watch closely you can tell a double was used for Ross Martin at the very beginning of the show, when riding, dismounting, and walking were required.
- Dr. Virginia Mays was played by Mary Frann, who went on to play Bob Newhart's wife on "Newhart". She died of a heart attack at age 55 back in 1998.
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