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Post by alpha128 on Oct 16, 2020 1:25:56 GMT
I love when West crashes through the window and exclaims, “I AM BACK!” Me too. I remembered this episode fairly well going in, but I had forgotten about that particular scene. Jim also enters Plank's (open) window later in the episode.
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vrkalak
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Post by vrkalak on Oct 16, 2020 12:33:43 GMT
Simon Oakland, also seen in “The Night Stalker” and “Bullitt,” was a great villain.
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Post by vrkalak on Oct 16, 2020 17:34:08 GMT
Did Alpha recognize the church from a S3 episode?
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Post by alpha128 on Oct 17, 2020 0:24:48 GMT
Did Alpha recognize the church from a S3 episode? If I recall correctly, the same church was used by Furman Crotty's gang as a dead drop in "The Night of the Amnesiac". I also recognized the hotel that featured prominently in "The Night of the Death-Maker" and "The Night of the Sedgewick Curse".
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Post by vrkalak on Oct 18, 2020 13:05:40 GMT
“ If I recall correctly, the same church was used by Furman Crotty's gang as a dead drop in "The Night of the Amnesiac".”
I was thinking “Legion of Death” during the campaign rally at the end.
“I also recognized the hotel that featured prominently in "The Night of the Death-Maker" and "The Night of the Sedgewick Curse". “
You will see also see it in the upcoming episode “Fire and Brimstone.”
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Post by alpha128 on Oct 23, 2020 23:23:46 GMT
"The Night of the Egyptian Queen"I didn't remember much about this one going in, other than the climax where a beam of light reflected through the ruby reveals a hidden treasure. That predates the similar scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) by about 13 years. It's a good episode, but it has more than a few plot elements in common with "The Night of the Samurai" including: - A priceless artifact is stolen and must be recovered.
- The artifact in question leads to a
hidden treasure. - An emissary of a foreign government wants to
recover the hidden treasure for himself. - One of the villains communicates remotely with Jim via a setup that pipes in the sound of his voice.
Some thoughts: - When the unexpected shipment arrived at 00:58, I remembered that it contained stowaways. I love their retro gas masks!
- At 2:16 there's another instance of Gas! before the opening credits roll! That beats the previous record holder, "The Night of the Death Masks", by more than two minutes!
- Remarkably poor framing is evident at 17:38, where Jim punches a saloon brawler who falls and knocks down an entire section of exterior wall.
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vrkalak
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Post by vrkalak on Oct 24, 2020 1:45:10 GMT
Awesome bar fight!
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Post by alpha128 on Oct 24, 2020 15:17:26 GMT
Yes it was. Speaking of the bar, I should clarify that my earlier comment about "remarkably poor framing" referred to the construction of the fictional saloon, and not the positioning of the camera when the fight was filmed. That exterior wall came down so easily, it's a wonder it withstood the elements for as long as it did. I can imagine the following occurred when the saloon was built: Construction Foreman: "Now I want you to install those wall studs 16 inches on center." Construction Worker: "What? I don't hear so good. Say again." Construction Foreman: "I said 16 inches on center." Construction Worker: "Got it." Construction Foreman: "I'll be back to check on your progress later." Construction Worker: "Sure thing boss." [to himself] "All right then, 60 inches on center."
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Post by vrkalak on Oct 24, 2020 18:05:09 GMT
The guy that went the wall was Dick Cangey.
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Post by alpha128 on Nov 1, 2020 19:26:50 GMT
"The Night of Fire and Brimstone"I didn't remember much about this episode going in, other than much of it takes place in mine shafts, and that, near the end, a Confederate soldier is relieved of his command by Artemus, in disguise as General Robert E. Lee. While some episodes this season have recycled plot elements from past shows, this one is almost entirely original. And it's very good too! Some thoughts: - This episodes features at least three more actors who also appeared on Star Trek. Robert Phillips was in "The Cage", John Crawford played Commissioner Ferris in "The Galileo Seven", and Charles Macaulay was none other than Landru himself in "The Return of the Archons".
- Captain Lyman Butler is played by Dabbs Greer, who returns to the series after playing Senator Seth Buckley in "The Night of the Simian Terror".
- At 15:18 Mr. Hannon agrees "to guard this yawning cavity and to keep anyone from getting out." He then promptly engages in dereliction of duty. At 17:38 Hannon descends the ladder to join in the search for West and Gordon. Jim throws him down a hole at 20:15, and then we see Hannon climbing back up the ladder at 21:09.
- There seems to be some confusion as to the name of the doctor Artemus brings to Brimstone. The sign in front of the home clearly reads "Dr. Emmet Sloane". And yet the end credits list the character as "Dr. Sloan" (no E). Meanwhile the IMDb lists the character as Dr. Emmett Sloan (two T's and no E).
- Regardless of his name, the good doctor must have an incredibly successful practice. At 23:58 we see he owns and lives in the hotel we've seen in numerous episodes!
- At 44:02, as Roach prepares to open the doctor's little black bag, I was saying to myself, "Gas!, it's gotta be Gas!" But at 44:07, a balloon inflates, pops, and... nothing! How disappointing!
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Post by vrkalak on Nov 1, 2020 21:05:09 GMT
I believe Fire and Brimstone was the last episode before Ross Martin’s heart attack on 8/17/68.
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Post by alpha128 on Nov 1, 2020 21:22:34 GMT
I believe Fire and Brimstone was the last episode before Ross Martin’s heart attack on 8/17/68. That's what Sue Kesler's book says.
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Post by alpha128 on Nov 14, 2020 2:52:18 GMT
"The Night of the 800 Pound Gorilla"I can't move forward in my reviews for this season without first addressing the 800 pound gorilla in the room - namely Ross Martin's near-fatal heart attack. This occurred shortly after shooting the previous episode, "The Night of Fire and Brimstone". The production team responded by creating a replacement character for Artemus Gordon - Jeremy Pike, played by Charles Aidman. They also created a cover story to explain Ross Martin's absence, that Gordon had been temporarily reassigned to Washington. The creators had three episodes in the can that Martin had shot earlier in the season. They could have aired those first, and then go on to air the nine episodes that featured guest stars instead of Ross Martin. That would have explained Jim's enthusiastic reaction to Artie's return in "The Night of the Diva". If the remaining Season 4 episodes had aired in production order, it would have looked like this: Shooting Order | Episode Title | Sidekick | 84 | The Night of the Pistoleros | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 85 | The Night of the Spanish Curse | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 88 | The Night of the Avaricious Actuary | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 93 | The Night of Miguelito's Revenge | Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman) | 94 | The Night of the Camera | Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman) | 95 | The Night of the Pelican | Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman) | 96 | The Night of the Janus | Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman) | 97 | The Night of the Winged Terror: Part 1 | Frank Harper (William Schallert) | 98 | The Night of the Winged Terror: Part II | Frank Harper (William Schallert) | 99 | The Night of the Sabatini Death | Ned Brown (Alan Hale) | 100 | The Night of the Bleak Island | Sir Nigel Scott (John Williams) | 101 | The Night of the Tycoons | Lionel (Steve Carlson) | 102 | The Night of the Diva | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 103 | The Night of the Plague | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 104 | The Night of the Cossacks | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) |
But the network, fearful of the audience's reaction to a prolonged absence by Ross Martin, decided to air the episodes out of order. This had the effect of Gordon hopping back and forth to Washington, as if there were such a thing as a nineteenth century commuter airline. Also, they aired "The Night of the Pistoleros" (shooting #84) two weeks before "The Night of the Diva" (shooting #102), making Jim's enthusiastic reaction to Artie's return somewhat strange, considering Artie had been in the previous episode. The remaining Season 4 episodes appear on the DVDs in air date order, which is somewhat messy: Air Date | Episode Title | Sidekick | 11/29/1968 | The Night of the Camera | Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman) | 12/6/1968 | The Night of the Avaricious Actuary | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 12/13/1968 | The Night of Miguelito's Revenge | Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman) | 12/27/1968 | The Night of the Pelican | Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman) | 1/10/1969 | The Night of the Spanish Curse | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 1/17/1969 | The Night of the Winged Terror: Part 1 | Frank Harper (William Schallert) | 1/24/1969 | The Night of the Winged Terror: Part II | Frank Harper (William Schallert) | 2/7/1969 | The Night of the Sabatini Death | Ned Brown (Alan Hale) | 2/14/1969 | The Night of the Janus | Jeremy Pike (Charles Aidman) | 2/21/1969 | The Night of the Pistoleros | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 3/7/1969 | The Night of the Diva | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 3/14/1969 | The Night of the Bleak Island | Sir Nigel Scott (John Williams) | 3/21/1969 | The Night of the Cossacks | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 4/4/1969 | The Night of the Plague | Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) | 4/11/1969 | The Night of the Tycoons | Lionel (Steve Carlson) |
Sorry if this discussion is a bit academic, but I wanted to get this out of the way, so I can focus on the remaining episodes, and not on the behind the scenes drama that surrounded them. EDIT: If you would rather watch the episodes that aired after Ross Martin's heart attack in production order, I have created a Season 4 episode index (with hyperlinks to each of my reviews) in this alternate viewing order.
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Post by vrkalak on Nov 14, 2020 13:44:38 GMT
As a kid watching West in S4, I recall Artie being called to Washington as being annoying, no replacement for Aunt Maude’s nephew will do in my book. I don’t believe most, if any, folks knew that Ross Martin had health problems.
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Post by alpha128 on Nov 14, 2020 16:39:53 GMT
As a kid watching West in S4, I recall Artie being called to Washington as being annoying, no replacement for Aunt Maude’s nephew will do in my book. I don’t believe most, if any, folks knew that Ross Martin had health problems. What did you find more annoying, that Artie was gone, or that he kept disappearing and reappearing? I'll go into more detail about the various episodes and "replacement nephews" as I rewatch them. But as I recall (and I've already rewatched "The Night of the Pelican"), the production team did an outstanding job under extremely difficult circumstances.
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Post by alpha128 on Nov 15, 2020 21:25:47 GMT
"The Night of the Camera"The messy air date order mentioned in "The Night of the 800 Pound Gorilla" is immediately apparent with this episode. Secret Service Agent Bosley Cranston (Pat Paulsen) is the first character to mention Gordon's reassignment to Washington. Furthermore Jim notes at 5:08, "Jeremy Pike has already been assigned to me." IMO, the network seriously screwed up by airing this episode prior to "The Night of Miguelito's Revenge", the first episode, in production order, featuring Pike in the role of "replacement nephew". I can imagine a lot of viewers were confused by the presence of two new Secret Service Agents, one of whom was named before he even appeared. As noted in Sue Kesler's book, the production team's first priority after Ross Martin's heart attack was to find another actor who could play his part. I must say that Charles Aidman does a remarkable job here as a replacement, donning no less than three different disguises in the same episode. Some thoughts: - At 24:39 we see, once again, our favorite brick building - soon to be featured in a comprehensive episode list by vrkalak !
- At 43:30 a billiard ball explodes for what I believe is the third time in the series after the pilot and "The Night of the Infernal Machine".
- The three sisters provide, barely, this episode's quota of a Beautiful Woman. Although they are not listed in the credits, we do get to see them in close-up, briefly, at the end of the episode. That's more than we can say about Jim's hidden kissing companion in "The Night of the Big Blackmail".
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vrkalak
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Post by vrkalak on Nov 15, 2020 21:55:37 GMT
“ At 24:39 we see, once again, our favorite brick building - soon to be featured in a comprehensive episode list by vrkalak!” 🙈😎😂
At 43:30 a billiard ball explodes for what I believe is the third time in the series after the pilot and "The Night of the Infernal Machine".
Don’t forget “TNOT Burning Diamond.”
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Post by Prime etc. on Nov 16, 2020 2:01:03 GMT
Interesting sidekick list. I see Alan Hale did one (I have a sense of deja vu about it--maybe I caught the episode and pondered what the Skipper was doing).
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Post by alpha128 on Nov 16, 2020 2:17:46 GMT
Interesting sidekick list. I see Alan Hale did one (I have a sense of deja vu about it--maybe I caught the episode and pondered what the Skipper was doing). As if the Gilligan's Island connection wasn't strong enough, "The Night of the Sabatini Death" also features Jim Backus in a supporting role.
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Post by alpha128 on Nov 20, 2020 1:31:45 GMT
"The Night of the Avaricious Actuary"This is another 24 Karat Pure Classic episode. The premise, a villain using a giant tuning fork as a weapon of mass destruction, is quintessential West. I can't imagine any another series using a plot like this. Some thoughts: - After the minimal beautiful women in the previous episode, this one could have been titled "The Night of the Bevy of Babes". The guest cast includes Emily Banks as Arden Masterson, Judi Sherven as Miss Cora Lester, Jenny Maxwell as Billie (the arcade cashier), Sharon Cintron as Girl #1, and Linda Cooper as Girl #2. It just so happens that both Sherven and Cintron had previously appeared in The Night of the Circus of Death.
- At 06:45 we see the letter from the Cyclops Insurance Company is dated 1875, with the first two characters printed, and the last two hand written.
- At 25:27 it appears that Jim weighs well over 175 pounds.
- At 43:23 we see the most effective disguise of Artemus Gordon's long career. Why, he doesn't look anything like Ross Martin! This footage was obviously shot with another actor after Ross Martin broke his leg.
- However at 45:41, it's apparent that Ross Martin is in the makeup of the gas inspector.
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