F TROOP Fridays: TV GUIDE, December 11-17, 1965

With apologies to Mitchell Hadley of the excellent (and highly recommended by yours truly) blog It's About TV, I'm going to take an excursion into what is normally his territory with a look back at a classic issue of TV Guide.

It was 50 years ago this Friday that television's all time greatest series, F TROOP, made the cover of the venerable U.S. television weekly for the first time.

F Troop would soon be overshadowed by the smash mid-season replacement Batman (which debuted January 12, 1966) but at the time of this issue, it was ABC's biggest new hit of the 1965-66 season. Airing in what had been a death slot for ABC (Tuesdays at 9 PM ET) since the turn of the decade, F Troop managed to stand its ground and then some.  In fact, the episodes Scourge of the West, Don't Look Now, One of our Cannon Missing and Old Ironpants cracked the Nielsen top 10 despite airing opposite CBS' seemingly invincible The Red Skelton Show.

It's series star Forrest Tucker who is the subject of this cover story, profiled by Leslie Raddatz (whose tenure at the weekly lasted from 1962 to 1976).  Actors Should Act Like Actors is the title of Raddatz' article and also our patron saint's credo.  Tuck learned it from his early show business mentor, Jimmy "Carnation" Lake, who unknowingly hired a fifteen year old Forrest to emcee at the Old Gayety burlesque theatre in Washington, D.C.  Whether this happened circa 1930 or circa 1934 depends on the source: Raddatz gives Tucker's birthdate as February 12, 1915 (though 1919 is the most widely reported year).

The interview takes place at Tuck's longtime favorite hangout, the Lakeside Country Club, so it isn't surprising that the star's prowess at golf gets almost as much mention as his chosen vocation.  Tuck's apartment is three blocks from Warner Brothers' backlot and from Lakeside, and he often drives from place to place in his customized golf cart.  While Tucker probably played more rounds at Lakeside than anywhere else, we learn that it wasn't the site of his greatest round ever (at least, as of late 1965)--a stellar 9-under-par 63 at a pro-Am in Stockton.

Professionally, Tuck's long run as Professor Harold Hill onstage in The Music Man (2,008 performances from 1958-1963) gets prominent mention in Raddatz' article.  "The part is so tough you have to spend all of your time between shows lying down.  For four years I saw nothing but the theatre and a ceiling."  Tucker is perhaps overly modest about a career on the big screen that at the time included 91 feature film credits:   "I never really made it in pictures--I was the other guy, the one who didn't get the girl." (Not always, Tuck!)  Marilyn Fisk is his third wife ("I like dancers because of their discipline") and ends up making three appearances on F Troop.

Marilyn Fisk Tucker on F Troop

The other cover story involves what, in 1965, was still being referred to as the UHF Gamble.  The All-Chanel Receiver Act of 1962 had gone into effect in May 1964, requiring all television manufacturers to include UHF tuners so that channels 14 through 83 could be received by the public.  David Lachenbruch's article looks at this "$200,000,000 Experiment" (the rough estimate of the added cost of said UHF tuners) after the first eighteen months.  More than 35 percent of the nations estimated 53.8 million households "already have at least one set" that can access the additional 70 channels.

Independent producer David L. Wolper (Get Christie Love!) was prescient: "Another network will be formed.  It's inevitable now that the stations are there."  He's far from the only prognosticator proven correct about where television would be headed: more choices, more programming variety. KWEX-TV in San Antonio "saw the light almost from the beginning", broadcasting 14 1/2 hours a day "for the last ten years".  Thus began what we now know as Univision.  WKBD in Michigan carries University of Michigan sports along with the Pistons and Red Wings in prime time.  ESPN, of course, was still fourteen years away.  Lachenbruch concludes that the all-channel experiment "cannot yet be called a success" but notes that UHF broadcasters insist that it must succeed, for the sake of television's future.  For the record, my issue, covering the Philadelphia area, carries listings for a mere by modern standards nine stations: 3 UHF independents (17,29,48); one UHF CBS affiliate (15), educational Channel 12, and four more network affiliates, with last-place ABC having only one (6) to the two for both NBC (3,8) and CBS (10,15).

Two stars whose best days were ahead of them also have articles about their respective shows that didn't survive the 1965-66 season: Peter Falk's Trials of O'Brien and Sally Field's Gidget.  ABC cancelled Gidget but had Field back on the air more successfully in 1967 as the star of The Flying Nun.  Falk would begin his epic run as Columbo in the 1968 TV-movie PRESCRIPTION: MURDER.  One can see elements that Falk would bring to that iconic portrayal in lawyer Daniel J. O'Brien's office, though none of these props could compare with that raincoat.

The office of Daniel J. O'Brien, attorney at law

Capping off an issue with most impressive star power, Charles E. Alverson interviews the legendary Gypsy Rose Lee, former burlesque queen and now host of her own syndicated TV talk show based in San Francisco (where it airs on WCO-TV).  Alverson reports that the transition from "take it off!" to "keep them talking!" hasn't been without its problems.  Used to being the interviewee, she started out "rattling away for the whole show".  The three page profile isn't the most flattering: "there are few signs that Miss Lee has given up running her guests off the conversational road".  Alverson almost grudgingly concludes that despite the problems, Miss Lee "can so far rest easy", since she has fans ranging from John Wayne to the secretary of a chapter of the Hell's Angels, "a band of California bike riders often in the headlines".

Gypsy Rose Lee on the set of her talk show, 1965

KCO-TV was an ABC affiliate, and Gypsy Rose Lee would make appearances on the network's Batman and The Pruitts of Southampton the following year.  She died in 1970.

Rounding out the feature articles, Pep Pills for Dr. Kildare, reviews NBC's attempt to reinvigorate its aging hit.  "Romance and a format change" didn't work; the doctor was out after this fifth season.

Inside: For The Record reports that ABC expects to debut two hour-long British TV series in the summer. The Avengers, noting that "Honor Blackman stars on British TV, but she won't be in the version shown here".  No mention whatsoever of Patrick MacNee or then-current costar Diana Rigg!  The second, Court-Martial, is far less remembered despite the bigger American name in Peter Graves, already familiar then from Fury and about to score his signature TV role in Mission: Impossible.

The British imports were two for two at hitting prime time, a much better batting average than the four reported projects from the "Comeback Quartet" for 1966-67: Phil Silvers in Help (Bilko as a chauffeur), Pat Boone in The Perils of Pauline (with Pamela Austin in the titular role) and 74 year old Lowell Thomas' planned documentary series all failed to make the schedule.  Only the return of The Garry Moore Show did, and thanks to competition from Bonanza, it barely lasted into 1967.  One last note, Roger Miller and Jonathan Winters are both "under consideration" for a summer series by NBC.  Miller ended up on the network's fall schedule in 1966, and Winters made it onto CBS' the following year for a two year run.

Interesting letters as always, with one blasting the unsuccessful format change for Amos Burke: Secret Agent (formerly Burke's Law, and off the air three weeks later) and two panning the salute to Stan Laurel that had aired on CBS November 23rd.  Perhaps most interesting of all is the opinion of V. Smith from Hamilton, Ontario: "Since playing Las Vegas, Johnny Carson's head has certainly swelled.  He is not nearly as interested in his guests as he is in setting his facial expressions for the camera.  Merv Griffin has him beaten by miles."  While Griffin didn't quite match Carson's run, The Merv Griffin Show had 21 more years to run, not far behind Carson's 27.

Despite Mr. Smith's non-endorsement, Carson's guest appearance on Get Smart was notable enough to give the December 11 episode a TV Guide Close-Up:

Mr. Hadley compares the lineups for Hollywood Palace (Saturday) and The Ed Sullivan Show (Sunday) each week that he reviews an issue from the Sixties, so just for fun, I'll take a shot at it too:

Palace: Host Caterina Valente, Bill Cosby, Bill Dana as Jose Jimenez, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Brazilian guitarist Luis Bonfa, magician Channing Pollock, the Black Theatre of Prague (pantomimists) and the Freedonias (German tumblers).

Alan King

Sullivan: Alan King, Al Hirt, Barbara McNair, Wayne Newton, the Swingle Singers (who adapt jazz styles to classical music), clown/juggling troupe The Gomberts and the Bratislova Slovokian Folkloric Company.

Alpert and the Brass play two songs from the legendary Whipped Cream and Other Delights LP, Valente gets four songs, Cosby does a presumably shortened version of "$75 Car" from his Why is There Air? LP, and Dana's Jose is a flamenco dancer.  It's enough to outweigh Hirt and McNair for me, so I'm going with Palace.  Besides, Caterina Valente is much easier on the eyes than Alan King.

Caterina Valente

On Sunday, the annual rerun of Gian Carlo Menotti's opera Amahl and the Night Visitors (first telecast live in 1951 as the very first Hallmark Hall of Fame) is NBC's counter-programming to the football games on CBS and ABC.  This is a taped repeat of the 1963 production, and the last before the TV rights reverted back to Menotti in May 1966.  Menotti, who never approved of the 1963 version, refused to allow it to be rebroadcast again.

Not to sound lowbrow or anything, but I probably would have chosen the football game between the New York Jets (led by rookie QB Joe Namath) and the Oakland Raiders instead.  (The Raiders prevailed 24-14 behind QB Tom Flores despite Namath's 280 yard, 2 touchdown day.)

The seasonal mood is being built on Monday night with the annual Andy Williams Christmas show, with Andy's special guests The Osmonds.  The aforementioned David L. Wolper also gets a TV Guide Close-Up for his ABC documentary airing at 10:00, In Search of Man.  Van Heflin narrates.

On Tuesday our cover show F Troop has one of its funniest episodes of the season, The 86 Proof Spring.  Competition: Red Skelton has Tallulah Bankhead as his guest and Wilt Chamberlain's 76ers are playing Cincinnati on UHF Channel 17.  (Oscar Robertson's Royals upset Wilt's 76ers 112-109: sounds like an exciting game.)

The Bob Hope Comedy Special gets Wednesday night's Closeup, bringing the star power with Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Janet Leigh and singer Nancy Wilson joining Bob.  Probably a top draw, especially with Benny having given up his series after 15 years the preceding season.

There's no review from critic Cleveland Amory this issue, though Thursday night's listing for Amory's creation (with Abe Burrows) O. K. Crackerby includes a blurb that the critic will discuss the show's failure in next week's issue.  Crackerby, which starred Burl Ives, has only three episodes left after tonight's installment guest starring Aliza Gur, Miss Israel of 1960 and a finalist in that year's Miss Universe pageant.

Aliza Gur

Aliza Gur was a popular guest star in 1965-66, popping up on six different series, including the aforementioned Amos Burke just four weeks earlier in an episode entitled Deadlier Than the Male.  

Capping off the week, low-rated Camp Runamuck and Hank are pre-empted by NBC Friday night for Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.   As always, Jim Backus is Magoo and Jack Cassidy voices Bob Cratchit.  It's a repeat, having first aired in 1962.  Magoo goes head to head with ABC's long-running The Flintstones, and this week Fred and Barney are utilizing robot doubles to go bowling and take their wives out simultaneously.  If you dislike cartoons, The Wild, Wild West still airs as usual on CBS.

Before we leave Friday and the listings: The Trials of O'Brien has two of the longest running TV sleuths of all time facing off, as Peter Falk is joined by guest star Angela Lansbury.

TV Teletype: Hollywood has the following tidbits:  Jack Webb has been recently signed by Universal to produce a two-hour Dragnet, which "may again become a series".  (It did, a year later as a mid-season replacement in 1966-67 and became a long-running hit again.)  Webb won't be joined in the new version by Ben Alexander, who's busy with 20th Century Fox's pilot, Men Against Evil with Howard Duff and Jeanne Crain.  That became the long-running (until 1969) hit, Felony Squad (sans Crain) the following fall.  Finally, Andy Griffith has decided to stay on CBS for a seventh season in 1966-67, which will "probably be the last".  (It wasn't--he was back in 1967-68.)

No review from Cleveland Amory this week.  Vacation, or mourning that cancellation of O.K. Crackerby?  

Finally, you know it's still the Sixties when you're encouraged to give the gift of Pall Mall this Christmas:

If that doesn't get you into the Holiday spirit, nothing will!


F Troop had two more TV Guide covers in its future, so hopefully this is the first of a trilogy here at the Section.  And if you like vintage TV Guide reviews, It's About TV has a new one each Saturday, and you'll find one periodically at Retrospace also.

MAVERICK Mondays: "The Art Lovers" (1961)

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 18







MAVERICK: "The Art Lovers" (1961 ABC/Warner Brothers TV) Starring Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, James Westerfield as Paul Sutton, Jack Cassidy as Roger Cushman, Maurine Dawson as Anne Sutton, John Hoyt as George Cushman, Leon Belasco as Cosmo, Laurie Main as Crimmins, John Alderson as Captain Bly, Stephen Chase as Tabor Scott, Lou Krugman as LaRouche, Stanley Farrar as Leighton.  Written by Peter Germano.  Directed by Michael O'Herilihy.


Recognizing Bart from a prior game in Denver, coxcomb Roger Cushman proposes a deal that sounds too good to be true: he'll back Maverick in a high-stakes game with rich men whose bank accounts far outstrip their poker skills.  Smarting from a $30,000 loss at the same table, Cushman only wants 25 percent of Maverick's winnings in exchange.  Bart warns that a loss is always possible, but reassuring young Cushman offers to back any losses 100 percent.  After agreeing to terms, "Colonel" Maverick from east Texas is seated at the table with Cushman's uncle George and three more high rollers.

Unfortunately, a bad beat against Paul Sutton's kings full of fives proves the prescience of Bart's warning to the tune of a $25,000 loss.  Roger quickly disavows any "deal", indignantly declaring to Uncle George that the imposter Colonel tricked him.  With no witnesses to concur with him and four wealthy, influential men vowing to prosecute, Bart finds himself paying off his debt as a butler at the Sutton home.  It looks like Maverick's poker career will be on hold for five to ten years, until he learns that a shortage of domestic staffing at the household is due to financial troubles Sutton has been keeping secret.  After Sutton fails to secure further financing for the railroad investment that has been draining his resources, Maverick learns of one highly confidential asset held by the troubled tycoon that could solve both of their problems.

Scripted by Peter Germano and directed by Michael O'Herlilihy (Poker Face), The Art Lovers continues the effort to reclaim MAVERICK's glory days during its abbreviated final season.  New producer William L. Stuart attempted to re-establish a cast of recurring rogues in the season opening Dade City Dodge by introducing an ersatz Dandy Jim Buckley (Mike Road's "Pearly Gates") as a frequent foil to go with Doc Holliday (Peter Breck) and the re-cast Modesty Blaine (Kathleen Crowley replacing Mona Freeman).  This followup installment harkens back to Shady Deal at Sunny Acres with its setup: Maverick trusts a wealthy, well-connected individual who turns out to be dishonorable, with the result that no one believes his story that he was cheated out of five figures by his well-to-do adversary.

In fact, Bart's task is even more daunting than brother Bret's was in the classic second season entry.  Bret was only facing the loss of $15,000 profit; here, Bart is facing ten years' identured servitude (stables included, thanks to cutbacks Sutton's been forced into) to repay an unpayable debt.  Bret squared off against one well-connected banker; Bart has five influential millionaires on the other side.  Bret had the help of brother Bart and some of the west's best con men; by this time, brother Bret is long gone from the series, and even frequent friend Doc Holliday isn't in San Francisco for The Art Lovers.

The confidential admission regarding a valuable (but illegally owned) treasure at the halfway point is only the first of multiple twists and turns in Germano's clever script.  It's the opening Bart needs to turn the tables on his supercilious adversary, played by a perfectly cast Jack Cassidy.  Oily sore loser Roger gets less patronizing and more desperate as the cracks begin to show.  When he goes back to the well for a second attempt at shanghaiing Bart, Roger isn't surrounded by family and support, and that makes all the difference.  It's easy to see from this excellent early performance why Cassidy was one of the best COLUMBO villains (and also the actor that Ted Baxter was written for).

Thin-lipped, steely eyed and prematurely grey John Hoyt is also an ideal choice to play Roger's uncle; he's just as ruthless as the younger Cushman, but much more accomplished at it.  For example, he shushes Roger's suggestion to have Bart killed--not because he's morally opposed, but because he feels his foppish nephew "will only muck it up" and take them both to the gallows.   The less pretentious Sutton (James Westerfield of The Ghost Soldiers) is easier to sympathize with, since he lets his guard down.  The only baron realizing that he and his fellow patrons have more in common with Maverick (who is into "engravings") than with the truly enlightened (none of them appreciate the live opera hosted by Mrs. Sutton, for example), Sutton admits it outright: "We wouldn't know real culture if we fell over it."  Men focused on acquisition over artistry are ripe targets for a dealer like Cosmo Nardi (aka "Duke Delaney" to Bart).

The Art Lovers is well paced.  The humor of work-shy Bart becoming an inept butler is exploited just long enough, getting the laughs out of the incongruity and then getting our hero back to what he does best (using his wits) before becoming tedious.  Once Bart recognizes Cosmo Nardi as a con-man from Louisiana (who's staying one step ahead of the law) he has a full foot in the door to regain his freedom (and his bankroll)--everyone involved, especially "Cosmo", needs Maverick's confidence.  It comes in especially handy once Bart finds himself face to face with Captain Bly.

A mutiny, ya say?

Germano's second (and last) installment is a notable improvement over his first (The Ice Man) but isn't without imperfections: Cosmo's convenient appearance at the dock is contrived, since Bly doesn't seem the type for him to be doing much business with.  There's also the realization that the return of the rare original painting to Louvre Palace would seem to leave Cosmo in danger of that California jail sentence that Bart escaped.  Nardi's fate is unknown (this was Leon Belasco's only appearance)--but hey, he had landed on his feet with a new name before.  These quibbles notwithstanding, The Art Lovers is still a solidly constructed and very welcome return to form. The aging series needed one badly after a frequently frustrating 1960-61 season marred by too many hackneyed plots that could have been written for any western.

Butler Bart

HOW'D BART DO AT POKER?

As noted above, he got his ass kicked at the tables, but did much better away from the them this time out, wiping out his debt (and then some) by episode's end.

WISDOM FROM PAPPY?

The fifth season's biggest flaw?   Pappyisms that lacked freshness and humor, even.  Witness this one: "Travel broadens the imagination."  A better one is paraphrased earlier: "There are much worse things than being broke.  He just didn't know of any." 

THE BOTTOM LINE:

O'Herlihy debuts impressively, actually making the lack of exteriors a plus.  Germano produces a twisting script that can stand with most the best of the first three seasons.  I doubt if Garner would have passed on this one if it had been written three years earlier.  I daresay it is every bit as satisfying to see haughty Jack Cassidy taken down as it was to see John Dehner's crooked banker get his.  The Art Lovers is one of the best of the final batch of MAVERICK installments, even with its minor flaws.  Underrated.  One of Jack Kelly's funniest episodes.  (***1/2 out of four)

MAVERICK currently airs Monday through Friday at 1 PM Central/2 PM Eastern without commercial interruption on Encore Westerns.

Television Review: LOVE THAT BOB: "Bob's Forgotten Fiancee" (1958)

LOVE THAT BOB: "Bob's Forgotten Fiancee" (Original Air Date: 6/17/58) Starring Bob Cummings as Bob Collins, Rosemary deCamp as Margaret, Lyle Talbot as Paul Fonda, Dwayne Hickman as Chuck, King Donovan as Harvey Helm, Olive Sturgess as Carol, Constance Towers as Patricia Plummer, Laurie Anders as Frances.  Written by Paul Henning, Shirl Gordon and Dick Wesson.  Directed by Bob Cummings.


Series overview of LOVE THAT BOB a.k.a. THE BOB CUMMINGS SHOW at this link. 


With Chuck dressing up in Bob's smoking jacket and using his uncle's corny lines to give Carol the brushoff, Margaret is again concerned about her playboy brother's influence on her teenaged son.  Margaret learns about Bob's time-tested dismissals from his old Air Force buddy Helm, who participated in the "foolproof" routine when both were stationed near San Antono.  Colonel Collins handed out 'friendship' rings with the promise to turn them into 'engagement' rings once the 'test of time' was proven in the future.

As usual, Uncle Bob is unrepentant about passing his wisdom on to his nephew, so Margaret decides to turn the tables on the Casanova who "treats women like paper plates".  Assisted by Bob's fellow USAF veteran Paul Fonda, Margaret recruits stewardess and aspiring actress Plummer to pose as one of those long-forgotten fiancées from the Lone Star state.   The playboy photographer is mighty intrigued by the beautiful blonde guest in his home--that is, until he gets a gander at that very familiar pinky ring she's wearing.

The finale of the show's fourth (and best) season, Bob's Forgotten Fiancee has a very familiar setup: Margaret's concern about Bob's Je Ne Sais Quoi rubbing off on Chuck.  In Bob Gets Out-Uncled, the photographer was exposed as a windbag on the athletic field; in Bob Plays Margaret's Game, the playboy suffers a tag-team cockblocking as his payback.  Despite trekking over well-trod LOVE THAT BOB territory, the team of Henning, Gordon and Wesson (responsible for all 36 of the season's scripts) still manages to find a few fresh wrinkles for the premise.

Usual blocker Schultzy is M.I.A., partly because the episode takes place on Saturday (and thus, like Bob Plays Margaret's Game, the action never visits the studio) and partly because for once there's nothing to foil: Bob's only date is golf with Harvey Helm and his interest in Miss Plummer dissipates in seconds.  No, the only comeuppance Margaret seeks this time is to scare some of the savoir faire out of her bachelor brother by making him think the past has come back to haunt him.

If Cummings' direction isn't as inventive here as it was in other segments, the star still keeps the smiles coming consistently, punctuated by a belly laugh or two.  Just about every flashback or dream sequence was a winner on LOVE THAT BOB, and predictably, this installment's San Antonio reminiscence from Helm provides the biggest laugh out loud moments, as we witness the silver tongued Major (now Colonel) Collins' routine in all its glory, complete with Helm's well-timed musical accompaniment.

There's also plenty of chuckles to be had as Chuck tries to emulate Uncle Bob, eagerly trying out the leisure wardrobe as well as all of those time-tested lines.  But the nephew lacks Mr. Collins' slipperiness, and Carol Henning isn't impressed by the secondhand deliveries--perhaps best demonstrated by the outcome of that dispute over Chuck's Fats Domino record.

That the younger generation finds Bob's lines highly resistible hints at the coming youth revolution, but the swanky Playboy was still in the lead in 1958.  And the ever-subversive LOVE THAT BOB continues to undermine any perceived agreement with Margaret about Bob's bachelor life, as our only married man Harvey Helm is as henpecked as they come.  Given Harv as our example of a "happily married man" ("I wish Bob had gotten married instead of me", Helm admits), it's no wonder why Chuck continues to emulate his Uncle despite all of his mother's efforts.  While Bob's romantic prowess isn't demonstrated first-hand for Chuck, other benefits to his unencumbered lifestyle are front and center.  For example, Colonel Collins can fly off to Mexico City at the drop of a hat if he wants.  Imagine Ruth Helm's reaction if "Harv" tried that!

Laurie Anders

Bob's 'real' forgotten San Antonio fiancee is played by Laurie Anders (Bob and Automation), in her final acting role.  Best known as a singer-comedienne on THE KEN MURRAY SHOW, Wyoming native Anders parlayed her catchphrase from it into a hit 1951 single, "I Like the Wide Open Spaces".  After one last TV appearance (Ken Murray's 1960 episode of THIS IS YOUR LIFE), Anders retired for good.

Anders was at the end of her show business career, but Constance Towers (billed here as Connie) was only beginning.   Known to film fans for her iconic role as the bald prostitute in THE NAKED KISS (1964), Towers starred in ANYA and THE KING AND I (opposite Yul Brynner) on Broadway.  Towers is still active today in her early eighties, playing Helena Cassadine on GENERAL HOSPITAL.

WHO WAS BLOCKING?

Atypically, nothing to block this time. 

DID BOB SCORE?

See above answer.

The scene-stealing Ann B. Davis isn't around, but also isn't really missed, so Henning and company obviously did something right this time.  It isn't quite the best of the installments focusing on "Bob's Bad Influence",  but presents the familiar tale with just enough freshness.  Fewer sidesplitting moments than usual for the setup, but like Bob Collins himself, Bob's Forgotten Fiancee manages to slip through and score often than not.  (*** out of four)
 

Television Review: HONDO: "Hondo and The Savage" (1967)

"Your Lives are Meaningless compared to HONDO!"






HONDO: "Hondo and the Savage"  (1967 ABC-TV/MGM/Batjac Productions) Episode 5; Original Air Date: October 6, 1967.  Starring Ralph Taeger as Hondo Lane, Noah Beery Jr. as Buffalo Baker,  Gary Clarke as Captain Richards,  William Bryant as Colonel Crook.  Guest Stars: Charles McGraw as General Rutledge, Nico Minardos as Ponce Coloradas, Tom Monroe as Dink, William Henry as Sand. Teleplay by Frank Chase.  Directed by Michael D. (Mickey) Moore.




 Series Overview for HONDO: TV's Unlikeliest Cult Hit at this link  



While lassoing a wild horse he intends to sell to Richards, Ponce Colorados is ambushed by Sand and Dink, competitors also seeking to make the Army transaction.  Witness Hondo comes to Ponce's aid, and the grateful Apache Prince (son of Chief Mangas Colorados) gifts the scout with the stallion he just captured.  The would-be thieves vow revenge.

Once he's back at Fort Lowell, Hondo learns his new assignment: assisting General Luther B. Rutledge, a veritable living legend whose battle tactics from the Civil War are required study at West Point.  The blustery thirty year veteran has been sent from Washington to inspect all frontier posts and "improve conditions" for both settlers and natives.

Ostensibly there to learn and report, Rutledge imposes his "by the book" philosophy despite Hondo's advice that the west requires flexibility.  The General's resolute belief in army regulations results in the imprisonment of Ponce after Rutledge is accidentally hit in a melee (instigated by Sand and Dink).  After five days in solitary confinement, "the book" also calls for a dozen lashes with a whip for striking an officer.  The same punishment once befell Ponce's late father at the hands of the Mexican Army, and the General is undeterred by Hondo's revelation that the Senior Colorados killed 100 enemy soldiers for every scar afterward.

Frolific TV western scriptwriter Chase crafted an atypical HONDO in his series debut.  Sam disappears after the teaser, and the Dows and Chief Vittoro are completely absent--the latter certainly would have echoed Lane's warnings to General Rutledge.  But while the Chief of the Apache Nation isn't present during Hondo and the Savage, his desire for peace is shared by Ponce Colorados.

Actually, despite his great personal pride and fearsome reputation, the Prince's ambition to maintain harmony with the white man even exceeds Vittoro's.  Witnessing his father's vengeance and the resulting bloodshed as a child affected Ponce greatly---he is determined not to follow in Magnus' footsteps.  Ponce resolves to establish mutually beneficial co-existence and trade with Captain Richards and even orders the Apache braves to stand down while their leader is brutally punished in front of them.

The younger Colorados also takes mercy on the surrounded soldiers in battle, and resists the temptation to take full Apache revenge on the captured General when the opportunity presents itself.  Ponce's almost pacifist leanings haven't diminished his ability on the battlefield (which the Prince capably displays after the celebrated General blunders into Apache land), but even-tempered, cerebral leadership away from combat is his defining quality.

Speaking of tempers, the closure for Lane's long-lasting grudge against his wife's killer in Hondo and the Superstition Massacre brought a noticeable improvement in Emberato's oft-referenced short fuse.   Lane is just as assured with the highest ranking U.S. officer as he is with Apache royalty: it is the revered "wise" elder Rutledge who is the hothead out West, with Lane more than once providing measured, cool counsel.   

The show's protagonist isn't the only one showing remarkable growth in the five episodes to date.  Formerly advocating extermination over conciliation (in Hondo and the War Cry), Captain Richards' own personal vendetta after his brother's death has softened also.  With Vittoro's consistent honesty and Lane's input taken into consideration, Richards now negotiates trade agreements with Colorados with full trust.  The Captain is in a difficult place: siding with Lane, but required to follow Rutledge's wrongheaded orders.  It's enough to drive teetotaler Richards to have a rare (offscreen) drink.

While Hondo's half-Apache status is never mentioned, it certainly wouldn't make Rutledge any more receptive to advice from the "Confederate Captain" he dismisses derisively.  The General is exalted upon his arrival, but proves to be stubborn, prideful, and bigoted.  He underestimates the "savages" every bit as much as Colonel Thursday does in the similarly themed FORT APACHE.

Even a pro like Chase isn't immune to laying it on too thick sometimes, and that's this segment's most significant drawback.  General Rutledge shows humility in his opening scene, fully aware he has a lot to learn about the West--but not one of his subsequent actions show any of this perception.  The Book Soldier's rigid adherence to the Army Manual, frequently stated to be his defining character trait, disappears quickly when he's faced with the same humiliation he subjected Prince Colorados to: the General is completely out of control, crazed enough to attempt to murder the only man who can get him back to the Fort safely.

"Prince of the Apache Nation.  General, out here he outranks even you."

In comparison, patient Ponce shows seemingly infinite discipline and wisdom.  He's Rutledge's superior in every way: handling punishment in a more mature fashion and much more forgiving of a similar accident by Rutledge at the Apache village.  As a result of the script's heavy-handedness, one is perplexed as to how Rutledge ever reached his current stature in the first place, and the General's closing monologue comes uncomfortably close to a sitcomish character change as resolution.   That it works as well as it does is a credit to Charles MacGraw's robust portrayal of an inconsistently written antagonist.

"I'm going to wash some of the stink off my soul."

Hondo knows the unintended consequences of fighting for the wrong reasons all too well from his war experience, but there's about as much chance that the General will listen to Hondo Lane as there was of Colonel Owen Thursday taking Captain York's advice.  However, Lane has the key advantage of talking to an esteemed older man at the tail end of a long career instead of a "disgraced" young officer who's been demoted.  Thursday was seeking to reestablish lost glory at any cost, and York couldn't talk him out of a foolish long-odds gamble to do it.  But Rutledge's glory is still intact to everyone outside Fort Lowell, and Hondo is able to make the General realize that a victory would be phyrric, tarnishing a still-stellar record.  Any loss of stature from his capture by Ponce is all in Rutledge's mind.  It's too bad MacGraw wasn't given steadier writing to work with--as it is, his performance still makes Hondo and the Savage worthwhile.

HOW MANY CANS OF WHOOPASS?

The softening of Emberato's temper doesn't mean we lack fisticuffs.  He and Ponce are getting the best of drunken ne'er-do-wells Sand and Dink when the fight is stopped by troopers.  Later, Hondo gets to finish the job with one punch in the saloon. 

IS THE CANTINA STILL STANDING?

For once, Hondo's one-punch knockout of Dink causes no property damage.  Chase must have been determined to avoid every audience expectation.

Maybe he shoulda listened to Hondo....

AN UNCOMMON EPISODE IN ONE MORE WAY:

Taeger keeps his shirt on for once, but MacGraw doesn't. See above.  

A DOG'S LIFE:

Sam is merely a spectator in the teaser, and M.I.A. for the rest of the installment. As is always the case when this happens, the scene stealing canine is missed.

WATCH CLOSELY:

Hondo has a wedding band on his left hand (see picture above); this was the first episode filmed after Ralph Taeger's July 1967 wedding.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Propelled by a game performance by MacGraw and solid direction from Moore, who builds some genuine tension.  Ponce's punishment is as cringe-worthy as it could be on prime time circa 1967, and check out Hondo's realization that he's hearing the Apache Death Chant when he arrives to retrieve the General.  Lane trusts Colorados, but the scout's uneasiness is palpable.  Unfortunately Chase stacks the deck too much, somewhat spoiling an interesting variation on FORT APACHE.  The ensuing Hondo and the War Hawks provided a much more nuanced and effective exploration of similar themes.  (**1/2 out of four)


HONDO: THE COMPLETE SERIES is currently streaming at Warner Archive Instant and the series also airs every Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM Central on getTV.