MAVERICK Mondays: "The Golden Fleecing" (1961)

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 25   









MAVERICK: "The Golden Fleecing" (1961 ABC-TV/Warner Brothers)  Original Air Date: October 8, 1961.  Starring Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, Paula Raymond as Adele Jaggers, Richard Loo as Lee Hong Chang, Olive Sturgess as Phoebe Albright, John Qualen as Henry Albright, Myron Healey as Frank Mercer, J. Edward McKinley as Loftus Jaggers, Herb Vigran as Mr. Butler, Harry Harvey as Captain Owens, Bert Stevens as Poker Player.  Written by Charles B. Smith.  Directed by Irving Moore.


Bart is on a serious roll as his riverboat treks the San Francisco Bay.  He's holding all the Aces and Kings on the felt and the Queen of San Francisco social circles off it: wealthy heiress Adele Jaggers.  Bart's rungood is interrupted by an stuck safety valve on the vessel, resulting in an explosion that interrupts both the game and the voyage.  Fortunately, the downturn doesn't get worse than that--Maverick is saved from the floating wreckage (along with Adele and her wannabe suitor Mercer) by the Albrights, a Quaker family.

Forty miles from the original San Francisco destination, Maverick recuperates at his rescuers' farm and learns that the farmers are praying for a miracle from their "worn out" soil.  With daughter Phoebe's endorsement, Henry seeks a favor for his hospitality.  Showing Bart small gold deposits from the latest stream overflow, the elder Albright thinks the gravel bluffs have much more to be extracted.  With Adele pushing her wealthy father to put Bart to work for the brokerage, taking the mine public seems like a perfect solution for all.  That is, until the predatory Loftus Jaggers sees an opportunity to steal the mineral-rich land via the freshly established Eureka Mines Corporation with the Quaker-trusted Maverick as his Judas goat.

New producer William L. Silver took a back-to-basics approach with MAVERICK's fifth and final season, introducing ersatz updates of Dandy Jim Buckley and Samantha Crawford in the opener (Dade City Dodge) and subsequently updating Shady Deal at Sunny Acres in The Art Lovers with surprising success.  This third installment recalls an even earlier time: the very first episode, War of the Silver Kings.  As was the case in the premiere, a corrupt local kingpin has home field advantage as he steals a lucrative mine from poor farmers (silver then, gold now, upping the stakes) and eventually comes to admire Maverick's guts after he's bested at his own game by the traveling gambler.

Just as Bret got a crash course in mining law in that memorable opener, Bart had to master the market here.  The Golden Fleecing is far from a tracing of the pilot, though.  Phineas King was a cheat on and off the tables; Loftus Jaggers keeps his corruption off the felt, with no sign of dishonesty in his home game.  Bart's romantic dalliance with aristocratic Adele adds tension that Bret didn't have to deal with while battling daughterless King.  Bart's education in equities is even more daunting, requiring a far more truncated timetable than Bret's legalese lessons: ten days, to be exact.

With Mercer (henchman hoping for a promotion to son-in-law) assisting him, Jaggers manipulates the market and their investment with ease--they're practically the century's answer to Gekko and Fox, with the Quakers just one more overmatched group to be lured, then strong-armed.  Crookery at the table isn't necessary; Jaggers' actions away from it (intentional production delays and inflated costs, with the goal of bankrupting the hospitable farmers) are more than enough to make him a deserving recipient of a satisfying takedown.  Ditto for daughter Adele (a well cast Paula Raymond) and Mercer.  They are shockingly ungrateful to the community assisting them after their close call on the water, and Ms. Jaggers gets downright haughty at the prospect of competition from the guileless Phoebe.

Penning his only MAVERICK, Charles B. Smith (SHOTGUN SLADE) cleverly sets up Jaggers' eventual undoing.   You'd never expect this unrepentant swindler to reveal all of his secrets to Bart, whose status as trojan horse leaves him out of the real club--and he doesn't.  Not willingly; Bart just happens to be standing there when broker Butler reminds Loftus of the new requirements for short selling, and that foot in the door allows Maverick to pick just enough of Loftus' brain for later use.

Smith does make some missteps in handling Bart's eventual allies.  We meet a mysterious young Chinese man who attempts to bushwhack Jaggers in front of his mansion, learning that the tycoon swindled him and several other railroad workers earlier.  Later, the same man is revealed to be working for Mr. Loo.  This is rather poorly thought out, since Loo would clearly have knowledge of Loftus Jaggers' usual business practices from his assistant.  So why would Loo buy Eureka Mine stock after finding out that newcomer Bart is working for a known cheat?  He and Bart developed a mutual admiration society on the felt, but Loo surely couldn't trust Maverick that much on the basis of one friendly game (that he lost handily, btw)!  Loo ends up investing enough to put his own thriving business in considerable jeopardy before the short selling begins--highly illogical.

Larcenous Loftus seems to handle his defeat well--way too well, as he's shown no sign of sporting blood or conscience prior to this comeuppance.  And while the parallel of shorting to bluffing is an apt one, the analogy of sand bagging (a.k.a. "slow playing") to losing swing trades escaped me.  Oh well, it is welcome to have poker looming large in the MAVERICK universe again, and the most fitting comparison of all is made by Mr. Chang, who notes that getting involved in the stock market is in no way giving up gambling.  While entertaining throughout, The Golden Fleecing is a better tutorial for the former than the latter.

HOW'D BART DO AT POKER?

He won two big pots from Lee Hong Chang (totaling at least $1,000 by my count) on the boat before the explosion, one with three aces and the other with deuces full.  Later he cleans up at a game hosted by Jaggers, to Mercer's chagrin in particular.

WISDOM FROM PAPPY:

"There's nothing like a boat trip, if you're going somewhere by water."  Pappy's sayings were really losing steam and wit by this time.  His advice on the stock market turns out to be just as generic: "Buy low, sell high."  There's a third nugget: "The most important thing to know about any gambling game is when to quit," a clear case of Pappy contradicting himself, since he previously told Bret that "the only time you quit when you're winning is after you've won it all".  Maybe he advised Bret and Bart a little differently.

WISDOM FROM MR. CHANG:

"One cannot gather honey without risking the sting of bees."  And: "He who is fortunate at cards is less fortunate at other endeavors."  Bart noted as an exception to the latter.  Hell, Mr. Chang is sounding at least as wise as Pappy by this point, with the latter seeming rather tapped out.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Like most of the season's attempts to recapture the show's salad days, The Golden Fleecing is perfectly enjoyable and solidly executed, but not quite a full return to form.  A mostly welcome addition and a gallant attempt to get back to basics that nevertheless can't quite match the better, earlier episode it evokes.  (**1/2 out of four)

MAVERICK is back on Encore's Western channel Monday through Friday at 2:35 P.M. Central, and also airs on MeTV every Saturday morning at 9 A.M. Central.

Television's Greatest Moments: (Some of) The Best of Larry Storch

The great Larry Storch turns 96 years young today!  While he has his own saloon in New Jersey, a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame, and (according to MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN) the world's premier School of Acting, it just doesn't seem to be enough to properly honor him.  There definitely needs to be a statue of this man somewhere.  Preferably one at least as tall as the one of Sam Houston outside Huntsville, Texas along I-45.

Until some wise person makes that happen, we'll just have to celebrate by remembering just why Larry Storch is a national treasure.  Let's take at look at some of his classic television moments apart from his best and most famous television role, that of the incomparable Corporal Randolph Agarn on F TROOP.

                                              CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU?: (1962-63) 

It's hard to believe that Storch played Charlie the drunk on CAR 54 only three times; like Ernest T. Bass, it seems like he was there a lot more often.  His drinking might have been overstated, since he could actually get drunk without drinking a drop.  You don't believe me?

THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW:  "Bilko Joins the Navy" (1958)

Sticking with Nat Hiken-land, Larry made two appearances on Hiken's 1950's classic, giving us a preview of the crying act that would become much more prominent in the next decade:

                                       HOLLYWOOD PALACE (November 27, 1965)

Introduced by host Janet Leigh, Storch treats the prime time audience to some of his standup act.  Forrest Tucker and Ken Berry joined in the fun, but Storch got this bit to himself:

                           
                                  THE ANDY WILLIAMS SHOW (December 4, 1966)

Still in F TROOP's heyday, and making the variety show rounds.  Storch gets nine minutes this time!

                                 KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATRE: "The Jack is High" (1964)

A dramatic role, with Edd "Kookie" Byrnes co-starring, and Storch bringing plenty of humor of his role in this tale that has echoes of OCEAN'S ELEVEN:

                                                  COLUMBO: "Negative Reaction" (1974)

Like his frequent co-star Forrest Tucker, Larry made only one COLUMBO appearance, but what a scene it was!  Storch has the misfortune of being Columbo's driving instructor, and also has a field day with it:

There's many, many more classic Storch moments, but I don't want to spend the whole night on YouTube.  Suffice to say, happy birthday, Larry Storch!  Hopefully there's more television magic to come in the near future from the Storch---he is, after all, only semi-retired.

MAVERICK Mondays: "The Maverick Line" (1960)

MAVERICK Mondays: Number 24









MAVERICK: "The Maverick Line" (1960 ABC-TV/Warner Brothers) Original Air Date: November 20, 1960.  Starring James Garner as Bret Maverick, Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, Buddy Ebsen as Rumsey Plumb, Peggy McCay as Polly Goodin, Will Wright as Atherton Flayger, Charles Fredericks as Shotgun Sparks, Chubby Johnson as Dutch, Charles Alvin Bell as Bandy, Alan Reynolds as Phineas Cox.  Written by Ron Bishop and Wells Root.  Directed by Les Goodwins.


Bret and Bart take the titular stagecoach to Snowflake to claim their inheritance from Uncle Micah Maverick.  The journey is interrupted by highwayman Rumsey Plumb, who is more saddened by the brothers' disinterest in continuing the business than in the empty lockbox.  Rumsey isn't as disappointed as the Mavericks soon will be.

Once the brothers arrive at attorney Atherton Flaygur's office, they learn that the Maverick Line is all they've received in the will--"to install regards for commerce and to repel traits of idleness and shiftlessness" in accordance with Micah's wishes.  Bret and Bart rush for the door, only to be stopped by Polly Goodin, heir to the land that Micah purchased right of way from.  She'd like it back, so there's potential for a substantial profit in the rickety old stage line after all.  Enough of one to put the lives of both Mavericks in danger when Flaygur learns that a "tragic misfortune" befalling them both would revert ownership of the Line to the will's executor.

The Maverick Line posthumously introduces us to the boys' Uncle Micah.  After all we've learned about Bret, Bart, Beau, Pappy and Uncle Bentley, Micah is the Bizarro Maverick: strongly disapproving of gambling and a wayward existence while championing hard work.  Forget Beau and his (accidental) Civil War medal--Micah was the true white sheep of the family.  Little wonder that Pappy Beauregard and brother Bentley have no bequeathment from him--obviously, Micah thought only the young 'uns were salvageable.

"Any man who needs to make a will isn't spending his money properly." -- Pappy (One of Our Trains is Missing)

For all of his will's verbiage extolling of the value of hard work, the evidence we're shown calls that virtue into question, along with Uncle Micah's business acumen.  Miserly Micah's decrepit stage has two horses (both looking ready for the glue factory) instead of the usual four, he paid meager wages that attracted less than committed employees like Dutch, and he was too miserly to even hire a shotgun to back up his driver.  The last of these "qualities" enables Rumsey Plumb to make a consistent living--even with a lockbox that's often empty.  Giving him the benefit of a doubt, Micah appears to have died without much to show for all that work ethic, so he might have been cheap out of necessity.  Suffice to say that reading between the (Maverick) lines fully supports Pappy's philosophy of life over his thrifty brother's.

Intended to the the fourth season's premiere, but delayed until November due to James Garner's departure from the series, The Maverick Line would have been the weakest opener to date by a considerable margin.  While the Mavericks have a spotty history at best in business deals away from the poker tables, they always seem several steps further behind Goodin and Flaygur than they should be.  You'd think that all the interest in their right-of-way (including a land rush filled with nagging questions) would have told at least one of the brothers to hold instead of fold.

The contrivances to get to the denouement are also much more noticeable than before.  A really glaring example is Plumb's second lockbox procurement: after it has been established that he always has the driver hold it while he shoots the lock off, Rumsey takes the box after accosting Bret and Polly en route and sends them on their way.  Why?  So he can conveniently set off the bomb inside it seconds later without killing the show's stars.  At least, that's the only explanation that fits--certainly no logical progression based on the story up to that point.  (If he'd known that it would be Garner's finale when The Maverick Line was filmed in March 1960, Jack Warner might have signed off on that detonation in Bret's hands---but I digress.)

"Just clearing my conscience.  Hard to explain to a man in your kind of work." --Shotgun Sparks, to probate lawyer Atherton Flaygur.

Root and Bishop do have several funny lines in the script, saving their tastiest for Buddy Ebsen's Rumsey Plumb, who is the best written character by a wide margin.  Self-sufficient, hard working, but thoroughly professional, he's a hoot as he protects his interest in his steadiest income source.  Plumb draws a distinct line between Sparks and himself, generously provides his horse at a key moment without hesitation, and has the Mavericks "over" for quail dinner when all is said and done.  Chubby Johnson (Pappy) grouses as yet another comical stagecoach driver, and Will Wright (Rope of Cards) also returns to the series, channeling his best Charles Lane.  Atypically strange and ultimately unsatisfyingly so, The Maverick Line is more evidence of a show in decline than a stage setter.  It is likely overrated due to its accidental status as Garner's farewell.

HOW'D THEY DO AT POKER?

No table action at all for Bret or Bart.  I said it was atypical.

WISDOM FROM PAPPY?

Nope, none at all, and you'd think he'd have had something to say about dear estranged brother Micah.  Before I checked the credits, I occasionally wondered if the writers had ever seen MAVERICK before.  But they had.....

THE BOTTOM LINE:

...among the writers brought aboard by Coles Trapnell for the third season, Wells Root and Ron Bishop partnered on two installments previously.  They typically worked as a team, but each had one solo outing for the fourth season.  It's very MAVERICK-like to have highwaymen, professional gamblers and even the fixer Sparks having far more honor than the bankers and financiers we meet.  Not so much to have both brothers so outwitted simultaneously, or for the story have such transparent contrivances.  The Maverick Line has a number of witty lines and Goodwins presents them nicely, but the decline in the writing without the original contributors from the first two seasons is palpable by this time.  Some really funny moments from Ebsen, but ultimately a disappointing swan song for James Garner.  Likely the weakest Bret-Bart teaming.  (** out of four)

MAVERICK airs Monday through Friday without commercial interruption at 2:35 P.M. Central Time on Encore Westerns, and every Saturday morning at 9 A.M. Central Time on MeTV.

Our Favorite Episodes: The TV debut of Marie Gomez (1960)

Through the wonder of YouTube, the Horn Section is proud to present a legendary television moment: the television debut of magnificent Marie Gomez:

Ms. Gomez is the subject of the most popular post in this blog's twelve year history, in which yours truly rhapsodized about her terrific performance in 1970's BARQUERO for the Crush-A-Thon hosted by Forgotten Films.

I'm not the only one who has been crushing on Ms. Gomez over the years.  YouTube user Panama Red has posted highlights from her many guest appearances from the 1960's on series such as THE WILD WILD WEST, I SPY, and of course her most famous TV role, as Perlita on THE HIGH CHAPARRAL.  With her show romance, Manolito (Henry Darrow) at a reunion a few years back:

And, at the height of her career on the show:

(YouTuber Panama Red has posted several Marie Gomez clips on the channel, but unfortunately has yet to share clips from her HONDO episode, Hondo and the Comancheros.  Too bad.  For now, you'll have to check out her catfight with Kathie Browne on getTV or on DVD.)

Two years before her prime time acting debut on DOBIE GILLIS and a full decade before BARQUERO, Ms. Gomez was a contestant on YOU BET YOUR LIFE.  It is that full May 26, 1960 episode at the top of this post.  The then-aspiring actress was teamed with 5'2" voice acting dynamo Daws Butler---and, at 5'6', towers over him.  Marie identifies her heritage as French and Spanish an in accent distinctly leaning towards the former.

Groucho does the Bunny Hop,  and longtime Milwaukee Braves manager Fred Haney appears in the opening minutes, but get real--Marie is the main attraction.  Check out the whistles she gets in the finale--before she competes for the $10,000.  Marie arrives at the 9:02 mark--enjoy!

Look for Marie Gomez as Perlita Flores on THE HIGH CHAPPARAL on INSP weekdays at 6 A.M. Central.  

The Horn Section Salutes: KEN BERRY (1933-2018)

Oh, Captain!  My Captain!  Yesterday brought the very sad news that Ken Berry, our beloved Captain Wilton Parmenter, has passed away at age 85.

Mr. Berry was one of the biggest stars on television from the mid-1960's to the early 1970's, with the misfortune of having two hits cancelled despite high ratings within four years.  MAYBERRY R.F.D. is often cited as the most egregious example of CBS' 1971 "rural purge", as the show wrapped up its third season in 15th place in the Nielsens and got a pink slip anyway.  

Berry did an admirable job in the most difficult of situations, essentially replacing Andy Griffith on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW.  TV history tells us that such continuations are virtually impossible to pull off: AfterMASH and SANFORD ARMS are among the many failures, and even ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE never cracked the top ten despite having the parent show's lead.  MAYBERRY R.F.D. ranked 4th in each of its first two seasons, a ranking that actually bettered half of the seasons from Griffith's run.

From HOLLYWOOD PALACE, November 27, 1965:

Of course, Ken Berry is loved by all of us here at The Horn Section for his brilliant performance as Captain Parmenter on F TROOP, and MAYBERRY's demise had to feel like deja vu all over again, as F TROOP was ABC's second highest rated sitcom behind BEWITCHED in each of its two seasons but was ended anyway.  Not by ABC, but by Warner Brothers!  In five seasons from 1965 to 1971, Ken Berry's series never averaged below a 31 share--but he received two cancellations anyway.  Tough crowd.

The network and studio executives, that is.  Certainly not the public.  Ken Berry landed his own variety show shortly afterward, and the 1972 KEN BERRY 'WOW' SHOW featured future stars Steve Martin, Cheryl Ladd and Teri Garr.

Along with leads in the Disney features HERBIE RIDES AGAIN and THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE, Berry was also memorably pitching Kinney shoes throughout the 1970's and early 1980's, before settling in for another long run on MAMA'S FAMILY.

But it is F TROOP that best demonstrates Ken Berry's versatility.   Berry dances in The Ballot of Corporal Agarn and Only One Russian Is Coming! Only One Russian Is Coming!, among others.  Other episodes to best remember our Captain by on this sad, sad day:

Old Ironpants: This first season entry isn't officially a dual role, but it might as well be.  Parmenter goes off for two weeks' training with General George Custer (wishing him good luck on his new assignment at Little Big Horn) and takes to the course all too well.

Captain Parmenter, One Man Army:  With O'Rourke, Agarn and the rest of the troop illegally re-enlisted, Parmenter finds himself alone at the Fort on the eve of an attack by the Shugs.

Wilton the Kid: Ken Berry gets his turn at a dual role in earnest, as Captain Parmenter and the bank robbing Kid Vicious.

Bye, Bye, Balloon: Watch the ballet-like almost pratfall that opens this memorable color episode, and how well Berry works with guest star Harvey Korman in the saber duel.  No segment better displays Berry's gift for physical comedy IMO.

Really, though, just about any of the 65 episodes will feature some first class comedy from Ken Berry and his castmates.  His passing leaves Larry Storch and my fellow Texan James Hampton as the only surviving regulars.  Berry's ex-wife Jackie Joseph is also still with us: she guest starred in Our Hero, What's His Name?

Rest in peace, Captain.  More of Ken Berry's interview at Emmy TV Legends follows.  The entire interview can be found here.

Leon Errol Series: RIVERBOAT RHYTHM (1946)

"Why the Hell isn't this on DVD or Blu yet?" -- Number 102







RIVERBOAT RHYTHM (RKO 1946) Starring Leon Errol, Glen Vernon, Walter Catlett, Jonathan Hale, Harry Harvey, Florence Lake, Ben Carter, Mantan Moreland, Marc Cramer, Emory Parnell, Dorothy Vaughan, Ferris Taylor, Jason Robards Sr., Lillian Randolph, Frankie Carle and his Orchestra.  Screenplay by Charles E. Roberts.  Directed by Leslie Goodwins.

Introduction to The Leon Errol Salute series is at this link.


Showboat captain Errol is running a real shoestring operation.  So much so that he doesn't have the $50 to secure a license at his latest stop.  Ever the fast thinker, Errol barters with town clerk Taylor, but the traded hair tonic renders Taylor as bald as Leon.  This has Sheriff Parnell after our funnyman, but he's thwarted in his arrest attempt by "Colonel Witherspoon" (Catlett), who pushes Parnell into the river while the boat shoves off with Catlett in tow.

Safe waters?  Not for long.  In Leon's stead, Colonel Catlett gets drunk at the helm and accidentally runs the craft ashore--right outside the town's swank hotel and angering its proprietor Robards.  The mere mention of the Colonel's name has Robards changing his tune--Witherspoon is a very rich and mysterious eccentric.  The sound of his name doesn't endear Errol to everyone in town, though--he finds himself in the middle of a feud with rival Colonel Hale after he assumes Witherspoon's identity to elude the Sheriff.

Playing a masquerading Matt Lindsay again three years after the demise of the MEXICAN SPITFIRE series, Leon Errol had his final feature film lead in RIVERBOAT RHYTHM.  As always, assuming a new identity to avoid jail time opens multiple cans of worms, including a near marriage with Florence Lake (usually Mrs. Kennedy in Edgar's RKO shorts) being demanded of his alter ego.  Yes, being jailed or hitched is better than facing the murderous Beeler family--even if Edgar might disagree.

Little wonder that it often feels a lot like a SPITFIRE entry sans the late Lupe Velez: Goodwins directed all eight entries in that series and Roberts scripted all but the first.  RHYTHM adds a little spice to the formula though.  The life-and-death situation that Matt Lindsay unwittingly gets into certainly has higher stakes than Errol's typical ruse as the Fake Lord Epping.  Adding to the desperation, this version of Uncle Matt is much more impoverished than the Lindsey who served as Carmelita's co-conspirator.

A real treat is created by the casting of Mantan Moreland and Ben Carter as two of Uncle Matt's riverboat employees.  Abbott and Costello had nothing on the precise timing of Moreland and Carter.  In their penultimate appearance as a screen team, they present their "incomplete sentences" routine that was also superbly utilized in the Charlie Chan films THE SCARLET CLUE (1945) and DARK ALIBI (1946).  But RHYTHM provides a bonus you won't find in those better circulated films: Leon Errol is smoothly integrated into the routine here about two minutes in, with wonderfully timed results.   Seeing Carter, Moreland and Errol juggling this legendary wordplay is a true marvel, and easily the finest sequence in RIVERBOAT RHYTHM.   

Sadly, this would be the penultimate film for Carter, who died of diphtheria months after completing DARK ALIBI; he was only 35.  Moreland would revive the act with a young Nipsey Russell as his straight men but his chemistry with Carter was never fully duplicated.

Frankie Carle gets prominent billing, four songs, and more screen time than Moreland and Carter.  Too bad.  Carle was a legitimate Wizard of the Keyboard, but modern audiences will be a lot more interested in the comedic highlights.  You do get to hear Carle's most famous song, Sunrise Serenade.

Leon Errol's solo features for RKO arrived about once per year through 1946, and for the most part (MAMA LOVES PAPA was an exception) surprisingly avoided the boozy formula of his better remembered shorts.  The wobbly limbed comic darts between his dual identities in a sober fashion.  Instead, Catlett gets these vices in RIVERBOAT RHYTHM as the inebriated Colonel wrecks the ship (DUI, no doubt) and unwittingly saddles the incognito Errol with a wife.   As was the case in POP ALWAYS PAYS (Catlett hilariously mooched off Errol for that film's duration) these two old pros work seamlessly.

Jason Robards Sr. and Lilian Randolph are uncredited but easily recognized.  A young Nan Leslie and Tommy Noonan are among the others you can spot if you don't blink.  Joan Newton gets prominent billing as Errol's niece, but this was one of only two films she would make, the other being BEDLAM with Boris Karloff.

RIVERBOAT RHYTHM gets a one-star rating when it turns up in your TV guides, but don't believe that hype.  It is no doubt of its time but the gags are decent and are more than decently delivered.  It would end up being Leon's last go-round headlining a feature (supporting parts in THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH and the JOE PALOOKA series remained) but he had five more years of entertaining two-reelers ahead of him, with the majority scripted by Roberts and directed by Goodwins.

SO....WHY ISN'T THIS ON DVD YET?

Only 65 minutes long, so it would need a double feature at the very least.  Also, RIVERBOAT RHYTHM had all but disappeared from TV in the last two decades, but TCM did air it in September (when I was finally able to DVR it) so there's hope for a repeat showing in the near future.

WHY IT SHOULD BE ON DVD:

I'd put it on just for the Moreland/Carter/Errol sequence alone.  Yes, this is of its time, but the brilliance of Moreland and Carter shines through in all three of their screen appearances together.  In a more enlightened era they might well have reached the heights of Abbott and Costello or Martin and Lewis.  RIVERBOAT RHYTHM has more going for it than just the legendary vaudeville team, though.  Errol really, truly needs a solo boxed set with all of his RKO features to go with the eight-film MEXICAN SPITFIRE series that Warner Archive has issued, and I plan to mention this until it happens, dammit!  Along with complete sets of those two reelers.......

Television Review: HONDO: "Hondo and the Ghost of Ed Dow" (1967)

"Your lives are meaningless compared to HONDO!"









HONDO: "Hondo and the Ghost of Ed Dow" (1967 ABC-TV/MGM/Batjac Productions) Season One, Episode 12.  Original Air Date: November 24, 1967.  Starring Ralph Taeger as Hondo Lane, Noah Beery Jr. as Buffalo Baker, Kathie Browne as Angie Dow, Buddy Foster as Johnny Dow, Gary Clarke as Captain Richards, Michael Pate as Chief Vittoro, Glenn Langan as Victor Tribolet.  Guest Stars: David Brian as Ben Dow, Ben Wright as Dr. Paul, June Dayton as Wilma Hendrix, James Chandler as Matt Hendrix, Chris Alcaide as Selby, Ted Jordan as Gruder.  Written by Stanley Adams and George F. Slavin.  Directed by Harry Harris.


Series overview and introduction to the HONDO episode guide at this link.


Four masked men led by Selby raid the Hendrix Trading Post, vocally expressing displeasure with the school for Apache children operated on the premises.  Mrs. Hendrix is badly injured in the attack, but before she is knocked unconscious she manages to tear a buttoned cuff off of the leader's coat.  Hondo Lane arrives in the aftermath and assists Mr. Hendrix in flagging down the stagecoach en route to Fort Lowell.

That stage is carrying Ben Dow, who has arrived from Boston after hearing of his son's death at the hands of an Apache.  Sensing an opportunity to finally get his hands on Angie's store, Tribolet contradicts her story and tells Ben that Hondo Lane killed his son.  This revelation has the senior Dow vowing to take grandson Johnny back East with him by any means necessary--which includes doing business with Selby's gang after the legal process proves too slow for Ben's liking.

Hondo Lane's past comes home to roost again, and this time it is recent past that we've witnessed: Ed Dow's failed ambush to collect a withdrawn reward in the premiere.  Lane was never sure whether Dow's demise was caused by his bullet or Silva's arrow.  Neither were we, and seeing the footage again doesn't make it any clearer.  But one thing has been crystal to us all along: Ed Dow's death was caused by Ed Dow.

Not that a newly grieving and already classist father is going to understand that, especially when egged on by the wealthiest man at Fort Lowell.  Ben Dow is the latest outsider to learn that things are done differently in the Territory of Arizona.  Unlike his predecessors, the elder Dow briefly seems to bond with Hondo at first before Tribolet poisons the well.  But after the idea is planted that Ed was the victim of a plot between his daughter and law and her "lover"?  Ben punches Hondo--a rare shot that goes without response after the Captain's interruption.

Hondo and the Ghost of Ed Dow was no doubt welcomed by fans just tuning in who had missed Hondo and the Eagle Claw, with a full five minutes of flashbacks to show us how the show's namesake had actually rescued Mrs. Dow and Ben's grandson from hostile renegades.  This brought Lane no thanks from the late, jealous Ed Dow, and new viewers are brought up to speed in efficient fashion.

The downside?  There's still a current story to be told, and that requires a few shortcuts with these recollections taking up over ten percent of Hondo and the Ghost of Ed Dow.  Selby seems way too loose lipped with Tribolet before any business deal is cut, given his gang's ongoing operations.  It's also unclear how the freighting magnate would be unscathed after things turn sour, given Ben Dow's disposition and the live capture of Selby's men (presumably willing to keep talking). Director Harris (Hondo and the Sudden Town) also gets a case of the cutes after the final showdown by showing Sam literally bringing in the final perp--briefly bringing HONDO into territory it usually avoids.

David Brian's stern disapproval rivals that of any prior antagonist, and his transition to understanding is handled smoothly.  Prior to that aforementioned lapse into too-heroic dog territory (which, to be fair, is at the fade-out of the final act), Harris and writers George F. Slavin and Stanley Adams (Hondo and the Hanging Town) capably deliver the expected meat-and-potatoes action.

Michael Pate's penultimate appearance as Chief Vittoro is a mere cameo: he has no lines and merely waves to the Dows from a distance.  (Pate is riding that recognizable Appaloosa from BROKEN ARROW, reportedly 22 years old when HONDO was filmed.)  Glenn Langan's Victor Tribolet reaches a new low in his fourth appearance, showing us that even children aren't off-limits.

Hondo and the Ghost of Ed Dow marks the closing of a chapter for the show: it turned out to be the swan song for Angie Dow and son Johnny.  Kathie Browne and Buddy Foster remained in the closing credits, but neither appeared in the final five episodes.  The show's focus shifted to assignments outside Fort Lowell and Noah Beery's role as Buffalo Baker was beefed up considerably.  Whether the phasing out of the Dows was temporary or permanent is impossible to determine due to the show's truncated run, but the experiment was a success.  The next four HONDO segments were all winners and the Nielsen ratings also took an upward turn.

Three decades after its premiere on ABC, Hondo and the Ghost of Ed Dow would mark the end of an era a second time.   On May 28, 1999 it was the final installment shown on T.N.T., ending the show's highly successful ten year run on the cable channel.  (That's some 520 consecutive Saturday mornings that at least one of the seventeen episodes aired!)

HOW MANY CANS OF WHOOPASS?

After foolishly kicking Sam at Hondo's favored watering hole, Selby and Gruder get the worst of it despite getting a two-on-one against Emberato.  They later lose a rematch at their hideout, with Buffalo providing some backup this time.  Hondo's ring record gets one mild blemish, though-- that uncontested right cross from Mr. Dow.  It's likely that Hondo would have taken the high road anyway.  While David Brian was roughly the same age (57) as Rod Cameron and Jim Davis who had locked horns with Lane in past installments, he looked much older than both.

IS THE CANTINA STILL STANDING?

Hondo dispatches the two baddies in his opening bout with only one chair as collateral damage.  Pretty good day for the place in light of prior segments.

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER HIM BY:

Check out that photo of Ed Dow inside dad's watch: just as stone faced as his father!  A real chip off the old block!

A DOG'S LIFE:

The four legged sidekick puts in a full workload.  First, Sam finds the key piece of evidence at the Hendrix Trading Post.  Then he identifies the culprits back at the Fort (which got him Selby's boot).  He next picks up Johnny's scent and leads Hondo and Buffalo to Selby's hideout after the kidnapping--locating the boys yo-yo along the way.  Finally, the pooch takes his man out of the action in the finale.  Sam always could identify that one baddie who was terrified of canines.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Wrapping up some loose ends from the opening two-parter, Hondo and the Ghost of Ed Dow reliably delivers the action but suffers a bit from a compressed timeframe to tell its original story.  The lesser of two outings for both director Harris and the Adams/Slavin writing team.  (**1/2 out of four)

HONDO airs every Sunday morning at 10:15 A.M. Central Time on getTV.

https://www.get.tv/programs/hondo