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| Lurene Tuttle and Lou Costello |
"BLAZE OF GLORY." General Electric Theater. 1958.This was the first episode for the seventh season of General Electric Theater, hosted by has-been and future president Ronald Reagan. Lou Costello plays Neal Andrews, a plumber who gets a phone call from a woman needing emergency service. His wife, Ginny (Lureme Tuttle) isn't bothered so much by the fact that the client is female as that the whole thing sounds suspicious: Lou will be picked up by a man and must wear a suit and tie instead of his plumber's outfit. Driven to a hotel by guys who seem like thugs he learns that he has been taken off by a gang of jewel thieves.
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| Joe Corey and Jonathan Harris |
At the hotel, Neal meets the head of the gang, an elegant man named Favier (Jonathan Harris). A diamond has apparently dropped down the sink and Neal is required to obtain it -- or else. But with the help of a dissatisfied gun moll, Gladys (Joyce Jameson), he just might be able to outwit the thieves. Well, when they were talking about "the golden age of television," I doubt they meant this mediocre, if well-acted, episode, which isn't much different from the type of stuff Costello did in the movies minus the slapstick. A cast stand-out is Harris, who downplays the campiness he displayed on Lost in Space and delivers a fine performance as the oily and rather sinister Favier. Verdict: Costello is as amiable as ever even if the material is trite. **.
Nice cast...Tuttle was one of the most dependable character actors ever, and will be fun to see Costello in a role without partner Abbott. Jonathan Harris’s Dr. Zachary Smith in Lost In Space is among the first gay characters I recognized as a child.
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Yes, Mr. Harris was always a bit, shall we say, flamboyant!
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