BATMAN: THE BLACK WIDOW STRIKES AGAIN

Tallulah Bankhead faces down Batman

 THE BLACK WIDOW STRIKES AGAIN on Batman. ABC TV. 1967.

"You may be caped and you may be dynamic, but I find you a crashing bore!" -- Black Widow

When the campy Batman TV series hit the airwaves in the late sixties, a number of well-known actors were signed to play guest villains. Definitely the most memorable was talented stage [and screen] actress Tallulah Bankhead, with her trademark gravelly voice and withering, highly amusing delivery. Bankhead had already shown how good she could be in TV comedy when she guest-starred on what was probably the best Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour episode. On this two-part second season episode of Batman, she plays the comically sinister Black Widow, who apparently rode roughshod over Gotham City in the past (but never appeared previously on the show) and now is robbing banks with the aid of several confederates and a machine that saps men's wills. Therefore she sort of hypnotizes the bank officers into simply handing her oodles of cash. The cliffhanger has Bankhead unleashing cat-sized black widow spiders on Batman and Robin ("Batman! They're getting closer!"/ "I know, Robin!"). Arguably the funniest sequence has the Widow dressing up as Robin and growling at police officers, with her voice coming out of Burt Ward's body as the actor does a funny parody of Bankhead. Bolstering the proceedings -- along with Adam West as Batman and Ward as Robin, both excellent as usual (not to mention wonderful Neil Hamilton and Stafford Repp as the police and Alan Napier as Alfred) -- are the appearances of Grady Sutton (The Bank Dick) as a nervous bank teller and Len Felber as the bank manager. The campy approach to Batman is now passe, but I must say this was a very, very funny and clever episode of the often dopey series. Bankhead's most famous movie is Hitchcock's Lifeboat; she starred in Die, Die My Darling two years before doing Batman.

Verdict: Bankhead and Batman are an unbeatable combination. ***.

21 BEACON STREET

Dennis Morgan

21 BEACON STREET (ABC television series/1959). 13 half-hour episodes. 

Before there was Mission Impossible there was 21 Beacon Street, a very short-lived series that had a similar premise. (Filmways, which owned the rights to the series, sued CBS for copyright infringement.) Private eye Dennis Chase (movie star Dennis Morgan of In This Our Life) and his team -- consisting of Joanna (Joanna Barnes), lawyer and former marine Brian (Brian Kelly) and inventor Jim (James Moloney) -- take on dangerous and difficult assignments and use various tricks to achieve their goals. Most of the episodes were solid "B's" but a few were above average. Jean Yarbrough directed "Double Vision," in which a reporter with info on the mob is thrown out of a window. The gang must secretly get a list with incriminating info out of a racketeer's safe. There is a great scene when Dennis is trapped outside on a windy ledge. The clever "Execution" has an innocent man (Ross Elliott of Tarantula) who was convicted of murdering his wife facing death, and the team must uncover the true murderer. "Safety Deposit" has the group trying to get incriminating love letters from a safety deposit box in Mexico to spare a politician's wife embarrassment. The team film a fake movie in the bank, but as they do so the key to the box gets stuck ... 21 Beacon Street definitely had possibilities, but it's a little too low-key. That mistake was not made with Mission: Impossible, which also has a terrific musical score. This series is on DVD and streaming on Tubi. 

Verdict: A few tense moments, but not enough of them. **1/4. 

NOT FOR HIRE

Ralph Meeker

 NOT FOR HIRE (1959 tv series). 

Sgt. Steve Decker (Ralph Meeker) works as an investigator for the CID, the Criminal Investigations Division of the Army. Meeker, who radiates a certain degree of charm while also making you think he's going to deck someone with extreme nastiness at any second, is perfect for the role. The half-hour series lasted for only one season and 39 episodes. With most of these old forgotten series, especially the ones that don't turn up on DVD, more and more episodes keep turning up on youtube. With Not for Hire, it's just the opposite, as some episodes that were once available on youtube and the internet archive have now disappeared. You are left with three episodes to choose from.

Meeker with Lisabeth Hush

Smuggled Wife has Decker going off to find an AWOL soldier who is desperate to see if he can get his wife out of Hong Kong. She's pregnant and he hopes that his child will be born in the U.S. but authorities suspect the woman of espionage. Nora Hayden guest-stars as a pretty lady -- not said wife -- who is not on the side of the angels. 

In The Fickle Fingers Decker finds himself with a real puzzle. A soldier has been found dead but his corpse has the wrong fingerprints. Decker tries to find out if this was a simple mistake, or if the fellow faked his death and that's somebody else's body in the morgue. 

The Fall Guy has Decker investigating what at first seems to be an open and shut case: a soldier apparently stabbed his girlfriend to death. However Colonel Madge Turner (Lisabeth Hush) is convinced that the man is innocent and starts her own investigation to Decker's initial annoyance. However, charmed by the woman and impressed by her persistence, he takes a hand in the case. Hush is appealing and adept and Barbara Stuart makes an impression as a nasty femme fatale of sorts. 

These three episodes, while not exactly classic television, still whetted my appetite, and one can hope that the full series will one day find itself on DVD. These episodes have also been colorized (!) and can be found on youtube. 

Verdict: Meeker scores in an interesting crime show that is a little different than usual. **1/2. 

THE INVADERS Book

THE INVADERS. James Rosin. Autumn Road; 2012.

This book takes a look back at the TV series The Invaders that ran for two seasons on ABC in the sixties. I was hoping for a detailed, in-depth look at the show and all of its episodes a la the book on the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series, but while comparisons may be odious, one can't help but feel cheated by this slender and insufficient volume. There are a lot of pictures, as well as brief quotes from star Roy Thinnes and other people involved in the production of the show, but also a lot of padding, with biographies of not only everyone connected to the show but every actor who ever appeared as a guest-star! If the book serves any purpose at all, it may be to whet your appetite for viewing or re-viewing this very interesting series, but although all he offers in his notes of individual episodes are synopses, the author still manages to give away important plot points throughout the book. 

Verdict: Watch the series and forget about this. **. 

THOSE (MOSTLY) FORGOTTEN OLD COP SHOWS # 1

Lee Marvin of M Squad

THOSE (MOSTLY) FORGOTTEN OLD COP SHOWS # 1.

M Squad (1957 - 1960). In this series, which lasted three seasons, Chicago cop Detective Lt. Frank Ballinger (Lee Marvin) works to solve cases of homicide and so on in the Windy City. In "Pete Loves Mary" a murderer (Mike Connors of Voodoo Woman) breaks out of jail, but the main character is his adoring -- and ultimately disillusioned -- younger brother, played by Bobby Driscoll. In "Lover's Lane Killing," a rich gal's fiance is found dead, with Ruta Lee as guest-star. "The Fight" features Charles Bronson as a boxer who "killed" an opponent and now is facing attempts on his own life. Lee Marvin is terrific and convincing as the cop, and based on the very few episodes I've seen, M Squad looks like a pretty good show. The entire series is now on DVD.

John Compton

The D.A.'s Man (1959) stars Ralph Manza as Assistant District Attorney Al Bonacorsi and John Compton as Shannon, a handsome special investigator. (Not to be confused with the show, Shannon, in which George Nader played an investigator.) I've seen only two episodes of this show, which lasted one season. "Girl's Best Friend" is a mediocre entry about a group of jewel thieves, and the excellent "Witness" has a little boy seeing his (literal) godfather murder a mob rival in his home. This episode has a teleplay by Bruce Geller of Mission: Impossible fame and Jack Webb of Dragnet. Both Manza and Compton are effective in their roles, with Shannon getting beaten up as Bonacorsi shows up to wrap things up neatly at the end. I hope more of these will become available. The show has an interesting theme by Frank Comstock.

Verdict: M Squad: ***. D.A.'s Man: **3/4. 

LAW AND ORDER UK

Bradley Walsh and Jamie Berber

LAW AND ORDER UK British television series; 53 episodes. 2009. 

The American series Law and Order had just about wrapped up its twenty-year run, when producer Dick Wolf came out with this British version which ran for five seasons and 53 episodes. The series reused storylines from the American show but the scripts were re-written, with occasional changes in plot or outcome, and of course the characters of the cops and prosecutors were all different, making this essentially a completely different series despite the utilization of some familiar premises. A mainstay throughout the entire series was Bradley Walsh who superbly played detective Ronnie Brooks in every single episode. Like Lennie Briscoe in the American version, he was a reformed alcoholic, but there the resemblance ended. Ronnie had more compassion than Briscoe and he never made quips over dead bodies like Briscoe did. Jamie Berber was also outstanding as Ronnie's first partner, Matt Devlin. 

Daniels, Agyeman, Paterson

The original prosecuting team consisted of Ben Daniels as James Steel, Freema Agyeman as Alesha Phillips, and Bill Paterson as George Castle. (Like Jack McCoy on the original L & O, Steel had affairs with numerous co-workers, and left the series after being put on trial for misconduct.) Other fine actors appeared as replacements for both cops and ADAs over the years, but the original team was arguably the best. As good as the acting could be on the American version, these British actors had them beat. 

Among the more notable episodes were: "Vice," in which a cop is found dead in his car and in a compromising position; "Unsafe," in which Steel grabbles with a sociopath brilliantly played by Iain Glen; "Buried," in which a woman has memories of her father murdering a childhood friend; "Alesha," in which the prosecutor is raped by a gynecologist; "Shaken," which poses the question of which person shook a little baby to death. In "Crush" a prostitute's client is accused of her murder. "Intent" asks if a man murdered a couple at his parents' old house when he was drunk. "Survivor's Guilt" has the murderer of a major character  put on trial. In "Paternal" a deadbeat dad  is shot in his hotel room. "Hard Stop" examines the murders of a mob boss and several witnesses. "Haunted" poses an interesting dilemma: a man offers up a deathbed confession, but another suspect has already been convicted of the crime. Every episode of the series is available on Amazon Prime. 

Verdict: Possibly a bit better than the original series, with some great acting and stories (even if recycled). ***. 

MISSION IMPROBABLE: CINNAMON CARTER DOES DIETRICH

Bain as Cinnamon as Dietrich

MISSION IMPROBABLE: "CINNAMON CARTER" DOES DIETRICH.

In the season three episode of Mission: Impossible entitled "Illusion," Barbara Bain, playing model-turned-spy Cinnamon Carter, summons up the image of a woman who was murdered by imitating her act in a nightclub. Intentional or not, Bain does an absolutely hilarious take-off on Marlene Dietrich, flat, off-key singing in a German accent and all. Arguably, it's the best acting Bain ever did on the show. Rarely did Cinnamon (or Bain) ever show emotion, and when Cinnamon -- arrested and jailed during a mission in another episode ("The Exchange") -- seems to break down in her cell, it's hard to tell if Bain is actually acting or just pretending to act like Cinnamon does. Incredibly, Bain won an Outstanding Actress Emmy for all three seasons that she was on the show, while her much more talented husband, Martin Landau, while nominated each year, never won (he did, however, win a well-deserved Supporting Actor Oscar for Ed Wood.) You just never know ... To be fair to Bain, while a great actress she may never have been (My mother used to say, "she only has one expression!") she did add a certain something, a kind of oomph to Mission: Impossible, and both she and Landau were missed when they left the show, although Leonard Nimoy was a great replacement for Landau.

Verdict: They should have recorded Cinnamon's singing on an album and played it at parties for laughs! 

THE NIGHT STALKER COMPANION: 25TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE

THE NIGHT STALKER COMPANION: A 25th Anniversary Tribute. Mark Dawidziak. Pomegranate Press; 1997.

A major "fan boy" if ever there were one, Dawidziak has put together a new edition of his Night Stalking: A 20th Anniversary Kolchak Companion with more information. The book is an entertaining look at the history of the character, portrayed by Darren McGavin, and the two telefilms and TV series that he starred in. Like most fans, Dawidziak could be accused of overstatement and slavish devotion to Kolchak, but on the other hand, in a section when he looks at opinions of the TV show and well-known people who represent both positive and negative sides, he admits that the one-season series Kolchak: The Night Stalker was not all it could have been. (The naysayers towards the show include Stephen King and Darren McGavin himself!) Dawidziak also looks at the trials and tribulations of Jeff Rice, who wrote the original novel that became The Night Stalker and was treated abysmally by Hollywood and even by his own agents. The book could have used a more eagle-eyed copy editor but it has loads of photographs. There are chapters on the two telefilms and synopses and critiques of all of the twenty TV episodes. The book was published before the short-lived 2005 reboot of the series which cast Stuart Townsend as Kolchak.

Verdict: Fun read for Night Stalker fans. ***. 

BURKE'S LAW (1994 )

Gene Barry and Peter Barton

BURKE'S LAW (1994 CBS TV series). 

In this revival of the fun 1960's mystery series, Gene Barry is back as the wealthy Amos Burke, who drives around in a limo with a chauffeur, aide and cook named  Henry (now played by Danny Kamekona), and is now Chief of Police of Los Angeles. Widower Burke still goes to crime scenes with his detective son, Peter (Peter Barton), who never solves the crime the way his father does. Another cast member is Bever-Leigh [!] Banfield as all-in-one pathologist and crime scene investigator, Lily. At first Banfield didn't seem to have a clue as to how to play Lily, but eventually she settled in and became an asset to the series. A "guest star" on every episode was Dom DeLuise as the Burkes' friend, Vinnie, a restaurateur and jack of all trades who serves as comedy relief and is often quite amusing. 

Bever-Leigh Banfield

The tone of the revival is very similar to the original show, light-hearted in its approach but only occasionally veering into outright silliness. Barry and Barton are excellent in their roles and are quite good at exploring the loving father-son dynamics between the two men. Most of the episodes of the show were B+, but there were a few "A's" as well. "Who Killed the Host at the Roast" has a comedian electrocuted at his own comedy roast and features Milton Berle and an excellent Gavin McLeod. Amos turns down a proposal from Shirley Jones in "Who Killed the Gadget Man?" in which an infomercial specialist is murdered, and features an especially good guest-star turn from Vicki Lawrence. Robert Vaughn is great fun as an actor who plays vampires in "Who Killed the Movie Mogul?" and a handsome, womanizing lifeguard is murdered in his pool in "Who Killed the Lifeguard?" In "Who Killed Nick Hazard?" a private eye is murdered at a convention, and Anne Francis, who first appeared as Honey West on the original Burke's Law, essays the role of P.I. "Honey Best."

The revival lasted for two seasons for a total of 27 episodes, and was produced by Aaron Spelling. It is not a classic, but nevertheless it's a clever, well-acted and entertaining program that is recommended to fans of the original series. The new theme music seems pretty insipid at first, but it grows on you. The original show eventually metamorphosed into Amos Burke, Secret Agent, which lasted one interesting season. 

Verdict: No classic, perhaps, but a fun and smoothly scripted show. **3/4. 

BUS STOP: I Kiss Your Shadow and A Lion Walks Among us

Reason, Jenny Maxwell, Fabian

BUS STOP TV series. 

Bus Stop was an hour long 1961 drama series that lasted for one season. It focused on the inhabitants of a small town, including Grace (Marilyn Maxwell), who owns a restaurant or "bus stop;" waitress Elma (Joan Freeman); Sheriff Will (Rhodes Reason); and District Attorney Glenn Wagner (Richard Anderson). Sometimes these people participated in the weekly installment; at other times they showed up briefly or not at all.

The series has not been released on DVD yet, but there are two grainy episodes available on youtube, because these were "special" episodes. "I Kiss Your Shadow" was the 26th and final episode of the series, and it was based on a short story by Robert Bloch. The story concerns a man, Joe (George Grizzard),  whose wife, Donna (Joanne Linville), is killed in an automobile accident. He claims that Donna, who was a bit smothering when she was alive, is now haunting him, and attacks anyone who tries to come between them, including his psychiatrist, who is pushed out of a window. 

Dianne Foster

This episode has become famous because in his book Danse Macabre, Stephen King (who had probably not seen the episode in decades) wildly overpraises it. Children may have found it scary, and there are maybe a couple of creepy moments (and I never read the short story, which may be superior), but I found "I Kiss Your Shadow" to be obvious, trite, and predictable, although well-acted by the above-named, as well as by Alfred Ryder as Donna's brother and Richard Anderson. John Newland was probably tapped to direct this because of his association with the show One Step Beyond.

Anderson also has a large part and is excellent in a controversial episode entitled "A Lion Walks Among Us." which is quite well-directed by Robert Altman. Luke Freeman (pop singer Fabian) is a handsome young psycho who murders a country store clerk and seemingly gets away with it. The person who could have placed him at the scene is D.A. Wagner's wife, Sally (Dianne Foster), an alcoholic who gave Luke a lift. but then ordered him out of the car when he got fresh. 

Young Psycho: Fabian

Luke has a different story, and the defense attorney, Oliver West (Philip Abbott), who is a friend of the Wagner's, has to make mincemeat of the poor woman on the witness stand, a situation that is devastating to her husband. Rhodes Reason also appears in this episode as the sheriff and is fine. As for Fabian, he gives a better performance than expected, and uses his sexy looks and charm to etch an interesting portrait of a nasty psychopath. Dianne Foster is outstanding, especially in the courtroom scenes, and the episode is a stand out. The climactic scene was originally to have been much more violent, but even in this form there was some protest from viewers. Considering the ending of the story, I assume there were repercussions in future episodes.

Verdict: I Kiss Your Shadow: *1/2. 
              A Lion Walks Among Us: ***.