Produced by Gene L.Coon, Robert Vincent Wright's 'The Night Of The Bars Of Hell' was directed by Richard Donner. Jim is posing as 'Charles Lane', an inspector from the Bureau of Prisons. Three attempts are made on his life in a short space of time - his bed is booby-trapped, a man throws a red-hot horseshoe at him in the street, and the owner of the hotel Jim is staying at tries to gas him as he slumbers. The warden of the nearby prison - 'Ragan' ( Arthur O'Connell ) - is exploiting the criminal abilities of his convicts for financial advantage i.e. making them commit robberies and so on.
'Jennifer McCoy' ( Indus Arthur ) has an uncle on Death's Row - 'Gideon McCoy' ( Elisha Cook Junior ) - and she wants Jim to find out what he did with her inheritance. Jim meets him and is baffled as to why the man has a sun-tan and well-manicured fingernails. Arte, meanwhile, is disguised as a street preacher. When the executioner arrives in the town, he takes his place. Unfortunately, Gideon has been substituted for Jim, who will become the first man in America to die in the electric chair...
Vincent wrote episodes of 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea - including the excellent 'And Five Of Us Are Left' - and this is up to the same standard. Arthur O'Connell had recently menaced Dean Martin's 'Matt Helm' in 'The Silencers' ( he played BIG O agent 'Joe Wigman'; ). The corpulent Jenie Jackson, cast as 'Kitten', played another character of that name in the Donner-directed 'The Night Of The Murderous Spring'. Again Conrad's stunts are a marvel to behold, including the sight of him crashing through a wall in the prison and finding himself in a secret drinking and gambling den.
'Jennifer McCoy' ( Indus Arthur ) has an uncle on Death's Row - 'Gideon McCoy' ( Elisha Cook Junior ) - and she wants Jim to find out what he did with her inheritance. Jim meets him and is baffled as to why the man has a sun-tan and well-manicured fingernails. Arte, meanwhile, is disguised as a street preacher. When the executioner arrives in the town, he takes his place. Unfortunately, Gideon has been substituted for Jim, who will become the first man in America to die in the electric chair...
Vincent wrote episodes of 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea - including the excellent 'And Five Of Us Are Left' - and this is up to the same standard. Arthur O'Connell had recently menaced Dean Martin's 'Matt Helm' in 'The Silencers' ( he played BIG O agent 'Joe Wigman'; ). The corpulent Jenie Jackson, cast as 'Kitten', played another character of that name in the Donner-directed 'The Night Of The Murderous Spring'. Again Conrad's stunts are a marvel to behold, including the sight of him crashing through a wall in the prison and finding himself in a secret drinking and gambling den.
