"The Night of the Golden Cobra" was the first episode to be shot in color, with the great Boris Karloff on hand as Mr.Singh, who wants Jim West (Robert Conrad) to teach his sons the finer points of killing, while his daughter (Audrey Dalton) helps him out of one scrape after another. A disappointing entry, scripted in repetitious fashion, helped immeasurably by Karloff's presence. Later that season, Boris would show up on THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E., playing the title role in "The Mother Muffin Affair," and also I SPY, in "Mainly on the Plains," with an unbilled Paul Naschy, shot on location in Spain, where he would next complete "Cauldron of Blood," which was filming in Madrid when the episode aired on Feb 22 1967. Irish-born Audrey Dalton, at 32 nearing the end of her busy TV career, was no stranger to Karloff, having previously appeared in three episodes of his anthology THRILLER.
3 Reviews
The Pawnee Maharajah
timothylane-2271728 April 2019
Boris Karloff plays an expatriate maharajah with a palace on a Pawnee reservation who wants James West to teach his rambunctions sons (two of whom, naturally, have the names Chandra and Gupta after a famous early Indian emperor) the fine art of killing. West gives them an interesting lesson, highlighted by tossing a box of matches at them with the (false) suggestion that it's a secret weapon. When one observes that it really was just a box of matches, West says "By George. You're right." I still use that phrasing occasionally under similar circumstances.
Naturally, there's a lot more going on. The maharajah, with the Sikh name of Mr. Singh, also seems to want West to couple (and perhaps even mate) with his daughter, whom West keeps calling Rapunzel (eventually, meeting Artemus Gordon, she bemusedly identifies herself by that name). The boys are just out to get West. One fun sequence comes in the obligatory capture, when they note out how much more comfortable he'll be without his hidden knife and his ring with a very sharp edge ("Why, you might have hurt yourself"). Later they play invite to play polo -- as the goal, naturally.
It also turns out that there's still another layer, which is Singh's real concern (and that of his ally, who obviously will not be identified here). I'll let you find out by watching the episode.
Naturally, there's a lot more going on. The maharajah, with the Sikh name of Mr. Singh, also seems to want West to couple (and perhaps even mate) with his daughter, whom West keeps calling Rapunzel (eventually, meeting Artemus Gordon, she bemusedly identifies herself by that name). The boys are just out to get West. One fun sequence comes in the obligatory capture, when they note out how much more comfortable he'll be without his hidden knife and his ring with a very sharp edge ("Why, you might have hurt yourself"). Later they play invite to play polo -- as the goal, naturally.
It also turns out that there's still another layer, which is Singh's real concern (and that of his ally, who obviously will not be identified here). I'll let you find out by watching the episode.
More Fun Than a Monkey Barrel if thats your thing
BigSkyMax4 February 2023
Look at your cast. Boris Karloff the great! Audrey Dalton the beautiful! Robert Conrad the beautiful! Ross Martin the kickiest sidekick ever! A man in a gorilla costume! Robert Conrad in green felt skintight fightin' duds! Three alpha male henchmen pummeled repeatedly by James West! All in glorious 1960s color! I first saw this when they first broadcast it on Friday, September 23, 1966 when I was ten years old. I didn't mind that the corked-up Mr. Karloff was racially inappropriate, but at least he spoke normal, not pidgin. Did I mention the beautiful Audrey Dalton? She wears a harem outfit the whole time!
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