The Bold Ones: The Senator (TV Series) A Continual Roar of Musketry: Part 2 (1970) User Reviews

Despite some creative flaws, a generally strong two-part episode

[GMJames · 8/10 · 8 May 2010]

The two-part episode, "A Continual Roar of Musketry", originally aired on NBC in November 1970, six months after the Kent State shootings.

The Retro Television Network (RTV) reran the episodes May 1 and 2, 2010 in several U.S. television markets. Despite a few questionable creative choices, the episodes are still very potent.

Senator Hays Stowe (Hal Holbrook) heads a three-person committee investigating the shooting of demonstrators at a college by the state's National Guard, in which two students were killed and at least four were injured.

As with other episodes from the shamefully short-lived segment of "The Bold Ones", David W. Rintels' script still has some significant resonance even after forty years. Obviously inspired by Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon", the episodes show several different viewpoints on the shootings. They include: the governor (John Randolph) who commissioned the investigation, the college chancellor (Laurence Luckinbill) who understood the protesters' concerns, the local mayor (John Marley) who wants to protect his town's reputation, the young protesters and the officer who may or may not have order the shooting.

I think the second hour was better than the first. The strong cast of familiar character actors (Edward Binns, Paul Stewart, John Marley, Noam Pitlik and the other actors mentioned previously) had the unenviable task of essentially playing two different roles. Unfortunately, I wished some of the performances, specifically in part one, took a "less is more" acting path.

In a 2006 interview, Randolph Mantooth mentioned that he got the role of paramedic John Gage in "Emergency!" from this episode. His performance as a fellow college student given the unfortunate responsibility of protecting the college from protesters, was very effective, showing that the character was not a robot who may have ordered the shooting of unnamed targets.

Also effective was Pamela McMyler as the girlfriend of the lead protester (Robert Pratt), who finds herself as the only person willing to talk to the commission about the shooting from the student protester's perspective.

Holbrook's powerful performance as the well-intentioned, idealistic senator was the strongest quality thought the entire series. As mentioned in a posting about the series, it has been nice to rediscover "The Bold Ones" and the segment "The Senator".

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

[GaryPeterson67 · 8/10 · 3 December 2022]

Someone's gotta say it: The second half of "A Continual Roar of Musketry" did not fulfill the promise of the first. How could it? Instead of Marley, Pitlik, Luckinbill, and a heaping portion of John Randolph, we get the testimonies and competing narratives of Paul Stewart, Jesse Vint, and a pre-EMERGENCY Randolph Mantooth. Rounding out the hour is a peek into the troubled domestic life of campus radicals Zach and Jennie. The cast and script for this second half simply lacked presence and heft. Couple that with--cutting to the chase--a profoundly disappointing denouement.

In Part 1 we heard from the state governor, town mayor, the deputy mayor, and the college chancellor. In Part 2 the actual boots on the ground get their turn to testify. Governor Keller's and General Collins' memories of the meeting where the Guard was officially called up and deployed do of course differ, though only in tone and it plays out tepidly. Randolph brings the bombast, but Stewart didn't rise to meet him.

The producers seemed to suspect the story was losing steam, so added some snapping and sniping between the commission members. That internal friction catches fire later as the three men and Boyle play 12 ANGRY MEN and debate the conflicting testimony, giving air to their anger and biases. Of course, Holbrook plays the Henry Fonda role of rational man rising above the racism and rock throwing of his commission colleagues.

Ed Binns (who was Juror 6 in that classic film) and Bernie Hamilton are both compelling and get much more to do in this second half, which proved a strength when contrasted to the relatively weak showings by everyone else. Randolph Mantooth gave a moving performance as the guilt-wracked Guard company leader Tony Caffey. But I kept thinking, how did this milksop ever rise to a leadership position in the Guard? He just seemed wholly lacking in the grit that it takes to be a guardsman.

Conversely, Private Wilson was a caricature of the trigger-happy soldier who shoots first and lets God sort 'em out, but he was played with such smarmy perfection by Jesse Vint. I thoroughly enjoyed his lively performance. And if you didn't despise Wilson already from the flashbacks of him eagerly attaching his bayonet and verbally bullying his CO, you had no choice after Stowe asked him about Sidney Winkler and Mary Sloan. Who are they? He blithely asks an incredulous commission.

Keeping it fair and balanced, to coin a phrase, writer David Rintels doesn't "whitewash" campus radical Zach and his shack-up gal pal Jennie. For a professed progressive, he sure has some regressive ideas on how to treat women. From his call during the march for women to occupy the front line to his wanting Jennie to cook and serve his meals for him (just like Mom used to, I'm sure). His manners are also atrocious, from disgustingly dipping his fingers into the spaghetti sauce and then slurping and sucking on them just inches from Jennie's ear to his disgraceful discourtesy towards a drop-in distinguished dinner guest.

Didn't Zach vote for Stowe? Stowe is the stalwart trailblazer of liberal causes (e.g., clean air and education bills)? Was Zach so jaded and cynical to have already lost all confidence in the "establishment" and the "system"? I came to wonder if any of the protesting students were motivated by principle. They want to occupy the chancellor's office, but less as a "statement" and more just to loot cigars and bourbon.

As foreshadowed in Part 1, Jennie broke ranks with Zach and testified before the commission. Her testimony provided a key piece pf evidence, that a thrown lightbulb was likely mistook as a gunshot, sparking the Guardsmen to open fire. Score one for the military! But not so fast, my friend: the Guard's rules call for a warning shot (even bank robbers get that privilege, quipped Stowe) and dictate that shots be fired low.

I admired Jennie for testifying. She says she did it for the two students who died, telling their side. Zach, ever zealous, however, won't hear of it, and brands Jennie a fink. To her credit, Jennie appeared to welcome this exit ramp from a rotten relationship. Zach may wish he had a friend when he needs bailing out of jail for contempt of commission after brazenly defying the subpoena.

Robert Pratt and Pamela McMyler played their parts with aplomb. A peek at their IMDb pages sadly shows neither went on to fulfill the potential on display here. Ironically, Pratt's last acting work was on EMERGENCY, reuniting the radical with the remorseful Guardsman Randolph Mantooth. (McMyler also appeared on that series playing a character named Oona Crim! What a crime to saddle so beautiful a woman with such an ugly name!)

Okay, the show's over and the continual roar has died down to a dull one. Taken together, a memorable show that dramatizes and underscores that how elusive truth can be. Watched separately, the opening chapter shines brighter than the slightly dimmed second half. The producers frontloaded the star power in the first half, though the second-string players all did an admirable job, especially having lesser material to work with. It's a shame Universal never stitched this two-parter into a syndicated television movie that would have over the decades given it the broader exposure it merits.

Have we really achieved the peak of this series and now must descend for the final three episodes? Watching's the only way to find out...!

PS: This two-parter does confirm (by implication) that Hays Stowe is a Democrat. In Part 1, Stowe supporter Sylvia stated she attended the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In Part 2, the conservative, law-and-order newspaper publisher Arthur Beresford notes that he and Stowe belong to different parties. Yeah, it's not exactly a shocking disclosure, especially considering Stowe's agenda and the series' thinly veiled Kennedy allusions.

An Investigation of Kent State?

[pholmer · 10/10 · 13 November 2006]

This series starred Hal Holbrook as a dedicated U.S. Senator (remember when we had those?) who is in charge of the investigation of a Kent State-like shooting. I don't remember all the details, but it did concern the shooting of campus anti-war protesters by nervous National Guardsmen. I especially remember it because I knew Randy Mantooth (Emergency!) who played the young commander of the soldiers who was himself a college student. I worked with Randy in the Santa Barbara Youth Summer Theatre for two or three years. I also knew Robert Pratt who played one of the main protesters from student days at the University of California, Riverside Theatre Dept. It was a good episode of a good show. It was the only time I ever saw two people I actually knew at the same time on TV.