bkoganbing Reviews

The Virginian: Home to Methuselah (1969) Season 8, Episode 10

Leave of absence

[6/10 · 14 July 2020]

The town of Methuselah hasgiven its sheriff John Anderson leave of absenceto pursue an outlaw gang who set fire to a hotel and killed a lot of citizens. Anderson has gotten most, but there are two left and they've gone into the Teton mountains near Shiloh. He calls on his old friend The Virginian for help. They have history going back to when Drury was a youngster.

It isn't long before James Drury notices a character change in Anderson. Is he really looking for justice? Or is there some other agenda working here?

Besides Anderson we have two other guest star performances worthy of note. The first is Timothy Carey more subdued than usual as a philosophical outlaw, one of whom Anderson is pursuing, The other is 'preacher' G.D. Spradln who has his own interpretation of scripture.

The Virginian: The Bugler (1969) Season 8, Episode 9

Generational conflict

[6/10 · 14 July 2020]

After getting a good whipping Private Michael Burns runs away from the army and is found on Shiloh range. The Grangers take him in. What John McIntire doesn't know is not only Burns's desertion, but that the commanding offricerof the fort is Morgan Woodward who is Burns's father.

Woodward and Burns make a good study in generational conflict. As it turns out each is both right and wrong about the other.

Isn't that always the way.

Kiss Me, Kate (1958 TV Movie)

A preserved treasure

[8/10 · 14 July 2020]

For those aged among us who might have seen Alfred Drake on stage this preserved Hallmark Hall Of Fame tape is a real treat. It is a filmed record of Drake in on of his most acclaimed starring roles, that of Fred Graham in Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate.

Doubly important it is a filmed record of Drake's Broadway leading lady in her career role as Graham's estranged wife Lilli Vanessi. Before she did Kiss Me Kate on Broadway, Patricia Morison did a lot of potboiler B films with no clue to the talent she possessed. She must have and we can be grateful that we have a filmed record of her as well.

Some of the numbers Cole Porter wrote have been eliminated, but the plot which mixes the bacstage drama with a musical comedy performance of The Taming Of The Shrerw in a real treat. In a couple of spots the dialog is updated to reflect the Eisenhower as opposed to the Truman years.

Kiss Me Kate given its source is a real challenge for players. In the case of Alfred Drake he had a classical theater background as well as a great musical comedy voice which made him the perfect lead.

Arthur Freed at MGM did a grand job with the film of Kiss Me Kate. But we are so lucky to have this filmed record of the two original leads.

The Virginian: The Substitute (1969) Season 8, Episode 8

Good, but no suspense

[5/10 · 13 July 2020]

Doug McClure takes center stage in tis episode as Trampas takes a vacation from Shiloh and winds up in the town of Calumet jail accused of murder. Whom he murdered is a popular local doctor and the town wants a lynching. Especially the one who did he deed.

Unfortunately we know the story from the gitgo almost so there's no suspense. Still there are good performances from McClure and from Ken Lynch as the honest sheriff of Calumet.

Good thing for Trampas Lynch was the sheriff.

The Virginian: A Love to Remember (1969) Season 8, Episode 7

They may have history

[6/10 · 13 July 2020]

This episode brings reporter/illustrator Diane Baker to Shiloh ranch where she is to do a story on life in the west. No one typifies the west more than The Virginian so she and James Drury get something going.

All looks well until she meets Fred Beir a fellow Bostonian. They may have history and her reporter instincts kick in. If they have history, it's a tragic episode for Baker.

Diane Baker has a good turn as the Nellie Bly like reporter and there's a good performance as well from Arthur Hunnicutt whom she meets in Medicine Bow's jail.

My Friend Dahmer (2017)

Attention seeker

[6/10 · 13 July 2020]

Bubblegum Disney popstar Ross Lynch goes about as far from Austin&Ally as you can get in portraying a budding serial killer in My Friend Dahmer.

The film is based on a book written by one of his acquaintences from high school whose character is played by Alex Wolff. Dahmer in his small town high school kid is seen as a loner and a misfit who would do all kinds of attention gettng things to try and fit in.

He was also the child of a breaking and then broken home with pparents played by Dallas Roberts and Anne Heche. Both were wrapped in their own issues and hd time for him.

This film is a chronicle of observed events, it offers no explanations, no whys and wherefores. It is a well cast pieceof work though it doesn't seem to have led to Ross Lynch being offered more serious roles. It may yet happen for him.

Camp Hell (2010)

Camp for unruly Christian kids

[2/10 · 12 July 2020]

Here's a time waster of a film. If you think that you will see another Exorcist movie, forget it. If you think this is a celebration iof religion, forget it.

Father Bruce Davison runs a camp where good Catholics send their kids every summer. This place is mainly to teach about giving into temptation especially those sins of the flesh. But other things too. Imagine confiscating jelly beans. Where's God's commandment aganst them?

The only sin is sitting through this tripe and see a lot of good players waste time and talent.

Rawhide: Incident of the Pale Rider (1963) Season 5, Episode 22

Dual creeps

[6/10 · 12 July 2020]

Albert Salmi who played many a degenerate character is at his creepiest in both parts of a dual performance in tis Rawhide story.

Clint Eastwood kills one Salmi when Salmi tres to rob him. Then when he returns to the erd after buying supplies he finds Eric Fleming has taken on ather character played by Abert Salmi. And this second Salmi keeps trying to bait Clint Eastwood into a fight.

The amswer is rather obvious still theperformances of Albert Salmi in noyj roles guaranteed to vreep you out. Almost gothic.

Major League: Back to the Minors (1998)

Managerial rivalry

[5/10 · 11 July 2020]

With a new Major League francise as its location, but some former stars of the Cleveland indians and the first two films in the cast, the final film of the series takes us Back To The Minors. The crux of tis plot has a rivalry between Minnesota Twins manager Ted McGinley and Scott Bakula the manager of their Triple A franchise the Charleston Buzz.

Corbin Bernson from the frst two films of the series is now the General Manager of the Twins and he hires both men, rivals since their playing days. Bakula is OK, but McGinley is pretty insufferable. The climax is a pair of exhibition games netween the teams.

A few of Bernson's teammates from his playing days with the Indians are back including Denns Haysbert the Santeria worshiping slugger.

A good sprts comedy, not quite as good as the first two of the series.

Varsity Blues (1999)

The Texas religion of football

[7/10 · 11 July 2020]

Varsity Blues bear comparison with two other football related films. One is The Last Picture Show set some 50 years before the action of this film. Not much has changed in Texas in the passing years.

The second is another high school football classic All The Right Moves with Tom Cruise. Cruise and star James VanDerBeek are both 18 and about to graduate frm high school.

The scholarship that Cruise gets from football to an engineering school is his ticket out of his drab Pennsylvania coal mining town. VanDerBeek plays football because it's expected of him. He's a second string quarterback but is in the running for a scholarship on academics.

Then first string quarterback Paul Walker is injured and it falls on VanDerBeek. At that point we see what a lot of VanDerBeek's problem is and it's coach Jon Voight.

Like in every Texas small town the local football coach is the town's biggest celebrity. But VanDerBeek s intelligent enough to see him for what he is a ruthless user of his players who doesn't care one wit about the young people in his charge as long as they win for him and win his way.

Gradually however some others start to see Voight for what he is. Te climax is quite a revelation to Voight.

Varsity Blues stands good comparison to the other high school football films I mentioned and to others also. VanDerBeek and Voight lead a well cast film that's quite a bit more than your usual teen flick.

Conspiracy (1939)

A deadly cargo

[4/10 · 11 July 2020]

Conspiracy is one of those murky mysteries where the protagonist isn't quit sure who to trust until the end. Allan Lane who later concentrated on westerns plays a freighter radio operator who catches Henry Brandon sending an illegal wireless message to shore. The port authorities board the ship and both men swim for shore.

J. Farrell MacDonald's ship is carrying the chemical fixings for poison gas. An item of concern to the world who witnessed it being used by Mussolini in Ethiopia. Gave the film a dimension of immediacy not appreciated by an audience of today.

Anyway Lne runs into Linda ayes anda couple of expatriate Americans Charlie Foy and Robert Barrat and all their roles are murky.

Mediocre programmer from RKO.

Major League II (1994)

LIFE IMITATING ART

[5/10 · 10 July 2020]

The first Major League vame out in 1989 when the Cleveland Indians were in a 35 year drought in terms of October baseball, They also still played in cavernous Municipal Stadium.

One year in movie time but five years in real time the Indians now play in Jacobs Field and having just missed the pennant the previous year are now contending again. But as in the first film iy's quite the tpsy turvy ride ver the long season.

With the exception of Omar Epps taking Wesley Snipes as Wiilie Mays Hayes the same cast is repeating their roles. You'll enjoy these folks again as they go through their paces. Tom Berenger as the aging catcher and team leader, Charlie Sheen as the fireballing pitcher with vision problems, and Corbin Bernson as the egotistical shortstop are all there again. Margaret Whitton as the evil team owner and my favorite Dennis Haysbert as the Santeria believing slugger are all back.

The following year the Indians won a pennant and did again in 1997. The World Series still eludes them though.

And if the name change goes through, will future generations not get a ot of the gags that both the first two Major League movies have?

Bonanza: The Gift (1961) Season 2, Episode 27

The great white horse

[5/10 · 10 July 2020]

On a trip to Arizona Michael Landon gets sidetracked buying a white horse as a gift for Lorne Greene's birthday. Landon and Martin Landau fall into the clutches of comanchero chief Jim Davis who really fancies the horse. So in fact does Landau.

The rest of the Cartwrights are looking for Landon on the desert. All the characters meet a destiny on said desert.

Good guest star performances from Landau and Davis.

The Virginian: A Flash of Darkness (1969) Season 8, Episode 2

Kabe family values

[6/10 · 10 July 2020]

This episode has James Drury firing James Drury firing James Whitmore and his two worthless sons off the Shiloh horse roundup for one lousy work ethic What Drury doesn't know is that they have a nice sideline in horse thievery, at least not yet.

When he's thrown from his horse Drury hits his head gets an attack of blindness. Who helps him is Pamela McMyler who takes him in and nurses him. She also happens to be Whitmore's daughter.

Whitmore delivers a fine guest star turn as an outlaw who does feel a family responsibility, but not to keep his family on the straight and narrow a it was when his wife was alive.

For James Whimore fans.

The Virginian: The Long Ride Home (1969) Season 8, Episode 1

A home at Shiloh

[6/10 · 9 July 2020]

Tim Matheson joins the cast f The Virginian with this season 8 opener. His character Jim Horn arrives at Medcie Bow with his father figure mentor Leslie Nielsen and some disreputable ex-buffalo hunters led by Lonny Chapman.

As the story progresses we see a real bond of affection is there between Matheson and Nielsen. Nielsen is the only real parent that Matheson has ever known. As for Chapman they have designs n the Shiloh herd that the Grangers want to bring down from the high country before the winter sets in.

Nielsen is quite the colorful character and dominates the episode.

The Gallant Men (1962–1963)

The fickle public

[6/10 · 9 July 2020]

Two shows about World War 2 in Europe debuted on television in 1962. Combat enjoyed a successful 5 year run on television. Te Gallant Men however limed through a first season and failed t find an audience.

Combat was set in France and the Gallant Men took place in the Italian theater of the war. Other than that the stories were pretty much the same.

The success of one and the failure of the other just demonstrates the fickleness of he viewing public. As a kid back then I enjoyed both shows.

Who can tell about these things.

The Rat Patrol (1966–1968)

Juvenile war series

[3/10 · 9 July 2020]

The Rat Patrol was a half hour TV series set in the North African campaign of World War II where a mixed group of American and British soldiers had a kind of commando unit in two jeeps. The jeeps were fitted with machine guns and they dd all kinds of missions against the Germans.

Christopher George an American sergeant the group and the Germans were personalized by Eric Braeden. Braeden was a civilized man, a professional soldier and no Nazi. He was treated as one professional to another.

Notwithstanding the fact I doubt that Allies and Germans got on a name basiss with each other, I had to laugh at the idea that the Rat Patrol and their refitted jeeps gave serious battle with hose monster German tanks. The show wss ludicrous.

I'm surprised it lasted two seasons.

The Black Rider: Revelation Road (2014)

An important role to play

[4/10 · 9 July 2020]

The third and currently last of the Revelation Road films has star/producer David A.R. White now firmly established as a Christian road warrior n the best tradition of Mel Gibson.

The bad guys who control a nice chunk of Southern California led by James Denton try to make a deal with him to bring them Robert Gossett who they're told is a subversive.

Gossett is certainly that. In fact he has a specific role mentioned in Revelations and the Deity has White earmarked for a part in helping Gossett on hi mission.

For a while these end time movies were becoming a cottage industry. This one is no better r worse than some.

Maybe David A.R. white will have the lack Rider ride yet again.

The Virginian: Two Men Named Laredo (1965) Season 3, Episode 17

The two faces of Fabian

[7/10 · 9 July 2020]

Special guest star Fabian in this episode plays a young cowhand who Trampas befriends and takes under his wing at Shiloh. What Dog McClure doesn't know nor does anyone else is that Fabian has a dual personality, a shy introverted kid most of the time and someone with a mean streak and explosive temper whi can kill on a brutal whim.

Which he does on two occasions and Lee J. Cobb defends him in court. There was no scientific research into this in those times so Cobb cites the best authority available then, Robert Louis Stevenson and Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde.

Nice performance by Fabian and Lee J. Cob stands out in the trial scenes.

Nashville (1975)

The country music capital

[8/10 · 8 July 2020]

I think that above all the film Nashville shows that this city is as much an entertainment center as Hollywood. This place and the music it records and produces cater to one significant portion of the population. Nashville shows that the capital of Tennessee is as much a trendsetter and opinion maker as either Ne York or Los Angeles.

It's significant that no Oscar nominations for the lead acting categories were given. That's because there are no leads per se in this film. Nashville's cast all support the film with no one really standing out. Two Supporting Actress Oscar nominations were given to Ronee Blakeley and Lily Tomlin, but the whole cast is a supporting one. Personally my favorite was Geraldine Chaplin as the British 'journalist' who wants and does bed half he male cast in pursuit of a story.

Nashville did win an Oscar for Best Song for the plaintive I'm Easy, deliivered here by Keith Carradine. But it's one of a good score of country music songs.

A lot of small stories and characters all connected to each other that s Nashville. It's a well done style repeated by other films.

High Anxiety (1977)

When a new boss takes charge

[7/10 · 8 July 2020]

Unlike in many of his films when he either is in a supporting part or not in t at all, creator Mel Brooks takes the lead himself in High Anxiety. This film is both a spoof and a homage to the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. One wonders what Hitch must have thought.

At the beginning Hitchcock fans will recognize the framework of Spellbound as Brooks like Gregory Peck comes to takeover an asylum where in High Anxiety Harvey Korman and head nurse Cloris Leachman have been running a very sweet racket bilking rich patients with some exotic neuroses.

Besides Spellbound I recognized bits from films like Psychio, The Birds, North By Northwest, Vertigo, and the finale comes straight from Rebecca. That's what I recognized other viewers will spot other work from Hitchcock.

Brooks assembled a great crew of comic players for even some of te smallest parts. My favorite is the aforementioned Cloris Leachman. In her makeup and costume she's hideously unrecognizable. Leachman looks like she got her training at Buchenwakd. Madeline Kahn is the required blond leading lady for a Hitchcock film. She and Brooks have a great scene with a metal detector as Brooks is n the run.

Mel Brooks fans and others will enjoy High Anxiety. And you will become one after viewing this film.

Bonanza: The Dark Gate (1961) Season 2, Episode 24

A surprise for Adam

[6/10 · 7 July 2020]

When Pernell Roberts goes to neighbor James Coburn's house to get him to retrieve some of his cattle mixed in with Ponderosa stock and help with the branding he gets quite a shock. He finds a frightened spouse in Cece Whitney and Coburn acting like a raving lunatic accusing Roberts of an affair with Whitney.

A dark cloud of mental illness has settled on Coburn, but he's also still rational enough to recruit a gang and become a multi-crime criminal enterprise, His own me are scared of him and with good reason.

The story offers no solutions just a frightening picture of mental degeneration from James Coburn. One for James Coburn fans.

Seven Days Away (2013)

Evangelical trip goes kind of sour

[3/10 · 7 July 2020]

Seven Days Away refers to a very long 7 days that Josiah David Warren spends in Mexico as a victim of kidnapping. Some gangsters south of the border got the idea that Warren came from money. So he s snatched and held prisoner for ransom.

I couldn't quite wrap my mind around the concept that this evangelical Christian kid was going to Mexico with his bible. His other 3 friends bring along what you usually bring along for fun and frolic.

Anyway Warren gets in a bit of witnessing to his kidnappers, not that it did these characters any good.

This Christian movie does not make it from church basements.

Hot Summer Night (1957)

A Crackerjack Sleeper

[6/10 · 7 July 2020]

Newlyweds Leslie Nielsen and Colleen Miller are traveling through the Ozarks in search of a story. He's a recently laid off reporter and what he's looking for is an interview with a John Dillinger like criminal who is from there and is a local legend. And the town is very protective f that legend.

It takes a while but Nielsen finds the legend played by Robert Wilke. He gets his interview. But quite suddenly Nielsen becomes the story.

A lot of familiar character players turn in some top drawer performances. No stars in this film give it a nice authentic ring. if I had to choose one it would be Paul Richards ho made a career of playing deranged individuals. Richards may have got a career role here.

No frills for ts B film, but a great cast and story.

The Virginian: The Land Dreamer (1969) Season 7, Episode 20

Shylock comes to town

[6/10 · 6 July 2020]

This Virginian story features Don Francks in a dual role of a usurious and cheating moneylender who is killed and the sheriff badly wounded by James Olson a farmer who Frncks was trying to dispossess.

When Francks's brother comes to Medicine Bow he proves to be worse than the brother and uses money owed to try and bend the town to his will. As for Olson he gains the sympathy of the Grangers and their hands most especially David Hartman.

Good performances from guest cast members Francks, Olson and Cloris Leachman as Olson's wife.