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55.5th-ish Anniversary Viewing
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The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 18, episode 15
Originally aired December 19, 1965
As not represented in
The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show
Metacritic lists this as a special episode dedicated to Stars of the Circus World, brought to us from Munich, Germany (filmed, I presume). The Sullivan YouTube account has this segment dated as having aired on August 28, 1966, which the Metacritic listing gives as the episode's rerun date:
Other performances, as listed on Metacritic:
- Russian Cossacks (stunt trick horseback riding act featuring an 8 year-old girl)
- Ruppert's Bears (3 bears perform handstands and ride bicycles)
- Katarina (high wire act)
- Kroplins Chimps (trained animal act)
- Sam And Sammy (man foot juggles his son then spins and flips him with his feet)
- Rogana (female acrobat)
- The Schickler Sisters (3 Equestriennes)
- The Gaonas (four aerialists from Mexico)
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Branded
"A Proud Town"
Originally aired December 19, 1965
Xfinity said:
McCord is instrumental in getting an orphanage built.
Two days before Christmas (Hey, it's a holiday episode!), in a snow-capped mountain area, Jason rides onto a vaguely frigid-looking set to find a couple of runaway orphans, Mike and Abigail (Pat Cardi and Pamelyn Ferdin), doing the usual orphan thing of being cold and hungry. They're on the run from a man named Stoddard, who controls the town of New Hope and whose son, Randy, Mike is believed to have shot. Jason offers them a meal and takes them back into town, where they live with a man named Perrin, who takes in all the local orphans. Jason and the kids are accosted by a couple of Stoddard's goons, whom Jason deals with fistily.
Jason finds the home and shop of tailor Julius Perrin (Ludwig Donath) filled with young extras. Julius explains how Martin Stoddard, who holds the mortgage, is trying to run him and his orphans out of town, and how Mike is at a particular disadvantage from being an orphaned Indian, while strains of "We Three Kings" play. Jason goes to see Stoddard (Ken Mayer), whom he was coming into town to do an engineering job for. In front of his Christmas tree, Stoddard opines that Perrin is a heathen (apparently Jewish) and all of the orphaned children are savages, though Randy (Robeert Gross) had just been trying to tell him something about the shooting from his sickbed. After McCord leaves, Stoddard orders his chief henchman to get Perrin out of town that night--Christmas Eve, natch--a few days ahead of the foreclosure.
By the time we get back from the commercial, the ultimatum has already been delivered, accompanied by $100 and a wagon, and Jason begins to recite "The Night Before Christmas" at the kids' request. While Mr. Pott--er, Stoddard--is chairing a Christmas Eve town council meeting where he shares his plans to build a church on the site of the tailor shop, Jason pleads with Stoddard's wife, Grace (Carol Brewster). When he gets back to Perrin's, Jason has to fight off the goons again, and Stoddard walks in to confront him about Randy having run away. Randy is promptly found, and contrary to what you'd expect, the doctor (Jay Jostyn) does some handwaving about how the boy's impromptu jaunt in the cold has improved his condition. Randy explains that he was just trying to deliver toys to the orphans, and that he was the one who was playing around with his father's gun when it went off. Suitably humbled for the conclusion, Stoddard apologizes to Perrin, and Jason steers Stoddard into turning the new town hall into an orphanage run by Perrin. Perrin hosts his first Christmas dinner there, where Mike gives Jason a very cross-like wooden sword to replace his saber--which isn't actually shown in the episode, but I'm sure we'll be seeing it a lot more than Mike's gift.
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Gilligan's Island
"Mine Hero"
Originally aired December 23, 1965
Wiki said:
The Professor tries to round up enough metal to make an anchor for a raft with an S.O.S. message attached to it. Gilligan catches a World War II mine while fishing and accidentally triggers it. Now they must get rid of it before it destroys them all. Gilligan uses the raft to tow the mine out to sea. The mine floats back, explodes and covers the beach with fish.
Gilligan tries to tell the Skipper, who won't listen in his usual fashion; then goes to the Howells, who think he means a different kind of mine. Meanwhile, the girls, trying to scrounge up some metal for the Professor, attempt to persuade Gilligan to hand over the good luck charm that he wears around his neck. The men finally agree to have a look at Gilligan's "iron mine," which they discover has been activated. This is contrived to be an island-wide danger, as the Professor thinks that the explosion will set off volcanic gas. Gilligan and Mr. Howell become stuck to the mine by the former's lucky charm and the latter's watch and ID bracelet, but the Prof gets them loose by counteracting it with the radio's high frequency waves. The castaways' efforts to deactivate the rusty mine prove fruitless, so the Prof determines that it has to be towed out to sea. Gilligan secretly volunteers himself, using the raft to tow it, though the metal rudder attracts the mine, so that Gilligan has to cut the line. In the coda, the mine detonates in the lagoon, and Gilligan catches a large swordfish in the sense that it falls into his arms.
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The Wild Wild West
"The Night of the Fatal Trap"
Originally aired December 24, 1965
Wiki said:
While disguised as a notorious outlaw, Jim goes to arrest a Mexican bandit, only to be recognized by the villain's girlfriend.
Members of the Vasquez Gang (including Joseph Ruskin as a character we learn is named Viper Black) rob a bank and escape pursuit by local law enforcement by crossing a border river, upon which Colonel Francesco Vasquez (Ron Randell) rides up to openly taunt the sheriff (Don Briggs). As the train rides in, Jim arranges to impersonate a recently captured outlaw named Frank Slade, which includes printing up doctored wanted posters. Artie in disguise as a crazy prospector type makes sure Fake Slade gets on the radar of Vasquez's accomplices south of the border by claiming to have seen him in the area, and gets an audience with Vasquez. Vasquez's ladyfriend, Linda Medford (Joanna Moore), sees the poster and nonverbally reacts to the sight of Jim. Later she compares it with a too-modern-looking newspaper photo of herself with Jim at a Washington gala.
When Fake Slade rides into town, Artie introduces him to members of the gang, including the three Dawson brothers (one of whom IMDb says is played by an uncredited Alan Sues, whom I never would have recognized here); Jim is then taken to see Vasquez, who takes an interest in the two of them doing business. At a dinner party hosted by Vasquez, Linda plays along with Jim's charade, including as he exhibits terrible table manners as part of his role...but Jim won't drop his character even while she attempts to talk to him in private. Jim and Vasquez negotiate a partnership / protection arrangement in exchange for Vasquez and his gang's help in a federal bullion shipment heist that Fake Slade is fake planning...which would involve Vasquez himself crossing the border. Up north a bit, Artie coordinates the US end of the fake heist with local law enforcement.
Linda confronts Jim at gunpoint in his room, and he drops his cover and discusses old times as she asks for a cut in his operation. She knew Jim when he was operating under another cover, and he allows her to believe that he's just an extra-devious criminal. Meanwhile, we witness tension between Linda and Vasquez, such that he has her watched by Viper. Outside before the heist, Jim gets into a fake shootout with Artie and fake wins. The heist proceeds, with the lawmen playing various roles on their side as the outlaws hiack a wagon full of fake prisoners for picking up the shipment in their own disguises, but Vasquez double-crosses Jim. At the bank where the outlaws plan to pick up the shipment, Vasquez sees a poster of the real Slade and the gang tries to hightail out ahead of the lawmen riding into town in their striped prisoner outfits; but Artie, still in his disguise, pursues the outlaws. Held prisoner in the back of the wagon, Jim releases a vial of uncharacteristically invisible knockout gas from his heel to take out his guards, then wrestles with Vasquez on top of the wagon. Jim releases the horses and goes with them while Vasquez accompanies the wagon down a cliff.
In the train coda, Jim continues to let Linda believe that he's a lucky swindler, and offers her the opportunity to turn in the captive Viper for a reward.
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Hogan's Heroes
"Reservations Are Required"
Originally aired December 24, 1965
Wiki said:
The escape business becomes complicated when twenty unexpected escapees from Stalag 9 arrive on the doorstep, even more so when the soldier who led the break-out tries to lead an escape from Stalag 13 on his own.
Newkirk pretends to sleepwalk as a diversion for LeBeau to get out through lift-up sections of the camp fences in order to dig for mushrooms in the woods, where he's found by Stalag 9 escapees Braden (Robert Hogan) and Mills (Dennis Robertson), who know of Hogan and are looking to get themselves and the other eighteen men, who are all brought in via the tunnel, back to England. Braden is antsy to get out sooner than can be accommodated, so he starts devising his own plan. The prisoners spot the attempt and Hogan blows it for them in order to not jeopardize the operation; but manages to swap Braden and Mills with two Stalag 13 prisoners, who get time in the cooler. Hogan then moves up the plan to get the Stalag 9 escapees out. The plan involves using a different tunnel, but there are guards near the other end, so Newkirk, Carter, and LeBeau fake a botched escape through it and lead Klink to the other end above ground as a diversion for the Stalag 9 escapees, already in the tunnel, to exit from the now-clear outside end with their disguises and papers. In the coda, the tunnel has been filled in and all of Hogan's men get time in the cooler.
DIS!MISSED!
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Get Smart
"Survival of the Fattest"
Originally aired December 25, 1965
Wiki said:
Max has to protect an Arab prince, who must remain fat to retain his power. The title is from the common idiom "survival of the fittest."
Max visits the Prince (Dan Seymour) at his hotel room in the role of an oil company president. While he's reporting to the Chief via shoe in the closet, the maid and the prince's belly dancer (Karen Steele and Tania Lemoni) abduct him. Max volunteers to undergo brutal interrogation to try to remember some helpful detail, and it turns out to be how the maid carried in a refrigerator, which identifies her as unnaturally strong female agent Mary "Jack" Armstrong. Max stays at the hotel to strike up a conversation with Mary Jack and slip a truth drug into her drink via a tie given to him by CONTROL Scientist of the Week Parker (Milton Selzer); but after a series of switcheroos, she tricks him into downing the drugged drink.
Max is held at the gym where Mary Jack and her accomplices, Carla the belly dancer and Rhonda (Patti Gilbert), are forcing the prince to lose weight so he'll be deposed when he isn't heavy enough for his weight-in-gold tribute to keep his country's economy healthy. Rhonda repeatedly thwarts Max's efforts to enable a tracking device concealed in the shoulder of his jacket; but he temporarily gains the upper hand on the ladies with a gun concealed in a fake finger. They're about to toss him out a window when the Chief arrives with a couple of agents, and it turns out that he and Mary Jack are old flames, who sit down to have a tender talk in which she addresses him as Thaddeus.
In the coda, it turns out that the prince hasn't lost his kingdom because his weight loss has set a new trend there.
99 is not in this episode.
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Contrary to what some film "historians" and bandwagon-ing, low-information filmmakers have said over the decades, Shaft was not a "Blaxploitation" film, but a straight crime drama that was viewed through the lens of a black male lead and how the white world viewed / dealt with him. Clearly a landmark film, and advancing the reality of confident black males in a white, law and order world beyond 1967's In the Heat of the Night. Unlike the "Blaxploitation" films to follow, Shaft was not the typical genre characterization poles of either "too cool" for all around him, or a half-buffoon, filled with archaic and often unrealistic catchphrases, all to make a certain segment of the audience feel comfortable.
Agree 100%. Back in the 90’s , I did a complete rewatch of Shaft, hadn’t seen it in years,, and I was once again struck by how little it looked like most of the other movies that were all called “blaxploitation,” it actually holds up pretty well as a hard boiled crime story.
Interesting...now I'm curious what I'd need to watch down the road to get a good representative sample of what blaxploitation became. Maybe something obvious will pop up.
TREK_GOD_1 said:
Actually, Bullitt was an ironic naming choice; no one behind the film selected the name to sell the idea of a lethal gunslinger (that would become fashionable in the often excessively stupid 1980s film scene), but it contrasted with the title character's struggles with looking within himself on the issue of living with violence. He only uses his gun one time in the film--toward the end--and at that point, there's clear tension and regret registered on his face, which causes him to really wonder about his girlfriend's concerns (about accepting / becoming a part of the world of violence he deals with). Bullitt as a character name fits that tough, yet ironic naming.
If it needs that much explanation, though, it's not making the point.
gblews said:
Don’t know if I’v mentioned it in the thread tha I had the so called “Dead Babies” album jacket. I steamed the cover with the non descript pic and there it was in all of it’s horror.
You have not!
Until now, this was something that I'd only read about...OK, I guess I'm still reading about it, but still...
gblews said:
Haven’t heard this song in MANY years. I think the song could legitimately claim a share of the credit for being a precursor to “heavy metal.” It really does sound to me like it’s ahead. Of it’s time.
Sounds more proto-punk to me...
Sounds like the 70s. Late 70s. FM.
...which is what I assume this is referring to.
RJDiogenes said:
Sounds nice enough, but doesn't have that soaring feeling of their other work.
The Disney intro kills it for me.
From those "Wild Thing" guys. It's actually pretty good.
Decent, but I'm only starting to remember how it goes without listening to it.
I remember this from somewhere. Not Lost 45s, so either Oldies Radio or Time-Life tapes. It's okay.
Pretty and mellow, but sounds like a Chris Montez knock-off.
I definitely remember this from Oldies Radio. It's a nice Summery song.
Pleasant and upbeat period pop, but definitely in the bubble-blowing zone.
I don't think I'd heard "I'm Only Sleeping" before-- I can't be 100% sure, because it sounds so very Beatles. And it's really good.
"And Your Bird Can Sing" is nice enough-- short and punchy and poetic-- but a minor work.
A good, bouncy light John rocker where he's not being too serious.
Oddly enough, the one that caught me most of the ones I was unfamiliar with was "What Goes On." It's simple and straightforward, but earnest and the line "You didn't even think of me as someone with a name" is really biting (kind of amazing that it took three people to write it, though).
Well, usually where the Lennon-McCartney credit is involved, one or the other primarily wrote it; that was their arrangement. This one has more of a history than I knew/remembered, though. Apparently it's based on a song that John wrote ca. 1959 that originally sounded more Buddy Holly, but was substantially reworked by this point. From what the Wiki page says, Paul may have played a significant role in the reworking. By his own self-deprecating account, Ringo contributed "about five words".
I was surprised by the Animals and the Monkees (which, I suppose, are a kind of animal). That's quite an impressive resume.
I'm pretty sure that Goffin & King being among those who wrote for the Monkees came up passingly when they were a current thing in 50th Anniversaryland.
RJDiogenes said:
Given its efforts at realism, the name is jarring-- even if they played it as a nickname based on a similar-sounding surname it would have been better. Obviously the movie didn't suffer for it, but I just find it to be a step too far.
gblews said:
Well everything holds uo except the tiny guns.
Post-
Bullitt gritty detective who goes by a nickname and carries a big honkin' gun? We got that comin'. Question is...will it be in five months...or only four...?
Well, the album is certainly laden with classics, and only a couple of songs that I hadn't heard. It's hard to say my favorite from that batch. "Yesterday" reminds me of Dorchester in the same way that "Something" does, but I'd have to go with "Nowhere Man," I think.
