Rocky Jones

 

 (imdb)

MANHUNT IN SPACE-1954-Rocky Jones (Richard Crane) & Winky (Scotty Beckett) race to save Vina (Sally Mansefield) from space pirates led by Earth renegades, Rinkman (Henry Brandon) and Dr. Venco (Gabriel Curtiz). She's saved and they go to Cassa-7 to visit her brother, Paul (Tom Brown). The pirates are working for Cheolanta (Patsy Parsons), the ice queen of planet Ophesius. Her assistant is Atlasan (Harry Lauter). Rocky uses Cold Light, the invention of Prof. Newton (Maurice Cass) to find the bad guys. James Griffith is a traitor working on Cassas-7. Hagar Nu (Ted Hecht) a Martian, fits into the story too. Also with Judd Holdren who was the third actor to play Commando Cody in a serial and on TV around the same time. This is three episodes of the popular TV space adventure “Rocky Jones, Space Ranger”. It's pretty low budget and also features Robert Leyden as little know it all Bobby.

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Into The Unknown

 (imdb)

THE UNKNOWN-THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN-1964-Two women (Vera Miles & Barbara Rush) kill a blackmailing gigolo (Scott Marlowe). After they wreck their car during a storm, the two seek refuge at a remote mansion where Tone Hobart (David McCallum) and his blind butler Kolos (Sir Cedric Hardwick in his last acting role) live. Hobart is experimenting with a "time tilt" machine which he says can bring back the dead.

There's a lot of talk and weird camera angles and it kind of reminded me of a Harold Pinter play! This was originally devised by THE OUTER LIMITS writer Joseph Stefano and director Gerd Oswald as the pilot for a new series to be called THE UNKNOWN. ABC rejected the idea and it became (with a different ending and credits) the finale episode of THE OUTER LIMITS' first season.

McCallum was in another episode the same season, the memorable THE SIXTH FINGER.

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The Howling Man

 

 (imdb)

TWILIGHT ZONE-1960-”The Howling Man”-David Ellington (HM Wynant) relates the story of how he got lost in a storm and sought refuge at a hermitage “Brothers of Truth”, run by Brother Jerome (John Carradine in white beard). While pleading his case for shelter he hears a strange howling but another brother (Friedrich Ledebur; MOBY DICK (1956)) says it's just the wind. Jerome refuses to shelter him but Ellington collapses. Later while wandering around the place, he meets a man (Robin Hughes from THE THING THAT COULDN'T DIE (1958)) being held prisoner who claims he is being held there because Jerome was jealous of his girlfriend. When Ellington confronts Jerome about this the brother reveals that the prisoner is not a man but the devil himself!  Although Jerome relates a convincing story, Ellington still frees the man who it turns out really is the devil. Now in the present time Ellington (the worst for wear and sounding a little insane) has imprisoned Satan in a hotel room and has been relating his story to a maid. He leaves to contact Jerome and the maid begins to open the door...

Memorable episode with good performances and nice SFX. It was written by Charles Beaumont (from his short story) who penned 21 other episodes and directed by Douglas Heyes. Of course, the host was Rod Serling.

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Plumber Lou

 

 (imdb)

GE THEATER PRESENTS "BLAZE OF GLORY"-1958-Plumber Carl Andrews (Lou Costello) is forced by jewel thief boss Favier (Jonathan Harris) to retrieve some stolen diamonds that were accidentally dropped down a hotel sink. Andrews outwits them with the help of Harris' female assistant (Joyce Jameson) and a blow torch. 

It's a so-so comedy but Costello's performance brings it up a notch and shows he probably would have succeeded as a solo performer (unfortunately, he died the next year). Lurene Tuttle (MA BARKER'S KILLER BROOD) is his wife and Olan Soule is a desk clerk. Future president Ronald Reagan is the host. 

Director Don Weis worked in TV almost his entire career doing everything from “The Jack Benny Program” and “The Andy Griffith Show” to “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “The Twilight Zone”, only occasionally stepping out to do a feature film (THE GENE KRUPA STORY, THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI). Costello's ex-partner Bud Abbott would also appear on GE Theater (but in a dramatic role) in 1961. 

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Bad Future

 

(IMDB)

THE NEW GLADIATORS-1984-In the future a global TV network creates a violent modern gladiator show to beat the rival networks (one show has a woman getting her throat cut by a pendulum). They recruit prisoners for their "contestants" plus a TV "kill star" Drake (Jared Martin) from a rival show who they frame into joining by killing his wife. The thing is put together by Cortez (Claudio Cassinelli; also in SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD). When he's told to go to hell, he says "I would if it would raise my ratings". A jerk named Raven (Howard Ross) is head of the training camp Drake is sent to. He is joined by old friend Monk (Donald O'Brien; DR. BUTCHER MD), a freaky guy with fake eyes. Other participants include Abdul (Fred William-son), Akira (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), the scourge of outer Mongolia and Kirk (Al Cliver; ZOMBIE 2), the Minnesota chainsaw murderer. A woman Sarah (Eleonora Brigliadori) tries to convince Cortez Drake is innocent. She visits Prof. Towman (Cosimo Cineieri) who invented Junior, the computer that controls everything. But before he can really help he's killed. 

This ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK/THE RUNNING MAN influenced violent nearly plot-less story was the 20^th film from director Lucio Fulci (he also co-wrote it).

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Chan On The Air

THE SCARLET CLUE-1945-This time Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is on the trail of spies who want to steal radar plans. While he and a local police Capt. Flynn (Robert Homans) find a spy they were tailing dead, it seems the murderer drove off in a stolen car belonging to radio actress Diana Hall (Helen Deveareaux) and her friend Gloria (Janet Shaw). A footprint leads Charlie to believe that the killer works at the radio station. He’s right! The manager Bret (I. Stanford Jolley) is the killer but he takes his orders from someone who communicates by a telegram machine. When Gloria tries to blackmail Bret she dies from poisoning. When Chan connects Bret to the murder the manager falls to his death from a trapdoor in an elevator! There's also a scientific contraption that simulates different types of weather. On an “experimental” TV program Jack Norton does a drunk routine but is poisoned before he can give Charlie any info. This story features a lot of science tech and talk about TV. 

THE SCARLET CLUE also features no. 3 son Tommy (Benson Fong) who messes up several times and Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) who does 2 routines with his real life vaudeville partner Ben Carter. (They also do this in DARK ALIBI). Phil Rosen was once again in the director's chair. Followed by THE SHANGHAI COBRA.

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The Secret Word Is Holdout...

THE HOLDOUT-1962-This is an interesting find! I've read about it but never saw it till recently. It's a half an hour drama, part of The General Electric Theater, hosted by Ronald Reagan.

 It's about two college students (Dennis Hooper and Brooke Hayward; married in real life at the time) who want to get married immediately and not wait for  graduation. Her mom (Dorothy Green) is all for it but dad (Groucho Marx in his only really non-comedy role) is opposed to it. Not the marriage but the timing. He believes they should wait, graduate and land jobs so they can live independently of their parents. His father (Fred Clark) disagrees which puts a strain on his friendship with Groucho, who plays it straight but delivers some funny "Groucho" type lines in a non "Groucho" way. 

Director Charles Haas was a busy TV director at the time. It was written by novelist Max Erlich.

Sea Hunt

SEA HUNT-1958-1961-I like to watch old TV shows just to see the guest stars, usually “stars” before they became famous. Sea Hunt is loaded with them. I was amazed to learn that 155 episodes were produced over a six year period. It was a popular show! 

Lloyd Bridges starred as Mike Nelson, an expert scuba diver who besides having solo adven-tures also helped out the government by being a commodore in the US naval auxiliary. He was also the only actual “regular” in the series cast although there were reoccurring characters played by Ross Elliot, Russ Conway and a few others. Oldest son Beau played the same character in two episodes. Mostly Nelson solved mysteries and fought cold war spies, hijackers and smugglers. He also found time to prevent murders and help third world countries try to acclimate themselves to their new found democracy. There are a few shows dealing with sea monsters and mermaids but in the end there was always a rational explanation. Some unusual stories involved the discovery of an underground marijuana farm, tainted fish that made people who ate them violent, the hunt for a deadly gas created by the Nazis and the training of “aquanettes”, female astronauts who one day planned to walk on Venus! 

Nelson was likable, clever and strong and the best in his business. Very little got by him. Besides thugs and spies he sometimes tangled with sharks and alligators and even an octopus. Every episode took Nelson under some type of body of water: ocean, lake, lagoon, the Everglades. One exception was the first episode with son Beau where Nelson saved his character from flooding in the sewer system! Younger son Jeff appears in one episode. 

It was a comic book too!

The show was syndicated by ZIV (Science Fiction Theater) but played in prime-time over CBS. Filmed mainly in Florida with some scenes done in The Bahamas, Ivan Tors was the executive producer and later seasons featured stunt diving by Ricou Browning (THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON). Bridges directed at least one episode himself. The show was still popular when it ended its run. Apparently syndicated shows running in prime time became less attractive to the networks. I've also read a story that the demise of the show was caused by Bridges quitting because he felt the stories were becoming too focused on land espionage than underwater intrigue. 

Some guest stars: 

Leonard Nimoy-5 times         Robert Conrad-2 times      
Maris Wrixon                         Whit Bissel
Ross Martin-2 times               Ted Knight 

Laura Lawson-3 times            Joi Lansing        
King Moody-3 times              Myron Healy

John Marley-2 times              Robert Clarke                          
Morris Ankrum                      Brett Halsey

Larry Hagman                        Mari Blanchard                          
Gregg Palmer                         John Anderson

Steve Ritch                             Peter Breck

Bruce Dern                             George Becwar

Jack Nicolson                         Joyce Meadows

Victor Buono                          Ken Curtis

Paul Birch                              Thomas Henry
Robert Montgomery             Robert Quarry        

                                               

                         

Thanks for reading! 

Final note: Mike Nelson's favorite TV show was "Dempsey of the Deep".