The Specialists: Season 2 Episode 30

Originally aired 4/30/62
Starring Lin McCarthy, Suzanne Lloyd, Ronald Howard.
Written by John Kneubuhl, based on a novel by Gordon Ash (sic).
Directed by Ted Post.

Someone wants Ray Coleman dead before he can talk to the cops. A group are on their way to see him when the car of the driver sent to get them blows up. Ray Coleman is shot and a forged suicide note is left behind. This looks like a job for Peter Duncan (McCarthy) & The Specialists.

JS: This is the way Thriller ends... not with a bang but a whimper. Well, I guess to be fair, I have to acknowledge the BANG! in the pre-credits sequence (and quite a bang it is...it knocks our hero clear across Main Street. -PE). While there are elements that make the episode visually interesting, once again the unmemorable story leaves much to be desired.

PE: Well, John, I'd disagree. This show is not a bang, it's not a whimper, it's a loud snore. Obviously the studio brass noticed there was this little show over at ABC that was quite a hit and thought, "Hmmmm, let's see... The Professionals... no... The Laborers... no... The Deliverers... no... The Specialists... that's it!" Then they had a casting call for any respected character actor (read: cheap) who looked like Robert Stack. Never mind whether the guy could act or possessed charisma.

JS: Ladies and gentlemen, Suzanne Lloyd, bathing beauty. Unfortunately, our last example of a Thriller babe is as, as with the rest of the episode, forgettable.

PE: I thought the after-dip ballet session was quite erotic. Probably some form of 1962 aerobics. Though no Liz Montgomery (or even Olive Sturgess), Lloyd's ogling material. Which makes it all the more head-scratching that she's with Ron Howard. According to the IMDB, Ron was only 8 years old at the time.

JS: I couldn't figure out why we weren't always given a clear view of Mr. Swinburne (Robert Douglas). If we never got a look at him, that would have been one thing. But considering we see him plainly in one scene and then only as a mustache with no eyes in the next, you start to wonder what the point was.

PE: So with all the nonsense going on (or not going on) in this episode, that's what was bothering you the most? It's Ted Post's way of creating Hitchcockian atmosphere. I like how all the bad guys shop at the same tailor ("Uh, yes, I'm looking for something suitably Underworld").

JS: This episode features a bomb toss, a very unique brawl and tumble (halfway) down the stairs. But I have to say my favorite scene is when Swinburne meets with Gresham (Howard) to discuss a robbery while the cops attempt to eavesdrop unsuccessfully.

PE: No, that stairway scene was the show's highlight. It brings to mind the phrase "One step up and two steps back." A perfect analogy for Thriller, actually. The puzzler for me was the "here's how you assemble a Dalek bomb." Most bad guys just get the big black acme ball with the fuse or a big duct-taped mound of dynamite with an alarm clock attached. Our chief villain crafts some goofy looking thing that shoots bullets or blows up or something (I might not have been in the room for the explanation, apologies). And because this is an intricate explosive device, he chooses to work in a dark room under one small light (and where the hell are those exotic shadows coming from?).

JS: Ted Post (Magnum Force) does a fine job with the direction of "The Specialists," providing quite a few interesting and effective shots. There was also some impressive location footage that leads me to believe it was lifted from other sources.

PE: Oh yeah, I forgot about the impressive location footage of cars parked outside of buildings. Once each season, Ted Post directed a dog on Thriller. But in a long, storied career, a mere blip. This was the man, remember, who directed the second best Planet of the Apes flick, the second best Dirty Harry, and tons of great Rawhides and Combats.

JS: Gordon Ashe (not Ash as credited) was one of the many pseudonyms of British author John Creasey. "The Specialists" was based on one of his Patrick Dawish series novels, The Crime-Haters.

PE: Couldn't we toy with history a bit and watch an Alfred Hitchcock Hour (any one of them would be better than this) so that we can go out on a positive note, John? Seriously, you and I are the only ones watching these last few episodes, right?

JS: Possibly. And while yes, this is the 67th and final episode of Thriller, I wanted to let folks know that we've still got a few more posts coming over the next few days, including a surprise guest post this afternoon, our Season 2 wrap up tomorrow, the announcement of the A Thriller A Day Award Winners (based on your votes), and our final Thriller Three-Way. So it's not quite over yet!

OUR RATING:

The Lethal Ladies: Season 2 Episode 29

Originally aired 4/16/62
Starring Howard Morris, Rosemary Murphy, Pamela Curran.
Written by Boris Sobelman, based on short stories by Joseph Payne Brennan.
Directed by Ida Lupino.

Two stories concerning the fragile and troubled relationships that men and women endure each and every day in Thrillerville. In the first, screw-up Myron Sills (Morris) thinks he's finally gotten rid of his wife, rock climber and naturalist Lavinia (Murphy), when he pushes her over a steep cliff into a deep pool. But in reality, she's harder than, well, a rock. In story #2, librarian Alice Quimby (Morris again) is passed over for a promotion in favor of Dr. Wilfred Bliss (Murphy). After enduring harassment from Bliss for far too long, Ms. Quimby gets her own little sweet revenge.

PE: I knew there would be trouble when I saw the same mountain view where the "Attractive Family" offed one of their victims. For gosh sake, isn't it time for rails on that cliff?

JS: The day they put safety rails in Thrillville, it's time to pull the plug on... Oh. I guess this is just about it. In that case, leave nature as you found it, I say.

PE: This is an interesting experiment in that director Lupino has the same lead actor and actress in two separate short dramas. We're always complaining that these damn things are padded. Here I think Lupino does a good job (for the most part) keeping our interest and adding an unexpected twist or two. As far as Howard Morris goes, it's a tale of two actors in one body. In "Murder on the Rocks," I found him to be annoying and hammy, way over the top, whereas in "Mr. Bliss," I found him to be restrained and intriguing. Sure, his character is an extreme, a nasty piece of work who revels in treating others like servants, but he keeps it on an even keel and doesn't resort to the sort of Shatner-esque emoting he displays in the first story.

JS: If the goal was just to show off the acting range of her two leads, then sure, Lupino succeeds. But I find it harder to get excited about the stories, which aren't on par with Thrillers best.

PE: Rosemary Murphy is top-notch in both her roles. A strong, almost manly (I hesitate to use that word that rhymes with "pike") woman in control of the situation who suddenly finds she may be mistaken about her loving husband and his dinner trips. When she makes her return trip from the pool (in a brilliant fade-out from Myron celebrating with a drink, believing he's murdered his wife to a close-up of the worm tied and bound, a ghoulish Lavinia hovering over him), she's more than a bit unhinged and genuinely terrifying. Miss Quimby is the other end of the scale, mousy and matronly, pushed to the limits but keeping her cool, even in the act of murder. If it wasn't for Jeanette Nolan's performance in "La Strega," Rosemary Murphy would have my vote for "Best Actress" of the second season.

JS: Again, Murphy's performance is impressive (though no "La Strega"), and yes, I was very thankful for the brevity of the first segment (nice that they cut the reel out where she come back, captures him, and tapes him up). But seriously, you're going to put this up with ""La Strega," "Markesan," and "The Weird Tailor"? And the second segment, while quite the jilted librarian's wish-fulfillment fantasy, was nothing to write home about. Did you notice that in pretty much every scene, Morris had to find something to keep himself occupied while going through his lines?

PE: I know John is upset that Lupino couldn't find a place for a skeleton in Lavinia's trophy room or Miss Quimby's library. It wouldn't have taken much, true.

JS: That's okay. It's not the first time Ida let me down.

PE: Lupino plops a big red cherry on top of a Thriller career. There's a fabulous scene in the library vault when Dr. Bliss is bouncing from wall to wall, realizing he's trapped. It's shot from above and perfectly illustrates the claustrophobia and terror the man feels. We feel.

JS: You want claustrophobia, I'll loan you The Descent. A high angle shot alone does not a best director make. Lupino has done far better than this.

PE: We've had many disagreements on this blog between you and I and the audience but I think we're all united in saying this is the worst Thriller epilogue in the series' history. It takes the Hitchcock "...but she didn't get away with it..." sigh that Hitch was saddled with to a new low in stupidity.

JS: No argument there. In past episodes, you would have docked an entire Karloff for such a mis-step. It would appear your review here is predicated on switching channels before Boris returns.

PE: "The Lethal Ladies" is based on the stories, "The Pool" and "Goodbye, Dr. Bliss" by Joseph Payne Brennan. It's a shame that the Thriller powers-that-be didn't discover Brennan's work earlier. Like Robert Bloch and August Derleth, Brennan's stories (a mixture of mystery and horror) would have made an easy transition to the small screen. Two paperback collections of Brennan's horror stories are readily available on the net: Nine Horrors and a Dream (Ballantine, 1958) and The Shapes of Midnight (Berkley, 1980), the latter with an introduction by Brennan fan Stephen King. I'd love to see someone collect Joseph Payne Brennan's scarce small press magazine, Macabre, which he edited and published for 23 issues from 1957 -1986.

OUR RATING:

The Innocent Bystanders: Season 2 Episode 28

Originally aired 4/9/62
Starring John Anderson, George Kennedy, Janet Lake.
Written by Robert Hardy Andrews.
Directed by John English.

Jacob Grant (Anderson) and John Paterson (Kennedy) have a good thing going: they've just elevated their grave robbing business to incorporate murder. Things look even brighter when Jacob's sister-in-law (Gale Robbins) and her newlywed friends (Janet Lake and Steven Terrell) need a place to stay. As Jacob says: "Nothing gives a businessman more satisfaction than the knowledge he has ample merchandise set aside in stock."

JS: As our own Larry Rapchak will be quick to point out, once each season a crime episode of Thriller was 'based on a true story'? Well, this take on Burke and Hare is no "The Poisoner," that's for sure.

PE: Was Robert Hardy Andrews a lobbyist for the AMA? Seriously, any kind of suspense this show may have built up comes to a dead halt everytime Dr. Marcus Graham (Carl Benton Reid) delivers a speech.

JS: Apparently he talked his assistant to death. It's a sad day in Thrillerville when even a gratuitous skeleton shot like this can't bring life to a scene.

PE: I very much enjoyed the well-choreographed fight scene between Paterson and Bruce. Every time Bruce ducks the big man, he runs over to his wife, Elsie, as if to tag her hand so she can jump into the ring with them.

JS: And yet she never does. For me, that scene was second only to the body snatchers union revoking Grant's membership.

PE: About the only positive I take away from this episode is the acting of John Anderson. He's frequently creepy in a John Carradine/stately gentleman way.

JS: I agree. I still can't believe he was "California Charlie" in Psycho! Whenever Anderson was onscreen, I was at least interested in paying attention to what was going on. Something about that beard/hat combination worked wonders.

PE: On the flipside, who in wardrobe thought a Christmas stocking cap (complete with snowflake tail) would be the ideal headwear for a hunchbacked murderer? And where was the long sliver of drool?

JS: You'll have to wait for Blu Ray to spot that, but I'm sure it's there...

PE: It goes without saying that George Kennedy never listed this credit on his C.V. when trying out for The Dirty Dozen, Cool Hand Luke, or Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. Had Mel Brooks not used Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein though...

JS: Is it just me, or did the young couple (Steve Terrell and Janet Lake) seem to have wandered into the wrong episode? They came across as a bit too sixties modern for this period piece. At least the presence of Lake affords us the opportunity to up the Babe quotient of this review.

PE: Frequently, I had the distinct impression Image had accidentally packaged onto disc 14 the rare, unaired episode of Marcus Welby, M. D. wherein Marcus (Robert Young) relates to Dr. Kiley (James Brolin) and Consuelo (Elena Verdugo), during a rare open air picnic of fried chicken and biscuits, the stories his grandfather told him as a bespectacled lad about his early days as a practicing doctor. In particular the moving speech at the climax when the good doctor, who's been accepting fresh corpses and keeping mum about them (thereby insuring more deliveries), is given a slap on the wrist and shown the door. As he's leaving, he faces the surviving innocent bystanders and says something along the lines of "Out of this evil comes some good (well, something like that. Clocking in at 12 minutes, it was very deep)." He then invites them all to live with him in his big lonely house and the four of them leave the courthouse arm in arm. Only thing missing is a Mort Stevens "shlop-boom."

JS: And then there were two. Any chances for redemption before we're through?

OUR RATING:

Man of Mystery: Season 2 Episode 27

Originally aired 4/2/1962
Starring Mary Tyler Moore, Jon Van Dreelen, Walter Burke.
Written by Robert Bloch, from his story.
Directed by John Newland.

Everyone who's trying to spill the beans about tycoon Joel Stone (Van Dreelen), Man of Mystery, is turning up dead. Sherry (Mary Tyler Moore), a nightclub singer and object of Stone's affection, should realize something's up when he invites her to a dinner party full of dummies. Literally.

JS: You can't go wrong when you populate a dinner table with manikins. And who wouldn't want to date a gal who was cool with that? Talk about freaky! That one scene certainly gives this the feel of a horror episode.

PE: Yeah, it's a creepy scene but it makes no sense whatsoever. Why the hell would she stay? She's intrigued? She's with a goof who dines with dummies and wont go anywhere without the little guy who'd love to look up her skirt. This is bad Bloch. The whole thing leads to a very unsatisfying and ridiculous climax and I'll tell you why in a few minutes...

JS: This episode has its share of twists and turns, and I was pleasantly surprised how it all worked out. How many episodes of Thriller have we watched where we knew exactly where the episode was going after the first reel?

PE: You mean counting this one?! I knew the horse jockey was behind the whole thing from the get go. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. I know 'cuz I figured it out!

JS: Nice to see Stone has his own Thriller Babe scrapbook. I did have to wonder if all the gals in that were residing in the where-are-they-now file. The fact that Jill (Mercedes Shirley) was still around until she met with Sherry's other would-be paramour, Lou (William Windom), would seem to indicate misfortune only falls upon the squealers.

PE: SPOILER ALERT!! So, you're buying that Windom (who's uncharacteristically awful in this), who's so in love with Mary T.M., takes the cash and shoves her out the window so that he can be the next ventriloquist dummy for Stone? I ain't buying it. Even with all his dopey Jerry Lewis mannerisms, Lou seems like a good guy and is, at the least, genuinely in lust with Sherry. To continue with the Jerry Lewis comparison, Windom is a geeky, hyper schlub until he takes his new job and suddenly (ala Lewis in The Nutty Professor) he's Buddy Love, suave and debonair.

JS: Newland does a fine job with this, and does us the added favor of staying behind the camera this time out.

PE: I can picture Newland behind the camera with his quellazaire (look it up) and his Robertson Moffat bathrobe, sighing "Cut...yes, beautiful!"

JS: While we can argue whether Mary Tyler Moore looks like a million bucks, I think we can all agree she's an easy ten grand (and she can carry a tune! Let's see Jeanette Nolan sing a torch song -PE), as Boris points out in the opening. Walter Burke also makes for a great, creepy deaf-mute (or is he? -PE).

PE: Boris makes a rare Hitchcockian after-show appearance.

JS: Somehow I knew that was going to get under your skin.

THE COMMENTARY:

JS: Another winner from Blamire and Schow. There's plenty here to learn about regular Thriller scribe Bob Bloch, and where else can you find out which cast member went on to star in ReAnimator! (And it's the last commentary in the set—that can't be good news, can it? -PE)

OUR RATING:

The Lovely Ladies of Thriller: Part Five

Welcome to the last in our continuing series of posts focusing on the lovely ladies of Thriller. We hope you enjoy this mega-post. For those who have been with us since our first installment, one of the photos was incorrectly identified as Audrey Dalton. We want to thank Tom Weaver for pointing out our error. Needless to say, the persons responsible have been appropriately chastised. We have also made it absolutely clear that no such inaccuracies will be tolerated in the future. Enjoy the gallery!

Albie Copage "Papa Benjamin"

Elizabeth Allen "The Hungry Glass" & "The Grim Reaper"

 Jeanne Bal "Papa Benjamin"

Barbara Eiler "The Cheaters"

Beverly Garland "Knock Three-One-Two"

Whitney Blake "The Fatal Impulse"

Gloria Blondell "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper"

Iris Bristol "The Prediction," "Hay-Fork and Bill-Hook" & "Trio for Terror"

Terry Burnham "Mark of the Hand" & "The Fingers of Fear"

Jean Carroll "The Storm"

Jeannie Cooper "The Big Blackout"

Hazel Court "The Terror in Teakwood"

Pamela Curran "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper," "The Prisoner in the Mirror" & "The Lethal Ladies"

The real Audrey Dalton "The Prediction," "Hay-Fork and Bill-Hook" & "The Hollow Watcher"

Danielle De Metz "Guillotine"

Fifi D'Orsay "The Grim Reaper"

Donna Douglas "The Hungry Glass"

Judith Evelyn "What Beckoning Ghost?"

Jody Fair "Late Date"

Virginia Gregg "Mr. George"

Martita Hunt "The Last of the Sommervilles"

Sondra Kerr "The Weird Tailor"

Sue Ane Langdon "Cousin Tundifer"

Cloris Leachman - "Girl With A Secret"

Doris Lloyd "Hay-Fork and Bill-Hook," "Dark Legacy" & "The Closed Cabinet" & "The Specialists"

Adele Mara "What Beckoning Ghost?"

Sarah Marshall "The Poisoner" & "God Grante That She Lye Stille"

Patricia Medina "The Devil's Ticket" & "The Premature Burial"

Diana Millay "Man in a Cage"

Mary Tyler Moore "The Fatal Impulse" & "Man of Mystery"

Ottola Nesmith "The Hungry Glass," "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" & "Pigeons From Hell"

Dorothy Neumann "Masquerade"

Jeanette Nolan "Parasite Mansion" & "La Strega"

Susan Oliver "Choose A Victim"

Luciana Paluzzi "Flowers of Evil"

Barbara Perry "A Third for Pinochle"

Erika Peters "The Prisoner in the Mirror"

Beverly Powers aka Miss Beverly Hills "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper"

Mala Powers "The Bride Who Died Twice"

Sue Randall - "Man in the Middle"

Marion Ross "The Prisoner in the Mirror"

Natalie Schaefer "The Grim Reaper"

Pippa Scott "Parasite Mansion"

 Dianne Stanley "Planet of the Apes"

K.T. Stevens "The Merriweather File" & "Kill My Love"

Joan Tetzel "The Devil's Ticket" & "An Attractive Family"

Phyllis Thaxter "The Last of the Sommervilles"

Marlo Thomas "The Ordeal of Dr. Cordell"

 

Ann Todd "Letter To A Lover"

Nancy Valentine "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper"

Beverly Washburn "Parasite Mansion"

Linda Watkins "The Cheaters," "The Terror in Teakwood" & "A Wig For Miss Devore"

Ilka Windish "Dark Legacy"

 And how could we close out the Lovely Ladies of Thriller without a few more shots of Ida Lupino?

We hope you've enjoyed these galleries!

Your Host, Boris Karloff