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I had to buy an all-region DVD player in order to watch this show on PAL discs. It was worth it. I bought the set mainly because Joanna Van Gyseghem was in it after seeing her on the Rumpole series where she played a great witchy (with a capital "B") wife to Guthrie Featherstone. Again, it was worth it. I wondered if she'd play the same role and was pleasantly surprised to see her comedic side. That, and IMO, the fact that she is elegant eye candy.

It doesn't take anyone too long to catch on to the "Bedroom Farce" approach. Once that it established, it's just a matter of sitting back and watching how the actors played the game out.

Two standouts were episodes 3 and 4 in Season 3. "Close Up" had a great, and all too short, scene where Gwen Taylor, sick of all the phony upscale posturing for a TV interview slips into a hilarious North Country accent, beginning with "By goom". "The Go Between" had me almost in tears with Philip Fox's nerdy dead-pan "Neville". His final lines were knee-slappers.

All the cast played their parts to perfection (especially Joanna). This is one of those series that I can watch every six months or so and enjoy it as if it was a Premiere.

I've just hopped, skipped and jumped through seven pages of back-to-back kudos and other favorable comments on this great movie, and can do little but add mine to the chorus. Therefore, I'd like to focus on some minutiae.

The outstanding actress, among the many, is Gloria Grahame. In my humble opinion, she LIVED the part of Ada Annie. Watch her facial expressions during "I caint say no" and "All or Nuthin' ". The woman radiates sensuality with every line.

In the version shown recently on TV (04/03/06), it appears some lines were cut from "I caint". Unless I'm hallucinating, I remember her singing the following lyrics:

"Cain't seem to say it at all - I hate to disserpoint a beau When he is payin' a call! - Fer a while I ack refined and cool, - A settin on the velveteen setee - Nen I think of thet ol' golden rule, - And do fer him what he would do fer me!"

and at that point she starts idling her hips and flashes a grin of triumph that just REEKS sensuality. Anybody else remember this?

Another subplot(?) rarely mentioned is those two young girls who have a crush on Will and show up in every dance routine. I was enchanted by that little blonde pixie and have been going nuts trying to find out who she was. I suspect she is "Jennie Workman", the first credited dancer (she had one line in "Kansas City"). If so, sadly, she has only this one movie to her credit. If anyone has info on this little charmer, please email me.

I saw this movie soon after it's release in 1955, and was floored by the brilliance of the lyrics, actors in out-of-part roles doing a fantastic job, and the innovative dance routines, including the surreal barroom scene - it IS a dream after all. Fifty years later I still get the same WOW! reaction despite viewing this movie on an almost weekly basis this past month (that darned pixie has got me hooked!).

I wish some local theaters, facing declining audiences and the "home theater" threat, would feature a weekly "Classics Night" and show films like this again. Even a 52" HDTV pales in comparison to the Big Screen impact of some of these old movies, and this one would knock the socks off not only the current generation, but old geezers like myself who remembers when GOOD movies were the norm.

This series is better than Outer Limits, which I found to be too preachy, and the later Twilight Zone which was just LAME.

Whoever cast Rollins as the Serling-like MC should get his knuckles rapped. Being from a later generation I didn't know who Rollins was and thought the guy had to be a relative of the producer - wooden as a post.

I ended up overlooking his part and concentrated on the shows, which by and large, seemed geared towards the younger (college) set.

The one episode I thought unsettling was "Bitter Harvest", but then Jack Palance could read the telephone book and scare the bejabbers out of you. Evil oozes out of his pores in this one. Check out his first performance as Walter Jack Palance in the 1950 "Panic in the Streets" and you can spot his brilliance in making villainy come so naturally.

I particularly like "The Maze", not only for the weird story, but for the wild looking buildings that I guess are on the Eugene, OR campus. The architecture is striking, and the way they were filmed, almost alien. Then, it also had my favorite whacko, Amanda Plummer.

That being said, my all time favorite is "Patterns" with Malcolm McDowell giving a bravura performance as the patient with a problem and Miguel Ferrer giving a solid believable job as the psychiatrist. I have since driven my family equally nuts by saying, in Malcolm's tone, the innocuous "Five is nice." at the darndest times.

SciFi channel, as of late 2005 runs a marathon of these every so often so I am able to gradually build up the collection, even of the so-so episodes. I suggest you do the same as these types of shows are not getting any better.

All in all, not a bad attempt at a genre that has been milked dry. It is particularly enjoyable in that to my mind, the acting by unfamiliar faces has all been credible, and as above, sometimes outstanding. I'll take it over Outer Limits or the later Twilight Zone any day.

Reporting from the Land of Area 51. This movie ticked me off. Despite the Geez-not-another-Roswell-movie, based on the subtitle "The Aliens Attack", I broke out a beer and was all set to watch BEMs (Bug Eyed Monsters) depopulate the earth. Instead there were only two dead "geys", two humanoids, little action and a trite countdown scene.

The early dialogue blew it for me when the alien craft was referred to as a "Flying Saucer" instead of "Flying Disk", which was the term in those days. Then the alien hand-held whiz-bang device - it reminded me of a miniature of a light sold in the department stores. The kind that you put in dark closets and press the lens to turn on. Not very high-tech for people who cross space destroying planetary life forms.

Buried in the lackluster script are some neat ideas that should have been expanded upon and perhaps might have saved this film. Consider these lost opportunities, which caused my disappointment:

The dead "greys" are part human and part machine, designed to run the spaceship while the "human" aliens hibernate over the long trip. The autopsy scene on the base cried out for a takeoff on that bogus "Alien Autopsy" tape but the director gave it just a glancing blow.

Eve, the other alien (Heather Hanson): "Some people hired us. They want the planet, but not the people." Interesting concept that is a departure from the "we want to colonize earth" gambit. WHO are the "some people"? A twist would have been to have "Them" send a alien version of Mr. Lefty and Mr. Fingers to track down the two live aliens to ask "What's takin' youse so long?" A chase within a chase to liven things up.

"You look just like us." Katie says upon learning her beau is an alien. "No, YOU look just like US." he replies. A great place to insert a "we are your ancestors" scene, but that concept is only mentioned as a throwaway at the end.

A couple of shots make you notice the hangar where the Bomb is located - number "84". Another blown opportunity. The number should have "18" (where alien bodies were supposed to have been kept) to tie in with current conspiracy theories.

Over all, the acting is surprisingly good, with the exception of John Deerman (Steven Flynn, who takes his alias from a farm tractor). His acting was mechanical and wooden and at first I thought that was the alien character he was playing - along the lines of "the emotionless alien discovers earthlike emotions and changes sides". Well, he changes sides al l right (Kate Greenhouse does that to you) but he was wooden to the end. Maybe he just had a bad day - he has a pretty good string of creditable parts.

The female alien (Heather Hansen) plays a stereotyped hard-hearted partner. That being said, I would STILL chance a night with her despite what happened to the salesman (David Brown, who plays a nice lecherous part). After his departure his samples provide her with the revealing dress she sports for the rest of the movie. There's a neat scene where she decides which one to wear while he evaporates in the bathroom.

The rest of the cast is very good. I don't know if it's the water or the gene pool, but Canada turns out some very fine character actors. The colonel (Sean McCann) plays a surprisinly level-headed officer - usually the military is portrayed as blithering idiots in these movies who are only saved by the clear-headed hero/heroine.

Captain Phillips (Brent Stait) is suitably nasty as the security officer. You don't want to cross this guy. Donnelly Rhodes does a first rate job as the father who fears he's going to lose everything because of his daughter's infatuation with Mr. Deerman (Dearman in the credits). I keep thinking I've seen him somewhere else, and I have. Mr. Rhodes has a filmography as long as you arm in film and TV.

I saved the best for last, and she is the reason I will watch this film again - Kate Greenhouse as Tyler's daughter, Katie. What a sweetheart! Typical girl-next-door, a part she's plays a lot, but hey, go with your strength. It will be a pleasure to see this actress play other less sugary roles but she is such a natural here. I think I am in love.

Once you suspend belief though, it's not too bad - just go with the flow. Ignore the ridiculously easy way the aliens get on base and then wander around without too much of a challenge. The Bomb is a good copy of the "Fat Man" bomb they dropped on WWII Japan, but it is placed in hangar 84 with just one locked door between it and any bad guy. It's also placed in the center of the room and sticks out like a sore thumb. It is held by a puny chain and supported on a flimsy-looking stand, which I expected to collapse and send the Bomb rolling all over the place. It DOES eventually drop and squash the delectable but hard-as-nails Eve. In some ways I hated to see her go - her role was a nice corny counterpoint which she seemed to play with relish.

If you're into ca. 1940 cars, the movie is eye candy in that respect. Whoever supplied the props did a good job - there's even an old P-51 Mustang fighter in some scenes. A nice period touch.

There are enough saving graces (and shots of Kate Greenhouse) to warrant a first and perhaps a second viewing. IMHO it rates a 2 or 2 1/2 on the scale. Not the best in this overdone genre but surely not the worst.

This is one of those `B' movies that can be seen again and again because you keep picking up on little vignettes that slid by before. I just found a copy that I had taped off the air back in the 80s - one of those midnight groaners that in this case, did not turn out to be one. I'm trying not to be a spoiler, but some unmentioned nuances need to be commented upon.

Kudos to the cast, and especially to Linda Gillen (Regina), the heroine. Right off the mark there's a poignant scene where she wants to share her good news (winning the vacation) with SOMEONE in her apartment complex, only no one is around. There's a nice long distance shot of her almost lost in the tree-in-the-forest maze of balconies shouting `Hey, everybody, I'm a winner!' You're not five minutes into the film before you LIKE the kid - cute, infectious smile and just plain NICE. She makes you want to put your arm around her.

Check out her facial expressions as Baby John (John Neilson) drives her from the airport and does a mini Dukes of Hazard chase scene with the sheriff. She gives a GREAT reaction, reflecting a scared-but-excited young girl who knows she's doing something naughty. At first I didn't pay much attention to John but when I watch reruns of this movie, I realize he does more than a creditable job of a grandma-whipped kid who has only one oar in the water. He also does a fine job of asserting a newfound independence after flashing some embarrassed Daffy Duck type grins in the spanking scene.

You also like Margaret Avery (Edwina) -- another charmer who develops a great rapport with Regina during their brief acquaintance. You feel pretty bummed when she `goes home'. Janet Wood (Pamela) does a fine job of being the `model' - pretty, ripe, and succulent. Once you discover what's going on, you can see why she went first, and I suspect some viewers would be asking for seconds. The problem is - she's stuck on herself and shows it and you really don't really feel THAT bad when she goes missing early in the film.

Since this is billed as a horror movie, you know something's going to happen to the girls at the lonely house on the beach. (The low angle shots of the Victorian home look suspiciously like the "Psycho' house at Universal Studios.) Arthur Space and Mary Jackson (the old couple) seem friendly enough - until the pig out `going home' dinner for Pamela.

That sensuous routine is backgrounded with `Pomp and Circumstance' - the old graduation music, and greatly compliments the scene. The dessert scene tipped me off -- the already stuffed girls had to make room for just a bit more. Regina licks her fingers and says `If I keep this up, I'll get as fat as a pig.' The priceless calculated and approving look Mary gives her just REEKS of menace and impending doom.

There are lots of little goodies to pick up on. Except for a few instances, the horror, and humor, is understated. In these days of buckets-of-blood movies, this one stands out for what it doesn't show. Like: The Mystery of the Freezer. Well, we all KNOW what's in there but there's only one instance later on, when Regina has her epiphany, that we actually see anything gruesome. Earlier, when Edwina is chloroformed, to the tune of a lullaby, and taken in there (`Careful Baby Joe, that's Choice Grade A'), the camera lingers on the door while you hear a knife being sharpened, some muffled noises, a chopping sound and an admiring, `Oh look at that!' You can imagine how a remake of that would be done today.

Evelyn carries a miasma of malevolence about her. There is always a hint of horror in everything this woman does, from weighing the girls (and beaming at the weight gain) to making sandwiches for an oceanside picnic. When Regina bites into one, she says, `This is delicious. What is it?' Evelyn smilingly replies, `It's filet, dear, filet.' You get the feeling she's licking every letter as she speaks. You want to yell out `RUN, Regina, RUN!' (She does later, only to run into the old couple and told, in a disapproving manner, to get in the truck. Totally demoralized by now, she does. Another great scene.)

That beach scenario has an awkward-first-time-they-kissed routine between Regina and Baby John. A nice tender scene that neatly counterpoints the horror that is always lurking in the background. Then, still at the beach, there's a routine where Baby John kills a shark. After Baby John leaves, Regina performs a touching burial of the battered remains. Why this talented young woman never became a bigger name is beyond me.

Arthur plays the somewhat befuddled kindly old Henry to a `T'. He talks lovingly to his plants but thinks nothing of butchering the girls. Near the end, when he discovers his trampled plants, he goes into a crooning soliloquy that makes you think he is talking to his dead children. At Regina's `going home' party (by now we all know what THAT leads to) everyone is ravenously attacking their large serving of meat, except Regina. From the shape, you have no doubt it is the rear deck of the recently departed Edwina. Chewing a mouthful in front of Regina, who knows SOMETHING is up, Henry muses, `We'll cure the next one.' and gets a dreamy look on his face. Regina keeps refusing to eat and does so only when she is warned one last time by Mary to `EAT, DEAR!' The intimidating words drip with evil and have that club-in-the-closet tone to it.

One last kudo for Linda. Watch her face when she runs up to the visiting sheriff (Michael Macready, the producer), who has arrived with siren howling and lights blazing. He is surrounded by the old couple and Baby Joe when she breaks in and starts babbling that `Something is going on here!' and mentions the missing girls. About then the sheriff looks at Evelyn and says `Hi grandma.' Linda's stunned look is priceless.

You might conclude that I like this unappreciated little gem. The older actors were already well established and Arthur kept making movies until the 80s (he started in the 40s). I'm still doing the `Whatever happened to' routine on the others. Linda had parts in movies and TV shows up until the 80s but I can't find out what she's doing now. Linda, if you read this, I wish you well.

Get ye a copy and watch some great entertainment. Dang! I think it's about time for yet another rerun!