biggm

IMDb member since May 2002
    Lifetime Total
    10+
    Lifetime Title
    1+
    IMDb Member
    21 years

Reviews

Cheyenne: Mustang Trail
(1956)
Episode 6, Season 2

Mustang Trail
Richard L. Bare directed some of the series best episodes, but this isn't one of them. It's not terrible in any way, but the story of a treacherous Mustang round-up meanders slowly along the studio set trail (with the help of some real outdoor stock footage).

In addition to Cheyenne, the central characters are played by Diane Brewster and Ross Elliot as a dull, disinterested couple, and veteran Western movie bad guy, Robert Wilkie, who sports a comically fake looking scruffy beard.

In order to spark some life into the script, there's some long winded comic relief about bad trail food, and a number of strained plot contrivances. There's little action until the very end.

If you're selectively choosing Cheyenne episodes to view, you can safely skip this one. You won't be missing much.

Cheyenne: The Law Man
(1956)
Episode 5, Season 2

The Law Man
In this installment, good guy for hire Cheyenne is a detective employed by a cattleman's association. His investigation into the death of a suspected cattle rustler sets off a series of violent events.

"The Law Man" had the ingredients for an above average episode, but suffers badly from the precocious, icky kid treatment. (Paul Engle is the offending little creep as "Buddy") In fact, the little s***, with the help of a sticky script, overacts badly, and it stinks up the entire story. With that said, there are solid performances from Andrea King as a sweet saloon girl and Grant Withers as sheriff turned crooked cattleman. The plot, while quite routine, allows for a good deal of shoot-em-up action.

Overall, Cheyenne, at this point in the second season, was becoming a bit more predictable. Still, the shows would open with an exciting prequel scene that would spark the action to follow. In later seasons, and with all other Warner TV escapades, the opening scene would simply be an exciting moment lifted from the body of the show. While this spoiler technique was intended to draw the audience in, it was a much lazier and formulaic production tactic than the original scene opener.

There was still a real emphasis on production quality and polish in the second season. The stylish opening and closing lithographs coupled to stirring theme music, became the memorable presentation template for Warner TV Westerns to follow.

Cheyenne: The Argonauts
(1955)
Episode 3, Season 1

Skip "The Argonauts"
The word "Argonaut" might not be on the tip of many tongues, but long time movie fans won't have to strain their brains very hard to identify the origins of this episode.

TV audiences in 1955 didn't have the ability to watch the iconic Treasure of Sierra Madre on home video from their easy chair, so instead, they had to settle for this cringe worthy Warner TV retread of their own movie property. The series producers must have counted on the audience's short memory too, as the movie was less than seven years old at the time of this broadcast.

The Warner Westerns and detective shows of the 50's notoriously recycled Warner's own big screen scripts, and it was an unabashed part of their TV show production formula. Usually though, they did a much better job of finessing and concealing the re-write than this half-baked, paint-by-numbers Cliff Notes version of a first-rate movie. Edward Andrews was a decent TV actor, but he's unintentionally comical impersonating Humphrey Bogart's memorable "Fred C. Dobbs". Rod Taylor listlessly goes through the motions in the Tim Holt role, and Clint Walker, as the affably heroic Cheyenne, is simply a foil here, and hardly a substitute for Walter Huston's amazing Treasure of Sierra Madre performance. The actors looked self-conscious and embarrassed by this assignment, and rightly so.

I'm a big fan of the Cheyenne series, particularly the first season, and the show regularly offered superior scripting and rousing entertainment. Cheyenne moseyed down the wrong trail for "The Argonauts" though, which is a particularly painful-to-watch small screen adaptation of a peerless classic.

The Dick Van Dyke Show: The Gunslinger
(1966)
Episode 31, Season 5

One of the great episodes...
...especially if you're a fan of TV Westerns from the fifties and sixties.

In this episode, Rob, under the influence of dental anesthesia, dreams he's the sheriff of an old west town.

The plot recycles the stock "high noon showdown" scenario, and each member of the cast plays a wild west archetype in a way that mirrors their character personality in the regular series.

Gunfighters, saloon floozies, heroes, cowards, code-of-the-west ethics, and the quintessential "bullet ballet" are given a good going-over thanks to sharp, clever writing, and some brilliant comic performances from the show regulars (and a fun bit from Allan Melvin, as a gun merchant).

There's no shortage of movie length Western spoofs, but few manage as many laughs in two hours as "The Gunslinger" achieves in twenty five minutes.

Now reach for your remote control, partner...and give this episode a good look-see.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: Tutti-Frutti Ice Cream
(1957)
Episode 10, Season 6

Ozzie was a stoner
I submit this episode in support of my assertion above.

To wit, Ozzie enjoys, in his own words, a "fine dinner" followed by a late night snack of cherry ice cream, served in what appears to be a family sized salad bowl. In the middle of the night, Ozzie and his pal Darby chow down a couple of burgers with all the trimmings (the condiments are visible on the kitchen counter). Before dawn, Ozzie and Darby have finally scored the holy grail of 1950's ice cream flavors, TuttiFrutti..and their cones look about as big as lampshades.

I rest my case.

Pepto Bismol missed out on a natural sponsorship opportunity here, but one unanswered question comes to mind watching this particular adventure: Why didn't Ozzie look like Fatty Arbuckle?

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: The Circus
(1960)
Episode 15, Season 8

Dull episode
On the DVD commentary track, David Nelson indicates "The Circus" was the biggest budgeted episode of the series, which seems credible given the number of extras on the Griffith Park set.

Also, the episode essentially served as a cross promotion for David's appearance in The Big Circus, which was an early Irwin Allen production, and released in 1959. David and Ricky's flying trapeze stunt work is undeniably impressive.

Still, while the show comes to a predictably upbeat climax, the overall tone of this episode is uncharacteristically maudlin and listless.

I love the show, but this is a below average Ozzie and Harriet adventure.

Treasure Hunt
(2003)

Babes,Buffoons and Coconuts
A lush deserted tropical island...a scavenger hunt for 10 million dollars and, best of all, a bevy of busty babes. What could be bad?....Leave it to Diamond Jim Wynorski.

In fairness, this one is a cut above Wynorski's typically lazy, low budget efforts. Treasure Hunt is filmed (or videotaped) in darkly "comic"semi-Mockumentary style, and the seemingly improvised script is not entirely witless. On the other hand, Jim Wynorski is no Christopher Guest, and only a few of the credit sequence out-takes are truly funny.

I wish The Blair Witch Project was never made. The surprising success gave license to a new school of motion sickness film making, which is showcased here. All too often, the camera appears to be mounted to a pendulum on a merry-go-round. It never stands still. The movie does deliver on some of the promised T&A (actually, a lot more T then A...the camera angles, such as they are, generally stay above the waist...thong bikini fans will have to settle for a meager glance or two). There is definitely some "sightseeing" potential here, but it's often like watching from a roller coaster. I got a headache in a hurry.

The concept of typically obnoxious reality show contestants (i.e. "Survivor") bumping one another off may be a lot of laughs, but you won't find too many here. I rate this a 4/10.

Glory Glory
(2002)

Great concept, decent story...but which Wild West was this?
Aging Western fans fondly remember the fantasy Wild West of their youth. The cowgirls of early TV and popcorn movie matinée's were perky and assertive. Dressed like Barbie dolls at the rodeo, those B Western cowgirls could be mighty appealing, but they were rarely given much to do. Most of the riding, roping, fighting and shooting was left up to the boys.

Hooded Angels(aka Glory Glory) finally shows cowgirls some respect. The women here actually populate the landscape outside of a saloon. Furthermore, these gals can ride, shoot and aren't afraid of a high noon showdown.

I would have enjoyed this would-be-Western a lot more though, if it didn't seem so surreal. This tale supposedly takes place in the American Old West, but there isn't an authentic ten gallon hat anywhere in sight. This doesn't look like the fun, stylized Old West of early Hollywood, or even the gritty, less romanticized frontier of more contemporary Westerns. Most of the characters have assorted global English accents that don't exactly sound "home on the range". Gary Busey, in a small role, is one of few that sounds reasonably authentic here. These gorgeous gals wear wardrobes that defy description, like the post-apocalypse types in a Mad Max movie. For a fantasy Western without any high-falutin' pretenses, flattering jeans and Western styled shirts would have been a lot easier on the eye and far more appropriate for an escapist Western.

The cinematography is OK, and Hooded Angels features some decently staged action sequences.

I hope some intrepid film makers attempt this kind of material again, but next time with more affection and understanding of the mythical American Old West.

Derailed
(2002)

Passable six-pack of an action movie
...that's best viewed in a beer induced stupor or under mind numbing medication. The impossible plot contrivances are standard issue for low grade action movies (i.e. our hero is tossed off a bullet train by the bad guys...but he's evidently wearing magnetic underwear, as he miraculously manages to hang on).

The action sequences are undermined by quick cuts,dropped frames,and split screens. (This chop chop style belongs is better suited for a Japanese Steak house).

Overall though, it's not a bad time waster that's over before it becomes too tedious. With low expectations, you might enjoy it.

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