This fifth adventure finds Tod and Buz correcting course after the dead end of the preceding episode. "The Strengthening Angels" is a compelling story that still suffers from a stumble or two. And such stumbles are more damaging when they come at the end of a show, as happened here with the credulity-defying reveal of the lawyer as the hitherto-unknown witness to the murder. Huh? That curve ball out of left field had me suspecting Silliphant wrote himself into a corner and wrote himself out with a ridiculous plot contrivance he hoped would be overlooked among the smiles and bullfighting banter of the feel-good ending. But it was as hard to overlook as a dead bull in the living room. But the otherwise engaging story and excellent acting from Pleshette, Larch, and Townes covered a multitude of missteps.
Speaking of Townes, who played the revivalist Daniel, I was delightfully surprised--more like stunned--that he was portrayed as an honest and sincere Christian man and minister of the Gospel. This episode aired on November 4, 1960--four days before JFK was elected and four months after the film ELMER GANTRY was released. In the movie and the 1927 Sinclair Lewis novel upon which it's based, tent revivalists are skewered as hypocritical crooks at best. So I was grateful for this very generous representation of a much-maligned vocation, and one played out with aplomb by Harry Townes.
The sight of Suzanne Pleshette instantly evokes Emily Hartley for me, but she fast overcame that pleasant association in my mind with her brash and brassy Lotti Montana. She proved a difficult protagonist to warm up to. I disliked her character all the way through, though I admired her performance. Only in Daniel's presence did Lotti's softer side show. She was a complex character with an unplumbed backstory that surely involved all manner of abuse and neglect. Her blithely abandoning her own daughter when she fled the revival testifies to that. I was impressed by how deftly Silliphant skirted network standards of decency when revealing Lotti was the town harlot with lines like men in their Sunday best ringing her bell on a Saturday night.
It's funny how the mind works while watching these well-crafted shows of yesteryear. I began thinking it was Sheriff Hingle who really murdered his brother and he was plotting to pin the rap on Lotti, especially in light of the elaborate gaslight number he prepared for her. So I was surprised when Lotti 'fessed up that yeah, she was guilty as charged. So often these hookers with hearts of gold are innocent patsies for the power players. Silliphant, to his credit, upends expectations and disabuses viewers of their preconceptions.
Take Sheriff Hingle, for example. He came across as a stereotypical small-town sheriff for whom absolute power corrupted absolutely. He slaps Lotti's beautiful face with his gorilla-sized mitt so you know he's rotten. But he actually turns out to be a stalwart and unflagging defender of justice, a believer in a fair fight, and no hard feelings. I liked how he took in stride Buz's obnoxious wisecracking about leaving his "shooting irons" in the car, as if Hingle were some cowpoke sheriff from a B-Western. And my esteem for Hingle soared when he came in to help patch up Buz. You could tell Hingle really admired Buz's scrappiness and dedication to principle, which matched his own.
John Larch as Hingle was a welcome face and lent the show a solid presence. A year to the day minus one from this ROUTE 66 appearance he played the placating father to Billy Mumy in the classic "It's a Good Life" episode of TWILGHT ZONE. And of course a decade later the tables turned and Larch was the guy trying to rein in a strong-willed and violence-prone police officer in DIRTY HARRY. Tom Reese as Deputy Tommy proved the adage "no good deed goes unpunished" when he got reamed for stepping in to save his boss from a continued thrashing. But vintage TV fans know he was eventually promoted to Sgt. Thomas Velie on the mid-1970's ELLERY QUEEN (another series that keeps you guessing).
Warren Stevens, four years after FORBIDDEN PLANET, had a smaller role than expected for a star of his caliber, but he made the most of what he had, especially in his thoughtful admission of running away and being haunted by guilt the past eight months. His culpability explained his defensive uneasiness when approached by Tod and Buz to take the case. But I think he saw this was God's way of bringing him resolution and redemption. I liked when he said he made up his mind to come clean when he accepted the job. I'm also noting how booze is behind a lot of the bad things that happen in this series.
Richard Crown dropping from the heavens as the surprise witness to exonerate Lotti stole the thunder from little Theresa Montana (played well by an unbilled Gina Gillespie). I also didn't see why Crown's testifying would make this his last case. Would he be disbarred for initially withholding his testimony? And can a defense attorney testify in favor of his own client? The story skates past such cracks in the ice to an abrupt but satisfying conclusion.
This was an episode especially noteworthy for its positive portrayal of Christianity and its dramatically testifying to the life-changing power of the Gospel. Thank God for those strengthening angels Tod and Buz, who were moved to turn around not just their Corvette but an unjust situation and a young woman's life.
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