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Maverick: The Golden Fleecing (1961)
Big business sharks!!
I haven't seen all the episodes yet. I've always felt that the worst sharks any of the brothers faced was to be found in big business and its businessmen. James Garner is listed at the start despite making no appearances in season 5. Bart ( Jack Kelly ) is on a riverboat. He's winning at cards and romancing the daughter of a big businessman, played by Paula Raymond. Raymond turns in a good spiteful turn.
Big business always got both barrels in Maverick. Why is the series so soft on the tong? I always thought they were criminal organisations like the Mafia and the black hand.
With ten minutes left everything looks bad for Maverick and his cohorts quakers played by Olive Sturgess and Richard Qualen. In the minutes remaining Maverick and Mr Chang ( Richard Loo ) turn the game around. At the end the big businessmen , Sturgess says
"You beat me at my own game ".
Did Maverick the series believe it was a game? Is it a game when gold is available and business spreads false rumours?
Mr. & Mrs. North: The Forgotten Grave (1952)
The norths always heading for trouble.
The Norths ( Richard Denning and Barbara Britton. ) are on the road to a friends birthday. They suffer a flat tyre and call at a deserted house. They are refused entry at first but then a message is made in the misty window. Help murder!! The norths are admitted and given a tale. The lady is mad! Later Mrs North has a good girl fight with one of the two crooks.
Above average North episode. Only three names on IMDb though three are missing. The crooks and the imprisoned girl are missing from the cast list. I've been unable to find a update anywhere else.
The Norths remind me of Jessica Fletcher in Murder she wrote. Jess must be the last name on a invite list.
Marie Antoinette: Rebel Queen (2022)
Turkeys ahead!!
Very pretty dresses!! Spotless!! The libels against the queen have begun! Of the episodes I've seen so far this is the least entertaining. A general air of sluggishness permeates it!
No sign of the general public ( the subjects ). No sign of the working Parisian poor! No sign this episode. That this series know what to do with its characters! Louis XV and Du Barry and the actors playing them are missed.
The plot is wafer thin! It's basically the arrival of the famous libels and the marriage problems of Antionette and Louis XVI. First episode I've seen when it's began to look like a turkey. The series needs to get a grip soon! Hoping for better next week!!
Marie Antoinette: Queen of France (2022)
Language Timothy?????
Emilia Schule and Louis Cunningham are very good as the dauphine and dauphin. James Purefoy will be missed as. Louis XV.
The liveliest of the three episodes I have seen. Gaia Weiss. ( du Barry ) has grown on me. The script this week gave her something to do. We Saw the people in a touching scene. We saw them happy and content. One swear word was used by Louis XV . For me it does not improve the drama in costume drama. In costume drama I think it's largely unnecessary and unsound.
The series portrayal of sex scenes is troublesome. The costumes were beautiful. Maybe too pretty and spotless. It has mainly followed the record as far I can remember. I have not read about this period for some time. I am still watching!!
Marie Antoinette: Pick a Princess (2022)
Louis Cunningham brilliant as Louis XVI !!
Emilia Schule is good as Marie Antoinette. Louis Cunningham is even better as the future Louis XVI. He really looks like somebody not up to his future job.
My only quibble with this series so far is the absence of the third estate and the urban poor. We see servants but we do not seem to see characters from the third estate. A good example here is Dickens Tale of two cities ! We see the nobles! We see the problems of the urban poor.
I have one other quibble! The use of swear words! No for me in costume drama!
Madame du Barry could have easily said
"I don't give a fig"
That would have sufficed! Du Barry ( Gaia. Weiss ) is growing on me. I didn't like her in part one but I may like her! Not keen on the portrayal of sex scenes! For me NO ! All in all more entertaining than part one!
Murdoch Mysteries: D.O.A. (2022)
Tepid Murdoch
I don't mind Murdoch ( Yannick Bisson. ) and Dr Ogden (. Helene Joy. ) as a couple . They are married now and have a baby! The baby made me suspect the series jumped a shark while ago.
The episode felt to me tepid!! Saved only by Julia's outfoxing the villain! Sadly the only point of interest in the episode. The black and white looked wrong if one was thinking of forties classics like double indemnity and Casablanca. The beating up of a witness/ perp by Crabtree while Julia looked on looked wrong to me!! I suppose it was to illustrate Julia and Crabtree in extremis!!
Strange that Starsky and hutch got four seasons! Murdoch and Dr Ogden and extended family are in there 16 at the moment!!
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: And So Died Riabouchinska (1956)
Insanity plea!!
Fabian. ( Claude Rains. ) could get off with an insanity plea!! The psychological explanation for his behaviour is clearly insanity. !! Charles Bronson is good as a detective hunting a murderer! The trail leads to Fabian and his oddly named dummy. !! Claire Carleton is also in it as Fabian's wife. Her best part was probably as a female sheriff in a episode of Maverick. She's in this one mainly to drag out the inconsequential plot!
As another reviewer said it definitely drags!! If it weren't Claude Rains I wouldn't have got to the end! The episode is a terrible drag! Bronson turns in the best performance of the episode. The two characters at the beginning discover the body! Another function is to drag out a threadbare plot.
I have enjoyed episodes of this series in the past. Sky arts are presently showing series one. (. September. 2022. ). I'm finding it a mixed bag so far! Good episodes and bad alternate with alarming frequency.
Mike Hammer: Look at the Old Man Go (1958)
Angie beautiful
Bethel Leslie and Angie Dickinson!
Both play there parts well! Dickinson is beautiful! A brunette here as she was in a episode of Perry Mason.
Somehow for me the script didn't gel!! Something is missing!! It didn't come together for me!!
Mike Hammer ( Darren McGavin. ) is called into by Leslie's wife to stop an relationship between Vita Patton. ( Angie Dickinson) and Leslie's father. Do we ever see Gunther. ( Leslie's father ) ? He's talked about a lot but is completely invisible. Hammer waits outside Vita's apartment and Vita comes in laden with goods. Later we get the same scene again almost shot for shot. Looking at Dickinson it's easy to understand but it doesn't really help script wise and it doesn't help the story along at all!!
As I mentioned earlier everything is present but for me whatever rises a script and turns into more than a script is missing!! Other opinions are welcome!!
No Velda so far though I have only seen two episodes in this "run. ".
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Long Shot (1955)
Lawford scores !!
Peter Lawford is very good as a shifty gambler . Can gamblers be ever trusted? Never in Alfred Hitchcock presents!! John Williams was a underrated actor. His most high profile role probably opposite Grace Kelly in Dial M for Murder!)
I gave it a 10 !!
The twist is everything in this series!! If we haven't got a twist in this series it isn't a proper Hitchcock episode!! In this episode we know certain things ie the main character will not succeed!! Most reviewers haven't mentioned the twist!! I think they are wise! The twist is ALL in this series!! If the audience gets it at the start then the program is in trouble!!
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fanciful Frail (1966)
Pippa Scott et all !!
I gave it a 8 last time! I watched it again today! Pippa Scott is the fanciful frail of the title! She's jilted at the altar, framed for theft and then emerges as the defendant!!
People are right about this one! The acting keeps it afloat but the central premise is ridiculous!! Characters even speak out " The girls story is ridiculous ".
Why did the killer turn up at the trial? It would be safer to say no!! As I said earlier I can watch a lot of episodes again! It must be a good show!!!
Walker, Texas Ranger: Texas vs. Cahill (1997)
Rod Taylor shines.....
Sherees attorney is framed for murder. Her father played by veteran Rod Taylor will defend her! Walker (Chuck Norris. ) is in her corner so the chance of Sheree still been jailed at the end of the episode are low!!
My hopes were high but ruined by the murder been captured on videotape!! It felt lame to me!!
The pick of the fights is the girl fight in the joint!! The three would be attackers on the floor!!
As I said in the title Rod outacts everybody easily....
Maigret: The Golden Fleece (1961)
The story lost me
I didn't like this episode. The story lost me somehow!!
Other reviewers have mentioned the padding! The conclusion when Maigret and the culprit walk away is overlong!! It feels too long! They get on a barge. We get some sightseeing! A French version of the Statue of Liberty. I think we see the Eiffel Tower.
This week we are among barges etc. Maigret visits yet another cafe!! If there's a version of Maigret bingo then cafes have to be included!!
The main problem is the case is uninteresting . It felt false too!!
The Trap (1946)
First chan I've not finished watching!!
As above! First of the Chans I never got to the end of!! Sidney's Tolers last film and the last of his chans!! Dreadfully slow!!
I may finish but not tonight Josephine!!!
Have Gun - Will Travel: Penelope (1962)
Terrible!!
In my opinion terrible from beginning to end!! The action of the first ten minutes should be conveyed in much less time. The story has no action at all!! The story has even less point. Joanna Barnes and Lawrence Dobkin guest star!!
The last season and it definitely shows.
The Saint: The Pearls of Peace (1962)
Okish saint
For me this is not really the saint.... Erica Rogers is good as the only character of interest in this unsaintly episode. He's at his best battling the ungodly! Here we get a discussion of true beauty real versus surface deep!! Jess ( Erica Rogers ) is surface deep, Consuelo is true beauty!!
Stagecoach West: The Storm (1960)
Undercooked series?
I havent watched all of stagecoach west. What I have seen so far suggests to me it is a undercoo
ked series. The problems in the series are present in this episode. Beverly Garland plays a murderous bad girl. The set up is very good in this episode. The resolution is ruinous. There are many ways to end this episode. Why do they keep choosing the one that is completely lacking in dramatic potential?
Dalgliesh: Shroud for a Nightingale - Part One (2021)
Okish!! I'm still in!!
For the above reviewer the second part is tomorrow, Friday not next week.
I felt it was a bit slow though I am still watching. I was not sure Carvel could act but the cops in these shows do not need much acting!
The choices of the actresses for the nurses were interesting. They could have gone Hollyeood but they all looked right! They were good choices!
As I said I'm still watching and will catch tomorrow's as soon as I can!!
The Westerner: Brown (1960)
Plotless or close too!
Boring episode of Peckinpahs western series the westerner. Only seen two so far and definitely preferred the other one! Saloons are wrecked! Men fight each other to pulps.
Plotless or as close to plotless as you can get!!
The Detectives: The Bad Eye of Rose Rosetti (1960)
Not the best of the detectives. .
A Italian widow loses a small claims case against a local Italian business owner. Accidents happen...The widow who makes money and lives through the evil eye is a police problem..
This episode is mainly about superstition and mumbo jumbo. It could also be about policing and community policing which seems a modern term. It's not the best subject for the Detectives. Its NOT really a typical episode. Its a light relief/ comedy episode.
Special Branch: You Don't Exist (1969)
Dreadful!!
A truly dreadful episode of special branch. Predictable in all departments. Nothing here that could not be guessed by a television watcher! The tussauds sequence felt unnecessary and evidence of a poor grip on storytelling ! The acting was ok but could not save this waste of fifty minutes!
A Murderer Upstairs (2017)
Above average
Above average Lifetime mystery. As other reviewers have noted both titles give too much away. Acting wise I felt everybody was ok. The standout for me was either the mother (Josie Davis) or bad daughter ( Tiera Skovbye ).
A lot of films on channel five ( UK) teatime always end with the perp losing out in a showdown. The film employs this overused cliche.
A final scene in the youth detention centre puzzled me. Did it mean: we are NOT taking your rubbish anymore. As I said at the beginning for me still above average for this type of film.
Alcoa Theatre: The Clock Struck Twelve (1958)
Turn of fate
Tptv is showing this as turn of fate. IMDb lists it as two different shows. I've enjoyed the episodes I've seen so far until this one. Charles Boyer wanders through the night for far too long. Veteran watchers of these shows will pick the twist easily enough.
Alcoa Theatre: My Wife's Next Husband (1958)
Above average
A visit to the doctors reveals really bad news for Mr Barton. His solution insurance fraud involving a gentlemen tramp played by David Niven. The dream finale never works but it comes as close as it can to working in this short.
The Silent Witness (1954)
Scotland Yard series
One of the better episodes of the Scotland Yard series. A man confesses to killing his wife in a accident but the police keep on investigating.... Ivan Craig stars as the accused.