The Face and the Voice

2 Audio programs featuring Conrad Veidt

2012-01-16T19:23:00.001-08:00

1. A doc on Connie put together about April 3, 1993, when the ashes of Connie and his wife Lily were laid to rest in Golders Green

2. Connie has a few lines in the radio play, Return to Berchtesgaden. He speaks at about the 3 minute mark.

An Example of the Effects of Prolonged Exposure to Musical

2012-01-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

The True Gift of Christmas

2011-12-12T18:26:00.000-08:00

A christmas on ice special i videotaped 23 years ago....

A special that chronicles a young boy's magical journey through time and legend to discover the true meaning of Christmas. This fantasy on ice features major international skating stars portraying the legends, magic, music, folklore, and Christmas traditions of England, Germany, Holland, and Russia.

Martha Gibson -Befana
Eric Hebert - Chris

Toller Cranston
Robin Cousins
Norbert Schramm
Kitty Carruthers
Peter Carruthers
Simone Grigorescu
Shelley MacLeod
John Rait
Jojo Starbuck
Ken Shelley

Charters and Caldicott pts 21-23

2011-11-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

Charters and Caldicott pts 16-20

2011-11-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

Charters and Caldicott pts 11-15

2011-11-09T09:38:00.000-08:00

Charters and Caldicott pts 6-10

2011-11-07T19:01:00.000-08:00

Charters and Caldicott starred Robin Bailey as Charters and Michael Aldridge as Caldicott, with Caroline Blakiston as Margaret Mottram.

In the US, it aired on Mystery! introduced by Vincent Price.

14 for more parts to go!

Charters and Caldicott

2011-11-06T20:36:00.001-08:00

Starring Robin Bailey and Michael Aldridge. At Youtube in 23 parts.

Here's the first 5 parts

John Sutton in The Adventures of Casanova

2011-07-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

This 1948 movie starred Arturo de Cordova as Casanova, along with Turhan Bey and John Sutton.

They changed his character - instead of a lover, he's also an Italian "Zorro" - returning to his home to fight against the invaders, in this case the villainous Comte de Brissac played by John Sutton. Sutton of course steals the films, in his all-too-few scenes.

The actor who plays Bernardo is Fritz Leiber, the father of Fritz Leiber Jr., the science fiction writer. [Leiber Jr, wrote a funny (albeit confessional) story entitled "237 Talking Statues, etc.", inspired by his difficult relationship with his father, in which Francis LeGrand II is confronted by the statues and paintings of the title, all self-portraits of his father in various roles, with which he discusses his relationship with his father.]

(Sorry it's in so many parts but my laptop was behaving very badly while I was doing this).

Simon Lack in The Apple Cart

2011-07-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

Way back in 1975, I was in England for the second time, along with my family. I was 14. They all had gone off somewhere, leaving me in the hotel room. I can't remember why...mebbe i wasn't feeling well, but while there I watched The Apple Cart, starring Nigel Davenport. And I liked it. 40 years later I remember that - I don't remember why I liked it, I just did. (Apart from the fact that Davenport was very slim and trim and commanding!)

Anyway...The Apple Cart was reminded to me last year when I did my research into Simon Lack's ouvre - he has a small part in it, at the very beginning (which I didn't and don't remember - he had no scenes with Davenport).

I never thought I'd be able to see it again, as I looked for it on DVD on Amazon and it was not there. But, just a week or so ago, I was reading ...something...about Maggie Smith in The Millionairess, and the author of the post said that The Apple Cart was an extra on the Millionairess dvd. (Ah, now I remember, I think I was searching for Maggie Smith on You Tube, and a commenter on a video mentioned it.

Anyway, I ordered the DVD, it arrived today, and below are screencaps of Simon Lack.

Screencaps of Nigel Davenport to follow. ; )

[Quality of the transfer isn't that great, so neither is quality of the photos).

Charles Simpson Actor - Found!

2011-05-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

Around October of last year I'd made a post about an actor named Charles Simpson whom I liked... I'd first heard him in a radio show called Breathing Underwater, liked him, and sought out more of his work. He'd been active in radio for quite a while, less so on TV... sort of like another fave, Simon Lack - although Lack's career did span 40 years [similar in that they each were only in supporting roles, never the star]!

Anyway, just discovered why Charles Simpson hasn't been acting in the last 8 years or so. He and another former actor formed a company called Garnett & Simpson, and they go to big corporations and train their people in communication skills. And considering how many client logos they've got, they seem to be doing pretty well.

So while I'm disappointed he's no longer acting, I'm glad to see he's still in a lucrative career and not working as a waiter somewhere, which is what out of work actors in the US do!

Simpson was also a lawyer before he became an actor, according to the bio on their website, and I thought that was pretty interesting.

(By the way, if anyone from the Garnett & Simpson website comes across this little ol' blog entry, jazz up your website! You need to add some video samples of your work - preferably with Charles Simpson doing the demonstrating. ; )

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: Polly Burton

2011-05-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

Simon Lack had a small role in the opening episode of the second season of The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway, in 1973.

I had thought that the detective was going to be The Old Man in the Corner, because Polly Burton is a reporter who always goes to a certain teashop to discuss cases with him.

But in this filmed version, Polly is an aspiring reporter who also works as the assistant for her uncle, Sir Arthur - a criminal lawyer.She also dates a police sergeant.

Sir Arthur is played by John Savident. His schtick is that he's always eating candy.
Polly Burton was played by Judy Geeson.
Her police boyfriend, Richard Frobisher, was played by Richard Beckinsale.
Among the other players, Anthony Higgins - a very young Anthony Higgins, played William Hazeldene, and Simon was Andrew Campbell.

John Savident

Christopher Timothy - very small role

Lois Baxter and Anthony Higgins.

Supposedly, Lois Baxter played Madame Lamia in Doctor Who: "The Androids of Tara," according to the IMDB, but frankly she looks different in both roles...I pride myself on being able to recognize actors but she looks totally different as Madame Lamia.

The rest of the screen caps are of Simon Lack as Andrew Campbell. He's in the first scene, as a man in the train who sees the soon-to-be-murdered woman and a man (whom we never see) talking, then at the trial he identifies Sir Arthur's client as the man...only to be revealed as totally unreliable by Sir Arthur under cross examination.

Noel Coward's Original Production of Relative Values (1952)

2011-05-01T18:24:00.001-07:00

Noel Coward's play Relative Values made its debut in 1952, with Gladys Cooper, Angela Baddeley, Richard Leech, Ralph Michael Hugh McDermott, Judy Campbell, and Simon Lack.

Simon Lack in Cone of Silence

2011-04-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

Simon Lack had a couple of scenes, for about 5 minutes worth of screen time, in Cone of Silence (aka Trouble in the Sky) (1960).

Bernard Lee plays a pilot who, at the beginning of the film, is reprimanded for bad judgement in a crash that allowed his co-pilot to die. In actual fact, the plane has design flaws, and when it's really hot (as happens in India where the film takes place) the take-off characteristics change for the plane. But Bernard Lee, who does everything by the book (and there's an actual book - a manual he checks) ends up being killed in another crash - presumably with the rest of his crew, including poor Simon Lack!) when the book gives him the wrong info for his next takeoff.

In Simon's first scene (in the creits he's just called "Navigator" but in the film he is called Taylor), he is figuring various kinds of calculations for the plane. While Bernard Lee doublechecks them, Simon gets in a wink at the co-pilot, and in the end of the scene when Lee tells him he's right, he has a nice little comic, "Thank you sir."

Then he's got a few seconds in the next scene, where everyone is in the cockpit, and he shares some new calculations with pilot Lee. Then they start their takeoff run, it's evident they're not going to be able to lift off, and they crash - but we don't see Simon's expression at this point.

Also in the film is a slim and trim, fiftyish George Sanders, and a slimmer and trimmer and fortyish Peter Cushing. An actor named Michael Craig is the star of the film, helping Bernard Lee's daughter clear his name.

I'll be uploading screencaps of those actors shortly.

Simon Lack in Cage Me A Peacock, 1948

2011-04-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

In 1948, Simon Lack co-starred in a musical called Cage Me A Peacock, based on a popular book of the time by Noel Langley.

Music: Eve Lynd
Lyrics: Adam Leslie
Book: Noel Langley
London production opened at the Strand Theatre on June 18, 1948 and ran for 337 performances

Collatinus - Ballard Berkely
Lucrece - Yolande Donlan
Mercury - Bill O'Connor
Cassandra - Linda Gray
Sextus - Simon Lack
Dionysus - Richard Littledale
Volumnia - Mai Bacon
Octavius - GEorge Bradford
Britannicus - - Simon Traherne

Simon Lack far right as Sextus. Lucre (Yoland Donlan) far left. Man gesturing towards her, Collatinus (Ballard Berkely).

Bill O'Connor as Mercury and Linda Gray as Cassandra direct Sextus and Casso in search of Lucrece. Simon lack far right.

Simon Lack as Sextus plighting his troth to Althea (Lucrece)

Sextus and Althea in fond embrace

Sextus sees his bride with Octavian

Paul Temple: The Case of the Dueling Gilberts

2011-04-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

Peter Coke starred in his first Paul Temple mystery, Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case, in 1954. FIve years later, the serial would be remade. Some actors remained the same - Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury, of course. Inspector Kingston was played both times by Duncan McIntyre, Charlie by James Beattie.

But some actors were different. Richard Williams, who played the character Lance Reynolds in the 1954 version, has taken over the role of Sir Graham Forbes (by an actor named Lester Muddit!) and Simon Lack assumes the role of Lance Reynolds.

In the video below, I compare the first two scenes (one in ep 1, one in ep2) of Lance Reynolds, as played by the two actors.

I think it's kind of fun to compare the two performances.

David Spenser shares memories of Simon Lack

2011-04-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

Check out my tribute to Simon Lack: http://volcanoseven.com/TheSimonLackAffair/

Radio (and TV!) actor David Spenser was kind enough to send me some memories of Simon Lack, whom he worked with during the 50s and 60s - not only on the Paul Temple series but on other radio shows as well:

Memories of Simon from David Spenser
"As I remember Simon, and I really liked him a lot. He was a very private person, always smartly and quietly dressed (well pressed trousers and blazer or sports coat) and so well behaved ( butter wouldn't melt etc,). We were in quite a few broadcasts together before I noticed the unmistakable twinkle in his eye when we were talking together, and from then on I looked forward to being in a cast with him. There were many times when we didn't have to say anything just the mere exchange of looks was sufficient. After one broadcast I remember going to his flat in Cork Street with one or two others: it was impeccably clean and tidy rather like a stage set; there was something about it that suited Simon's personality.

But that kind of privacy was only a part of Simon, the other was full of warmth and humour: I realised one had to earn that part of Simon, not through anything spectacular, merely to gain his trust. Somehow I did. I felt (and this was only a feeling not a knowledge) that he had been very hurt in his past either on a personal or professional level, and this had caused the careful private personality. I would never have approached Simon on any personal level. Probably if I had been older and wiser I might have been able to, but I was too young to know how to.

Simon could be quite a giggler, a quality in an actor that always appealed to me. My best memory of acting with him was in a short play that had a live transmission. He was playing the pilot of a passenger plane and I was his co-pilot. At the read-through, our performances were bright and brave. But afterwards, the author was not all that pleased because we had been too English and posh, and we were asked in front of the cast whether we could use an accent.

Simon offered up his Scottish which was more or less perfect; this was accepted; the rest of the cast waited with bated breath as they all knew how bad at accents I was; I offered up my Indian, whereupon they all fell about with laughter; it was suggested that I should be Australian. I offered to try. From that moment the pilot's cockpit was bursting with barely controlled giggles; Simon was helpless as I struggled to understand the controls with the most unconvincing Australian accent ever heard. Simon's face was bright red and he kept doubling up at the microphone as we bravely prevented the jet from crashing. I was in the same state. Apparently we were both too professional to let it show during the recording, even though the director was helpless with laughter in the box.

That was somehow the real Simon, the gentleman I always looked forward to acting with. I was deeply upset at his (to me, unexpected) death, and I still remember him with loving affection."

Tom Baker's Tribute to Elisabeth Sladen

2011-04-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

The year 2000: Tom Baker on This is Your Life. Elisabeth Sladen joking around with Tom Baker. John Leeson on the right.

Tom Baker has written of his memories of Elisabeth Sladen and you can read them at his website:
http://www.tom-baker.co.uk/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=159

He ends with:

Those sweet memories of happy days with Lis Sladen, the lovely, witty, kind and so talented Lis Sladen. I am consoled by the memories. I was there, I knew her, she was good to me and I shall always be grateful, and I shall miss her

Elisabeth Sladen dies of cancer

2011-04-19T14:04:00.001-07:00

Tom Baker has written of his memories of Elisabeth Sladen and you can read them at his website:
http://www.tom-baker.co.uk/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=159

Tom also wrote a brief tribute at his website, on the occassion of the passing of Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier):
http://www.tom-baker.co.uk/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=196

Most famous as Sarah Jame Smith - companion of the third and fourth doctor's, and later in two series of her own - K9 and Company and the Sarah Jane Smith Adventures.

I always liked Sarah...especially her performance in "Robot" and "The Brain of Morbius."

She was only 63.

Elisabeth Sladen was born on 1 February 1948 in Liverpool, England. She attended drama school for two years before joining the local repertory theatre in her home town of Liverpool. She met actor Brian Miller during her first production there and they were later married after meeting again in Manchester, three years later. Early television work included appearances on "Coronation Street" (1960), "Doomwatch" (1970), "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" (1973), "Public Eye" (1965) and "Z Cars" (1962). Between 1974 and 1976, she had a regular role on "Doctor Who" (1963) as Sarah Jane Smith, a part she has since reprised in K-9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend (1981) (TV); "Doctor Who: The Five Doctors (#20.23)" (1983); the Doctor Who radio serials The Paradise of Death (1993) & Doctor Who and the Ghosts of N-Space" (1996); the Children In Need skit Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time (1993) (TV); the spin-off video drama Downtime (1995) (V) and, most recently, in the new "Doctor Who" (2005) series.

Other work on television has included _"Stepping Stones" (1977)_, "Send in the Girls" (1978), "Take My Wife..." (1979), Gulliver in Lilliput (1982) (TV), Alice in Wonderland (1986) (TV) and "Dempsey and Makepeace" (1985). In 1980, Sladen appeared in the cinema film Silver Dream Racer (1980). Since the birth of her daughter Sadie in 1985, she has spent most of her time being a mother and housewife, but has made occasional television appearances, including in "The Bill" (1984) and "Peak Practice" (1993).

Fan reaction of her reappearance as Sarah Jane Smith on "Doctor Who" (2005) resulted in the production of a second Doctor Who spin-off just for her, "The Sarah Jane Adventures" (2007).

Website tribute for Simon Lack the Actor

2011-04-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

http://volcanoseven.com/TheSimonLackAffair/index.html

My website tribute to Simon Lack the actor is now ready. It's somewhat sparse, but I'll be adding to it periodically as time goes by.

More Simon Lack in Danger Man: The Paper Chase

2011-04-18T22:53:00.001-07:00

The same photos of Simon Lack actor I'd uploaded earlier, but cropped.

Joan Greenwood in Danger Man "The Paper Chase"

2011-04-18T22:49:00.001-07:00

She can't be more than 5 ft 2 in high heels!

Joan Greenwood

Michael Gough in Trog

2011-04-16T19:13:00.001-07:00

In 1970, Michael Gough played the villain in Trog. He's a land developer who torments Trog, then lets him out of his cage. He expects him to go on a rampage, and indeed Trog does so...but not before taking care of him.

Simon Lack Affair: Trog, with Joan Crawford, pt 1

2011-04-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

Simon Lack, born in 1915 (although some sources say 1917), was 55 years old in 1970 when he appeared in the last ten minutes of the movie Trog, which was also Joan Crawford's last film.

Why was he in this movie - playing Colonel Vickers? By all accounts this was a lousy movie (although, frankly, it was just a B-movie, and if the makeup had been a bit better - the troglodyte had a good looking face, but the rest of his body was absolutely smooth, and tanned, so it just didn't make any sense-- it might have been an adequate little thriller for the time.)

Lack made his living on the small screen, and on the radio and on stage. He had very few film roles - a starring role in the 1940 The Proud Valley with Paul Robeson - but then he spent 6 years in the Army and never had a starring role after that.

But one would assume that since he was so popular in the other genres, he would not choose to do a movie unless he either got paid a lot of money, or was a friend with someone in the crew.

In this movie, all his scenes are with Joan Crawford...so I kind of wonder if he was a friend of Joan's....

Anyway, he's looking very trim and fit here...and short.

Here's just a few pics, will add more later.

The Enemy at the Door, Episode 1, Part 1

2011-04-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

With the defeat of France, England's military leaves the Channel Islands - but its people remain, and the island is soon occupied by the Germans.

Simon Lack has a supporting role as one of the Germans. Alfred Burke is the lead German, with Simon Cadell as the one with the most stories. For the English, the lead role is played by Bernard Threlfall.

The Germans arrive and introduce themselves to the island governing body

Simon Lack as Major Freidel, and Alfred Burke as Major Richter

Simon Lack.

Simon Cadell at far right, as Hauptsturmfuhrer Reinicke .

Alfred Burke as Major Richter. American audiences will be most familiar with him as Gregorio Aunty from The Avengers in "The Girl From Aunty".

Richard Hurndall is the man on the left (John Ambrose). He appears on only 2 episodes. Known to American audiences as the First Doctor in The Five Doctors (replacing the deceased William Hartnell.) Hurndall had worked with Simon Lack on the radio serial, "Paul Temple and the Van Dyke Affair". Indeed, in the last ep of this serial, Lack's character threw Hurndall's character off a train.

Bernard Horsfall as Dr. Philip Martel. He was in "The Cybernauts" as Jepthcott, and Martin Fox in "The Fear Merchants."

Richard Hurndall

2011-04-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

Spoilers below
Paul Temple and the Van Dyke Affair

I finally heard the last episode of Paul Temple and the Van Dyke Affair.

The effeminite young man, Roger Shelley, turns out to be Van Dyke. In the previous 7 episodes, he'd used one particular voice, a kind of Agnes Moorehead-type voice, in which he pronounces the last consonant of each word in an extended way, in particular the "t"'s.

In episode 8 he dropped the effeminate accent. His voice was so different that for a second I thought a different actor had stepped in...but then as he continued talking a bit of the old Shelly voice creeped in, so I knew it was the same actor.

I wish I could see a younger Hurndall in a TV performance somewhere, but the only thing he's been in was as the First Doctor in The Five Doctors.

In this last ep, Paul Temple leaves Roger Shelley alone in a train compartment with Phillip Droste and Droste's right hand man, McCall. Shelley was responsible for the death of Droste's wife. So Droste opens up the outside door, and he and McCall throw Shelly off the train. Shelley did great fear in this ep, and as my steady readers know, I always become interested in men who do great fear...

Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case

2011-04-09T16:51:00.001-07:00

I now have both the 1954 Gilbert Case - Peter Coke's first attempt at the role of Paul Temple, and the 1959 Gilbert Case - the one with Simon Lack as Lance Reynolds, as opposed to Richard Williams in the 1954 version.

It's fun to compare the two versions - the scripts are exactly the same, so its interesting to compare the vocal performances - both of Coke and Westbury (who reprise their roles) and the other actors. Lack far outshines Williams (of course.) [Williams played Sir Graham Forbes in the Lack version.]

I'll be posting a more detailed review later.

I now have all the Temples that Lack was in - except the lost Madison case which was recreated about ten years ago with Crawford Logan as Paul Temple. Unfortunately, although this version is available, they're charging $20 or more...not sure if I want to pay that much for a recreation of a Lack performance. But I probably will. ; )

Simon Lack: Inspector Mazioli in Jason King: Toki

2011-04-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

Jason King, the episode Toki - with Felicity Kendall as Toki. King is in love with her, but she's murdered by her criminal boyfriend.

Mazioli (Lack) has only one scene, at the end. (And he's wearing the same costume he wore in his only other Jason King appearance, in the same role, but larger, "Buried in the Cold, Cold Ground").

Simon Lack: The Saint, the Organization Man

2011-04-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I shared Simon's scene one, as he enters a safehouse under guard. He has three more scenes, each with Norman Bird. (He doesn't interact with Roger Moore at all in this one.)

Simon being interrogated. They've overdone the sweat - but he isn't close to cracking, he's just under a hot lamp!

Simon turns off the lamp, opens the shades and lectures Spode on what the Chinese have done for him. His office is a palace compared to what Spode has.

Spode drives Craddock away, but the Saint sees him and runs him off the road.

Simon Lack: The Androids of Tara

2011-04-08T01:45:00.000-07:00

Simon Lack played Swordmaster Zanak in Tom Baker's Doctor Who: The Androids of Tara, which starred Peter Jeffrey as the villain.

He has no action in the role - no sword fighting.

Here's screencaps from Episode 1 and just a wee bit of Episode 2.

Episode 1

Reinhardt has been kidnapped. The Doctor must get his android working.

Simon Lack - an Obit

2011-04-04T22:48:00.000-07:00

I'd asked for info about Simon Lack on a message board called Brit Movies, and someone very kindly posted a PDF, the text of which I reproduce below.

Lots of actors lost out during World War II. They went off to war for 6 years while other actors stayed home and acted in movies and plays and kept in the public eye. The soldier-actor comes home...and if he was a "juvenile" lead, all of a sudden he's too old to play that lead...so he gets relegated to character roles.

Especially if he's 5 ft 7 or less, which I suspect is what Lack was.

The Times, Tuesday, Aug 12, 1980

Mr. Simon Lack, the actor, who died on August 6, had a steady career that began, appropriately enough for a Scot, in the Brandon-Thomas repertory companies at Edinburgh and Glasgow during the season of 1935-37. Born at Cleland on December 19, 1917, son of Alexander and Euphemia Macalpine, he was educated at Eastland Academy, Glasgow.

Reasonably, too, his first West End part, confidently managed, was also a Scot, the Glasgow financier’s son, part of a slight love interest, in Bridie’s The Last Trump (Duke of York’s, 1938). In the following year he had the brief and poignant scene of the dead airman, reappearing in his mother’s memory, in [J.B.]Priestley’s Music at Night (Westminster). Later for six years he was out of the theatre, serving with The Lancashire Fusiliers and The Buffs (and being mentioned in dispatches.)

Reappearing on the stage in 1946 [at age 29], he found an odd variety of of plays and parts: David in H.P. Templeton’s You Won’t Need the Halo (Arts), set in a London mission-hall; another David in Peter Yates’ The Assassin, a bold attempt at a verse tragedy in the grand manner (Lyric, Hammersmith); Gilbert in Jane, S. N. Behrman’s version of a story by [Somerset] Maugham (Aldwych, 1947); and Sextus in Cage Me A Peacock, a musical (Strand, 1947) set in classical Rome.

He had a long run as an amiably sympathetic young man in [Noel] Coward’s Relative Values (Savoy, 1951); and at various times played one of the undergraduates in Charley’s Aunt, and the elder son in Enid Bagnold’s The Chinese Prime Minister (Globe, 1965), besides his work out of London and in films.

He also made a number of television appearances and had been seen recently in Enemy at the Door and Telford’s Change. He had a part, too, in the new BBC television production The Borgias.

Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery

2011-04-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

I downloaded the Geneva Mystery audio from Amazon.com because it was only $11 or $12 (some of the others are available, but they cost more money than I want to pay - but I don't think BBC Radio 7 ever aired this serial - only 6 eps instead of 8.)

It's not very good - and its different from other Temple mysteries in that in the first couple of eps, scenes took place between two characters - not with Paul and his wife present. The word "bitch" is actually used to describe a character, and Simon Lack's Vince Langham calls a character a "basket" twice (obviously a version of bastard.)

In addition, Margorie Westbury must have had a cold, because in the later episodes she sounds like she has laryngitis.

Simon Lack is in this as film director Vince Langham. He does not have a very large role, though, but he does well with what he's given. In this one he gets beaten up (there's always at least one character beaten severely inevery Temple serial - usually they die. Vince survived, though.)

This is the second to last Paul Temple serial, recorded in 1965. The next, and final Paul Temple, Paul Temple and the Alex Affair, was not recorded until 1968. That's the one that gave Simon Lack his best role in the series, as the hallucinating Carl Lathom.

The Simon Lack Affair: The Saint: "The Organization Man"

2011-03-31T11:11:00.001-07:00

Simon Lack as George Craddock is brought to a Safe House, where he is to be interrogated by a Civil Servant named Spode, played by Norman Bird.

Craddock has worked for the Chinese for ten years, directing their spies in England.

Craddock is contemptuous of Spode.

Spode orders Craddock taken to his office.

Craddock isn't worried.

Whodunit in the Paul Temple radio serials

2011-03-31T02:01:00.000-07:00

This blog post will be updated on a regular basis as I list the characters of every Paul Temple serial - and their fate.

It's going to take a while, because although I tried to record every episode, more often than not I failed in that goal, for a variety of reasons. So I only have between 4 and 5 episodes of each serial, and for most of those I don't have the final ep!

So below are spoilers!
Paul Temple and the Van Dyke Affair
The murderer in the Van Dyke Affair is Roger Shelley (Richard Hurndall)
Throughout the episodes Shelley is presented as an effeminate young man who runs a Mother's Help. In Episode 8, Terry Palmer turns out to be Van Dyke's right hand man (who jumps out the window and dies) and Temple talks to Roger Shelley on the train. He says he knows who Shelley is, and Shelley pulls a knife. But before he can kill Paul Temple, Philip Droste and McCall arrive to save the day. Temple leaves the compartment, and Droste and McCall throw Shelley off the train.

Paul Temple and the Alex Affair
The murderer in the Alex Affair is Carl Lathom (Simon Lack)
The girl in brown - who really was following him - was an FBI agent, working with Wilfred Davis, the Welsh traveller who was also an FBI agent (the actor did a good Welsh accent but his American accent sucked).
Dr. Kohima apparently always knew that Carl Latom was Alex, but cooperated with him because he was in love with Mrs. Trevelyan.
Mrs. Trevelyan did Alex' bidding because he was blackmailing her.

The Simon Lack Affair: The Secret Agent: "The Paper Chase"

2011-03-28T21:15:00.001-07:00

Gordon attempts to talk to his girl friend, but...
an oily con man makes a pest of himself and makes off with Gordon's keys.

Simon Lack has a small role in the 22nd episode of the 3rd season of Secret Agent, starring Patrick McGoohan.

He plays Gordon Symonds, an English diplomat in Rome. He has takem some papers from the embassy that he wasn't supposed to, because he wanted to write his report on the papers over the weekend.

He stops on a street where his woman friend makes him come into the restaurant despite the fact that it's raining. He parks his car, goes into the restaurant, and a pickpocket steals his keys, and makes off with the briefcase from his car.

Gordon calls in his old friend, John Drake, to help.

Lack doesn't appear again until very nearly the end of the episode. Drake calls him and tells him his plan - he needs a lot of money and a go-cart (though we don't find this out until the end.)

And that's it!
Drake meets Gordon outside the restaurant

Gordon tells him his problem - he's only got 2 days to get the papers back.

Drake calls Gordon the next night, giving directions.

The Simon Lack Affair: Paul Temple

2011-03-28T00:46:00.000-07:00

The serials starring Peter Coke as Temple, and Marjorie Westbury as his wife Steve (Steve being a nickname because as a journalist she'd used this name as her pseudonym.)

1. Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case (29th March to 17th May 1954). This story was remade in 1959 with Simon Lack in on one of the principle roles, but the version for sale on CD, and the one aired on BBC Radio 7, is this version! Doubtless because this was the first time Coke had essayed the role.

2. Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery Another remake of a previous serial starring Kim Peacock as Temple. (Aired in June and July of 1955). All tapes are apparently lost. Simon Lack played Chris Boyer.

3. Paul Temple and the Lawrence Affair. (11th April to 30th May 1956). Simon Lack is in this one, as Brian Dexter.

4. Paul Temple and the Spencer Affair. (13th November 1957 to 1st January 1958). Simon Lack plays Adrian Frost.

5. Paul Temple and the Van Dyke Affair. Remake of a previous serial, in which Peter Coke played one of the villains. (1st January to 19th February 1959). Simon Lack played Philip Droste.

6. Paul Temple and the Conrad Case. (2nd March to 20th April 1959). Simon Lack isn't in it. ; (

7. Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case. A remake of the 1954 serial. One we'll apparently never hear! (22nd November 1959 to December, 1959). Simon Lack played Lance Reynolds.

8. Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery. (1st January to 19th February 1961). Simon Lack plays Superintendent Rain (police officer).

9. Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery. A remake of a previous serial. (14th October to 2nd December 1963.) Simon Lack plays Reggie Macintosh - using his real, Scottish accent.

10. Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery. (11th April to 16th May 1965) (Only 6 episodes.) Simon Lack plays Vince Langham.

11. Paul Temple and the Alex Affair. A remake of a previous serial. (26th February to 21st March 1968). Simon Lack plays Carl Lathom.

I Didn't Want Him To Be the Killer!

2011-03-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to Paul Temple and the Alex Affair. Recorded in 1968, it is broadcast on an annual basis by BBC Radio 7 (soon to lose their identity as they become Radio 4 Extra instead - so stupid.)

For 11 of these serials, from 1954 to 1968, Peter Coke (pronounced Cook) starred as Paul Temple, Marjorie Westbury starred as his wife Steve, and an actor named Simon Lack starred as Character X. He was in all but one of these serials, I think, sometimes playing the villain, sometimes the red herring, and on one occasion a police superitendent.

In Paul Temple and the Alex Affair, I had hoped he was the red herring, because I really liked his character. He plays a man who has been having hallucinations (at least, he says he's been having hallucinations) and then is being blackmailed by Alex.

Throughout his appearance, which begain in the last few minutes of episode 1 til now, midway through episode 5, he's been a sympathetic character whose been very afraid, the fear radiating out of his voice in a masterful vocal performance.

I couldn't stand it, and searched the web trying to find out who Alex (the master criminal whose name has been left at the site of two murders) was. And according to Yahoo Answers.com, it's him.

Damn I'm so pissed!

It's kind of funny...I really don't like these Paul Temple stories. They are each told in 8 episodes of 30 minutes each, and they are full of far-fetched plots, convoluted action, and people whose actions make no sense. By the eighth episode, a lot of people have died and anyone who hasn't died is a crook, involved in the crime in some way, and one of them - the "least likely suspect" is the master criminal...regardless of the fact that since they are the criminal, most of their actions for the previous seven episodes are rendered incomprehensible!

If they were books instead of radio serials I'd throw them against the wall each time they came to the end!

But I like Coke and Westbury and their rapport.

And I'm now a fan of Simon Lack - for all that he's been dead for 30 years - and will shortly be doing a website tribute to him.

Penguin Pool Murder starring Edna May Oliver

2011-02-13T11:13:00.000-08:00

It's a crime that Oliver's Hildegarde Withers movies aren't available on DVD!

Jon Pertwee in The Curious Case of Santa Claus

2011-02-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

I taped this over 20 years ago, and have now put it on YouTube in 4 parts.

Jon Pertwee plays a psychiatrist to whom James Coco as Santa Claus comes to for help. Their's is a framing story, and in between it the history of Santa Claus is enacted.

Some Clips from Comedy Break

2010-12-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

Comedy Break starred Mack Dryden, Jamie Alcroft, Kevin Pollak, Jan Hooks and Marla Frumkin

The Voice: Charles Simpson

2010-08-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Way back in 1990...20 years ago!.... an actor named Charles Simpson starred opposite actress Susannah Doyle in a 5-part, 15-minute each part radio drama, Breathing Underwater, by Bryony Lavery.

A wreck diver, Sennon Penenome,(Doyle) travels to a place called Northant at the behest of Professor Simon Murray (Simpson) to help him excavate a 16th century ship called the Elizabeth Mary. Because of the name, "Sennon", Murray doesn't realize his diver is a woman until she shows up at the boat with her gear. His first words are, "You won't do," which annoys Sennon. After a trial dive, Sennon decides she doesn't want to dive for him, and he decides he doesn't want her to dive for him. They tell each other simultaneously, which leads to a rather amusing scene.

Sennon can't get another dive job - and Murray can't get another diver. Worse, one of his academic rivals has found a ship of his own, and is excavating it (with the help of the diving Swedes, Knut and Sven Tollman, or as Sennon calls them, the root vegetables whom she taught how to dive.)

Desperate, Murray goes back to Sennon, who is still in Porthant, and asks her to dive for him. Sennon agrees.

Sennon is consumed with angst on the next dive, and indeed, subsequent dives, because her mother, a promiscuous woman (who isn't really sure who Sennon's father is) has told her that he drowned out in Porthant Bay, and Sennon suspects that it was a man called Renowndon, who's great, great, great, great grandfather died on the ship Murray wants her to hep excavate.

Finally, they both dive on the wreck, both angry with each other (there'd been a kiss, which Sennon had quickly regretted). They get separated. Murray surfaces (from 200 feet, in 10 minutes), tells the boat pilot to give him another tank, and goes back down. They finally find each other, and surface. They're all happy and kissy kissy at this point (although each thinks they have saved the other).

Sennon calls her mother and demands to know who her father really was, and is told that it isn't any of the men on the island, but some Greek sailor she met. Sennon then invites Murray out in a dinghy, and they have sex, and all is well.

So, the ending is rather corny, and the technical diving (as wreck diving is called when it is below 150 - 200 feet) is extremely suspect.

But, it was fun. And I liked Charles Simpson's portrayal of Simon Murray. Some of his exchanges with Sennon -- and Susannah Doyle's Sennon is a very "in your face" kind of girl - are great with their timing.

Now, I actually first heard this about four years or so ago, on BBC Radio 7. I did a cursory check for Charles Simpson at that time...but didn't really follow up on it. All I found was that he didn't have much of a presence on the IMDb.

After an absence of a year or so, I've started listening to it again, and redoubled my search to find more on Simpson. Finally found 2 things he's been in that my local library had. In each one, he just has a tiny role.

The screencaps below are from Touching Evil, starring Robson Green, a police drama in which Simpson plays the Coroner, Max. He's got three scenes.

I always wonder, when an actor whom I like doesn't seem to have had a big career, why that is. Of course in England, you can't really tell. He may spend most of his time acting on stage. And while American actors are covered pretty well in the IMDB, I'm not so sure British actors are. There may be more roles than the Imdb shows.

He's done a lot of radio, though...unfortunately only a couple of which are aired on BBC 7... Breathing Underwater (by Bryony Lavery) and Agatha Christie's Sad Cypress.

[Edited as of May 21, 2011. Charles Simpson hasn't been acting for the last 8 or so years because he has his own company, Garnett & Simpson, in which he and his colleagues provide communication coaching to businesspeople in the financial and legal sectors. Coo-el! http://www.garnettandsimpson.co.uk/docs/charlie.php]

Steve Ihnat a hit on Gunsmoke: My Father's Guitar

2010-08-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

I have a counter on my Steve Ihnat website, which tells me how many people visit the site and where they are from.

Usually there are only a handful every day, but today, the hits really jumped up.

I can only assume it's because these people were watching Gunsmoke today on the Western channel, saw Ihnat in the episode "My Father's Guitar" (as the villain opposite a young Beau Bridges) and wanted to know more about him. (Oh...and then he was on The Virginian today as well, in "Ned." Interesting coincidence that he'd be in two Westerns on the same day.

The site certainlly does spike whenever one of his guest-shots is on, which unfortunately is not often enough. These days that's all you ever see him in, his Westerns from Gunsmoke, and now that they're showing it, The Virginian.

I wish they'd syndicate Mannix and Mission Impossible - there was some acting! Of course they are available on DVD.

To Dream the Impossible Dream, by Brian Stokes Mitchell

2010-07-06T18:32:00.001-07:00

John Cullum sings From Molasses to Rum from 1776

2010-07-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

Begins with the lead up to the song.

and a few other favorites:

Momma, Look Sharp

Is Anybody There?

Western theme songs

2010-07-06T17:05:00.001-07:00

Branded

Have Gun Will TRavel

Johnny Yuma

The Square or the Beanpole

2010-06-18T01:10:00.000-07:00

There are two main physiques for men. Beanpole and square. I like square - for example, William Shatner (in his prime, of course!) Others like beanpole - Leonard Nimoy.

The Big Bang Theory debuted in 2007. Although I am a sf geek, I didn't want to watch it, because of the premise I had read, 4 "geeky" - i.e. highly intellgent guys, and one dumb blonde. I found that stereotyopical and kind of offensive.

Well, a couple of days ago I was doing some kind of surfing at YouTube, and for some reason one of the responses was a Big Bang Theory video. [I say "for some reason" because, to tell the truth, even though it's only been a couple of days, I can't actually remember specifically how I found the show - I'm assuming I must have found it during a YouTube search for something else.) I watched it on a whim, enjoyed it, and so started watching more of the vids, before eventually going out and buying the DVDs for the 1st and 2nd seasons.

Jim Parsons as the asexual, Asperger-syndrome possessing, egocentric theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper steals the show and is my favorite character, for all that I don't find him physically attractive in that way. (He's a tall beanpole, and losing his hair.) The shorter, more squarely bit Johnny Galecki as Dr. Leonard Hofstetter is more my cup of tea.

But it is certainly all in the eye of the beholder. Take for example the actor D.J. Qualls, who has a guest-starring role in "The Loobenfield Decay." Now, in real life the guy might be incredibly sweet, but physically, he is just not preposessing at all. He's skinner than Parsons, with pipestem arms. So much so that I looked at his outfit, the cut off sleeves, and thought to myself, my god why did the warddrobe person allow allow you to wear a shirt without looooooong sleeves?

But I check the message boards for this actor, and there's actually a woman (well, presumably it was a woman) on there who says, "I like super skinny guys. I think he's hot!"

And it just goes to show, to each his own.

Steve Ihnat Was a Nice Guy

2010-06-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

Well, after an almost three month absence from posting my thoughts on actors, I decided I should get back to posting on this blog. Unfortunately I haven't had time to do any more work on my Ihnat tribute site (http://volcanoseven.com/BriefCandle) ... I have several more videos of is work and if I ever get time to do screencaps I will, but "the real world" has been intruding for several months, and it doesn't look as if it's going to stop intruding anytime soon, and so I just don't have the time or the energy.

Anyway, had an email chat yesterday with someone - an actor - who had known Ihnat slightly.

It's been over 30 years since Steve Ihnat died, and so of course memories of him are rather dim (except in those who actually knew him very well, like his wife Sally Ihnat-Marshall or Gary Clarke, of course).

I've talked/emailed with a couple of other people who knew him only casually, and they all state categorically that he was "a nice guy." When I press them for specifics, they can never remember any (well, it's been thirty years), but they just have that general impression. Such it was with this guy yesterday.

I'm assuming that if Ihnat never said "Hi," always ignored others and wanted concessions made for him by directors, other actores, etc., i.e. "had a big head," etc., they would have been left with the impression that he was a jerk.

So he must always have been pleasant, easy-going guy whom it was nice to be around!

So obviously it's just an inference on my part, to try to deduce what the "real" Steve Ihnat was like, but it's nice to think that he was, in real life, "a nice guy."

Was Jason Alexander channeling William Shatner on Criminal Minds?

2010-03-19T22:05:00.001-07:00

I've just discovered a TV show called Criminal Minds, and have been watching it for the last few days (It's shown on several channels throoughout the day, if you get Satellite). I don't really care for it, I'm just watching it because I've seen every NCIS and Law and Order ep out there, and so wanted to watch something new while I did my writing work....

Anyway, so I'm watching Criminal Minds and it's an episode called "Masterpiece" from 2008 and it guest-stars Jason Alexander (George Costanza from Seinfeld) as the serial-killing villain, Professor Rothschild. He's still short and stout, but he's got a magnificent mane of white hair, in the Charlton Heston as Moses wig, and he speaks in a very low, calm voice. ANd frankly, he does an excellent job. Very impressive.

But in the denoument scene, I couldn't help being reminded of Star Trek, and in particular "Whom Gods Destroy". Perhaps my perception was influenced by the fact that, although I haven't really bothered to seek out Alexander in anything else he's been in except Seinfeld, I do know that he is a fan of William Shatner's and can do imitations of him, and there was one Seinfeld episode where they're talking about The Wrath of Kahn, and Costanza actually raises his face to the heavens and shouts out Kahn! as Kirk did in that movie.

So I'm watching Alexander in the big denoument scene, with his gestures and his emphasis on words, and it did seem to me that he was doing an extremely toned down version of a Shatner as Kirk impersonation.

What he was also doing was walking around and around a stationary David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), and that reminded me of the scene from Star Trek's "Whom Gods Destroy" in which Kirk is circling Garth, trying to talk some sanity into Steve Ihnat's insane starfleet captain.

So that was kind of fun.

And the Criminal Minds team saves the five kidnapped people at the end, so it had a happy ending in that regard as well...

So all in all, not a show I'll be watching much, but I might check out Jason Alexander in other dramatic roles - should he be doing any! - just to see if this channeling of Kirk is a habit...or perhaps just my imagination.

Fess Parker in Daniel Boone episode: The Perilous Journey

2010-03-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

I had wanted to upload Fess Parker's brief - but hilarious - cameo in Them! in which he plays a pilot who saw a giant ant flying in the sky. No one believes him so they put him in an insane asylum, where FBI agent James Arness comes to interview him.

Unfortunately, for reasons beyond my control, I can't do it, so I'm sharing a few clips from the one Daniel Boone episode of his that I have, Perilous Journey (because of course Steve Ihnat guest-stars as one of the villains.)

The Daniel Boone TV series is on DVD now, and although it is no longer "in print", used copies cam still be purchased.

My favorite scene. Take that, Tyler!

Richard Boone and Steve Ihnat in Kona Coast (1968)

2010-03-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

This is the final come-uppance scene for the hero (Richard Boone as Sam Moran) and the villain (Steve Ihnat as Kryder). Steve is responsible for the death of a young woman, and Moran intends to have revenge.

I know it's foolish to rail against the action of a TV show made 40 years ago (or indeed, of any TV show, since of course by definition it's on film and can't be fixed!) but I must say it's always annoying when the villain acts really stupidly, which is the only reason why they end up getting captured or killed in the end.

It happened to Steve Ihnat in The Blue Light, when he runs away from Robert Goulet even though he's got a perfectly serviceable knife, and it happens here, when instead of plunking Richard Boone with his spear gun, he tries to run away....only to be cut off by Boone and... well - you'll see.
Grr.

I love Ihnat's vocal delivery in this, somewhat reminiscent of his vocal inflections in Mannix: Endgame... but how he could let Boone sneak up on him.... silly!

FBI: The Escape

2010-03-16T22:16:00.001-07:00

With Steve Ihnat and Ann Baxter, along with that Efrem Zimbalist jr. guy

Steve Ihnat in The Highest Fall of All

2010-03-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

Steve has a supporting role in this episode of the anthology series Chrysler Theater, which starred Stuart Whitman as an actor/stuntman obsessed on performing the greatest stunt of his career. Steve plays his friend and sidekick.

Mission Impossible: Steve Ihnat in "Amnesiac"

2010-03-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

Well...part 1 of Steve Ihnat's appearances in this episode. The IMForce tries to find out where Steve has hidden a stolen substance called "trevanium." Paris (Leonard Nimoy) plays his accomplish whom Steve had shot and left for dead...who now has returned (with a new face, obviously - plastic surgery) but who can't remember anything. Anthony Zerbe plays Steve's superior who is lookng for the trevanium. The woman whom Steve is so attracted to is a member of the IMForce.

I call this Part 4....

Steve Ihnat / Garth of Izar ringtones

2010-03-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

I've been playing around with ringtones and came up with these...

Star Trek: Whom Gods Destroy
Kirk as Garth throws a tantrum
Gentlemen. Courtesy for the performer
Queen to Queen's Level Three, Captain Kirk
By the way, I assume you play chess
Queen's Level Three with music

William Powell as Philo Vance Chats with William Powell as Nick Charles

2009-12-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

There was a Sherlock Holmes movie marathon on last night, and I set my DVD-r to record it while I went to bed. Imagine my delight today when, as I watched the movies, I came across this.... I don't know if it's technically a trailer or a short or what.... for one of my favorite movies, The Thin Man, starring one of my favorite actors, William Powell.

Lois Nettleton in Bracken's World: The Nude Scene

2009-12-04T17:47:00.000-08:00

Below are 7 clips featuring Steve Ihnat and Lois Nettleton in Bracken's World: The Nude Scene. There are no nude scenes in any of the clips, I hasten to add!

I get quite a few hits on the Bracken's World page of my Steve Ihnat website tribute, from people searching specifically for Lois Nettleton. Indeed, I enjoyed her in her many performances, meself. Her most popular episodes are from the Twilight Zone, and the Golden Girls (in her early 60s but looking 40!).

Anyway, she appeared in an episode of Bracken's World with Steve Ihnat, called The Nude Scene. She plays a married actress who worries about how such a role will impact her two little children - a boy and a girl, and her husband. Meantime, Steve Ihnat plays an actor a leetle bit past his prime, who is also worried about playing a nude scene. (And just a year later, Lois would work with Steve again, except he'd be directing her from behind the camera in the movie The Honkers, which starred James Coburn. One wonders if the movie might have been more successful with a more accessible name, like Rodeo Cowboy or something! But I digress.)

This was 1970, when the nudity of women in American films wasn't as ubiquitous as it is today. (Although, interestingly, in the trailer for Madigan, which starred Richard Widmark and had Steve Ihnat as the villain, a woman's breasts are seen, briefly. And this was in the trailer! I dont' think they could do that today, although they do show a lot of disgusting things in trailers...usually from horror films. I don't think horror film trailers should be shown before PG-rated movies!)

Robert Goulet in the Blue Light

2009-11-24T21:54:00.000-08:00

In this episode, Field of Dishonor, Steve Ihnat guest-stars as a German general who has grown disenchanted with the Nazis and wishes to flee to England. (In the same series, James Frawley, who played Robert Renaldo in The Outer Limts two-parter The Inheriotrs, plays a Gestapo officer).

THe series ran for only 17 episodes.

Below are the scenes with Steve Ihnat

My recorder can't grab the first few seconds of this scene, in whch Steve Ihnat as Gerhart knocks Robert Goulet over the little fence thingie. But it is soooo annoying. Goulet is on the ground, giving Steve plenty of time to grab up his gun. But no. He runs! This also despite the fact that, later on in the scene, it is revealed that he also has a knife! The fight scene at the very end is very shadowy....at this point Ihnat has a bad back and I don't think he does his own stunts anymore, which may be why things are arranged so that the fight takes place in shadow (thus allowing for a stuntman).

The Scarlet Pimpernel in Japanese - who knew?

2009-11-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

Above is a link to Amazon to purchase the 1991 Concept Cast of the Scarlet Pimpernel Musical.

Below, a scene from an all-female Japanese troop of actors performing The Scarlet Pimpernel musical, in Japanese. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue

Here is "Into the Fire"

(I've never seen the musical version, but I've got the "concept CD" that has Peebo Bryson, Chuck Wagner, and Linda Eder.)

The BEST Scarlet Pimpernel - Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour, and Ian McKellen:

And to hear Linda Eder perform The Man of La Mancha:

Here Come The Brides: Absalom

2009-11-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

The first season of Here Comes the Brides has been released on DVD, the second season has not. Thanks to a kind friend, I have a copy of "Absalom", from the second season, which starred Mitch Vogel as an ostensibly deaf/mute boy, whose insane father "leaves him" to Jason Bolt. Steve Ihnat plays the boy's uncle, who blames the boy for driving his brother insane.

Below are most of Steve's appearances in the episode. (There are two very brief scenes of a shaggy haired and bearded Steve playing Oliver Tray's insane brother, but they'e too brief to bother with).

The Bolt brothers enter their home to find lawyer Oliver Tray waiting for them:

Jeremy Bolt (Bobby Sherman) tries to persuade Oliver Tray that Absalom is intelligent and can be taught sign language.

Jason Bolt tries to plea Absalom's case, but Oliver Tray is adamant. Absalom must go into an asyslum.

Steve Ihnat in Felony Squad

2009-11-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

Steve Ihnat plays Vic Durant. He had been the protege of Mr. Majeski, a hood who has fled the country, but has now returned to testify against Durant who has taken over his businesses.

Howard Duff as Sgy Sam Stone and Dennis Cole as Detective Jimm Briggs ask him questions. (Cole doesn't say anything in this scene.)

Below is the scene where Vic Durant, who has a gun, does not wait at the front of the greenhouse to pick off the two men hunting him as they come through the doors. No, he runs to the back of the greenhouse and allows them to get him in a pincer movement. Steve/Cic's expression as he realizes he's about to die is very affecting... then there's fights between the detectives and the villains, then Dennis Cole and Howard Duff get a brief moment of bandinage, and fade out...

Dennis Cole in Felony Squad

2009-11-17T18:05:00.000-08:00

Dennis Cole passed away today. The only TV show of his of which I have a copy is The Felony Squad: "Target" which guest-starred Steve Ihnat. Unfortunately the quality of my source copy isn't that great, but thought I'd share som screencaps from it.

Only a few today, I'll upload the rest tomorrow.

Cole plays second lead to Howard Duff (at one point married to Ida Lupino, and radio's Sam Spade). Ihnat plays Vic Durant, a mobster who grows orchids, and who has taken over the business of Mr. Majeski, a mobster who fled to Cuba but who has now returned to the States to testify against Durant. In the beginning, someone tries to kill him, but no one is injured. The woman, his wife, is played by Angelique Pettyjohn, whom Star Trek fans may remember as the silver-bikini clad fighter in Gamesters of Triskelion.

Uploading a video is so much quicker!

Darren McGavin's Mike Hammer, and other stuff

2009-11-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

Steve Ihnat fans are in for a treat, as a few of his scenes from a variety of TV shows have been uploaded to YouTube.

I've been a fan of Darren McGavin since seeing him in Kolchak, Nightstalker, over 30 years ago. He was the original Mike Hammer.

Here's a scene from Mike Hammer in which a very young Steve Ihnat, in one of his very first roles, tries to intimidate Hammer.

Then there's the case of Dr. Kildare, starring Richard Chamberlain. Another series very popular at one time, that is not out on commercial DVD.

Here's two scenes that feature Steve:

What's Going on With the Inheritors?

2009-10-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

I have a counter on my Steve Ihnat Tribute Site (Brief Candle) which not only tells me that someone has visited, but also where they are from, what kind of browser they use, and how they found the site.

99% of my visitors find the site from the link on Steve's wikipedia page, but today, I've gotten three times as many visitors as normal...and they all come to the site after having done a search on The Outer Limits The Inheritors.

And being a curious soul, I wonder why. I checked the IMDB and the episode isn't being shown anywhere (which is a pity. Much as I love the Twilight Zone marathons on the SciFi channel, I wish they'd show The Outer Limits once in a while!) but it's too much of a coincidence to think of dozens of people throughout the US just choosing today to look up The Inheritors. Perhaps it's being screened on some country-wide online film class, or something.

Anyway, in one way it's a pity. I had interviewd Steve's widow, Sally Ihnat-Marshall, a couple of weeks ago, and haven't had time to upload it yet. But one of the things she told me was that Steve had ad-libbed the entire final speech he makes to Ballard, when Ballard (Robert Duvall) is trying to get the mind-controlled men to fight back and release the children that they are taking away in the space ship. And it's that speech that many fans of this episode say has them sitting there with tears on their faces...

That would have been a nice little paragraph to share on my website's Inheritor's page, but I just haven't done it yet!

Best performance of Julius Caesar EVER

2009-10-24T09:26:00.001-07:00

Okay, I exaggerate a little bit. But theater majors will get a kick out of this.

Eric Morecambe as Marc Anthony. Ernie Wise as the body of Julius Ceasar.

Morecambe & Wise and Peter Cushing

2009-10-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Morecambe & Wise were the most popular comedy duo in England for some time. Peter Cushing, star of many a Hammer film, including The Hound of the Baskervilles as Sherlock Holmes, and of course Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars.

In 1969, Peter Cushing guest-starred on the show, in a sketch about King Arthur. Every year for the next 10 or so years, he would show up periodically on the show, asking for his money.

His first appearance, July 1969:

More reapperances, trying to get paid:

2nd appearance in the year, Sept 1969:

1970 Christmas Special

1978 - moved from BBC to different Network

1980 Christmas special:

Who Goes There?

2009-10-14T17:00:00.001-07:00

I've written a few pieces of fan ficton regarding the "Whom Gods Destroy" episode of Star Trek, which of course starred one of my favorite actors, Steve Ihnat.

They are downloadable as free PDFs here: http://volcanoseven.com/BriefCandle/StarTrek/Garthfanfiction.html

There's a prologue to the episode, called "The Madness of Garth of Izar" which attempts to explain why Garth's madness took the form it took, and then there's Who Goes There? which is a complete re-envisioning of the episode, as it should have been!

To explain some of the in-jokes:

1. The title refers to the John Campbell sci-fi story, Who Goes There?, which in turn was the basis of The Thing From Another World, the great 1950s movie, and The Thing, a 1990s remake with Kurt Russell. In the short story, the alien is able to appear as anybody he wants (or can possess anyone he wants, I forget now, as it has been a long time I'since I've read it, I confess.)

2. All of the male characters - who are not actual Star Trek characters - possess names of characters that Steve Ihnat played during his career. I'd originally intended for Who Goes There? to be much longer, and to take place entirely with the cast of the Enterprise, but for various reasons I changed my mind, so only half of Steve's character names are used...

3. Gus Keller, Garth's ultimate persona, is of course from Mannix: End Game. I echo a few of Gus's lines in the story...as well as a couple of Lt. Minns' lines...

So, I hope you enjoy.

Captain Kirk climbs a mountain

2009-10-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

This must have been a TV doc on William Shatner and rock climbing... from 20 years or so ago... he looks very young and fit.

The original poster doesn't explain where it's from, but it's been edited, as you can see.

Still fun to watch.

Steve Ihnat in The Young Rebels

2009-10-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

You've just got to laugh. Two days or so after I complete The Ultimate Steve Ihnat TV and Movie appearance video, I find screencaps of Steve in The Young Rebels. Playing the villain, of course.

Irritatingly, the person who has these episodes on VHS or DVD or whatever, doesn't appear to want to make them available to fans...(at least, he/she has posted a message on their fan site saying, no, I don't have any videos...well, where'd the screencaps come from, then???

Martin Landau as Rollin Hand

2009-10-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

I loved Martin Landau on Mission: Impossible, especially with his wife Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter... (MI was never quite the same when they left...)

Here's a tribute (done by someone else!) of Landau as Rollin Hand:

The Ultimate Ihnat Video Tribute

2009-10-05T16:45:00.001-07:00

This video features a screencap of every TV ep and movie that Steve Ihnat ever appeared in (where the screencaps were available. Unfortunately some of his stuff is not released on either VHS or DVD.)

There's music to this video - Apres Midi and Forever Autumn by Justin Hayward. If you don't hear the soundtrack please let me know!

Steve Ihnat's Epic Fights and Confrontation Scenes

2009-10-03T17:03:00.001-07:00

Set to the music of Carmina Burana's O Fortuna:

If you'll forgive a rant...the first version of the above video had the action timed precisely to the music. Precisely. Chanting for the confrontation scenes, music for the fights. And it was soooo good. But for reasons which I now know - too late to do me any good - I couldn't convert that version to a movie file.

So, there's this version, and the timing of the music really falls down at the end of the video, so much so that the "effect" I was going for throughout will be pretty much lost.

Having said that...it's still fun to see Steve mix it up with his fellow actors!

1. Mannix, Endgame. Steve as Gus Keller has placed a bomb in Joe's walkie talkie. Unfortunately for Gus, Joe realizes this and gets rid of it...in the one place Gus hadn't expected.

2. Andy Warshaw in Hour of the Gun, opposite James Garner as Wyatt Earp. Steve acts as lookout when Earp's brother is killed, so Earp guns him down.

3. In The Chase, Steve has the role of Archie, a guy who, along with Richard Bradford, had beaten up Marlon Brando earlier in the film. In this scene, Brando gets his own back.

4. In Daniel Boone, Steve as Sheriff Tyler has come to take Rebecca Boone into custody, in order to force her husband Daniel to do what his employer bids. Rebecca has a gun, but Steve doesn't believe she'll have the guts to shoot him. She does.

5. Another little bit of Mannix, Endgame, with Joe and Gus fighting.

6. Star Trek. Steve plays the insane Garth of Izar. William Shatner as Captain Kirk tries to remind him of who he used to be. He seems to be getting through, but then Garth's insanity reasserts itself.

7. 77 Sunset Strip. Steve is a flunky who gets whammed in the head with a frying pan by actress Virginian Gregg. He has a fight at the end with Efrem Zimbalisst.

8. Honey West. Anne Francis as Honey West, John Ericson as Sam Bolt.

Anthony Zerbe in Kung Fu

2009-10-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up, in the late 1960s and through the 70s and early 80s, the Western was king. Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, etc. I never cared for Westerns, so only watched them when one of my favorite actors was guest-starring, as for example Steve Ihnat or Anthony Zerbe.

The exception to the rule was Kung Fu. I was never a big David Carradine fan, but I liked the kung fu fights!

One of my favorite episodes was in the third season, The Predators, starring Cal Bellini as Apache Hoskay, and Anthony Zerbe as Rafe, a scalp-hunter, and also a man who knows that Kwai-Chang did not kill a sheriff in a certain town. Caine tries to bring Rafe back to the town to testify to who really killed the sheriff, while his men chase them, and the wounded Apache, Hoskay.

In the end, Rafe witnesses the humanity of Hoskay, and of Caine, and is changed for the better.

Click on photos to see larger verions.

Warren Stevens in TZ's Dead Man Shoes

2009-10-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

There's a bit of a mini-Twilight Zone marathon going on at the Sci Fi channel (that was), and an episode that just ended is Dead Man's Shoes, which starred Warren Stevens.

A gangster has been killed by his partner, and his body dumped in an alley. A bum, played by Warren Stevens, comes across the body and makes off with his "Size 9, black and grey loafers, made in the old country."

Once the timid and meek bum puts on the shoes, he becomes possessed by the gangster, and his demeanor changes completely. Then, a bit later on in the episode, when he takes the shoes off briefly and is de-possessed, his demeanor changes again.

That's what I like about this episode. We get a chance to see Warren Steven's acting ability, playing two disparate characters.

In searching the web for a photo of Stevens to illustrate this article, I came across the Lex Barker website. http://www.lex-barker.com/. (Barker and Stevens co-starred in three movies.)

Barker, who played Tarzan and who had a great body which he kept in shape, died of a heart attack at the age of 54. 54! Well, it's better than 37, but it just goes to show... doesn't matter how fit you are, if you've got a weak heart...

Sneak preview: Interview with Gary Clarke

2009-10-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

Actor Gary Clarke, who co-starred on Mike Shayne and on The Virginian, was best friends with Steve Ihnat for many years.

Gary gave us an interview about Steve for Brief Candle. The first part of the interview is ready for viewing. (The second part is still being transcribed.)

However, lots of fun stuff here:

http://volcanoseven.com/BriefCandle/GaryClarke.html

Includes brief clips of Steve dancing in Dragstrip Riot, and menacing Clarke and Jeanine Riley in Strike Me Deadly. There's also an amusing clip of Gary Clarke trying to figure out a puzzle with three glasses, in the opening of Steve's first Virginian episode, "The Fatal Journey."

(Apologies for the unsynched audio in the clip. But you still get the gist.)

The Last of the Original I Dream of Jeannie?

2009-10-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

I visited Steve Ihnat's IMDB webpage today, to check out the TV schedule for him that they have. (As for every actor.) His Gunsmoke episode, Exodus 21:22 will be airing on Friday, October 2, 2009, by the way.

Anyway, I noticed that of the 7 videos you used to be able to watch there, the I Dream of Jeannie episode was missing. (My Master the Rainmaker, in which Steve plays the meek and shy Sgt Ben Roberts, opposite Barbara Eden as Jeannie and Larry Hagman as Major Anthony Nelson.) So I went to the IMDB page for I Dream of Jeannie. You used to be able to watch all of those episodes...but now they are all gone.

And I'm wondering...they're remaking I Dream of Jeannie as a movie to be released in 2010, so did the producers decide to forbid the free viewing of all old episodes of the TV show, prepatory to releasing them on DVD or something?

In that regard, it's interesting, as you can watch every episode of Star Trek from the IMDB site (although the original versions, not the remastered, special effects added ones.) [And what's sad about that is, in the first season theme music, a vocalist named Loulie Jean Norman sang the melody line (not words, just the melody), but the episodes on DVD today don't have her vocal for some reason!Perhaps whoever owns the rights to the TV shows doesn't want to pay Norman's heirs the copyright due her each time that theme music plays, which is a damn shame.

However, you can hear it at YouTube:

Ayn Rand on YouTube

2009-09-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

I have been a fan of Ayn Rand's for decades. While I don't believe in all of her philosophy of Objectivism, I do believe in a great deal of it. Which is why I was delighted to hear that Steve Ihnat was apparently an Objectivist too...or at least, a favorite of Ayn Rand's. According to Sally Ihnat-Marshall, Steve's widow, Ayn Rand wanted Steve to direct a movie version of Atlas Shrugged.

(I interviewed Sally just a couple of days ago, and as soon as its transcribed I'll upload it to Brief Candle, my tribute to Steve Ihnat.

I just checked YouTube, and there are a lot of videos there featuring Rand.

Here's one, where she was interviewed by Mike Wallace in 1959. An interview of her with Phil Donahue is also there, and more.

Mama Cass Sings Your Own Kind of Music

2009-09-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

Note please she's talking about *music* - not rap which is just hatred set to music!

Clips from Mannix Endgame and Star Trek Whom Gods Destroy

2009-09-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

I now have the technology to record film clips! Yay. Starting with Steve Ihnat, of course, but I'll shortly segue into other actors and other favorite scenes.

Alas, one thing my loyal readers won't see, at least any time soon, is my Steve Ihnat: Epic Fights and Confrontation Scenes. It's there, on my computer, a mixture of video and frame-by-frame clips, of some of Steve Ihnat's fights and confrontation scenes. I ha to do some of it frame-by-frame, because I wanted to coordinate the action precisely with the music I'd chosen, which was an extended version of O Fortuna (the music from Excalibur.)

And it's great. The music is synched beautifully...but for some reason my software won't save the file as a movie! I threw a couple of tantrums like Garth/Kirk in Whom Gods Destroy, but it did no good. I suspect it's because I've got too much frame-by-frame stuff, it does seem to give Windows Movie Maker fits to have too much of it.

So, I've given up on that for now and will just work with clips. Which will probably be better, anyway, as newbies to star actors will get more out of actually being able to hear dialog, then just seeing the face but not being able to hear the voice.

Moon Over the Plain At YouTube

2009-09-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

Someone wrote and sang an original song called Moon Over the Plain, and set it to various clips of Steve Ihnat, and other actors, such as Robert Duvall from The Outer Limits The Inheritors.

Guns and how to hold them

2009-09-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

I've been watching a show called Numbers, which features Enrico Colosanto holding a gun on a federal agent. And he's got his arms extended as far out as they'll go, and he's holding the gun at the end of his arms. And if the guy he's holding hadn't been suffering from a gun wound, I'm sure he could have reached out and grabbed that gun away.

Whenever you watch cop shows these days...that's the way they always hold their guns. I suppose to be cool. (Although the "in" thing, the "cool" thing these days is to hold the gun sideways...I've always thought that looked pretty stupid and must play hell with aiming...) And every time I watch these guys going around corners with their arms stretched out and their hands pointing down, I'm thinking, anyone could be waiting around the corner to grab that gun right out of their hands...

Contrast that with the way Steve Ihnat was holding his gun on Mannix in Endgame. At all times he's holding the gun close to his body, so there's no way Mannix can reach out and grab it from him. (The only time Mannix does get the drop on Steve's character, it's because Steve lets him, as part of his diabolical plan to blow up Mannix and Art Malcolm.)

But fashions change... similarly, I remember way back 20 years ago, the "in" thing with sword fights was to have one of the two duelists grab up his sword by the pointy end and swing the guard at his opponent. Stupid, stupid! But some famous fight choreographer had done it, and for a while htere, any movie that had any kind of a fencing scene would do it too...

Here he's holding the gun straight out from his body...but Mannix is 20 yards away!

What to do when chased by 2 cold-hearted killers

2009-09-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Cornered, and about to die. (Click picture for larger version.)

Let us assume, for a minnit, that you are a cold-hearted killer, with a gun, and you're being chased by two cold-hearted killers, with guns.

And let us assume you run into a building, as for example a green house.

Here's what you do. You stop immediately, step to one side of the door, and hunker down on your knees so that anyone running in through the door - as for example your pursuers, will look around at eye level and not see you.

And then...you just shoot them. Bang for the lead guy, bang for his associate. From three feet away, you can't miss.

What you do not do is run to the other end of the building, and crouch down in the middle of the back hallway, so that your two pursuers can come at you in a pincer movement, trap you between them, and then shoot you down.

That's what happened to Steve Ihnat in the Felony Squad episode Target. Felony Squad ran from 1966 to 1969, and starred Howard Duff as Det. Sgt. Sam Stone and Dennis Cole as Det. Jim Briggs.

In Steve's episode, Target (Season 1, episode 24, aired Feb 20, 1967) Will Kuluva plays a mobster coming back to town to testify against the man (Steve as Vic Durant) who took over his operation. Harry Majeski's pretty young wife is played by Angelique Pettyjohn, whom Star Trek fans might recognize as the tall blonde fighter who takes on Captain Kirk in "Gamesters of Triskelion".

It's all a ploy, though. Instead of testifying against him, Majeski wants to kill Durant...and because Durant did not follow the excellent advice given at the top of this post, he succeeds.

A few Steve Ihnat screencaps

2009-09-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

Just because it's so much quicker to upload them here...

Click on photo for full-size pic

Highway Patrol which starred Broderick Crawford. One of Steve's very first roles.

77 Sunset Strip.Kidnapper's muscle man. Virginia Gregg whacks him in the head with a frying pan

Jewel thief in Hawaiian Eye. Too bad one of his cohorts is dumb, ruins the whole plan...

A teacher in Channing, trying to force out Albert Paulson (who seems to be modeled on Einstein).

Chrysler Theater, Longest Fall of All. Supportive friend to Steve Whitman's character, an actor going through a crise d'nerfs.

Steve Ihnat and the Smirk

2009-09-20T21:43:00.001-07:00

It's interesting to watch an actor in a series of shows and try to decide what "business" he does, that he does for that particular character, and what "business" he does because it's his own mannerisms. It's also fun to try to figure out what his real accent is, and what he puts on for any particular character.

I'll be sharing a few of Steve's mannerisms in days to come, but here is, for lack of a better word, "the smirk."

Click on photo to see larger version.

Left - Steve's normal smile. Middle, his smirk. Right, smirk as Keller in Mannix.

I'm actually not sure if it's a smirk, but he does something to his lips that makes it more than a smile!

Steve Ihnat Marathon

2009-09-20T09:02:00.001-07:00

Thanks to a kind friend (and you know who you are ; ) ) I now have over thirty Steve Ihnat episodes that I'd never seen before, ranging from his early stuff in Highway Patrol (in which he looks very very young...well, he was young!) to later, 1970s stuff.

And it's been a lot of fun to watch them over the course of a few days.

Steve does an excellent job in Mannix: "End Game" as Gus Keller. Branded as a stoolie in a Korean POW camp 14 years ago, the rest of his squad, led by Mannix, breaks out and leaves him behind. If that isn't bad enough, when he's liberated from Chang Jou, he's then sent to Leavenworth for life. However, he's released - apparently for good behavior - and goes gunning after the men who left him behind, until finally only Joe and Art Malcom (Joe's cop friend) are left. Gus kidnaps Art and hides him in an abandoned building which he's got booby-trapped full of explosives. Joe goes in to try to rescue Art....but Keller has had 14 years to plot out his revenge...

In Blue Light, Steve plays a German officer who has disowned the Nazis and wants to escape to the West. His German accent is spot on here. (I can't claim to be an expert on accents, but having lived in Germany for three months, I know a "real" German accent when I hear one.)

Indeed, it's always fun to listen to Steve and his accents, from generic southern to Alabaman to German to generic Eastern bloc foreigner (during his Mission Impossible stints)

Mannix is a great TV series, pick 'em up to Steve's episodes, and stick around to watch the rest of these great episodes.

(Steve in Huntdown) episode 7

(Steve in Endgame) episode 19

Steve doesn't appear again until Season 5 of Mannix (1972), which has yet to be released, however, go ahead and pick up Season 3, too:

Recommended blog: The Night Editor

2009-09-11T10:46:00.001-07:00

This is a fun little blog. (Little in the sense that the author's posts are rather brief. But clever.)

Here's a link to his entry on Raymond Burr.

http://thenighteditor.blogspot.com/2009/06/mug-shots-4-raymond-burr-aka-mastermind.html

He had a palpable intelligence that sent one message: It is your great misfortune that I am smarter than you.

Take that, Hamilton Burger!

Alex Dreier vs Steve Ihnat? No contest!

2009-09-10T14:50:00.001-07:00

Just got through watching -- in a sense -- Sweet Sweet Rachel starring Stephanie Powers as Rachel Stanton, Alex Dreier as Dr. Lucas Darrow, the lead of the show, and Steve Ihnat as Dr. Simon Tyler, in a minor supporting role.

I say I was watching it in a sense because, since I don't like horror shows, I didn't have the sound on while it was transpiring, so I'm not really sure what the heck was happening.

But what I do know is Steve Ihnat should have been the star and Alex Dreier the second banana, and one wonders why that wasn't the case. Steve, at age 36 or so, looks older than his years, but he was still younger, more mobile and more virile looking than Alex Dreier, who was tall, looked heavier than Raymond Burr ever did, and moved with a limp. And he certainly didn't seem to have the "presence" that Burr had. (On the other hand, in doing further research, it seems he was a very admirable man. Spoke up against racism and lost his job as a correspondent as a result, if this article is to be believed. [No sources are cited.] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Dreier

So it must have been galling for Steve to be cast in a relatively small role in this thing.

The show was the pilot for the Sixth Sense, and it must have been even more galling, when the Sixth Sense made it to the small screen, that Gary Collins was given the lead. Although perhaps at this time Steve was busy writing/filming the Honkers and so couldnt' have accepted the larger role any way...

But, one does wonder about the casting. And the choice of Steve's to wear heavy glasses for the role. Perhaps it was his idea of what a psychiatrist wore, but they seem unneccesary, just obscured his face too much!

Dreier in center

Dreier on right

With a yeehaw and an oh my god!

2009-09-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

Steve's friend, whom I'd ragged on a couple of posts ago, emailed me today, told me to send him my phone number, and said we could talk for as long as I liked.

So of course I'm very happy, not to say ecstatic.

Unfortunately I'm also terrified. As I'd posted back then, I have a real fear of talking on the phone. And since he's going to call *me*, I won't have a chance to nerve myself up with a Pepsi or a bowl of icecream beforehand.

Nevertheless it must be done and I shall do it.

After all, all I need to do is ask him a question, that'll take 3 seconds, then he can talk for 5 minutes, and so on and so on.... so I won't really be talking on the phone....

So, my day has been made. And with this guy's insights into Steve, it will make his tribute site just that much more special. So I'm very happy.

Virginian coming to DVD and TV

2009-08-28T11:37:00.001-07:00

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention from my chat with James Drury the other day - The Virginian is scheduled to start airing on the Encore Western channel in January - about bloody time! Of course it lasted for 9 seasons and Steve was only in 4 eps so it'll be a long time waiting for his performances!

Also, it's coming out on commercial DVD as well.

(I'd already known this, as it was reported on The Virginian official website, but now it's reported here, too!)

http://z15.invisionfree.com/THE_VIRGINIAN/index.php?act=idx

Also,there's a book out on The Virginian: http://thevirginiantv.wordpress.com/, written by Paul Green. It's published by McFarland, so its kind of pricy. But they put out quality stuff.

Communication...communication...communication

2009-08-28T08:56:00.001-07:00

I was quite pleased today to get an email from another fan of Steve Ihnat's, complimenting me on the site and sharing his thoughts on Steve's performances. So that was pretty nice.

EDITED a few paragraphs... situation changed!

A few weeks ago someone else had sent me an anecdote about their meeting with Steve, I ask if I can put it on my site, he says sure, I do so, I send him the URL... and that's it. I don't hear from him again. No acknowledgement that he got my email, no acknowledgement that he liked the page...nothing. Did he die or become gravely ill between the time he said, "Yes, share it," and the two hours later when I said, "Here it is." ? I have no way of knowing.

Then there was this other woman. A year or so ago I published an overview article on a certain TV series. She emailed me and said that the article didn't do the show jusstice. She was a big fan of the show, had her own website, etc. So, I invited her to write an article. She said she would. Then, nothing for a month or two. I email her a couple of times, asking if she's changed her mind, and she says no, it's just that things have suddenly become very busy.

And I understand that. Been there, done that. But, I let it go. So, several months later, she emails me and asks me if I'd be interested in publishing the article. And I say sure, send it along. And she does so. And then I spend several hours designig the page for it, putting the photos in, doing the coding - which she as a webperson herself knows is not hard work, but is time consuming, and then I send her the URL of the completed page.

And... nothing. No communication at all. Does she like the way I designed it? I don't know. Does she appreciate the fact that I published it for her? I don't know. I noticed she'd gone around to the various message boards devoted to this TV show and announced her article - so she had received my message telling her it was online and good to go....she just couldn't be bothered to email me back and say, "Hey, thanks."

I admit that kind of frosted my buttons. If the article hadn't been getting so many hits, I would have taken it down, just on principle's sake. But popularity trumps principle. ; )

But I look at these things and I just throw up my hands. Is common courtesy so uncommon, these days? Apparently so.

Updates to Steve Ihnat site

2009-08-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

I talked to James Drury today. He worked with Steve 40 years ago on four Virginians, but unfortunately with all the time that had passed he couldn't really remember any specific anecdotes. (Or it may have been the constraints of talking to people over the phone. I confess I'm not a good phone interviewer. Horrible voice!)

Neverthless, he remembered Steve as an excellent actor, and gave me a quote to put on the website.

I also added some screencaps from It Takes a Thief (the ep is viewable on Steve's IMDB page). It was an episode called Turnabout,which featured Noah Bain (Malachi Throne) doing the thieving, as Alexander Mundy (Robert Wagner) was laid up with a broken ankle (only to save the day in the end.) Ida Lupino guest-starred as a romantic interest for Bain. Steve isn't really a villain, per se, he is simply the man in charge of sescurity for "the other side" who is tasked with preventing a certain item from being stolen. Unfortunately, he fails in the end.

http://volcanoseven.com/BriefCandle/Quotes.html
http://volcanoseven.com/BriefCandle/ItTakesaThief

Oh, and by the way, the ep isn't available on Steve's page, but if you go to the page on Ironside, you can see his ep "The Fourteenth Runner." He doesn't have a large role, and he's wearing a moustache (which I personally don't care for!) but he does a good job with what he does...

Ihnat on TV Aug 27

2009-08-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

I forgot to alert my readers that Steve was on TV yesterday, in his I Dream of Jeannie episode. However, since that's avaiable to watch for free on his IMDB page (hosted at Hulu), no harm, no foul.

Today, at 3 pm Eastern, his Gunsmoke episode Noose of Gold is playing on TVLand.

Let joy and innocence prevail.

Peter O'Toole in Masada

2009-08-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

Masada is a fun show for me to watch. Not that I particularly like the subject matter, but just because the number of my favorite actors who have roles - albeit small ones - in the show.

Anthony Valentine is there, as is Clive Francis, and, of course, Peter O'Toole.

I just bought the DVD - the complete version of it, not the truncated version that was available on VHS - and I'm watching it now. First time I've seen it in several years. And as I was watching the beginning, and Peter O'Toole's opening lines as Silva, I thought to myself... this is Steve Ihnat as Garth of Izar.

I've been reading a few articles on Steve that started appearing in 1969, in the newspapers, in which he said he was tired of always playing villains, and I wonder if he accepted the Garth role not only because of the money - because who would turn down the money, especially if you've got a wife and two kids to care for! - but because it allowed him to portray such a wide range of emotions, more so than he'd ever been able to do before. And I wonder if he patterned his performance on that of Peter O'Toole. (Not as O'Toole as Silva, since Masada was filmed ten years after Ihnat died, but just O'Toole as O'Toole.)

I also have to wonder about his health in his last couple of years. In The Mod Squad, in 1970, he looks like his old self. He looks like he's in his late 30s, yes, but he looks fine. One year later, in Alias Smith and Jones, he's practically unrecognizable. His face looks rather bloated. One wonders if he'd developed some kind of medical condition that necessitated him taking medication that caused weight gain, and damaged his heart, which caused his heart attack.

Anyway, Masada continues...

Brief Candle video

2009-08-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

Finished a tribute video for Steve Ihnat.

Let Joy and Innocence Prevail

2009-08-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

I created an animation for the song Let Joy and Innocence Prevail, sung by Grace Jones. I decided to put Steve Ihnat in as the star.

A few of my other favorite actors are immortalized in the first 9 photos. Anyone care to guess who they are?

The Chase for Steve Ihnat

2009-08-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

This blog will feature my thoughts about various of my favorite actors and their roles.

At the moment I'm working on Steve Ihnat.

It's a bittersweet project, as I've said a few times over at my other blog, DAily Space. He was only 37 years old when he died, in 1972... I'm 11 years older than he ever got to be... Each time I watch one of his roles I can't help but think... another three years and he'll be dead, another year and he'll be dead...

Sad!

Although he's got a lot of fans to this day..he doesn't have as many as he should have. If "The Inheritors" had been a Twilight Zone episode instead of an The Outer Limits episode, potential new fans could see it three or four times a year - when the SF channel does its marathons on various holidays. Instead, I dont think most people have ever had a chance to see it on regular TV...they'll only see it if they actually seek it out for some reason...

He never had a series of his own... even if he'd only had one for a year, so that his talents could have been on display on DVD now (although that's problematic, as there are dozens of pretty good TV shows from the 60s that have never seen a decent release, as for example Then Came Bronson.)

Well, anyway, I've been having fun tracking down a lot of his episodes. Got 3 Virginians today from a grey marketer...and the DVD doesn't work so that's very annoying. Also got a batch of artcles written about him from the person who does my Newspaper Archive Research - that was nice in a sense, but depressing also because one of them was written just after his death, and told of how he was in Cannes working on deals to sell his independent film Do Not Throw Cushions in the Ring. He'd had high hopes for it, and then, just like that, he was gone.

In addition, earlier today, TCM showed The Chase (1966), starring Marlon Brando, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Robert Duvall. I knew that Steve had a non-speaking part in this, and that he was supposed to beat up Marlon Brando in one scene, and then be beaten to a pulp by Brando in the final scene.

And he was! It looks like it was all Brando/Ihnat, too, no stuntmen used.

I had the sound down for the entire movie - it wasn't the kind of movie that I'd ever have watched if there weren't actors in it I liked. Richard Bradford was in it, and apparently it was his beating up of Brando (in conjunction with Ihnat) that won him the role in the British series Man in a Suitcase (a show that I saw many, many years ago in a Lobatse, Botswana hotel...and wouldn't mind seeing again.. but that's a topic for a different blog entry!)

Anyway, Steve first shows up at about the hour mark, and true to what I'd read, he doesn't have any dialog, which is odd because he's placed in a couple of situations where he could have some. And yet he is given no lines. I suppose the producers wanted to give him exposure, without having to pay him what they'd have to pay an actor who had lines.

But, according to an article I read (which I'll share on my tribute website to him in due course), it was his performance in this movie that led him to be signed to a 7 year movie contract, although he never did manage to get a starring role out of it. But of course it probably led directly to him having the pull to do his own feature film, The Honkers, in 1972, which he co-wrote and directed, but sadly, did not give himself a part in.

The Return of the Face and the Voice

2009-08-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

I see that it has been over a year since I last posted here. Well, time to start posting again.

I'm currently working on a website featuring Steve Ihnat, one of the greatest character actors of 1960s television. Unfortunately, he's practically forgotten today, as he passed away at the early age of 37!, from a heart attack, in 1972.

I'll share my thoughts on his acting style here, as well as that of my other favorite actors, in future posts.

For now, check out the website I'm building for him.

http://volcanoseven.com/BriefCandle

James Mason as Captain Nemo

2008-03-03T07:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a trailer for Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Note, 20,000 leagues does not refer to the depth that the ship goes to - that's fathoms, but rather the distance around the world that they travel.

Science fiction in The Avengers

2008-03-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

Another video article I put together for my webzine, The Thunder Child, unfortunately done once again when I had an imperfect grasp of the techniques of the softwarre.

It's a rapidfire look at a few Avengers episodes.

James Whitmore in Them

2008-03-02T15:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not a particular fan of James Whitmore, although I really enjoyed his work in Them!

One of the things I found amusing was his penchant to steal scenes, so I put together a brief tribute in that regard in a video article for my webzine, The Thunder Child.

Peter Wyngarde

2008-03-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I started work with the Windows Movie Maker Software that I've had on this computer forever, but which I never bothered to work with. Oh do I regret that - as if I'd started with it five or six years ago, who knows what things I might not have accomplished...

Anyway, here is a video I put together of Peter Wyngarde, one of my favorite actors, having a fencing duel with Roger Moore in The Saint.

It's just a series of still photos set to the music of O Fortuna. I'm much more skilled now than I was then, unfortunately I didn't keep the files and so can't edit it .... ah, yet another regret.

Anyway, there are lots of nice stills of Peter - sans the "bouffantitude" that marred his otherwise excellent Jason King - and of course the music of O Fortuna is always worth listening to: