The year is 1898 and the frontier is still a tough and harsh place where even horses can face the long arm of justice. Because a horse named Duke is viewed as being wild and uncontrollable, a judge is on the verge of sentencing him to death. Fortunately, John Drury (John Wayne) happens to be passing through town and he agrees to take the horse for himself. Duke is so grateful for being rescued that he not only allows Drury to ride him but he also looks out for Drury when Drury announces that he is going to go after a mysterious outlaw known as the Hawk.
Underneath his mask, the Hawk is actually Henry Simms (Frank Hagney), who everyone thinks is a trustworthy member of the community. When Simms and Drury go searching for the Hawk, Simms ties Drury to a tree and then frames Drury for murder. Fortunately, both Duke and Ruth Gaunt (Ruth Hall) are determined to clear Drury’s name and help him stop the Hawk’s reign of terror.
This was one of John Wayne’s early films, from the pre-Stagecoach days when he was getting small roles in A-list films but was spending most of his time appearing in in the type of B-westerns that were typically shown as the bottom part of a double bill. Though it is obvious that Wayne was still getting used to being in front of the camera when he made Ride Him, Cowboy, Wayne shows hints of the charisma that eventually led to John Ford casting him as the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach. The true star of the film is Duke, the horse that is smart enough to unsaddle another horse, untie the bound Drury, and keep the bad guy from escaping. Without Duke, John Drury would have spent the rest of his life tied to that tree and the Hawk would never have been stopped. Duke did such a good job that he was rewarded with a film career and he would go on to co-star with John Wayne in five more films.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Mondays, I will be reviewing Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
The fourth season finally comes to a close! Seriously, things have been moving so slowly for the Tornadoes that I feel like I’ve spent that last several years trapped in this season.
Episode 4.25 “Christmas In New York”
(Dir by Patrick Maloney, Originally aired on December 5th, 1998)
The team is in New York City, celebrating Christmas away from home. Kristy, who is not actually on the team, is with them and feeling homesick. Instead of telling her, “Well, go home since you’re not actually on the team,” Silk and Michael promise Kristy that they’re going to have a “real Indiana Christmas” right there in New York.
(So, I guess everyone’s parents are okay with their children celebrating the holidays in New York. Seriously, this whole New York plotline doesn’t make a single bit of sense. If I was the state of Indiana, I would be offended by how eager Hang Time was to find any excuse to get away from me.)
Kristy comes up with the idea of the team celebrating Christmas by doing “Secret Santa.” Everyone thinks that this is a great idea, except for Mary Beth who points out that Secret Santa means that everyone will only get one gift. “Everyone’s stressing about what to get everyone!” Hammer says, as if somehow mandating that everyone can only buy one gift will make it even less stressful to try to find the perfect one. I’m on Mary Beth’s side here. Add to that, Secret Santa comes with a limit on how much can be spent on each person. Each gift has to cost under $10. What the Hell!? Seriously, I’d rather cancel Christmas than accept a gift that cost under $10.
If Kristy is missing her family, Rico is dreading meeting his. As Rico explains it, his grandfather, Sonny, is a former stand-up comedian who always goes out of his way to embarrass Rico. After meeting Rico and the rest of the team, Sonny decides to move into the hotel and stay with them. Sonny explains that Rico doesn’t want his grandson spending his Christmas without his family. And really, Sonny’s right. SERIOUSLY, WHY ARE THEY IN NEW YORK ON CHRISTMAS!?
Anyway, Secret Santa goes awry when Julie and Mary Beth sneak into the boys’s hotel room and discovers that Michael and Hammer bought them cheap scarves. Mary Beth is so offended that she declares that they’re going to have to buy really cheap gifts for the boys.
“How do I do that?” Mary Beth asks Julie.
“Are you saying I’m cheap!?” Julie yells.
Oh, Julie, everyone knows you’re cheap.
Of course, what they don’t know is that, while Julie and Mary Beth are sneaking around the hotel room, Michael and Hammer are buying expensive gifts at Tiffany’s.
Meanwhile, Rico lies to his grandfather to keep him from coming to the Christmas Party. This leads to Coach K. suddenly declaring himself to be the Ghost of Christmas Future and showing Rico that his future is going to feature his grandchildren abandoning him for the holidays. Rico learns the true meaning of Christmas and he spends the holiday with his grandfather after all. The rest of the team spends the holidays without their families but no one cares because they’re all a bunch of heathens, I guess. I don’t know. As I said before, this whole New York thing is way too weird.
This was dumb. Let’s move on.
Episode 4.26 “Waiting For Mary Beth”
(Dir by Patrick Maloney, Originally aired on December 5th, 1998)
After a long season that featured a new coach, three new players, and trips to Texas and New York, the fourth season of Hang Time comes to a close with …. a clip show.
The Tornadoes are celebrating New Years Eve in New York City because why would they want to spend any of their holidays with their friends and family back in Indiana. The entire team is gathered at a fancy restaurant overlooking Times Square. But where’s Mary Beth!? Mary Beth, it turns out, is refusing to leave her room because her appointment with a world famous hair stylist did not go well. Luckily, everyone has a memory to share that provides Mary Beth with the courage to celebrate the New Year.
Eh. It’s a clip show. Clip shows are the worst of the worst.
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We snark our way through it.
Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1976’s Project Kill! I picked it so you know it’ll be good.
Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet. We will be watching 1991’s Dead Again! The film is on Prime!
It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up Project Kill on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! Then, at 10 pm et, switch over to Twitter and Prime, start Dead Again, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag! The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Here’s your reminder that if you haven’t seen Dascham(which stars Annie Hardy, the artist responsible for today’s music video of the day), it was one of my favorite films of last year and I think it’s destined to be watched by future students of history as they study the cultural and psychological impact of the COVID lockdowns.
The year is 1898 and the frontier is still a tough and harsh place where even horses can face the long arm of justice. Because a horse named Duke is viewed as being wild and uncontrollable, a judge is on the verge of sentencing him to death. Fortunately, John Drury (John Wayne) happens to be passing through town and he agrees to take the horse for himself. Duke is so grateful for being rescued that he not only allows Drury to ride him but he also looks out for Drury when Drury announces that he is going to go after a mysterious outlaw known as the Hawk.
Through the Shattered Lens 