In this comedic western, gambler Benjamin Calhoun (Dale Robertson) wins big in a poker game. Not only does he walk away with several thousand dollars but he also now owns his own railroad, the BP;S&D. Calhoun celebrates the biggest win of his career by tossing ten dollar bills at the townspeople, recruiting a worshipful young assistant (Bob Random), and commandeering a private railcar that belongs to wealthy Burton Standish (John Anderson). In the car, he finds Marta Grenier (Diana Hyland), a “working woman,” who has been hired to provide company for Standish.
Calhoun and Marta ride off to check out Calhoun’s new railroad. What he discovers is that the railroad that he won is not only not completed but the workers are striking because they haven’t been paid in two weeks. The quick-thinking Calhoun offers to make all of the workers part-owners of the railroad. With construction once again starting, Calhoun tries to figure out how to keep his new business open. He also meets a strong-headed storekeeper named Joanna Royce (Sandra Smith).
When Standish finally shows up, it turns out that he was originally planning on buying the BP;S&D. Will Calhoun hold onto the railroad and honor the promise he made to the workers or will he sell out to Standish?
For all the talk about completing the railroad, Scalplock ends with most of the work undone. That’s because Scalplock was a pilot for The Iron Horse, a television series that lasted for two seasons in the 60s. Scalplock (and The Iron Horse) is mostly a showcase for Dale Robertson, a low-key but always convincing actor who specialized in westerns. Usually, Robertson was cast as an upstanding citizen and law enforcement agent. In Scalplock, he’s playing the type of genial rogue that James Garner played on Maverick and later in The Rockford Files. Robertson is likable in Scalplock and even convinces us that Calhoun would choose his workers over a quick payday. Fan of the genre will enjoy Scalplock, as long as they don’t get too invested in witnessing that last track of rail laid into the ground.
Dale Robertson, who started his career in the 40s, continued to act through the 90s, though usually as a guest star instead of a series lead. Robertson eventually retired to Oklahoma where he owned a ranch that was home to over 200 horses. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 89.
This made-for-television film from 1976 tells the story of Tod Lubitch (played by a pre-Saturday Night Fever John Travolta). Tod was born without an immune system and, as a result, he’s had to spend his entire life in a germ-free, plastic bubble. When Tod was a child, it wasn’t such a big deal not being able to leave his house without getting in a plastic ark beforehand. But now, he’s in his teens and he wants to do teenager stuff. His parents (Robert Reed and Diana Hyland) are overprotective. His doctor (Ralph Bellamy) says that there’s little chance that Tod’s condition will ever improve. But the girl next door, Gina (Glynnis O’Connor), finds herself falling in love with Tod and she wants to help him live a normal life. Gina loves to ride horses and Tod wants to ride one with her. As we all know, horses are totally germ-free.
The Boy In The Plastic Bubble is one of those movies that has a reputation. It’s usually cited as being the epitome of 70s schmaltz and, indeed, it is very 70s and it is very schmaltzy. It’s one of those films where the big dramatic moments are so overdone that they instead often become kind of comedic. When Tod finally convinces his parents to allow him to attend school, he does so while wearing a special protective outfit that makes him look like a cross between an old school astronaut and a demented teddy bear. When it looks like his suit might be malfunctioning, he runs into the plastic cell that’s been set up in the back of the classroom and strips it off while all of his classmates watch. Everyone’s truly impressed by both Tod’s positivity and the sight of a 22 year-old John Travolta rolling around in gym shorts.
Indeed, while watching the film, it’s impossible not to ask certain questions. In what world, for instance, could Robert Reed, best known for playing the patriarch on The Brady Bunch, be John Travolta’s father? Why is there such a weird tension between Tod and his mother? (It may have had something to do with the fact that Travolta was dating Diana Hyland at the time.) How does Tod keep his hair so perfect while living in a plastic bubble? Did anyone think that the scene where Tod is carried onto the beach inside a plastic box would be so odd to watch? Reportedly, The Boy In The Plastic Bubble was based on the lives of two young men who has the same condition as Tod. According to Wikipedia, one of them was very amused by the idea the Todd’s protective outfit would keep him safe at school. And, then of course, there’s the film’s ending, which tries to offer a ray of hope but instead leaves you convinced that Tod is going to die at any minute.
And yet, for all the obvious flaws, The Boy In The Plastic Bubble is slightly redeemed by the sincerity that Travolta and O’Connor bring to their roles. In particular, Travolta brings a smoldering anger to his role, which may not have been present in the script but which feels appropriate for the character. As played by Travolta, Tod may understand why he’s in the bubble but he’s still pissed off about it. O’Connor has an even more difficult role to play because Gina’s actions often don’t make a lot of sense. But O’Connor makes you believe that she’s sincere in her desire to give the Bubble Boy the high school experience that he deserves. It’s a schmaltzy film but Travolta and O’Connor bring a few moments of emotional honesty to it.
Director Randal Kleiser later worked with John Travolta on Grease. I don’t think Danny Zuko would have been a good influence on the Boy in the Plastic Bubble.
The Chase, a small-town Texas melodrama from 1966, opens with Robert Redford escaping from prison.
Redford is playing Bubber Reeves. Bubber, we’re told, has spent the last few years in a tough Texas prison, convicted of a murder that he didn’t commit. Now, he’s on the run and he’s probably returning to his hometown. His wife, Anna (Jane Fonda), still lives there, though Anna is now having an affair with Jake Rogers (James Fox). Jake is the son of the most powerful man in town, Val Rogers (E.G. Marshall). Jake also used to be Bubber’s best friend but now, he’s wracked with guilt about his affair with Anna.
Meanwhile, the townspeople are all worried that Bubber is going to seek revenge on the people who were responsible for him going to prison. Some of them know that he was actually innocent and some of them think that he’s actually the killer that he’s been made out to be but what they all have in common is that they’re worried about what Bubber’s gong to do when he shows up. Maybe they should have thought about the possibility of him getting mad and vengeful before they gave him a nickname like Bubber.
Anyway, Sheriff Calder (Marlon Brando) is convinced that Bubber is innocent but the townspeople still want him to allow them to gun Bubber down as soon as they see him. Sheriff Calder, however, is determined to keep the peace and make sure that the law prevails. He’s a man of unimpeachable integrity, working in a town full of people who are too cowardly to concern themselves with doing the right thing.
As everyone waits for Bubber to arrive. tempers come to the surface, a good deal of alcohol is consumed, and secrets are revealed. It all ends in tragedy, of course. One of the final scenes clumsily recreates the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald. The Chase wouldn’t be an achingly self-serious film from 1966 if it didn’t.
There’s a few obvious problems with The Chase, the main one being that Robert Redford, who was 30 years-old when The Chase was released, looks surprisingly good for someone who has spent the last few years locked away in a tough Texas prison. Redford manage to escape from prison and run through a swamp without getting one single hair out of place. There’s nothing particularly dangerous about Redford in this film, which is surprising when you consider that The Chase was made just three years before Redford’s convincing turn as a laconic (if charming) killer in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. For The Chase to work, Bubber Reeves would have to be a force of nature but, whenever Redford’s on screen, you just find yourself wondering how someone who looks that good got stuck with a nickname like Bubber. The townspeople talk about Bubber like he’s a wild outlaw but Redford is just too laid back to pull it off. He comes across less like a wanted criminal and more like a California surfer who has somehow found himself in rural Texas.
As for the rest of the cast — well, there’s a lot of them. It’s a big ensemble film and good luck to anyone trying to keep track of who is related to who. Surprisingly enough, Marlon Brando is very convincing as a Texas sheriff, never allowing Sheriff Calder to turn into a stereotype. Less surprising is the fact that Robert Duvall, playing an frustrated husband, is also convincing in his role. Brando and Duvall, of course, would both go on to co-star in The Godfather. (Supposedly, when shooting of The Godfather began, Duvall was the only member of the cast with no fear of joking around with Brando, largely because they had bonded while working on The Chase.) Unfortunately, as good as Brando and Duvall are, they’re both let down in the hair department. Brando gets stuck with a hairpiece while Duvall is forced to go with a comb-over.
Some of the other performers are good and some of them are bad but none of them are particularly convincing as the residents of a small Texas town. James Fox, for instance, is very British. Jane Fonda and Angie Dickinson (cast as Calder’s wife) seem to be bored. E.G. Marshall is believably rich but never believably Southern. The other performers all tend to overact, especially once the people in town start drinking, shooting, hitting, and, in some cases, dancing. Somehow, Shelley Winters is not in the film, even though it seems like she should be.
The Chase was directed by Arthur Penn and written by Lillian Hellman. (The screenplay was based on a play and novel by Horton Foote.) Penn would follow up The Chase with Bonnie and Clyde and Alice’s Restaurant, two films that also dealt, for more successfully, with The Chase‘s themes of violence, community hypocrisy, and outlaw romanticism. Jane Fonda would go on to play Lillian Hellman in the 1977 film, Julia. For Julia, Fonda was nominated for an Oscar. For The Chase, she was not.
The Chase is one of those films that wants to say something important but doesn’t seem to be quite sure what. It’s a long and dramatic movie that doesn’t really add up to much. In the end, I think the main lesson to be learned here is not to allow your children to get a nickname like Bubber. There’s just no escape from a bad nickname.
18 year-old Anne Marie Henderson (Diana Hyland) is being pressured, by her family, to marry Robert, a dull stockbroker (Robert Hogan). However, Anne Marie is still in love with her former fiancee, David (Roger Davis). As the day of her marriage approaches, Anne Marie suddenly finds herself being chased by a woman in black who yells at her not to get married…
This episode of the Twilight Zone was originally broadcast on February 21st, 1964. It was directed by Elliot Silverstein and written by Richard Matheson.
In this comedic western, gambler Benjamin Calhoun (Dale Robertson) wins big in a poker game. Not only does he walk away with several thousand dollars but he also now owns his own railroad, the BP;S&D. Calhoun celebrates the biggest win of his career by tossing ten dollar bills at the townspeople, recruiting a worshipful young assistant (Bob Random), and commandeering a private railcar that belongs to wealthy Burton Standish (John Anderson). In the car, he finds Marta Grenier (Diana Hyland), a “working woman,” who has been hired to provide company for Standish.
Through the Shattered Lens 