Tag Archives: Gerald Mayer

MAN WITH A CAMERA (TV Series) – starring Charles Bronson – S1, E7: Another Barrier

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Originally airing on November 28th, 1958, “Another Barrier” opens with free-lance photographer, Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson), in the middle of the California desert working on a photo layout of Major Sandy Dickson (Grant Williams), a hotshot U.S. Air Force pilot who’s in the process of testing the latest X-2 plane. Kovac wants to follow Sandy around for a couple of days leading up the next big test flight, which means he also gets to meet Sandy’s fiancé, Liz (Norma Crane). While having dinner with the couple, Kovac sees just how scared and worried she is about her lover’s dangerous job. Sandy later confides to Mike that Liz has had bad luck with the “men in her life,” in this case being her father and her brother, who both died tragically years earlier. It seems she thinks her love is a curse, and now she’s afraid she’s going to pass it on to Sandy. Maybe she has a point, because on Sandy’s next test flight, his X-2 goes down, losing contact with the control tower ninety-four seconds after being released from its mothership B-50. With the rescue teams looking for Sandy, and with his survival chances being somewhere between slim and none, Kovac tells Liz what happened, and then takes her back to her apartment. Believing it’s her fault that Sandy’s plane went down, as soon as she gets her chance, Liz crawls out on the balcony of the top floor of her multi-story apartment complex. Kovac begins to try his best to convince her not to jump, to at least find out for sure if Sandy is dead or alive. But will anything work on a woman who’s convinced she’s a curse?!

This review may surprise some of my readers, but I didn’t really enjoy this episode at all. I didn’t like its entire concept. I enjoy episodes of the series where Kovac’s pictures help solve crimes, or he’s getting to mix it up with bullies and bad guys. This episode is just melodrama, and boring melodrama at that. Okay, so Sandy loves his job and Liz, and he wants Liz to accept the danger of his job, but she just seems to be a scared and anxious ball of emotions waiting around for him to die. And all Kovac does is take some pictures, listen to Sandy go on and on about Liz, and then beg Liz not to jump once everyone thinks he’s as dead as a doornail. Boring! About the only mildly amusing thing that happens is when Kovac convinces Sandy that a picture of a pilot in his long johns is just what the layout really needs. Boring AND kinda creepy! And I know that Norma Crane is a fine actress, having recently reviewed her episode of ALFRED HITHCOCK PRESENTS: “There Was an Old Woman,” where she also works with Bronson. They were good together in that episode, but neither have anything to work with when it comes to this story. She’s sad and wants to die, and he’s worried and doesn’t want her to jump. The characters barely know each other, having only met the day before, and the drama does not play out convincingly at all. Grant Williams is likewise boring as the “hot shot” Sandy Jackson. If the Air Force wanted to feature a pilot, they should have probably found one with at least a little bit of personality. I’ve always said that I love Bronson so much that I’d pay to watch him read the phone book. Good Lord willing, this episode is the closest I’ll ever get to seeing that happen.

There was one interesting thing that I noted while watching “Another Barrier,” and that’s the connection that its plot shares with a movie that Charles Bronson would star in a few years later, X-15 (1961), the theatrical debut of director Richard Donner. In X-15, which includes narration by the legendary James Stewart, Bronson plays an Air Force pilot with the dangerous job of testing X-planes, and Patricia Owens is his wife who’s worried about him back at home. It’s not one of Bronson’s best, and frankly, it’s kind of boring too. There may be a great movie or show about X-plane test pilots out there. I just know they don’t star Charles Bronson!     

MAN WITH A CAMERA (TV Series) – starring Charles Bronson – S1, E6: Double Negative

Posted on by Bradley Crain

In this episode, freelance photographer Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) receives a tip from reporter Mike Costigan (Frank Faylen) about a mysterious woman. Acting on the lead, Mike snaps a photograph of the woman, only to discover that she bears a striking resemblance to Helen Sprague (Tracey Roberts), a lady who was reportedly murdered by night club owner Howard Dorn (Don Durant). When she shows back up alive, the D.A. will have to drop the charges on Dorn, right? Well it’s not that easy as a punch-drunk ex-fighter Pete Montee (Karl Lukas) shows up at Mike’s house and insists that the woman in the photo is his girlfriend Connie Sawyer. It turns out that Costigan and Dorn are trying to cash in on Kovac’s honest reputation to get away with murder. When Mike gets wise to their plan, he becomes their next target for death!!

This episode of MAN WITH A CAMERA was directed by Gerald Mayer, who would direct 11 episodes of the series. It’s a solid “film noir” episode, with Bronson’s Mike Kovac getting caught up in a murder plot involving double-crossing bad guys, a duplicitous dame, and a dumb lug, where he’ll be lucky if he comes out alive. Of course, a young Bronson is the biggest draw in every episode of MAN WITH A CAMERA. Along with his magnetic screen presence, Bronson always knew how to throw a punch and he gets to engage in a couple of nice fisticuff sequences in “Double Negative.” It makes for good balance as his camera gets him into hot water at the beginning and his fists get him out of hot water at the end. I also want to throw some love Karl Lukas’ way as the ex-fighter, Pete Mantee. He’s clearly not the sharpest tool in the toolshed, but his performance is the most enjoyable of the series, outside of Bronson, up to this point. His combination of innocent, dumb, and unbelievably strong is a lot of fun. 

Overall, “Double Negative” is one of the best episodes of MAN WITH A CAMERA so far. Bronson is at his best and I really like the film-noir feel. If you haven’t watched on episode on Amazon Prime yet, this would not be a bad place to start! 

MAN WITH A CAMERA (TV Series) – starring Charles Bronson – S1, E5: Turntable  

Posted on by Bradley Crain

This episode opens with Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) visiting an illegal gambling den operated by Walter Bradman (Dennis Patrick). Kovac takes a picture of Bradman with a small camera he’s placed inside of a cigarette lighter. You see, an honest lawyer named John Payson (Logan Field) is running for governor on a platform of shutting down these types of criminal establishments, and Kovac thought this might make for an interesting story in the current political environment. But Bradman catches him taking the picture, and just when it looks like he might forcibly take the camera and film from Kovac, Bradman decides to let him go. It seems that Bradman has bigger plans for Kovac as he happens to know that Kovac is going to the Payson’s household to take family pictures the very next day. Bradman has an inside person in the Payson household, his girlfriend Miss Hollis (Phyllis Avery), and he plans to steal the negatives. They will then use Miss Hollis’ ex-con dad Clyde Bosser (Addison Richards) to create fake composite pictures that pretend to show Payson in the gambling den and hanging out with women other than his wife. He’s hoping that a little blackmail might get Payson off his back, but as you might imagine with Mike Kovac on the case, the plan falls apart and nobody is safe! 

“Turntable” is a solid episode of MAN WITH A CAMERA. There are several reasons I enjoyed it. The presence of Charles Bronson in the lead is always at the top of the list. His down-to-earth charisma anchors the series and this episode in such a way that there’s always something worth watching on screen. He does get to beat up a couple of guys and that’s very fun for me. Dennis Patrick is good as the den boss. He’s very confident and cocky until his plan starts falling apart. Once he begins to panic, things really start to get interesting. The story is also intriguing, as it deals with doctoring photos for nefarious purposes, a novel concept in 1958, but something that’s all too common these days. The composite pictures created as part of this episode are actually kind of funny to look at, and it makes you wonder how some of them could have fooled anyone! I’ve mentioned before that I like episodes where Kovac’s dad Anton (Ludwig Stossel) has an important part. In this episode, he helps his son put together an important piece of the puzzle so I liked that. On the negative side, I didn’t like the political angle. John Payson’s gubernatorial candidate is made to look like an angel, and we all know how that usually works out in the political arena. Honestly, I’m sick of politics in general, and I like to watch TV and movies to get away from that kind of stuff.

Overall, “Turntable” is a solid episode with an intriguing story, a few good performances, and a scene that actually caught me by surprise. That doesn’t happen very often! 

MAN WITH A CAMERA (TV Series) – starring Charles Bronson – S1, E3: Profile of a Killer 

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) is working on a pictorial profile of a banker in a small town outside of New York City, when a man named Terry Killeen (Tom Pittman) robs the bank and kills the banker. Killeen sees Kovac’s camera and forces him to come along with them. Killeen wants to be famous so he has Kovac document his one man crime spree as he robs a bank every day for six straight days. Kovac takes pictures at each robbery and sends them to his friend and small town newspaper man, Jenkins (Russell Collins), to publish the stories. Jenkins figures out that Kovac is using the pictures to provide clues to where they are heading, mainly the Lone Pine Lodge. It seems the college girl that Killeen loves, Sara (Mayo Loiseaux) is at the Lodge and Killeen thinks she will reciprocate his feelings now that he’s a famous outlaw. With Killeen planning to kill Kovac once he’s taken a picture with him and Sara, will Jenkins be able to figure out the clues and make it to Lone Pine and save his friend before it’s too late?!

The most unique aspect of “Profile of a Killer” is the performance of Tom Pittman as the bank robber / murderer, Terry Killeen. He’s certainly over the top, but his cackling laugh as he murders, robs, and terrorizes everyone around him is somewhat unsettling. Sadly, Tom Pittman would die on October 31st, 1958, one week after this episode aired, in a car accident. I also liked the performance of Russell Collins as Kovac’s friend and newspaper man, Jenkins. Jenkins’ day job may be as a newspaper editor, but he makes it clear throughout the episode to the local sheriff’s deputy Gilligan (Wayne Heffley) that he’s planning on getting out of the office and saving Kovac by himself if he has to. That’s pretty much exactly what he does. The episode concludes with a rifle wielding Jenkins and Kovac working together to take on Killeen in a night time gunfight. It’s a fun scene, with Kovac’s flashbulbs and Jenkins’ deadeye shooting skills both coming in handy. And of course, there’s the continued excellence of Charles Bronson in the lead as Mike Kovac. In this episode he uses his brain more than his brawn. He didn’t get any real cool lines, and he didn’t get the opportunity to kick any butt. That’s always a missed opportunity with Bronson, but he still dominates the proceedings with his unique charisma and presence. 

“Profile of a Killer” doesn’t give Bronson any true badass moments, but it does create some memorable characters for his Mike Kovac to interact with, and I enjoyed that very much!

MAN WITH A CAMERA (TV Series) – starring Charles Bronson – S1, E2: The Warning

Posted on by Bradley Crain

This episode opens with Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) receiving an anonymous phone call to come to the corner of Myers St. and Brooklyn Ave., and he’s told to bring his camera! When he gets there, he’s forced at gunpoint by two masked man to take a picture as they kill another man. After the killers drive off, Kovac immediately calls the police. We meet Lt. Abrams (Robert Ellenstein), who tells Kovac that the dead man is a new merchant in town named Sam Bartlett (Bill Erwin) who has been refusing to pay the head of the local protection racket, Glenn Markey (Berry Kroeger). Lt. Abrams asks Kovac to let them plant a story in the paper that says they have an eyewitness to the murder, ace photographer Mike Kovac. Worried that he might be the next man to get killed, Kovac turns him down. Not feeling good about refusing to help the police, Kovac goes to see his dad Anton and tells him the story. Shocked to hear that his son has refused to help the police, especially since it could help put an end to Marky’s reign of terror, Anton asks his son if it’s because he’s afraid. Somewhat shamed into it, Kovac finally agrees and calls Lt. Abrams and tells him they can run the story saying he witnessed the murder. Wouldn’t you know it, the next night Glenn Markey and his funky bunch kidnap Anton in order to force Kovac’s hand. Will Kovac be able to save his dad, and his own skin in the process? Will the police be any help? 

“The Warning” seems to be built upon an irrational request from the police of Mike Kovac… let us plant a fake story and put your life in danger so we can hopefully catch the killer as he tries to kill you. When Kovac refuses to be used that way, as any other rational human being would, Lt. Abrams tells him he’d been told that “Mike Kovac doesn’t scare easily. Guess I heard wrong.” It’s bad enough when anyone implies you’re a coward, but when Mike’s own dad seems disappointed that he’s not helping the police out of fear, Mike is almost forced to help. This is not how it would go down if I found myself in this position, and my dad would be on my side! Even though the premise is somewhat flimsy, there are definitely some good moments in the episode. Once Markey has kidnapped his “Pop,” Kovac turns into the badass Bronson we’ve been waiting for. I enjoyed this tough guy exchange as Markey tries to force Kovac to come with him at gunpoint, not knowing Kovac has brought his own gun:

Markey – “This gun says you’re coming along with me.”

Kovac – “This gun says I’m not.”

Markey – “You’re bluffing, Kovak.”

Kovac – “You just think about that when these slugs start ripping into your body. Maybe it’ll be a comfort to you.”

I also like it when Anton admits he was wrong at the end. After somewhat shaming his son into helping the police, and then having to be rescued later, Anton says, “You were right Michael, these things are dangerous. The next time the police ask for your help, you say NO!” It’s a funny, and more realistic, conclusion to the episode! 

Overall, I enjoyed the episode very much, mainly because of Bronson’s strong central performance. I’m looking forward to seeing where the series goes from here! 

MAN WITH A CAMERA (TV Series) – Starring Charles Bronson – S1,E1: Second Avenue Assassin

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Charles Bronson began acting in movies and on TV shows in 1951. Through the mid-fifties, he established himself as a solid character actor with a strong physical screen presence. Beginning in October of 1958, he was given the opportunity to headline his own TV show, MAN WITH A CAMERA. The show, which ran for 29 episodes, features Bronson as a freelance photographer from New York named Mike Kovac, a guy who specializes in the difficult and dangerous assignments that his peers stay away from. Always on the side of truth and justice, Kovak will do anything to get the picture. 

In the first episode of the series, Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) wants to get a picture of his old neighborhood pal, Joey Savoyan (Tom Laughlin). Joey has risen in the boxing ranks, and is getting a title shot at the champ, Sal Benning (Don Kennedy). But it seems that success has changed Joey from the guy Mike knew, and there have been many reports that he’s turned into a jerk who’d rather punch a reporter or photographer than look at them. When Mike goes to Joey’s training camp, and proceeds to tell him that his attitude is an embarrassment to the people pulling for him back home, Joey gets pissed and the two men end up in the ring. Apparently Mike could whip him back in the day, but times have changed and after absorbing a few of Mike’s jabs, Joey lays his ass out cold with one punch. The photograph that makes the papers that night is Mike laying flat on his back with the headline “Joey Savoyan puts ace photographer in darkroom!” Licking his wounds with spare ribs at a local restaurant that night, another pal from the old neighborhood shows up to see him. This time it’s Dolly (Ruta Lee), Joey’s main squeeze, who’s there on his behalf. Joey’s in trouble and needs Mike’s help. Mike goes out to Joey’s cabin where he’s filled in on the truth. The reports of his punching photographers and reporters were all made up to create his “killer” image. What’s even worse is the fact that Joey had found out the day before that the fights he had won to get the title shot were all fixed. Now, gangster Willie Fletcher (Theodore Marcuse) is putting the pressure on him to take a dive. Joey doesn’t want to do it, so he asks Mike to get a picture of him, Willie, and the champ planning the fix that night. He believes he can use this picture as leverage to turn the dangerous mobster down. It wouldn’t be much of a show if things went exactly as planned, and the fun is seeing how it all plays out! 

The series MAN WITH A CAMERA stretches our ability to suspend our disbelief right off the bat, when it asks us to accept that anyone, including Billy Jack himself, could lay out Charles Bronson with one punch. The fact that Bronson is shirtless, revealing muscle on top of muscle, makes it that much harder to believe. That lack of realism aside, I really did enjoy this first episode. Bronson plays Mike Kovac with a determination and uncompromising integrity that lets us know right off the bat that he will do whatever it takes to get to the truth, and that he doesn’t care who he has to piss off to accomplish that goal. He seems fearless and very tough. When the gangster Willie Fletcher, who’s known for using his gun, threatens Mike, he responds with “Boy, you talk tough… you scare me, Willie” in a way that would indicate it’s impossible to scare him and you get the feeling he can back it up. As a lifelong fan of Bronson, it’s nice seeing his powerful screen charisma and toughness come across so easily at this early point in his career. It’s also fun seeing Bronson and Tom Laughlin on screen together, even if the writers came up with the unrealistic scenario that I discussed earlier. I have to admit I would love to see Billy Jack take on Chaney from HARD TIMES. I think that would be one hell of a show!

This is a solid first episode, and I’m looking to see where the show heads from here. I’ve watched various episodes of MAN WITH A CAMERA over the years, but this will be first time I’ve ever started from the beginning and watched and reviewed each episode. Although he’s only talked about in episode 1, I remember Mike’s dad being a fairly big part of the series. Father/son relationships on TV and in movies are my favorites, so I’m looking forward to seeing that play out. If Tom Laughlin is any example, I’m also looking forward to the quality of guest stars we’ll be seeing. A quick look on IMDB reveals actors like Don Gordon, Angie Dickinson, Gavin McLeod, and Lawrence Tierney will be showing up throughout the series. This should be a lot of fun!