Richard Vath – Through the Shattered Lens

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Hunter, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1991. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week, Hunter and McCall investigate a rich girl for murder.

Episode 2.4 “Rich Girl”

(Dir by James Whitmore, Jr., originally aired on October 19th, 1985)

When an elderly millionaire named Ralph Flagg (Robert Rockwell) is shot and nearly killed, his much younger wife, Ginger (Lois Hamilton), is arrested for the crime. Even though she’s acquitted, McCall and Hunter continue to believe Ginger tried to kill her husband for his money. When Ginger plunges off a balcony, they start to have their doubts. What if the mastermind behind the violence is actually Ralph’s daughter, Cynthia (Dorian Lopinto)? Hunter goes undercover as a former basketball player turned golf hustler and gets close to both Cynthia and her loutish boyfriend, Bradley (John Calvin).

The plot doesn’t provide as many twists as one might hope. From the start, it’s made clear that Cynthia and Bradley are the murderers. Bradley may be the more openly evil of the two, but Cynthia is definitely the mastermind. When it starts to seem as if Bradley is going to turn on her, Cynthia shoots him and then claims it was self-defense. When it appears that Cynthia is going to get away with that murder as well, Hunter and McCall convince Ralph to change his will so Cynthia must confess to her crimes if she wants to inherit his fortune. Cynthia responds by going home, grinding a couple of pills into her ice cream, and then apparently committing suicide while a tear rolls down her cheek.

Agck!

That ending really took me by surprise. Cynthia went from being the episode’s villain to an almost tragic figure. That said, I’m not really a fan of Hunter and McCall hounding people into suicide. I would much rather they just make good arrests, but that’s not their style.

At least this episode didn’t end with Hunter saying, “Works for me.”

Oh, how I love this oddity from 1962.

The Creation of the Humanoids takes place in the 23rd Century. A nuclear war has wiped out 92% of the human population. The radiation has caused many of the survivors to become sterile. The birth rate has plummeted to 1.4% and humanity is at risk of slowly dying out. The majority of the remaining humans have dealt with this news by becoming lazy and decadent. They live in luxurious apartments and they basically refuse to do anything themselves. Instead, all of the work is done by blue-skinned androids, the Humanoids that some dismissively refer to as being “clickers.” The Humanoids were not designed to have human emotions or thoughts but some appear to be developing them. The Order of Flesh and Blood want to destroy the Humanoids, especially when they hear rumors that a Humanoid has been created who is indistinguishable from an actual human. The Order of Flesh and Blood fears that the Humanoids are plotting to take over the world and replace humanity and …. they’re right!

Of course, the film suggests that might not be such a bad thing. The majority of the humans that we meet in The Creation of the Humanoids don’t seem to have much interest in continuing on with their lives. Having destroyed most of their civilization with a pointless nuclear war and now being unable to conceive, they seem to be content to laze about and wait for the end to come. Ironically, the only humans that seem to care about the future of their race are a bunch of fanatics. The Humanoids may move and speak stiffly but at least they’re making plans for the future and seem to actually care about the world in which they exist.

The Creation of the Humanoids was made for a very low-budget and with only the most rudimentary of sets. The luxury apartments all look very similar and very simple and yet that adds to the sense of ennui that runs through the entire film. The same can be said of the costumes, which are largely made up of jumpsuits and Confederate army caps that were reportedly rented from a local costume store. The drab costumes capture the feel of a society where being creative or imaginative is no longer rewarded and any sign of free thought is considered to be a threat. It’s the type of society that always seems to follow as a result of the empty promises of Marx and Coca-Cola. Fortunately, the film’s producers did pay extra so that the film could be shot in color, the better to highlight the blue tint of the Humanoids and the darkness outside of the city. They also wisely hired veteran cinematography Hal Mohr, who brings some visual flair to the project. Realizing that the film was extremely talky and that it featured characters who didn’t move around a lot, Mohr used creative camera angles and old-fashioned “glamour” lighting to give the film an interesting look. The film ultimately becomes a work of pop art and it’s not a surprise that Andy Warhol described Creation of the Humanoids as being his favorite film.

I like the film too. The stilted but philosophical dialogue, the atmosphere of ennui, the casting of Plane Nine From Outer Space’s Dudley Manlove as a Humanoid, and the moment when Dr. Raven (Don Doolittle) breaks the fourth wall to speak directly the audience, it all adds up to something that is wonderfully bizarre and thoroughly unforgettable.