Tag Archives: Stephen Roberts

Late Night Retro Television Review: Hunter 2.3 “The Biggest Man In Town”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 murder!  Yes, another one.

Episode 2.3 “The Biggest Man In Town”

(Dir by Bob Bravler, originally aired on October 5th, 1985)

When Charles Lattimer (Gregory Itzin), a man with no criminal record, is found executed gangland-style, Hunter and McCall suspect that it was more than just random California violence.  After they find out that Lattimer was last seen alive while having a tense lunch at an expensive French restaurant, they decide to go undercover in Lattimer’s home town, an exclusive resort full of rich people and women in bikinis.

Hunter, pretending to be an oceanographer, meets Lattimer’s girlfriend, librarian Amy Lauton (Nana Visitor).  McCall, pretending to be an aspiring singer, meets the biggest man in town, insurance tycoon Raymond Bellamy (Stuart Whitman).

Now, we already know that Bellamy is the one who ordered Lattimer’s death.  Bellamy is the man with whom Lattimer had his final lunch.  Lattimer was blackmailing Bellamy over a case of insurance fraud.  We also know that the execution was carried out by Sheriff Johnson (Don Stroud).  We know all this because we saw it at the beginning of the episode.  There’s no real mystery here.

Then again, this episode isn’t about mystery.  It’s about Hunter and McCall getting away from Los Angeles for a while.  It’s about McCall getting to sing three songs at the resort’s premier nightclub.  It’s about Hunter getting distracted every time a woman in a bikini walks by.  Mostly, it’s just about the chemistry between Hunter and McCall.  It doesn’t matter how many people die, they’ve always got a quip to trade.

Actually, not that many people die in this episode. Lattimer dies.  His father is murdered.  But otherwise, this episode is almost peaceful by Hunter standards.  For once. Hunter and McCall arrest the bad guys instead of killing them.  Getting out of Los Angeles must have mellowed them.

This episode was entertaining but forgettable.  The story was nothing special but the Hunter/McCall chemistry was enjoyable.  Hunter and McCall are solving crimes and having fun!  Good for them.

Lady and Gent (1932, directed by Stephen Roberts)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

When veteran prize fighter Stag Bailey (George Bancroft) gets cocky and doesn’t bother to properly train for the big fight, he is knocked out by a young up-and-comer named Buzz Kinney (John Wayne).  Stag’s manager, Pin (James Gleason), had all of his money riding on Stag winning.  Now broke and with the mob after him, Pin tries to steal the cash from the boxing arena and ends up getting shot by a security guard.  Stag and his girlfriend, Puff (Wynne Gibson), take in Pin’s young son, Ted, and they devote themselves to raising him.  Years later, Ted (Charles Starrett) wants to become a prizefighter but Stag and Puff, who know what years of getting punched in the head can do to someone, try to convince him to go to college instead.

This boxing film is of interest to western fans because of some of the faces in the cast.  This was an early John Wayne role and he’s only seen in the ring and then in one brief scene where he confronts Stag and Puff in a bar.  Wayne still plays an important role, though, because Buzz’s transformation from being a fresh-faced boxer to being a bitter, punch-drunk bully serves as a warning for what waits for Ted if his adoptive parents can’t keep him out of the fight game.  Charles Starrett, of course, would go on to find greater fame as the Durango Kid.

Otherwise, Lady and Gent is a standard pre-code melodrama.  It’s a little more realistic than some of the other boxing films that came out in the 30s.  Boxing is portrayed as a dirty business that leaves its participants with struggles that all of the prize money in the world can’t make up for.  Puff sacrifices her carefree life to raise Ted but it’s worth it in the end.  You can tell this was a pre-code film because Stag and Puff are a couple but they only decide to get married so they can adopt Ted.

George Bancroft was a star in the late 20s and early 30s but eventually, he transitioned to character parts.  He retired from acting 1942 and became a full-time rancher.  One of his final films was 1939’s Stagecoach, starring his Lady and Gent co-star, John Wayne.

 

Horror On The Lens: The Twonky (dir by Arch Oboler)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this 1953 satire, a philosophy professor named Kerry West (Hans Conried) buys a television.  (Remember, this was a time when televisions were still a relatively new phenomena.)  Imagine Kerry’s surprise when he discovers that his television can walk, talk, light his cigarettes, clean the house, and make money materialize out of nowhere!

Sounds great, right?

The only problem is that this TV is not only a bit possessive but it also uses its powers to brainwash people and rob them of their individuality!

Technically, The Twonky is more a comedy than a horror movie.  In fact, it’s really not scary at all.  But it is a lot of fun and it’s interesting to see how a filmmaker in the 50s dealt with television’s growing role in American society.

Enjoy!

Horror on the Lens: Diary of a Madman (dir by Reginald Le Borg)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For today’s horror on the lens, check out the 1963 film, Diary of a Madman!

It’s simply not October without at least one film featuring the great Vincent Price.  In Diary of a Madman, Price plays Simon Cordier, a French magistrate.  What is it that’s causing Simon’s personality to change?  What is making him suffer from greater and greater delusions?  Is he just going insane?  Or is he being haunted by a malevolent spirit known as a horla!?

Any film that features Vincent Price being sinister is worth watching and Diary of a Madman actually features one of his better performances.  Overall, Diary of a Madman is an enjoyable attempt at psychological horror.

Enjoy it below!