Easter 2018

If you are a regular reader of A Shroud of Thoughts, you are probably familiar with the custom here of positing vintage pinups on certain holidays. Easter is no different, so here are this year's Easter pinups.

First up is Adele Jergens and some friends.

Next up is Cleo Moore and a rather large rabbit (or maybe it's a hare...)

Next is Vera-Ellen, who is hatching out of an egg!

Gila Golan is also hatching out of an egg!

Some lucky person is getting Heather Angel in his or her Easter basket!

And here is Ann Miller celebrating Easter with a friend!

Happy Easter!

The Victorian Era in Film on TCM in April

If you are a fan of Victoriana, then you are in luck with regards to Turner Classic Films in April. On Thursday nights next month TCM will feature movies set during the Victorian Era. Each Thursday has a particular theme. The theme for April 3 is Victorian Crime and will feature such films as The Lodger (1944) and Gaslight (1944). The theme for April 12 is Science and Exploration and will feature such films as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) and The Time Machine (1960). The theme for April 19 is Victorian Romance and will feature such films as Great Expectations (1946) and Far from the Madding Crowd (1967).  The theme for April 26 is Victorian Society and Manners and will feature such films as The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) and The Wrong Box (1966). Each night will feature five different films.

As someone who is interested in the Victorian era, I am looking forward to the Victorian Era in Film, although I wish they would air one of the Sherlock Holmes films (the 1939 version of The Hound of the Baskervilles would be ideal) as well as the Hammer version of Dracula (my favourite version of the novel). Both would fit well with the theme of Victorian Crime. After all, a programming block on films set in the Victorian Era really should feature the two best known fictional characters to emerge from that era! I also would prefer they air the 1931 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Fredric March, which I think is superior to the 1941 version. Regardless, TCM has some great films lined up this April on Thursday nights that those of us interested in the Victorian Era will want to see.

Louise Latham R.I.P.

Louise Latham, who played the mother of the title character in Marine (1964)  and appeared frequently on television, died on February 12 2018 at the age of 95.

Louise Latham was born on September 23 1922 in Hamilton, Texas. She started her career at the Margo Jones Theatre in Dallas, Texas. She made her debut on Broadway in a revival of Major Barbara in 1956. In 1961 she made her television debut in an episode of Armstrong Circle Theatre. During the Sixties she guest starred on such shows as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Rogues, Mr. Novak, Perry Mason, Ben Casey, Run for Your Life, The Invaders, The Fugitive, Family Affair, The F.B.I., Bonanza, and Ironside. She appeared in the films Marnie (1964), Firecreek (1968), Hail, Hero! (1969), and Adam at Six A.M. (1970).  She appeared on Broadway in Isle of Children in 1962.

In the Seventies Miss Latham guest starred on such shows as McCloud, Cannon, The Sixth Sense, Hawaii Five-O, The Streets of San Francisco, Hec Ramsey, Columbo, Gunsmoke, Medical Centre, The Six Milllion Dollar Man, The Waltons, Quincy M.E., Eight is Enough, and CHiPs. She was a regular on the short-lived Western Sara. She appeared in the movies Making It (1971), White Lightning (1973), The Sugarland Express (1974), and 92 in the Shade (1975).

In the Eighties Louise Latham appeared in the mini-series Fresno and was a regular on the TV series Hothouse. She appeared on such shows as The Wonderful World of Disney, Highway to Heaven, Hotel, Designing Women, Hunter, and Falcon Crest. She appeared in the movies The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) and Mass Appeal (1984). In the Nineties she appeared on such shows as Roc; Murder, She Wrote; Earth 2; ER; and The X-Files. She appeared in the mini-series Cruel Doubt and In Cold Blood. She appeared in the films Paradise (1991) and Love Field (1995).

Louise Latham was a very talented actress. For movie buffs she may be best remembered as Marnie's manipulative mother in Marnie. On The Waltons she played a role as far from Mrs. Edgar as one could get--Olivia's aunt who helps her cope with menopause. She could play good characters and evil characters with equal ease, from a murderer on Perry Mason to the kind-hearted mother of a Downs syndrome patient on ER. Louise Latham was extremely versatile.

Tom Reese Passes On

Tom Reese, who made numerous guest appearances on TV shows, appeared in movies from 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) to North Dallas Forty (1979), and played Sgt. Velie on the cult TV show Ellery Queen, died on December 12 2017 at the age of 89.

Tom Reese was born Tom Allen in Chattanooga, Tennessee on August 8 1928. His father Austin Allen and his uncle Lee Allen comprised a country music duo known as The Allen Brothers. The Allen Brothers saw some success in the Twenties, but following the Great Depression they decided to leave the music business. Austin Allen took up work in construction and eventually moved to New York City. Tom Reese worked a variety of odd jobs as a young man before serving in the United States Marine Corps for five years. Following his service he studied acting at the American Theatre Wing and then joined John Cassavetes's Actors Workshop.

Given he was part of the Actors Workshop, it should come as no surprise that he made his television debut in John Cassavetes's TV series Johnny Staccato in 1959. He made his film debut the same year in John Cassavetes's movie Shadows. Mr. Reese had a busy year on television in 1960, guest starring on such shows as M Squad, Gunsmoke, The Man from Blackhawk, Law of the Plainsman, My Sister Eileen, Have Gun--Will Travel, Route 66, and Death Valley Days. He appeared in the movie Flaming Star (1960).

In the Sixties Tom Reese guest starred on such shows as Lawman, The Twilight Zone, Dobie Gillis, The Untouchables, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, The Wild Wild West, Rawhide, Bonanza, The Guns of Will Sonnett, The High Chaparral, and Land of the Giants. He appeared in such films as Marines, Let's Go (1961), 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), Taggart (1964), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Murderer's Row (1966), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), and Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969).

In the Seventies Tom Reese played Sgt. Thomas Velie on Ellery Queen from 1975 to 1976. He guest starred on such shows as Monty Nash, Mannix, The Six Million Dollar Man, Kung Fu, Emergency!, Gunsmoke, Police Woman, Wonder Woman, CPO Sharkey, and Chico and the Man. He appeared in the films Vanishing Point (1971), The Outfit (1973), The Wild Party (1975), North Dallas Forty (1979), and Defiance (1980).

In the Eighties Mr. Reese guest starred on such shows as Simon & Simon; The A-Team; Knight Rider; Moonlighting; Murder, She Wrote; and Paradise. His last appearance on screen was in the movie Dark and Stormy Night (2009).

On screen Tom Reese was the consummate tough guy. In fact, he was famous for doing his own fight scenes, and continued to do so for much of his career until he realise he was keeping stuntmen out of work. This is not to say that Mr. Reese did not have talent for something other than throwing a punch. He played the apostle Thomas in The Greatest Story Ever Told, gangster Ted Newberry in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and Coach Waddy in North Dallas Forty. Of course, he may be best known to many people as Sgt. Velie on Ellery Queen, Inspector Queen's loyal right hand man. Tom Reese may have been famous for his fight scenes, but he was capable of much more.

Thank You For a Successful Blogathon!

I want to thank everyone who participated in this weekend's Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon. We had quite a variety of shows this year, covering several decades worth of television, as well as several different genres. The Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon will return next year, which will be its fifth anniversary!

If you want to read the various posts in the blogathon, here is the official post.

The Monkees: "The Devil and Peter Tork"

 (this post is part of the Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon hosted by A Shroud of Thoughts)

With the possible exception of Batman, The Monkees was probably the first show that I could ever say I was a fan of. I don't remember watching it in its first run on NBC from 1966 to 1968 (no surprise given I was only three years old when it debuted), but in 1969 CBS began rerunning it on Saturday afternoon in the Central Time Zone (Saturday morning in the Eastern Time Zone). I watched every single episode and my parents could not get me to move from the TV set until The Monkees was over. What is more, my brother and I "inherited" our sister's Monkees albums, which we very nearly wore out by listening to them so often. The Monkees has remained one of my favourite shows ever since, and The Monkees are still one of my favourite bands. To this day, The Monkees remains my favourite sitcom of all time.

Given how much I love The Monkees, it is very hard for me to choose one, single episode as my absolute favourite. That having been said, "The Devil and Peter Tork" would certainly number among my favourite episodes of The Monkees. Not only is it very funny, but after facing spies, gangsters, pirates, and even aliens, in this episode The Monkees face the Devil himself.

As one might guess from the episode's title, "The Devil and Peter Tork" centres on Peter Tork. Peter wanders into S. Zero's Pawn Shop where he is taken with a harp. Unfortunately, Peter doesn't have any money and cannot afford to buy the harp, although he admits he would give anything for it. The shop's owner, one Mr. Zero (played by Monte Landis), gives Peter a contract to sign and tells him he can "play now and pay later." The other Monkees are not happy when Peter shows up at the pad with the harp, arguing it that it takes up too much space and that he cannot play the harp. It is then that Mr. Zero appears in a puff of brimstone and informs Peter and the other Monkees that Peter can play the harp. As it turns out Peter can play the harp and The Monkees become an overnight sensation when they incorporate the harp into their act. Unfortunately, The Monkees soon learn that Mr. Zero is none other than the Devil himself and Peter in signing the contract with Mr. Zero has literally sold his soul to the Devil. The Monkees must then figure out a way to get Peter out of the contract and save his soul.

"The Devil and Peter Tork" was based on Stephen Vincent Benét's short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster", which in turn took its inspiration from Washington Irving's short story "The Devil and Tom Walker". Both owe a good deal to the German legend of Faust, a scholar and charlatan who sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for knowledge and power.

"The Devil and Peter Tork" was actually the fifth episode completed for the second season of The Monkees, but it would be the 19th episode aired that season. There is an urban legend that NBC held the episode back due to objections over the song "Salesman", which some think is a veiled reference to a drug pusher. In truth this was not the case. Whether or not "Salesman" references a drug pusher (and I personally don't think it does), NBC had no objections to the song. Instead NBC's objections were to a scene in which The Monkees try to say the word "Hell", which is replaced by a "cuckoo" sound each time. The scene was probably made all the more objectionable to NBC's Broadcast Standards department because Micky Dolenz clearly mouths the word "Hell" in an exchange with Peter.

Micky: "You know what is even more scary?"
Peter: "What?"
Micky: "You can't say (cuckoo sound) on television."

Apparently Broadcast Standards objected to the word "Hell" even being mouthed on the air, not to mention they probably didn't appreciate The Monkees poking fun at them!

As to the Devil himself in the episode, he was played by Monte Landis, who made no less than seven guest appearances on The Monkees. With the exception of one episode ("Everywhere a Sheik, Sheik"), Mr. Landis always played a bad guy, including crooked construction mogul Wilbur Zeckenbush in "Monkee Mayor", the evil art museum guard Duce in "Art for Monkee's Sake", the crooked fitness guru Shah-Ku in "I Was a 99 Pound Weaking", and, after "The Devil and Peter Tork", the crooked psychic Oracullo in "The Monkees Blow Their Minds". As a lad I pondered whether Monte Landis was actually playing a different character in every one of his guest appearances on the show or perhaps he was the Devil in disguise in each and every appearance. As to why The Monkees didn't recognise him every time (aside from the fact that he did vary his appearance...), well, he is the Devil and has various powers at his command....

"The Devil and Peter Tork" is significant as the very last episode of The Monkees in which a laugh track was used. The Monkees themselves objected to the use of a laugh track being used on the show, believing that the average viewer was intelligent enough to know when there was a joke or a gag taking place. This made The Monkees the only comedy airing on an American broadcast network at the time that did not use a laugh track besides Batman.

Of course, this being The Monkees, "The Devil and Peter Tork" featured two songs. The first to appear in the episode was "Salesman", a song by Mike Nesmith's friend at the time Craig Smith. It was the lead track on The Monkees' latest album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. Appearing in the episode's tag was "No Time", which would be the last track from the group's album Headquarters to appear on the show. When "The Devil and Peter Tork" was rerun on CBS, "Salesman" was replaced by the song "I Never Thought It Peculiar", from the album Changes (by which time The Monkees consisted of only Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz). This was standard procedure for the show, from when it originally aired on NBC to its reruns on CBS and ABC. As The Monkees was meant in part to promote the band's latest songs, when an episode was rerun it was not unusual for the original song to replaced by one of the band's newer ones. For the show's release on DVD the original songs were restored to the episodes. The restored episodes are also now seen in syndication.

After having won two  Emmy Awards in its first season (for Outstanding Comedy Series and for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy for James Frawley for the episode "Royal Flush"), in the show's second season "The Devil and Peter Tork" would be nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy, again for James Frawley. It lost to the Get Smart episode "Maxwell Smart, Private Eye".

 "The Devil and Peter Tork" is not the funniest episode of The Monkees. It is also certainly not the most surrealistic episode either. That having been said, it is possibly the most touching. There is a certain poignancy to Peter's plight and his fellow Monkees' concern for him. And while Mike Nesmith always claimed he was not an actor, he gives what might be his best performance in the entire series in the final confrontation with Mr. Zero. James Frawley, who directed a staggering 28 episodes of The Monkees  (more than any other director), also delivers some of his best work in "The Devil and Peter Tork". On "The Devil and Peter Tork" the show's production staff also has to be given credit for thumbing their noses at NBC's Broadcast Standards, perhaps the strictest in the business at the time. While it may not be the funniest Monkees episode or even the most far out episode, it is certainly one of the most enjoyable to watch.

The 4th Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon

The 4th Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon has arrived! This year we have a great line up, with entries covering several decades worth of classic television.

For those of you who are participating in the blogathon, I ask that you link to this page. I will updating this page with links to the various blog posts that are part of this blogathon throughout the weekend. If you want a graphic for your post, I have several on the announcement page here.

Anyhow, without further ado, here are the blog posts!

 Love Letters to Old Hollywood: Moonlighting, "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice"

CineMaven's Essays From the Couch: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "Apex"

The Midnite Drive-In: Planet of the Apes, "The Liberator"

Caftan Woman: Ellery Queen, "The Adventure of Miss Aggie's Farewell Performance"

The Horn Section: F Troop Fridays: "The Day the Indians Won" (1966)

Realweegiemidget Reviews: Star Trek (1967), Season 1, Episode 28, "The City on the Edge of Forever" 

Coffee, Classics, & Craziness: Rat Patrol Episode Review: "The Do Re Mi Raid"

Whimsically Classic: Favorite TV Show Blogathon-"Adios, Johnny Bravo" The Brady Bunch

The Wonderful World of Cinema: "Breakdown": An Immobile Nightmare 

A Shroud of Thoughts: The Monkees: "The Devil and Peter Tork"

Crítica Retrô: Série Retrô: Combat! - Self-Inflicted Wound (S.I.W.)

Silver Scenes: The Mystery of Pirate's Cove-The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977) 

Moon in Gemini: Upstairs Downstairs: Guest of Honour  

portraitsbyjenni: For the Favorite TV Show Episode Blogathon: Rt. 66's Legacy For Lucia

Hamlette's Soliloquy: "The Long Way Home" -- My Favorite Combat! Two-Part Episode