The Deadly Affair and Harper

James Mason as Charles Dobbs.

The Deadly Affair (1967). James Mason stars as Charles Dobbs--a renamed George Smiley--in Sidney Lumet's moderately successful adaptation of John Le Carre's novel Call for the Dead. The plot is more mystery than espionage as Dobbs tries to discover whether a diplomat (recently cleared of spying) committed suicide or was murdered. While the authorities are content with an explanation of suicide, Dobbs can't rationalize why the dead man requested a wake-up call the night of his death. Director Lumet creates a visually compelling tapestry filled with dark rainy days and shadowy characters. Mason makes a respectable Dobbs/Smiley, but Harry Andrews almost steals the film as a recently retired police detective concerned only with the facts (he falls asleep whenever Dobbs starts to speculate). Simone Signoret is also fabulous as the dead man's widow, a Holocaust survivor whose political allegiances are less murky than they appear. A subplot involving Dobbs' serially unfaithful wife Ann was added for the film. Interestingly, it foreshadows a critical plotline in Le Carre's later Smiley novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. You can currently stream The Deadly Affair on Rumble for free by clicking here.

Newman as Lew Harper.

Harper (1966).  George Smiley wasn't the only 1960s protagonist to undergo a name change en route from novel to film. Ross Macdonald's private eye Lew Archer became Lew Harper when Paul Newman agreed to star in an adaptation of the novel The Moving Target. Allegedly, Newman requested the name change because of his previous success in films with titles starting with "h" (e.g., The Hustler, Hud). Harper is a slick, star-infused mystery that finds the titular detective searching for a missing millionaire at the bequest of the man's bitter wife (Lauren Bacall). The case quickly turns into a kidnapping and pretty soon dead bodies start appearing. Newman is well-cast as the cynical, gum-chewing private eye intent on pursuing every possible lead. Screenwriter William Goldman provides Harper with an estranged wife (Janet Leigh), perhaps in an attempt to give Harper a backstory. It doesn't add much, though, as Lew Harper serves mainly to guide the audience through the labyrinthian plot. What elevates Harper are the splashy locales in and around sun-drenched Los Angeles and the star-packed supporting cast that includes Bacall, Leigh, Robert Wagner, Julie Harris, Shelley Winters, Pamela Tiffin, Arthur Hill, and Strother Martin. Newman reprised the role of Lew Harper in the inferior 1975 sequel The Drowning Pool. If you enjoy Harper, I recommend checking out James Garner's turn as Philip Marlowe in Marlowe (1969). You can currently stream Harper on Rumble for free by clicking here.

Lemmon and Ford: Life as a Cowboy Through the Eyes of a Tenderfoot

Jack Lemmon and Glenn Ford.

The incredibly versatile Delmer Daves directed three of my favorite Westerns from the 1950s, a decade in which the genre flourished. Each film is decidedly different from the other. The Hanging Tree (1959) is a tale about self-forgiveness and the power of love. 3:10 to Yuma shows how a family-oriented rancher and a bitter outlaw can develop respect for one another. The third film--the one we're reviewing today--is another tale of mutual respect. However, Cowboy is also a gritty, colorful portrait of life on the trail in the Old West.

Lemmon as a hotel clerk.

Frank Harris (Jack Lemmon) is a clerk at a posh Chicago hotel who has fallen in love with Maria, the daughter of a wealthy Mexican rancher. Maria's father dismisses Frank's marriage proposal and decides his family will return home to Guadalupe. Frank is heartbroken, but finds a glimmer of hope when cattleman Tom Reese (Glenn Ford) checks into the hotel. Reese knows Maria's father and discusses buying cattle from him. Frank seizes on a plan: If he can convince Reese to hire him as a cowhand on the trail, perhaps Frank can still pursue Maria.

Reese has no interest in taking a tenderfoot on a cattle drive. However, when he loses a large amount of money in a poker game, Frank offers to reimburse Reese's losses. There is one condition: Reese and Frank will become partners on the next cattle drive. Reese, who has been drinking too much, agrees and he wins back most of his money. When he tries to pay off Frank, the latter refuses the cash and insists on joining the cattle drive.

It's a grueling journey in which the two men learn a lot about each other. Frank becomes tougher and more realistic, while the hardened Reese becomes more compassionate about his fellow man.

Lemmon as a cowboy.

Made in 1958, Cowboy was based on the 1930 novel My Reminiscences as a Cowboy by Frank Harris. John Huston originally secured the rights as a vehicle for his father and himself. In the early 1950s, there were plans to adapt it for the screen with Spencer Tracy as Reese and Montgomery Clift as Frank. However, when those plans eventually fell through, Delmer Daves expressed interest in making it with Glenn Ford as Reese. Ford agreed on the condition that Jack Lemmon to be cast as Frank.

According to Peter Ford's biography Glenn Ford: A Life, Lemmon was initially hesitant because of his inexperience with riding a horse. Glenn Ford invited him to cocktails and, during a long evening of drinking, convinced Lemmon to accept the role. Lemmon spent the entire first day of filming on horseback and was so sore that three stuntmen had to lift him down from the saddle. In Peter Ford's book, he recalled: "I had to wear a Kotex every day for two months while I was on that friggin' horse. I was never off the damn thing long enough for (the wounds) to heal."

Richard Jaeckel and Ford.

As a film about Frank's experiences, Cowboy is understandingly episodic. Each subplot is designed to show Frank's evolution from tenderfoot to full-fledged cowboy. He watches a stupid campfire prank result in the death of one of his colleagues (Strother Martin). His rendezvous with Maria ends badly. He watches Reese and the other hands turn their back on a friend (Dick York) who's in trouble. In short, it's not an easy trek for Frank Harris, but one which does indeed toughen and transform him. Reese undergoes a transformation, too, even if it's a far more subtle one.

The two stars are fabulous together, with Ford at his gritty best and Lemmon at his most appealing in one of his first serious film roles. The latter makes it heartbreaking to watch Frank lose his initial joy as his perceptions are shattered one by one by the reality of the dusty trail. My only complaint is that Cowboy does them a disservice by rushing to its conclusion. After the script works hard to drive a wedge between the two men, it throws them into a dangerous situation and suddenly they bond together as the film ends.

Jack Lemmon never made another Western. Delmer Daves directed the excellent The Hanging Tree before transitioning to big screen soap operas. Glenn Ford, though, continued to forge a solid career in the genre, appearing in movies like Cimarron (1960), The Rounders (1965), and Day of the Evil Gun (1968).

James Stewart's TV Series "Hawkins"

If you need the best criminal lawyer in the U.S., then place a long-distance phone call to West Virginia. That's because Billy Jim Hawkins is your man! Billy Jim may play the "I'm a simple guy from the country" card, but don't be fooled. He's a crafty fellow who's not above playing some sneaky tricks in the courtroom.

This is the premise to Hawkins, a 1973-74 TV series starring James Stewart as the title character. It bears more than a passing resemblance to the later Matlock and some sources claim that Andy Griffith was first approached to play Billy Jim. There are only eight 90-minute episodes of Hawkins, which appeared as part of the umbrella series The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies. The other "shows" under this banner were Shaft (starring Richard Roundtree) and original made-for-TV movies.

Julie Harris in "Die, Darling, Die."

As a huge fan of Anatomy of a Murder (1959), I was hoping that Stewart would play a variation of attorney Paul Biegler. But as soon as he said "Call me Billy Jim," I knew that Hawkins would be closer to Matlock than Otto Preminger's classic courtroom drama. It doesn't help that Hawkins features some pretty pedestrian plots and a lack of viable suspects (always a sign of lazy writing in a mystery series). Amazingly, series creator David Karp received an Emmy nomination for writing the pilot film Hawkins on Murder, which was recycled under the title "Death and the Maiden" as the series' first episode.

The show's third episode highlights its strengths and weaknesses nicely. Billy Jim is hired to defend a woman (Julie Harris) accused of killing her terminally-ill husband by withholding his medication. An ambitious assistant district attorney (Sam Elliott without moustache) refuses to accept any kind of plea bargain. To make matters worse, the defendant won't talk to Billy Jim.

Sam Elliott as an assistant D.A.

Stewart and an above-average guest star cast deliver some solid performances (especially Harris and Elliott). The plot almost justifies its 73-minute running time, whereas other episodes seem downright leisurely. However, once again, if one assumes that the defendant is innocent, there are only two realistic suspects--and they indeed turn out to be the culprits.

This episode features Mayf Nutter (who reminded me a little of Mac Davis) as Billy Jim's journalist nephew. He was a regular in three of the eight episodes. James Hampton (F Troop) assisted Hawkins in one episode and the others featured Strother Martin as Billy Jim's brother R.J., also an attorney. Martin, who was cast at Stewart's insistence, is hilarious in the role--though I surely wouldn't have hired R.J. to represent me in any kind of legal matter!

Strother Martin as R.J. Hawkins.

Hawkins didn't last a second season, primarily because James Stewart wasn't interested. He once said that he never worked so hard as he did on Hawkins. He did win a 1973 Golden Globe as Best Actor in a TV Drama for his efforts. Honestly, I suspect it was an award more for the body of his film and TV work than it was for his performance as Billy Jim. Strother Martin also received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actor.

Even if Stewart had wanted to continue, I don't think CBS would have committed to a second season. The ratings just weren't there. While NBC's Sunday Mystery Movie was #14 in the 1973-74 ratings, The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies didn't even crack the Top 30. Now, if Billy Jim's nine siblings and dozens of cousins had all watched, it might have been a different story!

Here's a clip from Hawkins featuring Stewart, Martin, and guest star Sheree North. You can view it full-screen on the Classic Film & TV Cafe's YouTube Channel.

Interview with Heather Menzies Urich

Canadian-born Heather Menzies Urich had only one acting credit when she was cast as 13-year-old Louisa Von Trapp in the 1965 box office smash The Sound of Music. It was a dynamic start to a film and television career that would span four decades. Her television work included guest appearances in popular TV shows such as Bonanza, Dragnet 1967, The Bob Newhart Show, S.W.A.T., Marcus Welby, M.D., and The Six Million Dollar Man. Heather starred as Jessica 6 in the 1977-78 TV series Logan's Run, which was based on the hit movie. It was one of several roles that caused her popularity to soar among science fiction fans. She also starred in the sci fi movies Sssssss (1973), Piranha (1978), and Endangered Species (1982). In 1975, Heather married fellow actor Robert Urich and the couple went on to have three children. Then, in 2002, Robert died at age 55 from cancer. Five years later, Heather founded the Robert Urich Foundation. She remains actively involved in the non-profit organization, having hosted a fundraiser in Canada last August.

Café:  What was your life like after starring in a blockbuster like The Sound of Music?

Heather Menzies Urich:  It was pretty normal. It’s not something that I bragged about or talked about. All of a sudden, people wanted to get to know me whereas before I was a bit of a wallflower. I was always painfully shy so the attention didn’t really sit well.

Heather, 2nd from left, with Julie Andrews and family.

Café: What is the secret to the amazing friendships you and your Sound of Music "siblings" have maintained over the decades?

HMU:  We kind of grew up together. Our families became close and there was always something to promote, hence a reason to pull us all together over the years. For example, there would be a new re-issue of the DVD, an anniversary, etc.

Café:  In Sssssss, your boyfriend transformed into a snake and in Piranha, you played a skiptracer that battled people-eating fish. What are some of your memories from these modestly-budgeted cult classics?

HMU:  The snake one was a lot of fun to do. I loved Strother Martin and he became a bit of a father figure to me. Bob and I used to go over to his house on Sundays and sit on the back porch all afternoon. You never knew who else was going to be there. He knew everyone in Hollywood. At first, handling the snakes was horrifying, but we all got used to it. Piranha was filmed almost entirely on location in Texas. Joe Dante went on to direct Gremlins for Spielberg, so working with him was pretty special. Not to mention Brad Dillman, Kevin McCarthy and Keenan Wynn. Legends!

Café:  The Logan's Run TV series was short-lived, but has a loyal following (and can be viewed now on WarnerArchive.com). How did you come to be cast as Jessica 6?

With Gregory Harrison in Logan's Run.

HMU:  I went to the audition and then screen tested with a few potential Logans. Nicholas Hammond and Dirk Benedict were in the running.

Café:  The series only lasted 14 episodes despite the involvement of veteran Star Trek writers, one of the authors of the novel Logan's Run, and Saul David, who produced the movie version. What do you think led to the show's cancellation?

HMU:  I think they needed to spend more money on the visuals. Star Wars came out around that time and we couldn’t really compete with that.

Heather and Robert Urich on the Libby's set.

Café:  I've read that you met your future husband Robert Urich while making a TV commercial. Can you provide details...and was it love at first sight?

HMU:  It was a Libby's Corned Beef Hash commercial. We actually got married in the commercial. I kind of avoided him at first because I thought that getting involved with a “chiseled jaw” actor was not something I needed.

Café:  What was it like acting opposite your husband in episodes of Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire and in the movie Endangered Species?

HMU:  We did a lot of work together in acting class (Milton Katseles), so we were used to working with each other. We had a tremendous amount of mutual respect for each other professionally. We also did a couple of plays together: The Hasty Heart at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater and The Kennedy Center as well as Barefoot in the Park on the Kenley Circuit in Ohio.

Café:  As noted above, you guest-starred in many of the most popular TV series of the 1960s and 1970s. What were some of your favorite roles and why?

HMU:  Anything having to do with horses. So, I guess that would be any Western, such as Bonanza, High Chaparral, and Alias Smith and Jones.

Café:  Can you tell us about your work with the Robert Urich Foundation?

HMU: It is a California-based Foundation. We raise funds for cancer research and patient care. You can learn more at www.urichfoundation.org.

Café:  Are you participating in any upcoming events that you'd like to share with our readers?

HMU:  I’m appearing at The Hollywood Show in LA in February.

You can learn more about Heather Menzies Urich at her website (www.heathermenziesurich.com). You can connect with her and the rest of the Sound of Music 7 (the performers who played all the children) on Twitter and Facebook. All photos are courtesy of Heather Menzies Urich.

James Stewart Leads a Fools' Parade

James Stewart behind "bars" in Fools' Parade.

James Stewart's career in the 1960s and 1970s consisted largely of paternal roles, Westerns, and occasional supporting parts. There were some notable exceptions in the 1960s, specifically The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965). His final starring role in a theatrical film was in Fools' Parade (1971) and, though it pales next to his classics, it's a respectable way to close out an incredible career as a leading man.

Set in West Virginia in 1935, the film focuses on three men released from the Glory State Penitentiary. Mattie Appleyard, the trio's leader, spent 40 years in prison for killing three men (in self defense as we later learn). Mattie's hard labor as an inmate has earned him $25,000, which he and his friends plan to use to open a general store. Unfortunately, a local banker (who has embezzled Mattie's money) and an abusive prison guard plan to kill the ex-cons.

The film was later retitled, presumably
to make it sound more exciting.

Director Andrew McLaglen worked frequently in the 1960s with Stewart (Shenandoah, The Rare Breed, Bandolero!) and John Wayne (Hellfighters, McLintok!). Considering his propensity to specialize in Westerns and action films, he seems like an odd choice for Fools' Parade, which is essentially a character study of a "family" comprised of the three ex-cons. However, he quietly lets his actors carry the film, a smart decision considering they are its biggest asset. McLaglen also nicely captures the time period, his camera lingering on homeless men as the train speeds through the gray West Virginia mountains.

James Stewart is in fine form as the rational leader of the group. Kurt Russell, who was still starring in Disney comedies, gives a likable performance as the youngest and most naive of the ex-cons. However, acting honors go to Strother Martin, who may even be better here than he was in his most famous role as the Captain in Cool Hand Luke (1967). His character has survived prison by thinking about the store they plan to open--to the point that he carries around a book to jot down notes about future inventory (e.g., if a bottle of bourbon was tasty, he notes the brand).

A lobby card showing Anne Baxter, Russell, Martin, and Stewart.

Unfortunately, the film's villains are no more than caricatures not worthy of our protagonists. Martin's Cool Hand Luke co-star George Kennedy overplays his nasty prison guard as a religious zealot. Ditto for David Huddleston as the greedy banker. (William Windom and Anne Baxter, though, bolster the proceedings in their brief scenes.)

As I was watching Fools' Parade, I couldn't help but think about the challenges of making a film set in the Great Depression for 1971 movie-goers. For example, there's no way that Mattie could have made $25,000 during his 40 years of hard labor. To put it in perspective, $25,000 in 1935 equates to over $400,000 today. It's more likely that Mattie's savings would have been much less. So, I can see the dilemma faced by the script writers. Would the audiences of 1971 have accepted the villains murdering the convicts for an a more realistic amount, as low as maybe $8,000?

Fools' Parade will never be listed among James Stewart's best films. Yet, it's definitely worth a look so you can relish one last star turn from Stewart, plus Strother Martin in a signature role, and Kurt Russell showing the appeal that would make him a reliable star that's still making films today.

Sssssss…What a Great Snake Movie!!!

I saw Sssssss, a minor cult classic, when it was originally released in 1973. I remember my little brother calling the movie theatre just to make the girl working in the box office say the title (the ad line was: “Don’t say it…hiss it!”). He thought that was so funny. It was the first time I saw Dirk Benedict and I became an instant fan.

The film begins with some creepy “thing” making odd sounds in a wooden box. Dr. Stoner, an ophiologist, is selling the noisy contents in the box to another man. Stoner owns a snake farm where he extracts venom from a variety of poisonous snakes. He even “wrangles” with his King Cobra in front of an audience for money. The doc recruits a young man named David Blake (Benedict) to be his new assistant at the farm. It seems that Dr. Stoner’s former lab assistant just packed up and left him. David is instantly attracted to the doctor’s daughter, Kristina (Heather Menzes). Why David thinks that Kristina is cute is beyond me. She wears large round glasses and has a bad multi-layered hair style!! Considering she posed in Playboy magazine, one would think that she would look better. However, Dirk is really cute!

Soon, we discover that Dr. Stoner is very strange. He and Kristina have a pet python they both talk to like a human best friend. And we know something is amiss when the good old doc starts giving David injections of snake venom. When David asks why he is getting injections that make him sick and cause bizarre dreams, the doc tells him it will protect him from the poisons if he is bitten. It’s not long before David’s skin begins to peel, but the doc says it’s just a normal reaction. David believes him and keeps getting the injections.

Eventually, David and Kristina end up alone in the woods and go skinny dipping. Now you might think that these two will be completely naked. They do take their clothes off, but these silly leaves cover their exposed parts. Considering Menzies’s pose in Playboy, I have often suspected that the viewer might have seen more in this scene. Afterwards, David and Kristina go to a carnival where David gets beaten up by a local bully in front of Kristina. Meanwhile, Dr. Stoner, who is alone in the house, tells Harry the python that snakes are perfect creatures because they don’t make him sick and they don’t complain. He says the world would a better place with just reptiles. Stoner says that snakes can evolve and are God’s perfect creatures. If only man could evolve like the snakes, humanity could survive.

That night, the bully, Steve Randall (Reb Brown), comes to Dr. Stoner’s house and climbs into Kristina’s window. Harry the pet python attacks the intruder. Randall falls out of the window, but survives and kills Harry. Dr. Stoner wants revenge for Harry’s death, so he takes a Black Mamba snake to town and sneaks into the bully’s house. He puts the poisonous Mamba in the shower and Randall dies from its bite. The snake’s venom makes it look like the bully died from a heart attack.

Later, the sheriff comes to Stoner’s house and asks about his former assistant, Tim, who has disappeared. It seems his family has reported him as missing. Stoner tells the sheriff that Tim just left and never came back. Stoner confronts his daughter about having sex with David. She tells him it is none of his business. Her father says it is dangerous if she has sex because of David’s venom inoculations. You can’t help but wonder what is the doc up to?

Stoner sends his daughter to pick up a snake. While she is gone, David begins to transform into “something.” His skin changes in texture and color, his eyes get smaller, and his head becomes more rounded. While Kristina is waiting for the snake to arrive, the postman tells her about a “snake-man” he saw in the carnival in town. He says it looked so real that it gave him the creeps. Kristina tells him it is obviously a fake, but the postman convinces her to go and see it for herself. What will Kristina find at the carnival and what will be David’s fate?

Surprisingly, there are several religious references in Sssssss. When Dr. Stoner talks to Harry the Python, he says how snakes are God’s most perfect species and can even survive an apocalypse. The skinny dipping scene in the forest is reminiscent of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The make-up used on David’s character is good, as are the special effects for the snake-man. In the scenes where Dr. Stoner milks the snakes, the reptiles were real (except for one part where Martin grabs the King Cobra’s head and a puppet is used). A snake actually bit Strother Martin in the movie. The King Cobras were flown in from Thailand,and the Python was from Singapore. Benedict and Menzies had to handle the real snakes, too. The herpetological library used in the movie is a real one. The Spanish title for this movie was Ssssilbido de muerte which translated in English means “Hiss of Death.” Martin actually used a hypodermic needle and really punctured Benedict’s arm during the injection scenes.

Sssssss was directed by Bernard L. Kowalski, who did many pilots for television shows such as Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1957) and NYPD (1967). He was the executive producer for Baretta (1975) and worked on many Mission: Impossible episodes. He started out in movies by playing an extra in two Errol Flynn movies, Dodge City (1939) and Virginia City (1940).

Dirk Benedict is most famous for playing Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica (1978) television series and as Templeton “Face” Peck in The A-Team. Heather Menzies gained modest fame for playing Louisa von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965). She was married to Robert Urich for 27 years until his death in 2002 from cancer. Urich was in the television series Vegas (1978) and Spenser: For Hire (1985).

Strother Martin is best remembered for his role as The Captain in Cool Hand Luke, where he uttered that film’s classic line: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” He was also in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1967) and Slap Shot (1977) with Paul Newman. Strother Martin died in 1980.

Yes, Sssssss is a cheesy horror film, but it was scary to me the first time I saw it and has gained a minor cult following over the year. I hadn’t seen it since 1973 before I watched it again recently. It didn’t scare me as much this second time around. Still, Sssssss is an original and effective low-budget picture that’s worth watching—if you aren’t afraid of snakes.