Posted by jefty
on 10/21/2009, 6:57 am
75.176.18.73 | Message modified by user jefty 10/21/2009, 7:52 am
-Welcome to the second installment of "Jefty Week" on The Blackboard-
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Certainly not the caliber of M Squad, The Naked City or Johnny Staccatto but a decent, albeit short-lived 1960’s one hour detective series produced by Arthur Lewis, a TV producer who learned his trade from his dad, a broadway producer.
Director: Herman Hoffman, a 40 year veteran of Hollywood with extensive TV producing, directing and writing credits...(Served as associate producer on Bad Day at Black Rock.) and directed 6 eps of this series.
Theme music composed and performed by the incomparable Duke Ellington. Tonight’s episode”:
“The Professor” -airing on ABC Sunday night at 9:30 pm , May 28th 1961
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The episode is an almost scene-for-scene, occasionally word-for-word, truncated version of the stand out 1950 film. The primary difference being the inclusion of the three recurring roles of the police into the story.. Interesting that they didn’t run this episode as the first to tie into the film but ninth, nearin the end of it’s one and only 13 week run .
THE STORY:
The story is the retelling of the million dollar jewel heist and the consequences that befell the participant’s in the “Professor’s” plan as outlined in the W R Burnettt novel which is acknowledged in the credits.. As we are all familiar with the story, I’ll focus on what I found to be different from the film. First, a few comments about the differences in casting.
THE CAST:
-Million Selzer plays the Sam Jaffe role as the titular “Professor”. Doc Stehlemeyer. Selzer usually plays a shop keeper or nebbish of one sort or another and I found him much less compelling in the role than Jaffee, although his penchant for lechery was on par with Jaffee’s. Close but no cigar.
-Philip Carey: Tennessee is substituted for Kentucky and the Sterling Hayden role of “Dix Handley” by Phil Carey, a mainstay of many film and tv westerns. Carey is an adequate locum tenens but lacks the nuance of vulnerability and crazed intensity of Hayden’s homesick hooligan.
-Sydney Pollack as Louie doing March Lawrence’s “Cobbie” is a pale substitute ...There’s only one Marc Lawrence and his synchophantic, niggardly sleaze ball “Cobbie” would be hard to duplicate, and Pollack is just doesn’t measure up.
-Guy Raymond playing “box man” Tommy McCallister....Raymond, a familiar face from TV’s golden age, usually plays lanky comedic country bumpkins. I missed Anthony Caruso’s “Louis Cavelli” portrayal as the token Italian and his constant worry about his new born, uniquely showing the family side of crime...that some were regular guys only playing on the left side of the law. Something barely touched on till ‘The Soprano’s” made them our neighbors. Raymond, usually playing a hillbilly dolt was totally miscast imho.
-Lew Gallo as Don Shannon...Despite an impressive 40 year resume playing a variety of character types, imo, here he’s hollow version of Brad Dexter’s “Bob Brannom”.
-Kay Doubleday as Clara is made more wholesome than B girl Jean Hagen’s “Doll” friend of Dix and is along for the ride but with little to do.
-Frank Overton as Phil Kevison is the Louis Calhern “Alonzo Emmerich” replacement.. Overton is another familiar face on episodic tv of the 60’s with his deep voice and tall, handsome, patrician appearance and demeanor.. Too bad his hair is so obviously “floured” to make him look older, more distinguished...and really fake.
-Joan Staley as Alice is a buxom but otherwise meager substitute as MM’s little vixen, “Angela Phinlay”, but then who on the planet could have taken Monroe’s place.
And as stars of the series; stone faced Bill Smith as Sgt. Danny Keller along with the always interesting Jack Warden as Deputy Police Commish Matt Gower and the heavy of eyebrows and deep voiced Arch Johnson as Capt.Gus Honochek. There wasn’t much screen time and very few lines for these guys as the story plays out from the criminals perspective. Perhaps the lack of the cops’’ character development during the series was the primary reason for it’s demise..or at least that's what this episode would lead you to believe.
FILM VS TV STORYLINE:
The first difference is a programatic prologue showing Doc arriving in town by train...actually he smartly jumps ship(train) just before it gets into the station, eluding the police who’ve been waiting there expectantly.
The epilogue, the episodic device to wrap up most shows of the era, has Doc conversing about his lamentable fate to the three cops who we’ve seen precious little of throughout the program.
In one of only a few breaks from, the film, Kevison, instead of committing suicide, wheels around with his gun drawn and is shot and killed, a case of suicide by cop.
Another departure is the missing role of Gus Minissi, the dinghy diner proprietor and sometime wheel man played to perfection by James Whitmore who makes the minor film role memorable.
“Tenn” never gets close to returning to the family farm as Dix does in the film. He mistakes a nearby city park for the Tennessee countryside and falls dead beside a tree, having been shot earlier in the scuffle at Kevison’s home.
The only improvement to the film is the scene where the Doc runs into a foxy, hotrod honey, hoppin’ and boppin’ on a street corner clad in “bllllllllllllack Slacks”* and a striped referee’s jersey that accentuates, her, shall we say “positives”... The lewd lascivious Doc, as in the film’s diner scene, stays gawking at her just long enough for a pair of beat cops to stroll up and cuff him..
REMARKS:
I’d call this episode, “The Asphalt Jungle-Lite” as it’s less filling with only half the calories. M’onroe’s absence alone is responsible for the reduced sugar content. The teleplay hits most all the plot keys but the depth of characters and their relationships to one another are woefully lacking and are the real victims of the time constraints television imposes. Beyond the name, storyline, and many familiar names that appeared on the series, (some listed below) I fround no substantial evidence for this to be included in the growing Noir TV Canon. It was shot mostly in studio and backlot and as it was produced for TV the camera angles and lighting were pretty straightforward, literally.
QUIPS & QUOTESs:
A couple of turns of phrases that were fun were “”Could be” doesn’t buy the caviar.” and -
“Do you know any nice young ladies? I ‘m very fond of nice young ladies.” - both by the randy “Professor”.
TRIVIA:
The show ran for one spring season running 13 episodes, premiering on 2 April 61 and ending 25 June 61. The Asphalt Jungle was replete with noir vets over its 13 episodes with names like Paul Steward, Jay Adler, Emile Meyers, Ed Binns, Alexander Scourby ,Skip Homeier, Bev Garland and Steve Brodie. Others household names were Vera Miles, Michael Constantine, Robert Vaughn and Ted Knight among others.
* refrain from Joe Bennett and the Sparkletone’s 1957 smash hit “Black Slacks” although in the song the reference was to “Joe’s” pegged trousers’...real cool daddy-o!
""Is the casino vault armored? No, it's made of wood! -" Bob Le Flambeau" -1956
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