DAY OF RECKONING

 

Publicity poster for Day of Reckoning (© Joel Novoa/Syfy – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

On 29 July 2023, my movie watch was a very unusual 2016 monster/horror creature feature entitled Day of Reckoning.

Directed by Joel Novia, and screened on TV in 2016 by Syfy, Day of Reckoning begins with a prologue, showing what happened 15 years before this movie's main story.

Namely, tunnelling work deep underground for a mining operation, coupled above-ground with a solar eclipse, had heralded the sudden surfacing worldwide of immense droves of horrific winged and other carnivorous beasts from the infernal subterranean depths of our planet. Moreover, these monsters wreaked such devastation upon its surface and in particular upon humanity until the eclipse ended that this nightmarish 24 hours was dubbed the Day of Reckoning.

Moving now to the present day, another eclipse occurs, and the global horror happens all over again. Yet despite the previous occurrence, civilization seems no more capable of tackling this terrifying scenario than it was before.

The film follows the desperate attempts of one dysfunctional family headed by David Shepperd (Jackson Hurst) to escape the hellish beasts unleashed upon the world and, ultimately, to fight back. Their one hope of salvation is that the creatures, of which there are several different types, including a macabre semi-humanoid variety, can be killed by salt, which dissolves them into a bloody pool of ooze.

For a low-budget TV movie, the CGI creatures in Day of Reckoning are decent, especially the sky-filling hordes of dragon-like winged terrors, and also a monstrous, gigantic centipede-like entity. I also enjoyed the freakish terror bird x feathered velocitaptor lookalikes that were unleashed first during the original tunneling work.

No major-league stars feature in this movie, and all manner of unexplained aspects exist in its plot, such as how an eclipse can even be sensed by creatures that live at least 3000 ft below the surface (the depth at which the original tunneling which disturbed them had occurred), why weren't stores of salt positioned in vast quantities around the chasms from which the creatures emerged during the first Day of Reckoning so as to be ready for dropping into them if these creatures should ever re-emerge (which of course they did, 15 years later), and so forth.

But as with all such movies, it's best not to think too deeply about plotting, just go with the flow, suspend disbelief, and enjoy an interesting, novel twist on the usual monster movie scenario, as I did.

If you'd like to view an official Day of Reckoning trailer on YouTube, please click here.

Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

Another publicity poster for Day of Reckoning (© Joel Novoa/Syfy – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

 

THE ASH LAD: IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING

 

Publicity poster for The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King (© Mikkel Brænne Sandemose/Janson Media/Maipo Film/Sirena Film Subotica/Norwegian Film Institute – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

On 21 October 2023, my movie watch was an English-dubbed Norwegian fantasy movie entitled The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King.

Directed by Mikkel Brænne Sandemose, and released in Norway in 2017, The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King was inspired by the 18th-Century Norwegian folktales of Askeladden ('Ash Lad'). It also takes its English subtitle from the fourth movement in Norwegian classical composer Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite #1 (in 1875 he wrote two such suites, originally as accompaniment music for Henrik Ibsen's 1867 stage play Peer Gynt), in which the titular hero encounters the mountain-dwelling troll king and his minions.

The Ash Lad is the nickname given by his two older brothers (Per and Pal) and his father to daydreamer Espen (played by Verbjørn Enger, whose practical abilities in every-day life on their farm seem limited to stirring the ashes in their homestead's fireplace in order to keep its fire alight – and one day he even causes disaster with this simple task, resulting in their homestead catching fire and burning to the ground!

However, Espen comes into his own when he and his brothers find themselves on a quest to rescue their monarch King Erik's headstrong daughter, Princess Kristin (Elii Harboe), who has been abducted by the biggest and meanest troll in all of Norway – the dreaded Mountain King – and earn a sufficiently sizeable reward to rebuild their homestead.

Along the way, the fraternal trio encounter all manner of untoward entities.  The first is a hideous witch, but because Espen treats her with respect and kindness, she provides him with a magical map that reveals their required route to the cave in which the Mountain King is keeping the princess imprisoned until she agrees to become his bride.

Then they meet some beautiful, seductive forest nymphs, whose true, anything-but-beautiful, deadly nature is perceived only by Espen, who rescues his two enchanted brothers in the nick of time from their lethal clutches.

Later, they do battle with the conniving Prince Fredrik (Allan Hyde), who is also seeking to rescue the princess but secretly plans to kill her after marrying her so that he can become sole ruler of her kingdom, and barely escape with their lives from Frederick and his men.

Then Espen has to free himself from the clutches of some lake-dwelling botanical humanoids who do their utmost to drown him, before the brotherly trio finally – but not least of all – confront the formidable Mountain King himself. In short, their trek across rural Norway is nothing if not eventful!

The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King's CGI special effects, though not up to Hollywood standards, are very satisfactory; and unlike the unremitting darkness of tone and content that often pervades this kind of fantasy movie nowadays if produced in Hollywood, there is much more humour and light here, and with no wokeism to speak of either, plus a traditional, uncomplicated happy ending (remember those?).

In 2019, a sequel was released, The Ash Lad: In Search of the Golden Castle, which follows on from this present movie and is based upon the famous Soria Moria fairy tale that I well remember from childhood, so I'll be sure to look out for it. Meanwhile, this present movie is a joyful, escapist family film that everyone of every age can – and should – enjoy, just like I did.

If you'd like to watch The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King in its entirety for free on YouTube, be sure to click here.

Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

My copy from childhood of the large-format, full-colour, beautifully-illustrated 1962 retelling for youngsters of Henrik Ibsen's original 1867 play Peer Gynt (© Oldbourne Book Co Ltd: London – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

GEMINI MAN (1976 TV show)

 

Ben Murphy as the bedenimed biker and Intersect special agent Sam Casey, aka the Gemini Man, in Gemini Man (© Michael Caffey/Alan Crosland Jr/Alan J. Levy/Harve Bennett Productions/Universal Television/NBC – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Back in the 1970s, I watched virtually every sci-fi show on TV here in the UK, but somehow managed to miss Gemini Man, starring Ben Murphy (already known to me from the excellent comedy Western series Alias Smith and Jones, in which he played outlaw Kid Curry).

Directed by Michael Caffey, Alan Crosland Jr, and Alan J. Levy, originally screened in 1976 by NBC in the States ( by the BBC in the UK), and conceived as a modern-day take on the famous 1897 novel The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells, Gemini Man focuses upon US secret agent/bedenimed biker Sam Casey (played by Ben Murphy) who, following a near-fatal nuclear-related accident that rendered him invisible and life-saving surgery to reverse this dramatic effect, is able with the aid of a special DNA-stabilising wristwatch to remain visible. However, if he presses one of its special buttons, he can become invisible again, for up to 15 minutes every day – but for no more than 15 minutes every day, otherwise he would vanish forever and die.

 

Sam Casey (Ben Murphy) and Dr Abby Lawrence (Katherine Crawford), from Gemini Man (© Michael Caffey/Alan Crosland Jr/Alan J. Levy/Harve Bennett Productions/Universal Television/NBC – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Sam is dubbed the Gemini Man by his boss Leonard Driscoll (William Sylvester), and, assisted by brilliant scientist Dr Abby Lawrence (Katherine Crawford) who invented his unique wristwatch, he is now able to undergo extra-special assignments for Intersect, the high-tech US government think tank where they all work, that no ordinary agent, lacking Sam's extraordinary, top-secret ability of invisibility, could possibly hope to accomplish.

I knew about this intriguing show, and had even seen the official Gemini Man hardback annual on sale at Christmas 1976-1977 (a copy of which I recently purchased, in excellent secondhand condition, and only four decades late!), following the show's TV screening earlier that year by the BBC. (Speaking of which: there was also a BBC-authorised Gemini Man colouring book on sale in 1976, not to mention a BBC-authorised Gemini Man fun sticker book, and even a Gemini Man LP album, released by Power Records, but I regret to say that I don't own any of these!)

 

Front and back covers of the Universal City Studios-authorized 1977 Gemini Man annual, and front cover of the BBC-authorised Gemini Man colouring book (© Michael Caffey/Alan Crosland Jr/Alan J. Levy/Harve Bennett Productions/Universal Television/NBC/Universal City Studios, Inc./Brown Watson/BBC – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Yet for reasons entirely unknown to me, I never got around to watching any of its single season of eleven 50-minute episodes. Nor even its feature-length pilot episode. Perhaps it clashed with some other series that I or my parents were watching on another TV channel?

Tragically, however, Gemini Man was never repeated in the UK, so I never did get the chance to watch it – until 15 May 2020, that is, when to my surprise and delight I discovered that all eleven episodes of this show (plus the pilot, in which Driscoll is played not by William Sylvester but instead by Richard A. Dysart) were currently available to watch free of charge on YouTube!

 

Cover of the Gemini Man LP record (© Michael Caffey/Alan Crosland Jr/Alan J. Levy/Harve Bennett Productions/Universal Television/NBC/Power Records – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

So I swiftly downloaded the full set as MP4 files, in case they were subsequently taken down from YouTube, which often happens. Now, after a mere 44 years' delay I could finally view them all, and at my leisure. I'd read that Gemini Man didn't get good reviews at the time (especially not in the States, explaining why only 5 episodes were screened there before the show was cancelled, whereas all eleven were screened in the UK), which almost guaranteed that I'd like it!

I also discovered and downloaded an official Gemini Man TV movie, Riding With Death, released in 1981, which consists of two Gemini Man episodes that had been deftly spliced together. These are Episode 1, entitled 'Smithereens', and Episode 10, entitled 'Buffalo Bill Rides Again', linked by the appearance in both of them (but in no others) of a C&W-singing trucker character named 'Buffalo' Bill Joe Hickens (played by real-life country singer Jim Stafford), who becomes friends with Sam after saving his life during 'Smithereen', with Sam duly returning the favour in 'Buffalo Bill Rides Again'. Interestingly, this movie also utilizes excerpts from a 1970 American science fiction film entitled Colossus: The Forbin Project, which I've reviewed here.

 

'Buffalo' Bill (Jim Stafford) and Sam Casey (Ben Murphy) in the Gemini Man TV movie Riding With Death (© Michael Caffey/Alan Crosland Jr/Alan J. Levy/Harve Bennett Productions/Universal Television/NBC – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

A couple of days later, on 17 May 2023, I watched the movie-length pilot episode downloaded from YouTube, which proved to be a source of great fun, and great nostalgia, taking me effortlessly back to 1976 when everything felt so much simpler, and nicer. It even drew to a close with a straightforward happy ending – no angst and hang-ups like we find in today's TV shows, instead simply offering some amusing, lighthearted sci fi & spying gimmickry not to be taken seriously, just enjoyed. True, the viewing quality wasn't brilliant but it was serviceable. Consequently, I knew that I was certainly going to enjoy the 11 normal-length episodes now – and sure enough, I did!

Such a shame, then, that Gemini Man has only ever achieved one official home viewing release – namely, a French DVD box set released by Elephant Films, containing the eleven episodes plus the pilot (but not the 1981 movie), with French-language cover descriptions but the original English audio tracks. I spotted three sets for sale on ebay on 19 May 2020, all brand-new but even the cheapest was a hefty £54.99, which I felt unable to justify purchasing, especially as I already had the YouTube versions. So I decided to stick with my downloads, at least for the time being, merci.

 

The French Gemini Man complete DVD box set (© Michael Caffey/Alan Crosland Jr/Alan J. Levy/Harve Bennett Productions/Universal Television/NBC/Elephant Films – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Fast forward to 21 May 2020, when after much procrastination during the previous few weeks I finally decided to dip my toes into the unknown waters of online trivia quizzes – but only ones that were free to enter, offered cash prizes, and only required a PayPal account (not bank details) to pay any winnings into. So, I entered one such quiz, and ten minutes later my PayPal account had gained £52.63 in winnings, and my DVD collection had duly gained the complete Gemini Man box set. I could get to like online quizzing!

So there is the story of how I made visible in my world at long last the invisible Gemini Man, but it still seems unbelievable to me that this show was originally screened 47 years ago, when I was only 16. Judging from the associated merchandise that was available for it back then, there were high hopes that this sci fi TV show would be a success. Yet although it wasn't, it deserved to be.

 

Sam Casey (Ben Murphy) with his Intersect boss Leonard Driscoll (William Sylvester) and scientist friend/helper Dr Abby Lawrence (Katherine Crawford) (© Michael Caffey/Alan Crosland Jr/Alan J. Levy/Harve Bennett Productions/Universal Television/NBC/Universal City Studios, Inc. – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

As noted earlier, all of the eleven 50-minute Gemini Man episodes, plus the feature-length pilot, and the 1981 TV movie Riding With Death, can currently be accessed on YouTube. So, click here, for example, if you'd like to view the pilot, here if you'd like to view the first of the 50-minute episodes, here if you'd like to view Riding With Death, and here if you'd like to call up all of the episodes in a single YouTube listing.

Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

Ben Murphy as Sam Casey, the Gemini Man (© Michael Caffey/Alan Crosland Jr/Alan J. Levy/Harve Bennett Productions/Universal Television/NBC/Universal City Studios, Inc. – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

 

TITANS AND GIANTS AND MONSTERS – OH MY!!

 

Publicity posters for The Titan, Village of the Giants, and The Food of the Gods (© Lennart Ruff/Voltage Pictures/42/Automatik Entertainment/The Amel Company/Motion Picture Capital/Nostromo Pictures/The Post Republic/Signature Entertainment/Netflix / © Sean S. Cunningham/Carolco Pictures/Tri-Star Pictures / © Bert I. Gordon/Berkeley Productions/Embassy Pictures – all three posters reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

 Time for another six of the best(?) and the rest(!) movies watched recently by me, drawn forth from the cinematic genres of science fiction and fantasy to be mini-reviewed here for your merriment and mirth during this festive season!

 

 

Publicity poster for The Titan (© Lennart Ruff/Voltage Pictures/42/Automatik Entertainment/The Amel Company/Motion Picture Capital/Nostromo Pictures/The Post Republic/Signature Entertainment/Netflix – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

THE TITAN

On 16 November 2023, I watched the futuristic sci fi movie The Titan. Directed by Lennart Ruff, and released in 2018 by Netflix, The Titan is set in the year 2048 with Earth vastly overpopulated and doomed to ecological destruction very soon. Sam Worthington plays US fighter pilot Rick Janssen, one of a team of volunteers submitting to a make-or-break radical, highly controversial scientific program of genetic manipulation to transform them into humanoids capable of surviving on Saturn's giant moon Titan. For if successful, it is envisaged that humanity will then migrate there and establish a new life and civilisation on this new world. Although interesting overall, I found this movie's plot oddly unengaging, probably because the entire movie concentrates upon the program to create these new humanoids, with its actual, ultimate success story, Rick, only seen in his new, flying form on Titan for all of a minute at the very end of the film. Much more of it should have been devoted to the end result, I feel, rather than to the build-up, which drags on, and on, and on... Please click here to view an official trailer for The Titan on YouTube, or click here to view the entire movie while it is free to do so on YouTube.

 

 

Publicity poster for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (© Wes Anderson/Indian Paintbrush/American Empirical Pictures/Netflix – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR

On 6 November 2023, I watched the new Netflix mini-movie The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Directed by Wes Anderson, and released in 2023 by Netflix, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is based upon a Roald Dahl short story of the same title, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character, with Ralph Fiennes as author Roald Dahl. Henry is an inveterate gambler who has no problem with cheating if it means winning, and who learns indirectly from a mystic (Ben Kingsley) how to see without using his eyes, thereby enabling him to win every game – only to discover, however, that without the risk of ever losing now, there is no longer any thrill to gambling, So instead, he puts his ill-gotten gains to philanthropic use. Also starring Dev Patel and Richard Ayoade, and just 40 minutes long, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is visually sumptuous, a gorgeous palette of pastoral multicolour, and scenery that changes on-screen in the manner of a theatre stage production, but hampered imho by a purposefully stilted dialogue presentation that resembles someone reading in a gabbled monotone manner from a book, which grates after a while. Please click here to view an official trailer for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar on YouTube.

 

 

Publicity poster for Pixels (© Chris Columbus/Columbia Pictures/Happy Madison Productions/1492 Pictures/LStar Capital/China Film Co Ltd/Film Croppers Entertainment/Sony Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

PIXELS

On 8 November 2023, my movie watch was the very funny sci fi/fantasy-themed comedy film Pixels. Directed by Chris Columbus, and released in 2015 by Sony Pictures, Pixels stars Adam Sandler as a jaded, drifting, all-grown-up video-game arcader named Sam Brenner whose skills in and knowledge of 1980s classics like Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and Centipede become invaluable to the US President (who just so happens to be Sam's best buddy from childhood – what are the chances??) when Earth is challenged by real-life Space Invaders – a race of aliens who threaten to destroy our planet if Earth's representatives cannot beat them in a series of real-life, full-sized, full-power versions of these vintage games. The special effects are incredible, the story itself is thrilling, the characters mostly likeable (Peter Dinklage's gaming cheat Eddie – Sam's mean rival back in the day – is somewhat less so). Never having been a gamer, however, I probably missed a fair few in-jokes along the way, but I still enjoyed it very much, so I feel sure that avowed gamers would love it! Please click here to view an official trailer for Pixels on YouTube.

 

 

Publicity poster for DeepStar Six (© Sean S. Cunningham/Carolco Pictures/Tri-Star Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

DEEPSTAR SIX

On 9 April 2023, I watched on the UK's retro horror/sci fi channel Legend TV the 1980s underwater sci-ft/monster movie DeepStar Six, which I'd been wanting to watch for some time. Directed by Sean S. Cunningham, and released in 1989 by Tri-Star Pictures, DeepStar Six takes its title from the name of a deepwater US Naval facility that blows up a cavern on the ocean bottom. This in turn causes a huge sea monster to be released through the resulting fissure that destroys the facility and relentlessly pursues the survivors as they desperately attempt to escape to the surface in their vessel. The most recognisable star in this movie is Greg Evigan, previously of BJ and the Bear TV fame, who plays its hero – submarine pilot McBride. As for the monster: although often described in reviews of this film as a gigantic prehistoric sea scorpion or eurypterid, it actually looks nothing like one, at least as far as fossil evidence of such creatures' appearance is concerned. DeepStar Six is a very formulaic 'painting-by-numbers' monster movie, but is entertaining nonetheless, though it takes a heck of a while before we finally get a good look at the monster. Please click here to view an official trailer for Deepstar Six on YouTube.

 

 

Publicity poster for The Food of the Gods (© Bert I. Gordon/American International Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

THE FOOD OF THE GODS

My film watch on 9 September 2023 was the 1970s monster movie The Food of the Gods, as shown on the retro UK TV channel Talking Pictures. Directed, co-produced, and written by Bert I. Gordon, and released by American International Pictures in 1976 in the USA, in 1977 everywhere else, The Food of the Gods is based in only the most tenuous way upon the eponymous sci fi novel by H.G. Wells. Apart from featuring a mysterious substance that causes animals who consume it to grow to enormous size, the movie and novel have entirely different storylines. The movie is set in North America, not England, and focuses upon a group of people cut off from civilisation on a small island where the said Food of the Gods has oozed out of the ground, creating colossal highly-venomous wasps, gigantic carnivorous chickens, huge flesh-biting maggots, and hordes of murderous bloodthirsty mega-rats, most of which seem hell-bent upon targeting the elderly Mrs Skinner, played by veteran actress Ida Lupino in her penultimate big-screen role. Sadly, most of the special effects are risible, especially the close-ups of the rats attacking and killing their human victims, which also go on for far too long imho. My biggest disappointment, however, was discovering that this monster movie didn't feature Joan Collins, whom I'd been looking forward to seeing in it – only for me to remember somewhat later that it was Empire of the Ants that she'd appeared in! Doh! Please click here to view an official trailer for The Food of the Gods on YouTube.

 

 

Full cover from the official Region 1 DVD of Village of the Giants (© Bert I. Gordon/Berkeley Productions/Embassy Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS

Speaking of The Food of the Gods: on 9 December 2023, my birthday movie watch was a truly strange flick from the mid-1960s entitled Village of the Giants. As with the previous movie mini-reviewed by me here today, it was (very) loosely inspired by the H.G. Wells novel The Food of the Gods, but that is not the only similarity shared by these two films. Like the previous movie here, this one was also directed, co-produced, and written by the selfsame Bert I. Gordon, but was released in 1965, by Embassy Pictures. In Village of the Giants, a gang of unruly teenagers led by the obnoxious Fred (Beau Bridges, in one of his earliest movie roles) ingest a goo created by a child prodigy aptly nicknamed Genius (a very young Ron Howard), grow to ginormous proportions, and terrorise a small American town, until local hero Mike (Tommy Kirk) and friends come to the rescue. This movie suffers from a serious identity crisis, inasmuch as it seems to have no idea what it is meant to be, switching between such normally discrete cinematic genres as screwball comedy, Swinging Sixties musical, sci fi, thriller, and even mild teenage sexploitation flick – unfortunately, however, it doesn't succeed as any of them. Indeed, whenever they are reminded of this movie, its nowadays most famous stars apparently squirm with embarrassment, and I can well understand why! Please click here if you would like to view Village of the Giants in its entirety and free of charge on YouTube, or click here to view an official trailer for it on YouTube.

Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

A surprise surfacing by the giant deepwater sea monster from DeepStar Six (© Sean S. Cunningham/Carolco Pictures/Tri-Star Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

ALEXANDER THE GREATEST

 

Publicity photo from Alexander the Greatest, depicting Gary Warren as Alexander Green on the left, with one of Alexander's friends on the right, and a splendiferous classic automobile regally occupying centre-stage (© Bernard Kops/Shaun O'Riordan/ATV/ITV – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Today, 1970s British child/youth actor Gary Warren is probably remembered only for two roles. Namely, as Cedric 'Owl Face' Collingford, a modern-day youngster who is friends with the anachronistic medieval wizard Catweazle (memorably played by Geoffrey Bayldon) in the second, 1971 series of the eponymous children's UK TV comedy show; and, above all else, as Peter Waterbury, the youngest of the three Railway Children in the timeless British period drama movie of the same title, released in 1970, which also starred Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett, Dinah Sheridan, and Bernard Cribbins.

However, as I originally mentioned in a 26 August 2023 post on Facebook, I also well remember and greatly enjoyed watching a third, slightly later, yet nowadays all but forgotten role of his, as the title character in a 1970s British TV sitcom entitled Alexander the Greatest, in which he played Alexander Green, a rebellious teenager (is there any other kind? lol).

Created by Bernard Kops, directed and produced by Shaun O'Riordan, running to two series collectively containing 13 half-hour episodes (6 in Series 1, 7 in Series 2), and screened by ATV for the ITV network in 1971-72, Alexander the Greatest focuses upon the comic trials and tribulations of the middle-class Greens, a Jewish family living in Golders Green, North London.

Much of these woes are of course caused directly or indirectly by their restless 16-year-old son Alexander, amusingly aided and abetted in a number of episodes by his bespectacled best mate, the unflatteringly-nicknamed Four Eyes (Spencer Banks).

(Spencer Banks, incidentally, is another former British child/youth star active in the early 1970s, appearing in everything from the very popular 1970/71 UK children's sci fi TV show Timeslip to Walt Disney's 1973 family comedy/crime movie Diamonds On Wheels, appearing in the latter alongside yet another 1970s British youth star, Peter Firth – aka Scooper in the much-loved, oft-repeated 1970 UK children's TV show Here Come The Double Deckers).

For Alexander has reached that tumultuous teenage time of life that all parents know so well, and dread so much, when he (over-)confidently believes that he knows everything about everything, and yearns to put his adolescent omniscience to the test out in the wider world far beyond Golders Green (fantasizing accordingly in best Billy Liar style) – much to the frustration and confusion of his long-suffering father Joe (Sydney Tafler), who works as a West End furrier in central London's Great Portland Street, and mother Fay (played by Libby Morris in Series 1, Stella Moray in Series 2), not to mention his troublesome sister Renata (Adrienne Posta).

The eponymous theme song to Alexander the Greatest, performed and co-written by the coincidentally-named Barry Green (a British singer/songwriter who subsequently swapped name shades to achieve several mid-1970s UK chart hits as Barry Blue), was very catchy – so much so, in fact, that although the show has never been repeated on TV for decades, I've always remembered its sing-along chorus.

(All 13 episodes of Alexander the Greatest do still exist, btw, but eleven of them now only in b/w form rather than in their original colour versions, which were wiped after their first TV screening.)

Moreover, I was both surprised and delighted to discover recently that not only had this theme song been released as a single (which I'd never even known about, probably because it failed to chart, sadly), but also it could be listened to on YouTube (click here to do so). So now, after more than 50 years, I've finally been able to re-familiarize myself with its verses too, not just its chorus!

Conversely, I have so far been unable to track down any excerpts, let alone complete episodes, of Alexander the Greatest anywhere online (not even the indefatigable YouTube contains any). Consequently, I am presently unable to provide in my customary fashion any clickable links to such here, other than the above one accessing this show's theme song, but if anyone reading this review can point me in the right direction with regard to any such clips or episodes, I'd be extremely grateful!

Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

Gary Warren, playing the cocky, achingly-cool (at least in his dreams!) Alexander Green, in Alexander the Greatest (© Bernard Kops/Shaun O'Riordan/ATV/ITV – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

 

CHICO AND THE MAN

Publicity poster for Chico and the Man (© James Komack/Peter Baldwin/Jack Donohue/The Komack Company Inc./Wolper Productions/NBC – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Two of my favourite American TV sitcoms of the 1970s that were screened here in the UK were CBS's Rhoda (a highly successful Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off and starring Valerie Harper in the title role), which was often repeated here after its original run, and NBC's Chico and the Man, which wasn't. In fact, I never remember seeing Chico and the Man on TV here again after its initial four-season run during the mid-to-late 1970s.

This may be due to the tragic fact that its bright, up-and-coming, and extremely likeable young star Freddie Prinze, who played Chico (with Jack Albertson as the Man), committed suicide at the age of only 22, after launching his TV career in brilliant style and to immense acclaim just 3 years earlier at the tender age of 19 via a superb stand-up debut performance on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show (click here to watch it on YouTube).

 

Publicity photograph of Freddie Prinze and Jack Albertson to announce the 1974 premiere of Chico and the Man (Wikipedia/public domain)

Created and co-directed by James Komack, and launched in September 1974, Chico and the Man focuses upon a youthful and perpetually buoyant but highly-skilled Latino car mechanic, Chico Rodriguez, who doggedly persuades an old, intensely grouchy, crabby garage owner in downtown East Los Angeles named Ed Brown (the Man) to employ him and allow him to spruce up Ed's ramshackle garage, in which, like life itself, Ed has lost all interest since the passing of his beloved wife Margaret.

Their diametrically opposite characteristics and very frequent altercations provide much humour, as does the effervescence of Scatman Crothers playing regular supporting character Louie the garbage collector, plus Della Reese as Ed's neighbour and landlady Della Rogers who debuts in the third season. The show also sports a very catchy, upbeat theme song written and performed by José Feliciano (click here to listen to the full-length version on YouTube).

Louis the garbage collector (Scatman Crothers), Chico Rodriguez (Freddie Prinze), and Ed 'The Man' Brown (Jack Albertson) in Chico and the Man (© James Komack/Peter Baldwin/Jack Donohue/The Komack Company Inc./Wolper Productions/NBC – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

However, Freddie's untimely death on 29 January 1977, having shot himself just a few hours previously after filming the 18th of Season 3's 21 episodes, meant that suddenly one of this show's two title characters was gone.

Rather than attempt to replace Freddie by casting another actor as Chico, it was written into the storyline of the 19th episode in Season 3 that Chico had gone off on a visit to Mexico. A fourth season, still with the same title despite no longer having Chico in it, was launched in September 1977, five months after the end of the third season in April of that year. It introduced a swathe of new characters to fill the huge chasm created by Freddie's passing (in one episode, Ed discloses that Chico has died, yet does not divulge any details), but without his ready charm it failed to interact with the audience. So in July 1978, at the end of that same season, the show was cancelled.

 

Photo-still from an episode of Chico and the Man, featuring Freddie Prinz as Chico and Jack Albertson as Ed Brown (the Man) (© James Komack/Peter Baldwin/Jack Donohue/The Komack Company Inc./Wolper Productions/NBC – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Apart from a single very expensive and hard to find Chico and the Man DVD released a while ago by Warner Bros that contains just a random handful of the 88 episodes in total that were screened on TV, this fine show, which is a wonderful showcase for Freddie's colossal talent for comedy, both sitcom and stand-up, has never been made available in home viewing format. Happily, just over 20 episodes are currently available to watch on YouTube, but I've long wanted to own and watch the full three seasons starring Freddie (the fourth is of little interest to me as without him it is virtually a completely different show).

Imagine my delight, therefore, when on 8 April 2023 I discovered not only that all 88 episodes are available to watch for free online at Archive.org but also that they can all be legally downloaded for personal viewing. So after more than 40 years I could finally rewatch Chico and the Man, which is precisely what I've been doing ever since, viewing at least one episode of those first three seasons whenever I've had a free evening to do so.

 

Another photo-still from an episode of Chico and the Man, featuring Freddie Prinz as Chico and Jack Albertson as Ed Brown (the Man) (© James Komack/Peter Baldwin/Jack Donohue/The Komack Company Inc./Wolper Productions/NBC – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Naturally, I've been watching them in chronological order, beginning with the very first, pilot one, which sets up the entire scenario of the show, when Chico arrives at Ed's garage in search of employment, and it was just as engaging as I remembered it from four decades ago, making me very grateful that I can now finally revisit this superb show, and whenever I want to, after waiting to do so for such a very long time.

There is no doubt in my mind that had he lived, Freddie would have become one of the greatest entertainers of all time. But just as we do with James Dean and his trio of iconic movies (click here for my biographical review of Jimmy's all-too-brief but stellar on-screen career), thankfully we do still have various taped performances of Freddie's stand-up genius (including his Tonight Show appearances) readily available to view on YouTube and elsewhere. Moreover, I'm truly happy to have discovered and to report here that we can now also watch his peerless TV sitcom show Chico and the Man in its entirety at Archive.org (beginning with: https://archive.org/details/chico-the-man/Chico+%26+Man+S1E01+(Pilot).mp4).

 

Publicity photograph of Freddie Prinze at the pinnacle of his success (© and original source of this photograph is presently unknown to me despite detailed online searches for it made by me; I note that it currently appears here – reproduced, therefore, on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

But come on, NBC, isn't it high time that you made Freddie's one and only starring role in a TV series fully available commercially on DVD and/or Blu-Ray? You know it makes sense, and it would be a fitting, lasting tribute to a uniquely talented star whose incandescence illuminated our world for far too short a period.

Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film/TV reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

Publicity photo of Freddie Prinze from 1975 as he guest-hosted The Tonight Show (Wikipedia/public domain)