An American-Knife Approved Western
Jul 2, 2013 17:08:58 GMT -5
Lone Rider, Sky, and 1 more like this
Post by zimmerman on Jul 2, 2013 17:08:58 GMT -5
"The Night of the Double-Edged Knife" is one of those Season One episodes that you either love or hate. Yes, It's more "Western" than some of the extremely outlandish plot ideas of, say, Season Two, but it has got some great moments, good action, and some good guest stars (including one major A-lister) to boot.
This is one of the few Season 1 episodes that Collier Young produced, and he really seems to want to carry the networks "All-Western" mandate that they wanted at the time. It is also one of three episodes to feature the English butler Tennyson, who just seems to be there for the majority of the episode. Aside from being almost kidnapped in this particular episode, there really isn't much for him to do aside from helping out at the train and serving drinks to our fair heroes.
This particular episode has Jim and Artie going undercover to stop a tribe of Indians from hanging five more railroad workers everyday until they get what they want. This is also probably one of the first episodes wherein James meets an old freind of his that turns out to be an enemy towards the end of the show. This plot device was slightly reused with Gideon in the third-season episode "The Night of the Samueri."
Even though he was only on-screen for the majority of the first act, I liked Elisha Cook as Mike McGreevey. One minute he's good, next minute he's very bad (locking Jim and Shiela in the cellar), by morning he's dead!! I wish that they brought him back as a good character; He sure had a lot of potential, and his prescence certainly livens up this action-packed episode. Very interesting villan.
Leslie Nielsen, YEARS away from becoming a major A-list actor in the movies with the "Naked Gun" films, really shines here as Major General Ball, the former "friend" and associate of West who becomes greedy in his pursuit of the Golden Railway spikes. One thing that probably was not brought up in other reviews is how good he was with riding a horse in this particular episode. Even when he does a mundane thing as tying up his horse, he does such a good job with it! However, his band of merry men that accompany his mission are more silly than believable. Why he never recruited men that were as similar in personality as he was we will never know. He may have been a rogue President Grant, with five times the intellegence as he was, but his prescence really lights up the screen and makes this episode worth watching.
John Drew Barrymore does a very good job portraying American Knife, the Dartmouth-educated Indian with a degree in philosphy. He makes the character real and believable, and he has some great lines in this episode too: when James introduces Artie by his formal name, he responds with "Why you whites have these incomprehensible names I will never understand.", the next-to-last scene when he helps James out by killing Major General Ball:
"I understand your problem. It is very difficult to kill an old friend. So I thought a new friend should do it for you.", and in the tag scene on the train: "Civilized man must stand together against the outburst of these barbarians." he makes a really good Indian, one that you would like to root for and support every time you watch this episode.
The ladies in this episode are a mixed bag. Katherine Ross is good as Shiela, the daughter of the late head of the railroad, and is much better than Lana Wood. And, for once, James gets to kiss a good girl when they are trapped in the wine cellar!!
Susan Silo, on the other hand, tends to be annoying as "Little Willow, the tribal torturess", in what has to be the silliest scene in the whole episode. At the very least, it gave all of James' female fans a chance to watch him shirtless!! Still, it is very silly and sometimes nauseating to watch. Ironic that both the good and bad girls accompany Jim and Artie on the train ride home!!
Even though this episode is in black-and-white, a part of me wishes that it was shot in color. When Jim and Artie are riding across the mountains in hot pursuit of the Indians, it makes me long to see the scenery in all of its natural glory.
The best reason for watching this episode are the scenes when Jim and Artie are together. Even though it is early in the run, writer Stephen Kandel really nails the partnership and friendship of Jim and Artie in some great scenes, especially when they are talking and Artie is putting on his disguises. The dialogue is snappy and charming, especially in the scene when Artie is getting ready to head out as the old man--very funny!!
Just like in "Inferno" General Ball's men uncover all of James' secret weapons, only this time, they have a printed list!
And look at expert marksmen James West, as he knocks out all three potential life-threatning railroad explosives with one shot!
Despite it's campy moments, it it still a great action-packed Western-themed episode that would probably be influential to writer Stephen Kandel: He would return to the railroads with Dale Robertson in the TV-movie "Scalplock" and co-creator of the subsequent series "Iron Horse", wherein he used a lot of similar plots with trains and Indians in the programs First Season before Fred Freiberger took over for the abbreviated Second Season.
Still, good-Western-themed episode.
8 out of 10 from me.
This is one of the few Season 1 episodes that Collier Young produced, and he really seems to want to carry the networks "All-Western" mandate that they wanted at the time. It is also one of three episodes to feature the English butler Tennyson, who just seems to be there for the majority of the episode. Aside from being almost kidnapped in this particular episode, there really isn't much for him to do aside from helping out at the train and serving drinks to our fair heroes.
This particular episode has Jim and Artie going undercover to stop a tribe of Indians from hanging five more railroad workers everyday until they get what they want. This is also probably one of the first episodes wherein James meets an old freind of his that turns out to be an enemy towards the end of the show. This plot device was slightly reused with Gideon in the third-season episode "The Night of the Samueri."
Even though he was only on-screen for the majority of the first act, I liked Elisha Cook as Mike McGreevey. One minute he's good, next minute he's very bad (locking Jim and Shiela in the cellar), by morning he's dead!! I wish that they brought him back as a good character; He sure had a lot of potential, and his prescence certainly livens up this action-packed episode. Very interesting villan.
Leslie Nielsen, YEARS away from becoming a major A-list actor in the movies with the "Naked Gun" films, really shines here as Major General Ball, the former "friend" and associate of West who becomes greedy in his pursuit of the Golden Railway spikes. One thing that probably was not brought up in other reviews is how good he was with riding a horse in this particular episode. Even when he does a mundane thing as tying up his horse, he does such a good job with it! However, his band of merry men that accompany his mission are more silly than believable. Why he never recruited men that were as similar in personality as he was we will never know. He may have been a rogue President Grant, with five times the intellegence as he was, but his prescence really lights up the screen and makes this episode worth watching.
John Drew Barrymore does a very good job portraying American Knife, the Dartmouth-educated Indian with a degree in philosphy. He makes the character real and believable, and he has some great lines in this episode too: when James introduces Artie by his formal name, he responds with "Why you whites have these incomprehensible names I will never understand.", the next-to-last scene when he helps James out by killing Major General Ball:
"I understand your problem. It is very difficult to kill an old friend. So I thought a new friend should do it for you.", and in the tag scene on the train: "Civilized man must stand together against the outburst of these barbarians." he makes a really good Indian, one that you would like to root for and support every time you watch this episode.
The ladies in this episode are a mixed bag. Katherine Ross is good as Shiela, the daughter of the late head of the railroad, and is much better than Lana Wood. And, for once, James gets to kiss a good girl when they are trapped in the wine cellar!!
Susan Silo, on the other hand, tends to be annoying as "Little Willow, the tribal torturess", in what has to be the silliest scene in the whole episode. At the very least, it gave all of James' female fans a chance to watch him shirtless!! Still, it is very silly and sometimes nauseating to watch. Ironic that both the good and bad girls accompany Jim and Artie on the train ride home!!
Even though this episode is in black-and-white, a part of me wishes that it was shot in color. When Jim and Artie are riding across the mountains in hot pursuit of the Indians, it makes me long to see the scenery in all of its natural glory.
The best reason for watching this episode are the scenes when Jim and Artie are together. Even though it is early in the run, writer Stephen Kandel really nails the partnership and friendship of Jim and Artie in some great scenes, especially when they are talking and Artie is putting on his disguises. The dialogue is snappy and charming, especially in the scene when Artie is getting ready to head out as the old man--very funny!!
Just like in "Inferno" General Ball's men uncover all of James' secret weapons, only this time, they have a printed list!
And look at expert marksmen James West, as he knocks out all three potential life-threatning railroad explosives with one shot!
Despite it's campy moments, it it still a great action-packed Western-themed episode that would probably be influential to writer Stephen Kandel: He would return to the railroads with Dale Robertson in the TV-movie "Scalplock" and co-creator of the subsequent series "Iron Horse", wherein he used a lot of similar plots with trains and Indians in the programs First Season before Fred Freiberger took over for the abbreviated Second Season.
Still, good-Western-themed episode.
8 out of 10 from me.