Post by California gal on Apr 14, 2014 13:15:09 GMT -5
Loveless episodes lost something when Phoebe Dorin exited (was ousted?) as Antoinette. Her last appearance was in Green Terror. In Surreal McCoy, Loveless was by himself. However, in Bogus Bandits, he turns up with a pretty, somewhat harebrained, female sidekick named Belladonna. She serves the purpose, and the script would have had to have been written differently if Antoinette was still present. I sure cannot imagine the good doctor threatening Antoinette's life as he did Belladonna's.
I like Bogus Bandits quite a lot. It's not my favorite Loveless episode, but it's among the top. The beginning is interesting when we seem to see Jim West shot down (with a hammy "argghhh!"). His hair is lighter, but I don't know if that was deliberate. Loveless seems to know that Jim will be on his trail soon. Rather quick and cruel justice is handed out to the fellow who made the mistake of having live bullets in his gun.
The scene of the bank robbery is bizarre. The customers in the bank dutifully remove their hats (the men anyway) when the masked pallbearers carry a coffin in the bank. Huh? If I was in a bank and this happened, I'd head for the nearest emergency exit. Were funerals in banks commonplace in the 1870s? Why would the pallbearers be masked if legit? Of course it's a splendid bit of Loveless trickery and show biz. The inside of the coffin must have been similar to the tippy table in the Wanderer: everything stayed upright when the coffin was horizontal instead of vertical.
Tell me. When the doctor notices that one of the customers has moved and his men shoot--did they massacre all the customers?
I love the scene where Artie offers Jim the choice of the boardinghouse or saloon. He should have known better--and probably did!
I also like the boardinghouse scenes. Patsy Kelly, as usual, is great. The male boarders are properly grumpy and cynical. The coffee spill incident is well done. I don't think that on my original viewing I suspected Pearline of anything other than a well-timed accident to keep Artie from immediately solving the case. Unusual--in fact rare--for Loveless to have two female cronies. He actually had more, as shown in the burning money scene and in the classroom. A full cast for all his productions.
The scene in the saloon are also great. I love the moment when Jim hears the laughter and looks up to see Loveless. He does not appear overly surprised. Just "I should have known..." We meet Belladonna for the first time and realize she's not quite up to Antoinette's mental standards.
From then on the scenes between Jim and Miguelito are terrific, displaying the chemistry between the two. The best is just before Artie shows up when, after some back and forth, Loveless points the gun at Jim. Really have to wonder, considering what we know about Loveless, if he would have carried through. I always think he enjoys the cat-and-mouse game between them almost as much as Jim appears to (as pretty much expressed in Murderous Spring).
I have one little bone to pick around about here. When Jim is taking on the "students" assigned to kill him, and he runs down the blind alley, the gun lowers from above. We get a break right there. I think, in best serial style, the break should have been a few seconds earlier when it appears that Jim is trapped and at the mercy of the approaching Kirby. Then upon return, the gun appears.
Back to Artie at the boardinghouse, he gets a chance to be a bit physical, punching Rainey who is hiding behind the hanging sheets. Rainey is played by the great western star Don "Red" Barry, who was best know for his portrayal of Red Ryder in one of the best serials ever made. He also starred in a lot of B westerns and made a lot of character appearances such as this.
And now, Artie gets shot down. He seriously appears dead! Only to be saved by the notepad his badly-accented southern artist was carrying. I always wonder why he doesn't come out of character at this point, or at least when he goes to talk to the "old timer" blacksmith, Fargo. That's a wonderful scene too. "The name's Fargo, sonny!" "I was wondering if I could borrow your mustache."
Of course Artie shows up in the nick o'time to save Jim from Loveless's malice. I'm not going to bother to wonder why Jim knew which way to run, or that their horses were waiting outside the wall. More of the ESP, I reckon.
Then we come to the great scenes in the communications junction or whatever they called it (and did they really have such things then?). Two great moments as they wander the halls. First when Artie ducks out of sight and allows the sign to knock out the bad guy. He then notices what the sign says! Moments later, he encounters another baddy and pretends to be looking for a little boy. Jim conks the bad guy from behind. "Nice going, Wesley."
And finally, encountering Loveless and Belladonna in the room full of electronics. My two favorite spots are when Loveless displays his gorgeous uniform, and when Artie throws himself into the electric switches. Jim is wondering what he's up to until Artie mentions "Aunt Maud," which is a signal that something is imminent. Thus Jim is ready to act. Twice Jim shows his concern for his partner.
One other quibble is the lack of a real tag. Yes, it's cute that we are aware that Loveless is in the perambulator when Jim isn't. He tipped his hat to Pearline, having never seen her before.
All in all, I think I can give Bogus Bandits 8 stars out of 10.
I like Bogus Bandits quite a lot. It's not my favorite Loveless episode, but it's among the top. The beginning is interesting when we seem to see Jim West shot down (with a hammy "argghhh!"). His hair is lighter, but I don't know if that was deliberate. Loveless seems to know that Jim will be on his trail soon. Rather quick and cruel justice is handed out to the fellow who made the mistake of having live bullets in his gun.
The scene of the bank robbery is bizarre. The customers in the bank dutifully remove their hats (the men anyway) when the masked pallbearers carry a coffin in the bank. Huh? If I was in a bank and this happened, I'd head for the nearest emergency exit. Were funerals in banks commonplace in the 1870s? Why would the pallbearers be masked if legit? Of course it's a splendid bit of Loveless trickery and show biz. The inside of the coffin must have been similar to the tippy table in the Wanderer: everything stayed upright when the coffin was horizontal instead of vertical.
Tell me. When the doctor notices that one of the customers has moved and his men shoot--did they massacre all the customers?
I love the scene where Artie offers Jim the choice of the boardinghouse or saloon. He should have known better--and probably did!
I also like the boardinghouse scenes. Patsy Kelly, as usual, is great. The male boarders are properly grumpy and cynical. The coffee spill incident is well done. I don't think that on my original viewing I suspected Pearline of anything other than a well-timed accident to keep Artie from immediately solving the case. Unusual--in fact rare--for Loveless to have two female cronies. He actually had more, as shown in the burning money scene and in the classroom. A full cast for all his productions.
The scene in the saloon are also great. I love the moment when Jim hears the laughter and looks up to see Loveless. He does not appear overly surprised. Just "I should have known..." We meet Belladonna for the first time and realize she's not quite up to Antoinette's mental standards.
From then on the scenes between Jim and Miguelito are terrific, displaying the chemistry between the two. The best is just before Artie shows up when, after some back and forth, Loveless points the gun at Jim. Really have to wonder, considering what we know about Loveless, if he would have carried through. I always think he enjoys the cat-and-mouse game between them almost as much as Jim appears to (as pretty much expressed in Murderous Spring).
I have one little bone to pick around about here. When Jim is taking on the "students" assigned to kill him, and he runs down the blind alley, the gun lowers from above. We get a break right there. I think, in best serial style, the break should have been a few seconds earlier when it appears that Jim is trapped and at the mercy of the approaching Kirby. Then upon return, the gun appears.
Back to Artie at the boardinghouse, he gets a chance to be a bit physical, punching Rainey who is hiding behind the hanging sheets. Rainey is played by the great western star Don "Red" Barry, who was best know for his portrayal of Red Ryder in one of the best serials ever made. He also starred in a lot of B westerns and made a lot of character appearances such as this.
And now, Artie gets shot down. He seriously appears dead! Only to be saved by the notepad his badly-accented southern artist was carrying. I always wonder why he doesn't come out of character at this point, or at least when he goes to talk to the "old timer" blacksmith, Fargo. That's a wonderful scene too. "The name's Fargo, sonny!" "I was wondering if I could borrow your mustache."
Of course Artie shows up in the nick o'time to save Jim from Loveless's malice. I'm not going to bother to wonder why Jim knew which way to run, or that their horses were waiting outside the wall. More of the ESP, I reckon.
Then we come to the great scenes in the communications junction or whatever they called it (and did they really have such things then?). Two great moments as they wander the halls. First when Artie ducks out of sight and allows the sign to knock out the bad guy. He then notices what the sign says! Moments later, he encounters another baddy and pretends to be looking for a little boy. Jim conks the bad guy from behind. "Nice going, Wesley."
And finally, encountering Loveless and Belladonna in the room full of electronics. My two favorite spots are when Loveless displays his gorgeous uniform, and when Artie throws himself into the electric switches. Jim is wondering what he's up to until Artie mentions "Aunt Maud," which is a signal that something is imminent. Thus Jim is ready to act. Twice Jim shows his concern for his partner.
One other quibble is the lack of a real tag. Yes, it's cute that we are aware that Loveless is in the perambulator when Jim isn't. He tipped his hat to Pearline, having never seen her before.
All in all, I think I can give Bogus Bandits 8 stars out of 10.