Post by zimmerman on Aug 21, 2015 14:03:52 GMT -5
"Somewhere there is a cannon that could spell the difference between Heaven or Hell or the entire Country." --General Lassiter
Airing smack dab in the middle of a set of mostly Western-themed episodes of the series, The Night of the Falcon is a powerful third-season episode that helps to bring back the "Wild" into The Wild Wild West in a season that was mostly filled with Western-themed plotlines. It combines some of the best elements of previous episodes to create an exciting, interesting, and above all, entertaining episode of The Wild Wild West.
The excitement starts right away in the episodes teaser, as the residents of Tonka Flats are being evacuated because of an impending "obliteration" of the town. In this teaser, we also get to see James West's tender side as he gently and carefully rescues Bonnie, the little girl, safe from harm before the obliteration of the town. These characteristics would help to hopefully one day help James West become a great father after his time in the Secret Service was over. The dynamic explosion of Tonka Flats, and the spectators hiding in the bushes, watching with gleeful abandon, help sets the stage for what is to come.
After the teaser, with the arrival of Colonel Lassiter on The Wanderer, we find out what is really going on and what caused the demise of Tonka Flats: The State Department received a couple of anounymous letters from someone who is only addressed as "The Falcon" insisting on a $1,000,000 down payment or the town of Denver, Colorado, would be no more. The second letter, which arrived the following day, received the chilling notice that at noon, the town of Tonka Flats would be "Obliterated by some meaningful demonstration." It is also in these moments with Colonel Lassiter that we see a different side of Colonel Richmond, James & Artemus' supervisor. He is not quite uptight and is cordial in this episode, yet still maintains his businesslike attitude, also showing confidence in his men that they will help to get the job done.
From there, Artie receives a very hairy moment when one of the Falcon's spokesmen, Feliz Munez, a "Representative of the Barcelona Syndicate", comes to The Wanderer to unexpectedly surprise Artie, causing Artie to unexpectedly demonstrate to this high-level gringo his latest scientific discoveries after forcefully breaking one of Artie's test tubes, and later, literally ripping the Bolo tie off of Artie's shirt! (I Wonder how many takes it took Joseph Ruskin, the actor playing Munez, to nail that scene; Either way, he manages to pull it off with stunning realism. I really enjoy how Munez pretty much gives Artie a blank stare as the latter elaborates on his latest Scientific observations. You can literally see the impatience in Munez's eyes as he tries to relieve himself from boredom. Fortunately, before things get too hairy, Artie sends a warning flare to James West, who comes in the nick of time to save his friend and professional partner from sudden death. In the end, however, it is Munez who gets killed, thanks to a small-size bomb that looks like a container that would hold glitter in the 1950's and '60's.
The conversation between Jim & Artie after Munez is killed is punctuated by James West trying hard not to laugh. There was an observation in Susan Kesler's Wild Wild West book that said that maybe Ross said something funny to Bob before the cameras started rolling and it spilled over onto the screen footage.
The discovery of ingredients for a cold remedy eventually take Jim and Artie into the small town of Sinful, Colorado, a town that is "Right smack in the middle of an ark that connects Salitas, Rome Plateau, and Tonka Flats." according to Artie, who deduces that the cold remedy could be an invitation to The Falcon.
From there, Jim and Artie go their separate ways, with Artie impersonating Munez (adding a lot more charm and humor into his characterization than the real Munez was in real life) in the carriage en route to the Falcon's headquarters, while James goes to Dr. Horace Humphries, whose office is located on 7 Maple Street. There is some great interaction between James and Humphries during his doctor's appointment. At one point in the appointment, Horace Humphries tells James West that the townspeople have been "Wasting my time with sicknesses that haven't been invented yet." After Artie arrives in town with Lola Benson, Heindorf, and Clive Marchmount, James tells Artie that Humphries has two separate prescriptions for the common cold.
Later, Artie gets captured again and gets drugged by Humphries. Quoting the bad doctor, the drug is "Free from any unpleasant aftereffects. it is also remarkably precise and predictable in its length of action."
By the middle of the episode, it returns to the classic gathering of criminals concept popularized in two previous Wild Wild West episodes, The Night of the Grand Emir (featuring the late Yvonne Craig) and The Night of the Poisionous Posey. After Humphries and the Falcon cannon is revealed, the bulk of the programs third and fourth acts consist of negotians between the surviving criminal syndicate heads as to who will get the second Falcon Cannon for Europe, resulting in some interesting and potentially deadly results for some members of the Falcon's team.
This episode is packed to the gills with interesting action and great guest stars. The leading guest star in this episode is the esteemed actor Robert Duvall, later of theatrical motion picture fame. In his dual role as The Falcon and Dr. Humphries, Duvall comes across as a real masterful Jekyll and Hyde type character, putting a lot of depth into his characterizations. It is really interesting to see Duvall play a slightly timid country doctor, especially considering the fact that many of his later movie roles (including A Family Thing and the more recent Wild Horses) consisted of small-town citizens that occasionally used salty language and profanity. Either way, the promise that Duvall would be putting into his big screen movie roles really comes through in this Wild Wild West episode.
Another great actor in this episode is Kurt Kreuger, who plays Baron Heindorf from Dusseldorf, "A commercial traveler in heavy castings." Kreugar manages to put some malevolent glee into his characterization of Heindorf, when the Falcon cannon is revealed, right up to his shocking demise when more of his power shows up when he gets ready to take down anyone in his way with his special unique pistol that "Fires a strongest and most destructive dum-dum bullet." He was one of the more animated villians in this particular episode.
Also of note among the criminals is Serville Bowers, who looks an awful lot like one of Miss Posey's associates in The Night of the Poisionous Posey. right down to his very unique hat.
This episode is one of the select few Wild Wild West episodes where Artemus Gordon only has one disguise, joining the ranks of such rogues as Mojave Mike from The Night of the Fatal Trap and Herr Ostroployer from The Night of the Infernal Machine. As I mentioned earlier in this review, he helps to make his fake Munez a lot nicer and slightly more mischievous and devious than the original Munez ever was, who seemed to be all business. Artie's Munez shines right from the git-go, from his carriage ride to his "Extroadinary" trip to Sinful, Colorado, to the negotians for the Falcon Cannon, where he manages to add such style and pinache, a testament to the wonderful acting talent of Ross Martin. Artie also has a great quote in the episodes tag, while talking to Lola Benson: "Munez, Heindorf, Ballia, Markmount, Humphries, Felton, all the rest of them, all dead,. Dream of kings and it dies on some lonely mountaintop. You never thought it would end that way, did you?"
James West has some great moments in this episode as well. In addition to the aforementioned interaction with Bonnie and the Appointment with Dr. Humphries, he has some great small fights in this episode as well. One of the best fights in the entire program comes after he narrowly escapes being blown to bits by the clock bomb and he takes down two of the Falcon's plain-clothes henchies, including throwing the maroon-shirt-wearing cowboy through the window, James sliding down the roof, and eventually not getting any sleep as he chases the second Falcon heavy into the early morning hours. James punches out a lot of people in this episode to get close to the Falcon's action, and is preoccupied with ducks in this particular episode, from the one that Bonnie was playing with to the one used to distract one of the Falcon's guards. James also gives The Falcon a great over the railing punch, leading to a fall that kills the Falcon instantly.
The music, although credited to one Leon Klatzkin, features many of the same cues featured in previous third-season episodes.
Of course, the Falcon Cannon-ending explosion footage would be reused in The Night of the Doomsday Formula, the second episode of the Fourth season.
Overall, by far the best Wild Wild West episode to use the group of criminals concept, featuring excellent direction by first-time director Marvin Chomsky.
A surprisingly strong 8 out of 10 from me.