Pardon the backdated entries. I look forward to catching up and completing the blog with you now.
What luck! We get a lovely episode with a favorite Dragnet baddy,
Anthony Eisley! So let's take it all apart! Just like the old days!
I only saw this episode once prior to the viewing prompted by this entry. That would have been in the at some point between 1991 and 1995….so let's just say…I was, like, eleven years old. It was probably the summer, or possibly "holiday break" around 21 years ago. I remember the intimacy of the 13" color
cathode ray tube. (Dad had cable at his house and I never, ever had to go to bed. A hedonist is born.)
This episode has a memorable and very "Fuzz Industrial" style because the Set Decorating Duo of Johns (John McCarthy & John Sturtevant - Hi Guys!) - had to step their game as high as they did for the sets in
baby-in-a-trashcan episode and some sets forthcoming in season four.
"This is the city-- Los Angles, California. Like a young child, it's growing, always trying to flex its new muscles. Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles was the site of many stately Victorian mansions.
They housed the city's early society families. Now they're being torn town to make way for the Bunker Hill development, a planned complex of modern skyscrapers and parks.
Up until 1956, buildings in the city were not permitted to exceed thirteen stories. New construction methods enabled earthquake-prone Los Angeles to reach for new heights. Within the last ten years, over a hundred high-rise structures have been built, adding a new dimension to the city skyline.
The city and its people are a constant source of change. In my job, I try to keep up. I carry a badge."
How lucky can a lady blogger be? This episode has an exposition about Bunker Hill!
We get architecture shots, construction shots that will help us date the film, and even…
…a clear view of the "Munsters House" on Colonial Street…
Contrast that with a poignant actual piece of Bunker Hill.
I'm sure that must have been the last time that house made it to film.
(Yes, whoever took that establishing shot. I totally saw what you did there vis a vis composition.)
And look - here is the "new" Bunker Hill, rising up. I actually said, "awwwwwww."
Pretty fascinating! Note that they are using formwork, with concrete and the tell-tale reinforcing bars (rebar) stabbing up. They get the formwork in place, and then the cone-shaped thing receives concrete and pours it into the form. After the concrete has cured, it is strong and we can continue to erect our amazing new skyscraper in 1969.
(Modernism doesn't have to be depressing! Turns out, it's just another style.)
Isn't that simply amazing?
Hard modernism before it lost its optimism.
Recycled footage of the fountain!!
There is a wee driving sequence to kick the episode off -
Click to enlarge this older Los Angeles.
(Silverwoods! What's that?)
Now we have to speak to the boss - Bert Holland! He's so familiar and ridiculous and adorable.
His set is as spare as we have seen!
Bert Holland, our mascot:
I HAVE A WHITE CARNATION
I DO NOT
That is a really neat ash tray!
GASP! The UFO Lamp returns!!
Now, a tour of the Charge Sales Office. The walk is a bit briskly paced, so the stills are difficult to capture.
Lots of lady extras are cast in the charge sales office set - some of their dresses are great!
"Well hello there. I'm Anthony Eisley and this is a receipt book that I get to show you because I'm awesome. I'm also wearing weird yellow glasses and have a mustache to make me seem hip, but mean, probably. My hair looks great, though. Thank you."
Crap! Not Sam Edwards! I'll never forget how cold he was in
Dragnet '66.
Chanin is the only woman supervisor.
"Hi, I'm Chanin Hale and I look totally amazing, too!"
The fabric is spectacular! Her hair, her makeup! The Duo of Johns were probably under strict instruction not to take the visual spotlight off away from that amazing hair.
Any midcentury librarian would be well familiar with what the red haired guy is holding -
microfilm!
Dave Carlile.
HOLD THE PHONE
YAY! Driving! Where to? Henri's fur salon!
We've been to a fur salon once
before.
This fur salon is not quite as lovely as Henry Corden's.
Chet Stratton can spot a
brassy woman a mile away. (Love him!)
The next stop is an empty apartment. It's decorated with a rotary phone, a sconce, and a gold light switch plate:
The fabric of her blouse is lovely! Great job, Vincent Dee!
Back to the Metropolitan Facade -
Click to enlarge while we talk to Burt Holland in the office some more.
Whelp! The jig is up! Time to go see the wildest pad in town!
But first: night driving!
None other than the Cluny Scotch Billboard Sequence.
Ok - showtime for John McCarthy & John Sturtevant - the 11470 Ocean Drive set.
HOLD THE PHONE
SO disappointed that the camera wasn't just another couple of feet to the left.
That symmetry is almost Wes Andersonian.
Let me try:
"Eh!"
The door swings wide and there is a topiary on the left side. Blink and you miss it.
Typical extra-wide corridor, the return of horrible gold carpet, and more of those curly sconces:
The silver thing in the left side of the frame is a free-standing ash tray.
Bar at the entry - black bar chairs.
The front room is symmetric - like our lobby!
Here is some ridiculous wall art above the console hi-fi.
Maybe it was at Brooke Bundy's apartment?
Blue and gold.
Green and gold.
That's the swag lamp that tried to eat Bill that one time!
The side chairs are great - the low striped ones.
The above is blurry, but it's the only way to see the bottles-and-table-lamp on the extreme right of this set. Most of the furniture has been used before in the show!
Gosh. I wrinkle my nose at this version of Anthony Eisley.
The crazy table lamps don't stop!
You can see Bill Gannon's wrist watch in this one:
Damn moustache.
Damn paper trail.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
What a facade.
That's it!
"On October 13th, trial was held in Department 184, Superior Court of the State of California, for the county of Los Angeles. In a moment, the results of that trial."
FREDRICK WAYMAN
Now serving his term
in the Sate Penitentiary,
San Quentin, California.
"The suspect was found guilty of forgery and grand theft, punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of from one to 14 years."
MARY ANDREWS
alias BARBARA HENDERSON
and VIOLET MARTINSON
Now serving her term in the
California Institution for Women,
Frontera, California.
"The suspect was found guilty of forgery and grand theft."
Charges against
Helen Zimmerman were dropped
by the Office of the Los Angeles
District Attorney.
"The suspect appeared as a witness for the State against all defendants in this case."
S3e26
Starred
Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday
Harry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon
Anthony Eisley as Fred Wayman
Chanin Hale as Helen Zimmerman
Bert Holland as David Williams
Natalie Masters as Landlady
Chet Stratton as Henri
Sam Edwards as Steve Houseman
Dave Carlile as Robert Weston
Additional Cast
Additional Notes
Art Direction - John E. Chilberg, II
Set Decor - John McCarthy & John Sturtevant
Costumes - Vincent Dee
Written by James Doherty
Aired 10 April 1969
So glad to be back to work for you! I will get it all updated; it's just how life can be. I'm getting really bored with Chanin Hale. I think it's just that her characters are a bit deflated.
Anytime. At your service,
Suzy Dragnet
P.S.
"The official rule is as follows: in writing, the titles of works that include shorter works should be italicized. This includes collections of songs, poems, short plays, short stores, essays, anthologies, - and even television shows. TV shows contain shorter works known as episodes and even scenes. Now I know." - And now we know, too! Thanks, Stephen Frasier.
