Too many perhaps.
I always felt that I was watching films because I was searching for something. Something to make me feel whole. Some display of unity and humanity that would make me a better person just for watching it.
This moment had eluded me for years.
Until now. I found what I was looking for.
What I really needed to see was a movie featuring both Alan Hale Jr. and Gordon Jump.
You know, The Skipper and Mr. Carlson!
To be fair, Alan Hale had almost 200 other credits to his name but we all best remember him as The Skipper on 'Gilligan's Island'.
Gordon Jump had about 100 credits but is best remembered as "the guy who tried to molest Arnold and Dudley on 'Diff'rent Strokes.'"
Oh yeah, he was also Mr. Carlson on 'WKRP in Cincinnati.'
Together Hale and Jump play a cop and a medical examiner in a 1979 suspense thriller, Evidence of Power, about a small town that is besieged by a bunch of accidents that may be murders. All of the accidents involve electric power in some way.
WARNING: I am going to spoil the end of the film. If you plan on someday seeing it, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!
The Skipper has a grown son who shows up in town and becomes curious about the deaths. He starts investigating them himself, much to The Skipper's chagrin.
As he probes the mystery he learns that Mr. Carlson's son had died tragically. The more he investigates the more tragedy mounts. A man is killed by a meat slicer, and The Skipper dies in a car crash.
This was a shock since he seemed to be the prime suspect at this point. The other prime suspect was the deputy who looked like Charles Manson. To be fair, most people in the 1970s looked a little like Charles Manson.
The deputy and most other characters display a trait only found in suspense thrillers. They all act incredibly suspicious all the time.
The only person who really doesn't in Mr. Carlson.
Why?
You guessed it, he is the killer. See, when his son died it was because he couldn't get proper medial treatment due to a power outage. So, he sought revenge by turning power tools on people that wasted electricity.
It was THEIR fault and he killed them for it.
Except for The Skipper. He killed him because he said "he was getting too close." I think he killed him because the production really couldn't afford TWO sitcom legends and had to cut the payroll half way through the picture.
I liked the film. I was very surprised when they killed off Alan Hale and a little surprised at the ending. The video has been pretty hard to find, but I found a copy of it in a dollar store. The dollar DVD transfer was pretty murky, but there were a few scenes with Alan Hale and Gordon Jump standing side by side and that was all I needed.
So, with no further ado, here is THE ONLY photograph on the Internet with Alan Hale and Gordon Jump TOGETHER:
This film got me thinking, who is the bigger star Alan Hale or Gordon Jump? I would have to say Hale since he appeared in more projects and Gilligan's Island is certainly one of the most recognizable programs ever on TV.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
Alan Hale was the bigger star. Although WKRP was on in 1979 so Gordon Jump may have known just because he was on a current show then.
ReplyDeleteThats the way I see it, too.
ReplyDeleteJump gets top billing in the film, but he also has more screen time.
The DVD cover, however lists Hale first.
I am still giddy about seeing the two of them together. I only wish that William Frawley (Fred of I Love Lucy, also Uncle Charley from My Three Sons) had been the mayor of the town or something. That would have been the trifecta.
Where do I begin to tell you how awful this film is? I have an VHS tape of this which I recorded off late-night TV, but the film itself is grainy in quality, not my tape. It is an intricately plotted horror-mystery which will keep you guessing until the last scene. It's great to see "The Skipper" (Alan Hale) from Gilligan's Island and "Mr. Carlson" (Gordon Jump) from the TV comedy WKRP acting together. The lead actor is an unknown but does very well as the perplexed young protagonist. It's nicely paced and it's never obvious who the killer is. Interestingly, the last time I re-watched this movie was the very night Gordon Jump died. I hope this film will come out on DVD because many horror and mystery fans will enjoy it. If your idea is seeing some old television stars on their last leg of their career is appealing to you, then enjoy yourself. Otherwise, you are just wasting your time. Guy hacks up people for body parts, apparently for money, Who knows and/or who cares? Plus, you never find out who the killer is! The movie just ENDS! GIVE ME A BREAK Terrible acting, rotten dialogue and just too painful for me to describe anymore.
ReplyDeleteIt had to happen. "Rescue From Gilligan's Island" was such a ratings smash that the network executives had to milk some more money out of it. In fact, these reunion movies probably started the entire business of converting old television shows into big-budget movies. Still, the movie does harken back to the series, but unfortunately it stays there rather than going to the next level. On a whole, the movie is a wonderful if not slightly askew bit of nostalgia, but the only audience for it are the fans of the original series, and little kids who will love the inane humor.
One of the main things that caught my attention was the fact that Tina Louise (Ginger) wasn't included in the movie (this was a complete letdown). Although Judith Baldwin was an o.k. look alike (only from certain angles) she tried to hard to be Tina Louise, which really took away from the character. I however will say this it is not easy to replace such a person so good job at doing your best Judith (props to Judith)
One of the things that made the original so good was that you had this sane character Andy Travis coming into what is essentially a nut house and becoming one of the nuts. But with this new one there are too many sane people who work at the station and also it centers around Carlson, Les Nesman and Herb Tarlick. While they were a bit off center in the old show they weren't the main characters. On this one they were and somehow without Jennifer to play off of Herb and Carlson to play off of Andy and Nesman to play off of everybody, it just doesn't work. Plus the original just had a great cast that that seemed to click. My advice would be to buy the original on DVD and try to forget this one.
Wait! What is Da Bomb talking about at the end! Was there a WKRP movie?
ReplyDeleteHot dogs get your hot dogs here! JUMP outta your seat and HALE me over to you! Hahahahahaha!
ReplyDeleteIs Tarlick a dirty word?
ReplyDelete