Comments from The I Spy Forum continued
Let's start at the beginning - not one Chinese scientist in Dr. Chulock`s lab in China??? - and did anyone else notice that the guard put his hand right through the door to tell the others to come in - so no glass in the lab doors apparently either ...
and this time around, I picked up on Mme.. Chulock's ethnicity - was she "supposed" to be Chinese???.... not even close ....
Albert Salmi was swarmy enough - constantly wiping his perspiring hands and face ....but not a lot of pizazz for a villain .... my favorite role of his was an over the top megalomaniac dictator he played in one of the Matt Helm movies ....
And maybe Tatia is just way too soft-hearted, but why did they have to kill off the nice bellman and sweet Dr. Bingham .... couldn't they have just kidnapped or "disappeared" Dr. Bingham for awhile and bring him back to be saved in the end? I understand that they needed to have him "incommunicado" so they could have the searching scene to find his notes, but did they have to kill him? (I always got the impression that perhaps the actor Rex Ingram had another engagement and couldn`t finish the show ...)
And why did Marlyn Mason slink down the hall to Mme.. Chulock`s room - she wasn't hiding anything - just walking to her room with her hairdryer ... Her portrayal of "girl agent" Vicky Richards somehow escaped and rose above the annoy"ment" level of the "girl" agent in "Pinwheel" or the young lady in "There Was A Little Girl" .... but just barely!
and what the hell was Kelly wearing - stretch pants with his short kimono jacket? Glad that didn't become a mainstay of the Robinson wardrobe ....
And when they got to the morgue - Scotty wrote down their "real" names (so the bad guys could doctor the Doctor's water back in the hotel??) .... not a swift move Scotty ...
And if they knew the bad guys were down there at the pool setting a trap for them - WHY did they go? Like perhaps they could have stayed up in their room and read a good book instead .....
And I`m sure that was Robert Ito as the ambulance driver - though he is listed as Robert Ho in the credits (probably a typo back at the home office :-) Robert Ito was the co-star of Jack Klugman`s "Quincy, Medical Examiner" show for several years. (I wrote this before seeing the Colonel's review - so I guess we agree ...)
And watching all the details (which are so clear and vibrant) on the DVDs has been lots of fun - I`ve now picked up on the same piece of furniture in 3 of the episodes we've reviewed. The semi-ornate bowed front cabinet that housed Tia`s "cool music" playing tape recorder in "Dragon's Teeth" was also in Jean and Mike Vane's apartment in "Time of the Knife" before it found a home in the hotel hallway outside Dr. Bingham's room ...
The `ol I SPY prop department was great on re-using "stuff" ..... I know that Tatia`s beautiful blue and silver scarf (that she wears when arriving at Kelly`s hotel room for their dinner date) was also worn by Princess Amara in "So Long Patrick Henry" - though she wore it with a jeweled headband .... and the wild-patterned jacket that Kelly and Scotty go hunting for on Mykonos in "Now You See Her Now You Don't" was worn by the good-hearted thief who helped Kelly in "Turnabout for Traitors" in Mexico in the ending scene - the jacket's a little more disheveled this time around, but you can't mistake that pattern ... have any of you picked up on any other "recyclables" out there in the series??
As ever,
Tatia
Author: SAM
Date: 8/20/01 2:43:27 AM
Ok - I did not have as much a problem with this episode as Tatia or the Colonel - when I first saw it, as a kid, I had a fever and its fear factor was more impressive then.
Germ (ok viral) warfare is depressingly familiar today, what with the recent sarin attacks in Tokyo and entire Kurd villages destroyed by the Iraqis a few years ago. This is a powerful subject not to be treated lightly, And therein lies the problem.
I liked the title graphics - a very dated use of the test tubes overlying the Japanese `masses". I even found the routine teasing of Kelly's eating habits did not take away from that initial powerful impression of terror. But Vicky the female spy introduced as comic relief -well that was too much. I also think Marlyn Mason was quite cute and recall her from many other TV shows.
I felt Weight was trying too hard to be two episodes, it had to be one OR the other. It must be a very difficult thing to balance pathos with wit because it worked beautifully in Cup of Kindness, and No Exchange, and yet failed miserably here.
I totally concur with the Colonel about the sexist nature of this story, EVEN in 1965, but it balanced with the portrayal of Dr Bingham. Mr. Hagen was excellent as always, making his Japanese themes sound sinister over the beginning credits and then punctuating the comedic parts. And those parts WERE funny- I particularly liked Kelly saying `Oh GOOD" several times and the after the pool scene was very amusing. The climax was very weak, but the strangest thing was the tag scene, for once played seriously, after all that banter! Very bizarre. Still I don't give it a terrible mark - and perhaps it was claustrophobic for effect?
6 out of 10
SAM
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