This santized look at life in the suburbs was one of TV’s most popular shows. All about the Anderson family with Robert Young as the always wise father Jim, Jane Wyatt as wife Margaret along with the kids, Billy Gray as Bud, Elinor Donahue as Betty “Princess” Anderson and Lauren Chapin as Kathy “Kitten” Anderson. Robert Young was the only holdover from the radio show that started in 1949 and ended in 1954. Jim makes a living as an insurance man.

Opening episode: “Bud Takes Up The Dance” – Jim and Margaret wonder what all the noise is coming from Bud’s room. When he leaves the house they go up and find a book on ballroom dancing. Betty tells them he’s going to the big dance and he even has a date with a girl named Marsha.

Bud comes back and they didn’t have time to get the book back upstairs. Bud knows something’s up as everyone smiles and stares at him. Then little Kathy’s big mouth lets the cat out of the bag. Later Jim and Margaret find out they’ll also be there as chaperones.

Jim goes to talk to Bud about it and he does what he always does in a crisis. He runs and hides in the basement. Jim finds out Marsha’s nickname is Fireball. He can’t see Bud with her and he goes to her house and talks with her Grandmother.

Marsha is hiding in the basement. Jim goes down and finds a very shy girl who doesn’t know how to dance. Her nickname comes from her performance on the school debating team. Jim gives her dancing lessons.

Back home he has Betty give Bud lessons. Will the dance be a disaster? Since this is from the naive 50′s, Jim smokes a lot of cigarettes.

Typical episode: “Close Decision” – This episode was hard to take. A viewer could die of syrup poisoning before it’s finally over. Margaret is worried that Bud will grow up without character and a sense of responsibility.

He’s supposed to learn a poem to recite at church, his room is a disaster area and he wants to play in a baseball game. Margaret says he can’t go unless he rakes the leaves. Jim reluctantly backs her up. Bud tries to sneak out but gets caught.

His friend Joe comes over to ask him why he’s not at the game. Margaret plays hardball and tells him he can’t go until his work is done. Jim is supposed to get some groceries but stops by the game. Reverend Swain says the team is losing and they need Bud.

Against his better judgement Jim finds Bud hiding in the basement and allows him to go. He’ll handle Margaret. Later Bud comes home with a black eye. I can’t go on. I don’t even want to think about the rest of the episode.

The cast

The Dixieland side of T.D. with vocalists Edythe Wright and Jack Leonard. Forty-eight tracks in this collection that are a lot of fun.

CD #1 highlights include: “The Music Goes ‘Round And Around”, “At The Codfish Ball”, “Twilight In Turkey” and “All You Want To Do Is Dance.”

CD #2 highlights include: “Nice Work If You Can Get It”, Everybody’s Doing It”, “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby” and “Shoot The Sherbert To Me Herbert.”

And the winner of the space race is…….Denmark. There’s humor, paranoia and a very ironic ending to this book. It may appear to be just a comic novel but it’s much more. Well worth picking up.

Israeli physicist Arnie Klein invents an anti-gravity device he calls The Daleth Effect. He defects to the country of his birth, Denmark. He calls his friend and fellow physicist and Nobel Prize winner Ove Rasmussen.

The two combine the Daleth Effect and a fusion generator and they’re ready for their first test. The put the equipment on an old icebreaker. The ship rises and then takes a fall causing several injuries.

The second test on a small submarine goes a lot better. Joining them is airline pilot Nils Hansen. He’s married to Martha, an American citizen. The Russians and the Americans will do anything to get their hands on the Daleth Effect.

A three man Russian ship crashes on the Moon. There’s no hope of rescue until the Daleth Effect. While Moscow is broadcasting long and boring speeches to the men on the Moon the sub moves in for the rescue. Now the race is on to try and steal the technology.

A Soviet agent breaks into a Minister’s office and kills a watchman so he can break into a file cabinet. No luck. Martha is called to the American Embassy to see Bob Baxter. He says there’s something wrong with her passport. He looks it over and says it’s okay and then puts it in a drawer. He told Martha he wants her to spy on her husband and the scientists and report back to him.

Arnie, Ove and the others establish a base on the Moon with Mars the next stop.  They build a huge ship for the next flight and invite dignitaries along for the ride. All is going well until paranoia takes over America and Russia.

The book touches on Denmark’s WWII risky actions and the politics of the Cold War. The ending is an eye opener that will probably make you think it could all have happened this way and may even occur in the future.

Harry Harrison

Michael Wilding-Tommy Trinder-Claude Hulbert

Wacky British WWII comedy about three sailors who take over a German battleship.

The movie starts with a song to set the tone as British sailors are boarding the HMS Ferocious. Their mission is to sink the German battleship Ludendorf. They can’t find it.

Four months later the Ferocious pulls into port for refueling and shore leave. On the way to port Llewellwn Davies, nicknamed The Admiral (Claude Hulbert) shows his pals Johnny (Michael Wilding) and Tommy (Tommy Trinder) a picture of his sister Jane. She’s a gawky kid and they’re not impressed.

Once on shore they head for a nightclub. Davies goes to a hotel to visit his sister. She’s a governess to two super brats. At the club Johnny and Tommy try to chat up women without success.  They spot Davies with a knockout and move in. It’s the all grown up Jane. She doesn’t want her brother to let on who she is. Jane ends up making fools of the two.

Jane and her employers are sailing for England that night and the three go onboard to see her off. The ship sails while they’re still on board. Johnny and Tommy get a pilot boat but they had to get drunk first. Davies is also drunk because he kept getting fed champagne at a wedding. The three use the boat to try and find the Ferocious.

They spot a ship and they think it’s the Ferocious. They sneak on board. Then they realize it’s the Ludendorf. The next day they’re found out and held prisoner.  Tommy comes up with a plan to steal the ship. He’ll need the help of a friendly guard named Hans who owns a bakery shop in London.

Most of the crew goes ashore and Tommy and the boys capture the ship and sail off. All goes well until the oil is accidentally pumped into the ocean. They’re stopped.

Here comes a ship. It’s a German ship. That’s only the first of their problems to come. There’s nothing that sight gags can’t cure. You have to be in the mood for something like this. If you are you’ll enjoy the wackiness.

First of three books about Maryland Prosecutor Gardner Lawson. If you like courtroom fireworks as two enemies faceoff you’ll like this one. Good all the way through.

The six year old son of a Russian diplomat is killed in the woods. The man charged is T.J.Justice, a pedophile. He was charged with the murder of a child in Kansas but released on a technicality.

Gardner Lawson with the help of Assistant D.A. Jennifer Mundy are prosecuting the case and it’s not the slam dunk it appears. The defense attorny is Kent King. The two hate each other and Lawson doesn’t say why. King is a smarmy guy and no trick is above or below him. The Judge is a golfing buddy of his but starts to lose patience with the back and forth sniping between King and Lawson. 

King has a sleazy investigator tracking down witnesses in favor of his client and fooling them into signing statements. He just skirts the lines of illegality.  Lab technician Sgt.Joe Brown risks his job to help Lawson.

Through it all Lawson has to deal with a vindictive ex-wife and a neurotic girlfriend. These elements could have been soapy but Warfield doesn’t go there.

Unbeknownst to anyone a drone at the State Department has been told to keep an eye on the Soviets. All of a suden the recent thaw in relations is freezing up again. His superiors tell him he can stop his investigation. He keeps a personal file anyway.

The courtroom scenes are very well done and fans of legal thrillers will enjoy it. The two other books in the series are “Silent Sam” (1995) and  ”Raising Cain” (1998).

Gallatin Warfield

One hundred and twelve tracks of grit and rowdy blues from 1943-1956 that paved the way for Rock ‘n’ Roll. This is raw stuff for those that want to hear something other than the polish of the major labels of the era. You may not know a lot of the artists but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be heard and appreciated for their contributions. Each disc has twenty-eight tracks.

CD #1 highlights include: “Rock Me Mama”-Lightnin’ Slim, “Courtin’ In A Cadillac”-Jerry McCain, “When I Come In This House Woman”-Big Son Tillis and “Mama Does The Boogie”-Red Johnson.

Other artists on CD #1: Papa Lightfoot, Little Al, Joe Hill Louis, Frankie Lee Sims, Little Sam Davis, Jesse Thomas, Little Milton Anderson, L.B.Lawson, Schoolboy Cleve, John Lee, Blues Rockers, Sonny Boy Holmes, Earl Hooker, Good Rockin’ Sam, Lost John Hunter, Pee Wee Hughes, Alex Moore, Frank Edwards, Lazy Lester, Mercy Dee, R.Green & Turner, Alvin Smith and Tommy Lee Thompson

CD #2 highlights include: “Sneaky Groundhog”-Clifford Gibson, “Winehead Swing”-James Tisdom, “I’m Him”-Schoolboy Cleve and “Too Much Competition”-Tarheel Slim.

Other artists on CD #2: Harvey Hill, Jr., Clarence Samuels, Jerry McCain, John Lee, Pee Wee Hughes, Mercy Dee, Arthur Gunter, Lightnin’ Slim, Papa Lightfoot, Little Milton Anderson, Johnny Lewis, Lafayette Thomas, Lonesome Sundown, Wild Bill Phillips, K.C.Douglas, Pinebluff Pete, King Davis, Earl Hooker, Sonny Boy Holmes, Louis Jackson, Little Sam Davis, Skoole-Dum-Doo & Sheffield and Alex Moore.

CD #3 highlights include: “ Got My Call Card”-L.B.Lawson, “One Thing My Baby Likes”-Country Jim, “My Woman Knows The Score”-Mercy Dee and “Bloodstains On The Wall”-Honeyboy.

Other artists on CD #3: Eddie Hope & The Mannish Boys, Blues Rockers, Frank Edwards, Papa Lightfoot, Little Willie Cotton, Good Rockin’ Beasley, Lightnin’ Slim, Earl Hooker, Jerry McCain, Little Sam Davis, Pee Wee Hughes, Little Al, John Lee, Coy “Hot Shot” Love, Guitar Gable, Ernest McClay, Dennis McMillon, Alex Seward, Lost John Hunter, Jerry Perkins, Little Milton Anderson, Sonny Boy Holmes and Alex Moore.

CD #4 highlights include: “1958 Blues”-Little Sam Davis, “She’s Taking All My Money”-Johnny Lewis, “Don’t Take It Out On Me”-Frankie Lee Sims and “I Can’t Be Successful”-Lightnin’ Slim.

Other artists on CD #4: Lazy Lester, Mercy Dee, Eddie Hope & The Mannish Boys, Good Rockin’ Sam, R.Green & Turner, Arthur Gunter, Sonny Boy Holmes, K.C.Douglas, John Lee, Clifford Gibson, Ole Sonny Boy, Schoolboy Cleve, Jerry McCain, Lazy Slim Jim, Lafayette Thomas, Tommy Lee Thompson, Little Milton Anderson, Wright Holmes, Jerry Perkins, Earl Hooker, Country Jim and Coy “Hot Shot” Love.

Gareth Hunt-Joanna Lumley-Patrick Macnee

You can’t go home again. The series was good with Honor Blackman, great with Diana Rigg and just okay with Linda Thorson. This revival featured a good cast but the legacy was too much to live up to. Patrick MacNee returned as John Steed. His partners are Gareth Hunt as Mike Gambit and Joanna Lumley as Purdey. There are twenty-six episodes in all. The whole thing is just lame and shouldn’t have been tried in the first place.

The original show ran from 1961-69. Honor Blackman was Catherine Gale (1961-64). Diane Rigg was Mrs.Emma Peel (1965-68) and Linda Thorson was Tara King (1968-69).

Opening episode: “The Eagle’s Nest” w/Peter Cushing – Bad way to open a series. A poorly written, poorly executed episode with a storyline that’s been done to death.

George Stanner is a British agent. He being chased and ends up on St.Dorca island. There’s a monastary run by monks who make a living selling fish extract. One of the islanders is an expert casting with a fishing pole. As Stanner tries to escape by motorboat he’s hit in the cheek with a poison fish hook.

At Stanner’s London apartment Steed is attacked. He was there to brief him on security for a lecture by Dr.Von Claus (Peter Cushing). He has his pal Albert the frog with him. Al has been in hybernation for ten years. Von Claus revives him. Looking on is the man who knocked down Steed.

He grabs Von Claus and jumps out a window into a van. Gambit steals a car and chases him. The man takes some shots at Gambit and the car crashes. Before he can question him the man chomps down on a suicide pill.

Gambit finds out the last plane out of Berlin crashed in the area with what’s referred to as Germany’s most valuable treasure. Steed goes to the island by boat and Purdey sneaks in underwater. Von Claus aids a Doctor with reviving a man. Later he’s told the man needs his help. Von Claus sees that he’s flatlined. Hold on. That ring on his finger shows it’s not the same person he operated on it. Who is it? Really? It’s really him? Talk about asinine moments.

The ending is good for a laugh but it’s way too long getting there.

Final episode: “Forward Base” – A 1969 typhoon passes over Lake Ontario in Canada and strange things start happening to the shoreline. A lone fisherman is in his rowboat and an instant later he’s on the rocky shore.

Present day: Steed, Gambit and Purdey are in Canada. Steed talks with agent Bailey. He likes to work alone. He sees a man come ashore and bury a packet. The man challenges him and Bailey shoots him. Steed retrieves the packet. It’s the latest digital circuit board of a missle guidance system.

Steed reburies it and has Gambit and Purdey keep an eye out to see who digs it up. A man they recognize as a Russian agent gets it and then throws it into the lake. Purdey goes out to get it back. She finds it. It’s not the same one.

They put the pressure on the agent at his motel and he panics and calls forward base. His control isn’t happy he broke radio silence.

There’s an interesting chase scene in slow moving swan boats to make this episode a bit different. Purdey tries to figure out why fish are found in a birds nest up a tree. Overall the episode is lame and the ending is flat. 

Joanna Lumley has had a long career in England. One highlight was in 1973 when she played Elaine Perkins in “Coronation Street.” Her wordwide claim to fame was as Patsy Stone on “Absolutely Fabulous” (1992-2005). The title describes her acting on the show.

Twenty-three tracks from a real legend of the 20′s and 30′s. For some his voice will take getting used to but it’s worth the ride.

Highlights include: “High Sheriff Blues”, “A Spoonful Blues”, “Jersey Bull Blues” and “I Shall Not Be Moved.”

Different from the short lived series and not a very good presentation. Laumer changes David Vincent from an architect to a consulting engineer. That’s just one of the changes from the show He works for a General and is visiting factories across the country that are making parts for companies with only post office boxes for an address.

At one plant he draws a sketch of the parts he has so far. A security guard named Dorn tears it up. David leaves but suspicion makes him return. Before he gets there he sees an accident scene. It’s the wrecked limo of the head of the plant who was very cooperative. The man’s dead.

David sneaks into the place and copies some drawings he finds in a file cabinet. He has to hide when Dorn comes in. Someone is with him and they communicate with buzzing sounds. David escapes after finding out for sure that Dorn is an alien. He goes to a friend who may understand the drawings and just what all the parts together will turn out to be. It’s a futuristic device known as a disintegrator or eruptor.

They call the FBI. Four agents arrive. They’re attacked by a helicopter. The agents are killed and David’s friend is tossed out of the chopper. Dorn tries to find out what he knows. Escaping from there the alien station is destroyed thanks to a defective weapon..

His next stop is a meeting of the lunatic fringe to talk about UFO’s. He meets a man named Thrall who also believes the Invaders are there. David now feels he has an ally and is no longer alone. He goes to Thrall’s house.  At this point things really get dumb. Dorn shows up and promises to make David a superman if he cooperates. David gets out of that one.

The aliens have a three month plan. A large meteor is headed for Earth hidden in a meteor shower. The powers that be don’t take David seriously. Might as well steal an army tank and take matters into your own hands.

There were only two more paperbacks loosely based on the show. If the show were like the books I never would have watched it. It ran from 1967-68 and went off the air without an ending.

Keith Laumer

Excellent British crime movie about an ex con on the run for a murder he didn’t commit. Don’t miss this one. Note: The title’s the same but that’s the only similarity between this and the 1940 movie with Humphrey Bogart and George Raft.

Shorty Matthews gets out of prison after eighteen months. He looks up his old girlfriend Alice. She’s now a dance hostess. He goes to her rooming house. The door’s open so he walks in. Looks like Alice is asleep. With that silk stocking around her neck she’ll be asleep for a long time. The landlady runs into Shorty before he leaves. She says she’s tired of Alice bringing men around. She’s going upstairs to throw her out. She screams and calls the cops. She describes Shorty.

Shorty gets out of town and to a truck stop. He runs into Molly. She worked with Alice at the dance hall. He eventually hitches a ride with a lorry driver. On the road he admits who he is. It’s a rainy night and the truck skids and hits a post. The driver is knocked out and Shorty gets behind the wheel.

While driving along he sees Molly struggling in the middle of the road with a driver. He rescues her and takes off for his driver’s original destination. When they get there he and Molly go into a back room with the driver and his wife.

Someone comes in the front door. It’s the cops. They brush past the wife and Shorty jumps out the window. The cops put Molly into the police car. Shorty doubles back, knocks out a couple cops and takes off.

Down the road Shorty gets out and tells Molly he has to keep going. Now the cops pull up in a commandeered car but Shorty’s gone.

Back in London Molly gets back to work. Shorty’s back too. He’s hoping for some help from his old pals. Nothing doing. He waits outside the dance hall for Molly. She takes him to an abandoned building where he can hide out.

He tells her to question the guys Alice danced with. He thinks one of them might be the murderer. Maybe it’s the creepy Walter Hoover. (Ernest Thesiger).

Some good suspense moves things along. Thesiger is a must see as Hoover.

Ernest Thesiger should be rediscovered. A couple of his most effective performances were as Horace Femm in 1932′s “The Old Dark House” and as Dr.Pretorius in 1935′s “Bride Of Frankenstein.”  He had a fifty year career

Ernest Thesiger