#TheStranger End of walkthrough.
Do I recommend?
As with #ShadowOfTheCloak with its one ep it's hard to know if this was good. The existing ep is great for its representation but as a story it's not new. Maybe if the 2nd existing ep is liberated from the archives I'd have a better idea.
#TheStranger TV 1.13 cont'd.
Compared to the sole #ShadowOfTheCloak ep from early 1952 you can see the huge improvement in DuMont's capability in their new TV studio.
And as per #RockyKing TV ep #5.48 this ep is surely an Electonicam film print rather a Kinescope as it looks fabulous in comparison.
#ShadowOfTheCloak End of walkthrough.
Do I recommend?
I see a throughline to the recorded as live #TheAvengers eps from 1961-64 in this.
A pity Helmut Dantine isn't in this and that a couple more eps don't exist. I can't judge whether this show elevated itself in eps with its lead star in situ.
#ShadowOfTheCloak TV 1.31 cont'd.
That special effect used in #RockyKing where we get the superimposed faces done live is impressive. Good for live TV no matter when!
Werner Klemperer who played Colonel Klink in "Hogan's Heroes" is the villain here.
The knife throwing was a filmed insert surely?
#ShadowOfTheCloak TV 1.31 cont'd.
Lead actor Helmut Dantine isn't in this ep for some reason so the ISI spy is played by Bill Reid in two scenes. This guy clearly isn't an actor so must be filling in somehow for Helmut Dantine as this is Reid's sole TV performance.
So maybe not a representative ep?
#ShadowOfTheCloak TV 1.31 cont'd.
Compared to the #RockyKing live eps which were also made in New York by the DuMont TV network I found this ep so slow and flat. The first half esp.
Rod Serling clearly can write but this is his 4th ever TV script and its got a lot of limitations imposed upon it.
#ShadowOfTheCloak TV 1.31 cont'd.
This ep and series are notable.
The spy fiction genre is well established by 1951 when this series started but this is the first spy TV series.
This ep is written by Rod Serling.
It's the only surviving ep and it went out live.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h02_...
#ShadowOfTheCloak TV ep #1.31 "The Last Performance" (10-Jan-52).
First an admission that English language spy fiction isn't my genre. It leans too much into reinforcing the Britshit class system or Yank exceptionalism. I think the popular version of the genre doesn't hold up to any test of time.
I'm looking at doing some DuMont shows. Decided on (what scraps remain of) #FrontPageDetective, #ThePlainclothesman, #ManAgainstCrime, #TheStranger, #ShadowOfTheCloak.
Do have any DuMont Network recommends please?
