THE REBEL SET - "Jungle Of Strange Kicks" (1959)

 

Tonight's Saturday Night Special is a hipster/robber flick from 1959 called "The Rebel Set," but let's get something straight first thing, You don't spell Beatnik Beatnick, because that's just not cool!

They tried to sell this film as being about rebellious beatniks, and their wanton ways, but that's not what it is at all!

The setting at the beginning of the film is a 'beat' club, and there's lots of cool and groovy music from Maestro Paul Dunlap no doubt!

The owner of the club is a shyster named Mr. Tucker as played by Edward Platt. His flunky is a two-bit crook named Sidney. Mr. Tucker has a plan to rob an armored car, and he sends Sidney out to get three known losers to help him with his plan. Edward Platt might be best known as The Chief on "Get  Smart" for 137 episodes, but he's done so much more than that including being in the episode of "The Twilight Zone" called "A Hundred Yards Over The Rim," and I believe he's the only person I know of who has been in three episodes of "The Outer Limits!"

 Ned Glass as Sidney had a totally amazing career that included lots of Three Stooges shorts, two episodes of "The Twilight Zone," "A Passage For Trumpet," and "The Midnight Sun," two Elvis movies, and parts in everything from "War Of The Worlds," to "West Side Story."

The first of the three chumps is an out of work actor named Johnny Mapes.

Since a lot of you people out there don't even know how to drink a beer properly, here's a three point set of instructions on how to do it. First, get yourself a Churchkey, and punch a hole on one side of the top.

Second thing is you rotate the can 90 degrees, and punch a hole in the other side so that it acts as a vent!

The third step is to pour it down your gullet! You don't sip beer, it's made to be gulped!

Really talented beer drinkers can even drink with one hand in their pocket without falling down and breaking their face. This is really something to strive for!

Johnny's taking acting lessons from an "Act With The Stars" record.

The record is cleverly moved to reveal the next one of the three stooges to get involved in this heist!

"The Rebel Set" was made the same year as "Bucket Of Blood," and the hipster beat elements and antics are very similar in both of them. The cool jazz, free poetry, and distant people spacing out, would make the two films into a very hip double feature!

Here's the three victims chosen by Mr. Tucker to pull off his heist, from left to right. Ray (Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter) Lupton as failed author Ray Miller, Gregg (The Creature Walks Among Us, From Hell It Came) Palmer as failed actor Johnny Mapes, and Don (The Giant Gila Monster, Teenage Zombies) Sullivan, as bad boy loser son of a famous actress, George Leland.

Before we leave the beatniks and hipsters and this film turns into a fairly standard cops and robbers affair, we have to talk about the main act in the beat cafe, I. Stanford Jolley as a wildman beat poet called King Invader.

I. Stanford Jolley had an incredible 379 acting credits to his name that included sixteen tons of western movies, but he was also in serials that included "Batman," "The Phantom," "Superman," and "The Crimson Ghost," etc. This role as King Invader was quite different for him, and it looks like he relished it!

What a shot of a train!!

Well, of course the whole plan goes haywire in multiple directions. The guy with the least amount of money problems, George Leland, gets greedy, and gets a bullet for his excesses made to look like a suicide.

Mr. Tucker escapes dressed as a priest, and there is a long and tedious chase scene.

In one of the rare moments of intended comedy, just like in a cartoon, these three bums pop out of their hidden sleeping quarters to watch the scene go by, and just as quickly, duck back in!

Johnny Mapes cannot believe what he has just witnessed!

In a weird twist of fate, George Leland's dead body passes unknowingly right in front of his famous Mother, just as she's telling reporters that she's back in town to be with her son, and reunite their family!

 

"The Rebel Set" is in the public domain and can be viewed and shared freely via the Internet Archive.

It's only a little over an hour and eleven minutes, so what have you got to lose!?

I specifically didn't tell you the story so you can enjoy all the quirkiness of this 'jungle of strange kicks' firsthand!

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS In "Rock Bottom" - 2000

Here's one of my favorite episodes from this great cartoon series, from 22 years ago!

Spongebob and Patrick have just had a happy day at their favorite place, Glove World, and are waiting for the bus to take them back home...

Of course they take the wrong bus and are headed for a deep, dark place called Rock Bottom.

Alright, they have finally arrived at their destination...

Rock Bottom!

Patrick needs to use the can, but, him and Spongebob can't figure out which door he needs to go in, the writing is whack. So, they decide to wait for 'someone' to come out so that they can determine which door is for guys. It doesn't go well.

Spongebob tells Patrick to wait for the bus back to Bikini Bottom while he goes to the bus station for a schedule... And the bus takes off with Patrick inside!

So, our little knucklehead is stranded, waiting for another bus to arrive. The wind kicks up and his balloon slips out of his hand.

A citizen shows up and starts chasing down Spongebob's balloon, but Spongebob just wants to go home, who cares about a stupid old balloon anyway! 

The little guy's stomach is growling and he wants to get some kelp chips from the vending machine across the street from the bus stop. A number of busses slip by as he's always on the wrong side of the street. He's getting frantic.

He even tries to camouflage himself as a bench, which gets him nowhere.

Spongebob has had it and goes to the bus station for help...

After waiting in a very long line, for hours, it's his turn, but, the last bus just left!

Spongebob is very angry and demands that the clerk listen to his displeasure, and suddenly all the lights go out! Well, at least he'll be first in line when it opens again... But he starts hearing strange noises, like someone giving him the raspberries, and he runs back outside.

Outside, he keeps hearing creepy sounds, and starts running, and runs square into the vertical road the busses go up and down on. The noise keeps getting closer!

Well, it's the guy who chased down Spongebob's balloon, he ties the balloon to the scaredy-cat's tiny wrist.

As the guy is blowing up the balloon, Spongebob complains that, what good is his balloon going to do him, he just needs get back home!

Still complaining, Spongebob starts floating up and away.

And it isn't long before our little friend drifts back to Bikini Bottom and he lands safely at his pineapple. There you go, a fun little adventure on a Friday!

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED - "I Like It Here In Wilmington" (1984)

This week's Wild Wednesday presentation is season seven, episode eleven from the cool British TV show, Roald Dahl's "Tales Of The Unexpected."

This episode was titled "I Like It Here In Wilmington." Although this was a British television program, many of the later episodes like this one were shot in other parts of the world like America, and used American actors.

 

Episodes of "Tales Of The Unexpected" were only twenty-six minutes long, so they don't waste a lot of time. 

This episode had an awesome cast that included Robert Loggia as Harry Elton, a man whose garment industry is failing. Harry's partner Marvin Castlemore is played by Dungeon Hero, and one of the most talented comedians in the world, Tommy Smothers.

Their model Cissy was played by Wendy Austin in her sole acting credit.
 

 Robert Loggia has a familiar face because he has a massive 233 credits to his name. In 1965-66, Robert had his own TV show called "T.H.E. Cat," where he played T. Hewitt Edward Cat, a reformed cat burglar.

 

 

 Tom and his brother Dick Smothers had a very popular act in the 60's combining folk music and standup comedy. There is another episode of "Tales Of The Unexpected" that has Dick in it!

From 1967 to 1969, The Smothers Brothers had a very cool variety show on TV for 71 episodes that featured acts like The Doors, and other music you didn't normally see on TV. 

Harry Elton's beautiful wife Roberta is played by the always stunning Susan Strasberg. Harry has a plan to save his failing business.

 As it turns out, in Delaware, if you catch your wife in the act of adultery, it's okay to murder the other party without retribution, and it's only a hundred dollars fine. Since he has a 100 grand partnership insurance policy on Marvin, Harry convinces Roberta to have an affair with Marvin, and then he'll catch them in the act, claim the insurance, and they won't have to lose the Mercedes. 

It would be a lot easier if they could just get into her trust fund, but that's not possible as long as she's still alive.

Harry invites Marvin over for dinner, so that Marvin and Roberta can get better acquainted.

Susan Strasberg is also a real Dungeon fave, and has been in an array of cool movies like "Taste Of Fear,""Psych-Out,""The Name Of The Game Is Kill," and "The Trip."

 

Marvin is a fairly simple man, and is falling for the whole scheme.

CHEERZ!

The wheels are now fully in motion.

 Check out Harry and Cissy there in the background. They're getting pretty cozy themselves.

Harry leaves town for five days, and Marvin is in love!

To further reinforce their plan, when Marvin and Roberta go out for dinner, Roberta makes a point of letting shocked onlookers know there's hanky panky going on.

Harry and Roberta's plan does have a couple of faults to it. One is that she really does like Marvin.

I could tell you how this story ends, but that wouldn't be any fun, and since you can watch it yourself for free on IMDB TV, I'm leaving it up to you!

IMDB is usually so good about this stuff, I'm really surprised about one thing. For their post on this episode, they show Janet(Psycho)Leigh as being part of the cast, and then down below in the 'Trivia' section, the trivia is "Janet Leigh does not appear in this episode." 

WTF?!