THE MIDDLEMAN 01 - "The Pilot Episode Sanctuary" (2008)

Tonight's Middle of the Week feature is called "The Middleman."

 

 

"The Middleman" was a 2008 TV show that was based on characters from a graphic novel (Too sophisticated to call it a comic book) written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, and illustrated by Les McClaine. It's funny that this show is 13 years old, but I still think of it as being modern, and while not bad, it still makes me long to go back and watch something from the 50's or 60's instead, mostly because of the overacting!

At least it wasn't called "The Middle Finger."

"The Middleman" was Cuban cutie Natalie Morales's fourth credit as a temporary worker named Wendy Watson who becomes a superhero's apprentice and sidekick. It wasn't really the kind of job she was looking for, but she was desperate!

Nice shot of the proverbial smoking gun!

This is Matt Keeslar as Wendy's new boss, "The Middleman."

This creature just reminds me of "Mr. Potato Head!"

Just a little too intelligent for Hollywood, Matt has 45 credits to his name, and two years after this show was made, he permanently moved to Oregon where he is currently working as a physician's assistant!

Wendy gets the blame for that laboratory burning down, even though she had nothing to do with it, so it becomes increasingly more difficult for her to find another job!

So she reluctantly agrees to work with "The Middleman," because she really doesn't have much choice!

Matt Keeslar was in some interesting films including "Waiting For Guffman, and "Psycho Beach Party," and he also played Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Hyde in a 2007 version of the classic tale.

The always enjoyable Mary Pat Gleason has the role of Ida, "The Middleman's" grumpy robot assistant! She has to put Wendy Watson through a series of tests to make sure she is going to be able to handle the job.

Wendy's real choice of occupation if she had one, would be to be a professional artist, and her new life experiences come out in her work.

Just goes to show you that you can't trust anybody, because he's not really an F.B.I. agent.

The opening segment is an homage to "The Avengers."

This show aired on the "Family" Network!

I give the writers big kudos, and a lot of credit for reviving the gorilla suit costume!

 

"The Middleman" is quirky, and fairly amusing if you're in the mood for something light, funny and odd, but then I'm a sucker for anything with a gorilla, a pretty girl, and a goober hero in it.

And how can you go wrong with episode titles like "The Manicoid Teleportation Conundrum," or "The Flying Fish Zombification?" I just don't think you can!

THE FROZEN GHOST / Inner Sanctum #4 - 1945

Here's an Inner Sanctum movie that is a really weird one. Stage mentalist Gregor The Great is infuriated when a drunken member of the audience belittles his act (it's all done with mirrors). Things go wrong and it's downhill from there in this story, and honestly, I don't know what it has to do with ghosts being frozen!

It stars Lon Chaney, Evelyn Ankers, Milburn Stone, Douglass Dumbrille, Martin Kosleck, Elena Verdugo and Tara Birell.

Gregor The Great is on stage with his lovely assistant, The Fascinating Maura, and it's being broadcast on the radio!

One drunken fool (who Gregor tells Maura he'd like to kill!) volunteers to be hypnotized but is giving Gregor a bad time until the mentalist orders the old man to concentrate.

The old bastard falls over dead, the death confirmed by a doctor in the audience.

Gregor is devastated by the death but is cleared of any wrongdoing by Inspector Brandt. The man had a heart condition and it was ruled a heart attack.

Maura, who's Gregor's fiancée, is told that he's calling off the engagement, and, he's retiring from the act because of the death, still convinced he was responsible. She walks out on him.

He ends up staying in the mansion at Valerie Monet's Wax Museum. From now on Gregor wants to be called by his first name, Alex.

Alex immediately bumps heads with the figure artist, Rudi. Rudi's a real weirdo and spends a lot of his time talking to his creations. Next to him is Atilla The Hun, the greatest killer of all time!

Then Alex finds out that Valerie wants him but starts belittling him when he refuses her advances, and next thing you know...

She's fainted and has fallen to the floor after Alex gets angry and wants to kill her with his mental powers. Alex leaves the place.

Valerie has gone missing. Nina, the museum assistant, discovers her boss under a costume and wig, apparently dead.

Rudi is now chasing Nina with a big knife, and she barely gets away after he tosses it and barely misses her.

Then we find out who's running the show, Alex's agent, George Keene. Rudi is actually a discredited doctor, doing all the dirty work for George. Their scheme is to be inheritors of Valerie's estate and holdings.

Valerie is supposedly in an induced coma, but when they check her pulse, they find out that she's actually, dead!! George orders Rudi to burn her body in the incinerator, and also Nina's body, who is also in a comatose state.

George is leaving but runs into Alex and Maura, and boy is he unpleasantly surprised! Alex has George ask questions to Maura after he's put her in a trance, he wants to find out who the killers are. George really doesn't have a choice so he goes along with it.

Maura finally sees the men responsible for the death of Valerie, they are Rudi and George Keene! George kicks Alex in the face and tries to make his escape, but the Inspector was listening outside the door and nabs him.

Maura also saw flames in her vision so Alex runs to the room with the incinerator, and before Rudi can toss Nina into the fire, he falls backwards into it himself. You can see his legs there! Everything turns out fine and there's a happy ending.

THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER "Love/Hate" (1955)

This week's Saturday Night Special is called "The Night Of The Hunter," a film made in 1955, starring the always entertaining James Mitchum in a seriously creepy role as a serial killer posing as a preacher. Some call him a religious fanatic, but I see him as a predator, a con man, a phony, and a complete shyster, on top of being a murdering son of a bitch with no conscience, who preys on innocent and ignorant women and children! He's a real ladykiller all right!

 

"The Night Of The Hunter" is a dark, mean spirited, but beautifully filmed motion picture that was directed by screen legend Charles Laughton, and it's pretty damn obvious that a lot of thought was given to each and every shot!

The subject matter is a different story. The film opens with some kids finding a dead woman!

Cut to Robert Mitchum as insane killer Harry Powell. He claims to be a preacher, but I'd like to see his papers! Yeah, you guessed it, he was responsible for the death of that woman. Basically, the only friend Harry has, is his blade, kind of like "The Creep."

 

Cut to Dungeon Super Hero Peter Graves as Ben Harper. Ben is going down, and only his son knows where he stashed the money!  Peter Graves is the brother of "Gunsmoke's" James Arness, and besides "Mission: Impossible," "Killers From Space," "It Conquered The World," and "Beginning Of The End," Peter entertained me every Saturday morning for years as Jim Newton on "Fury."

Somehow Ben Harper ends up in the same cell as the freakazoid Harry Powell. Ben is going to be executed for his crimes, but before he does, he unintentionally and vaguely mentions the money he stole and where it might possibly be. 

 

Ben is put to death, and Harry is released and on the prowl, and it don't take much thought to figger out where he's headed!

Harry moves in on Ben Harper's wife and kids, and invariably, the females young and old fall for his phony ass routine!

Janis Joplin probably said it best, "Women is losers!"

Next thing you know, Preacher Harry, and Ben Harper's widder, are getting hitched, cause no woman wants to be lonely!

Ben Harper's ex-wife Willa is played by the always phenomenal Shelly Winters! Here she is on her wedding night, all ready to hop in the sack with the preacher.

But this is all he has to offer to her.....................He really is a bastard!

The preacher just keeps on waiting for the kids to slip up about where the money is hidden, but they're on to him! (I think, but sometimes you have to wonder)

Harry ends up slitting Willa's throat, and disposes her body in the river, so now he's the sole provider for the kids!

The kids escape Harry's clutches, and head on down the river. For me, this would have been as good a time as any to end this movie, but instead, the kids float down the river for a while, and they end up in what as might as well be, a new movie.

Harry kills some farmer and steals his horse to further pursue the children!

The children take refuge in this barn, but it doesn't take long before they realize that Harry is relentlessly pursuing them.

There's thirty minutes left, so they decided to start a whole new movie featuring these girls and the lady who is taking care of them. The two new kids fit right in.

It might have just been the drugs!

 

 

The kids end up at the home of Rachel Cooper, a very protective woman who takes in needy children. Rachel Cooper was played by the delightful Lillian Gish, who had been acting since freakin' 1912. Spunky Lillian passed away in 1993 at the age of 99.

Rachel gives Pastor Harry a good taste of fire and brimstone!

 

And then, the next thing you know, it's Christmas!

As the Reverend Tom Frost would say, Merry Bloody Christmas Everybody!!!

And once again, Gracias to Lord Litter in Germany for, among other things, reminding me I needed to watch this film!