Murder On Stage 17

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S2 (Murder On Stage 17)

For an actor that was the Special Guest Star for the episode, and the lead actor in the western being filmed within it, the guy playing Steve Hanson was a bit wooden. He had the greyed, grizzled look of an old film star, but the way he spoke his lines, especially compared with the much more natural S&H, came out as if he was almost reading from a script. I'm not saying I didn't like the guy, and he has some good moments (it looked like the actor when he had to run through the flaming doorway of the trailer), but he did stick out to me, especially when you look at Chuck McCann who played the villain of the piece, Wally Stone. McCann had previously appeared in Season 1's 'Silence' as Larry. I'd never made the connection before, but he was superb in both episodes, and even though I only saw it again last year, I didn't realise this actor was the same one to play both standout characters! He was just as accomplished at being different characters in reality as Wally was. But that's the thing, there's a bit of a theme within a theme going on, with actors on a TV show acting being actors, so we get plenty of in-jokes about such things when S&H show great pleasure at the prospect of acting, or in Hutch's stage fright and terror at having a line ("Here comes McCoy now").

Wally Stone fitted into this brilliantly, an actor on the series portraying a failed actor (and funny man), who takes on several roles in his plan to kill off the members of a club called the Wolf Pack. McCann shows his range as a rough Sierra Springs water man bringing a bottle to the soundstage, a delivery guy on a bicycle, the jolly studio guard, and a nun, but his best performance is as Wally, a man that is half-crazy with revenge and bitterness over a career that ended in disgrace (though it sounds like it was his own fault - at a Wolf Pack party he took Jane Alexey, wife of one of the members, into the bedroom and she ended up falling out of a ten-storey window - it's said that they could never prove that Stone pushed her, but he put himself in that situation!), when the public could never forgive him. He's totally believable as this manic killer with a naturally huge sense of humour who is full of surprises, not just in the varied roles he plays under the nose of someone that knew him (admittedly thinking he was dead), but in being agile as a mountain goat in the final attack on Steve in which he uses a rifle to shoot him, climbs down scaffolding or rigging (just like in the finale to 'The Las Vegas Strangler'), and dashes away with S&H in pursuit. He was certainly one of the best villains of the season, perhaps even the best (I usually award Prudholm that accolade, but he wasn't in his episode as much), and culminates in a scene where he breaks down at the happy memories of his old life when Starsky talks about his films.

This time you don't get the idea Starsky's talking down to a madman as he did to the mentally ill Lantz in 'The Las Vegas Strangler, Part II,' but genuinely feels sorry for Wally, as if someone he appreciated has let him down - the pitiful way he looks at Hutch when Stone bursts into tears and puts down the rifle after eagerly talking about the old days is surprisingly affecting, ticking off that other box that completes the set of variables that make for a good episode of the series, on top of the action, humour and characterisations. If I was to pick ten episodes to show someone as good examples of what the series was about, this would very probably be one of them. In spite of serious issues such as murder and the possibility of the man S&H are there to protect being killed, the episode is very funny, mainly thanks to the slapstick film star larks that abound when S&H go undercover as stuntmen on the film (which we never hear the title of). As ever, Hutch is the cultured one trying to school his friend, while Starsky has stars in his eyes and is like a kid in a candy store, though only seeming to be enthralled by the surface glamour as Hutch tries to remind him of symbolism and the meaning of Director Harry Markham's work (wonderfully underplayed without sarcasm, but with an encouraging allowance for amateurs a young Jeff Goldblum displays, despite the reality that a Director wouldn't be happy to have police officers undercover while he's trying to make a film!), though he, too, is soon sucked into the day to day slog of it all.

It's funny when Starsky shows surprise at how late actors work (another in-joke, I suspect), when they as detectives can be working all hours themselves. It could be said that this is another episode that paves the way for cartoonish episodes such as 'Dandruff' later on, because the characters are shown to be out of their depth, acting out extreme versions of themselves, and generally having a good time rather than being the hard-nosed cops we also see them be. I would argue this stays on the right side of parody because they are in a situation which any normal person would be starstruck by, so their behaviour of being caught in headlights, or over the top enthusiasm suited the position they were placed in: the entertainment and filmmaking industry, as far from dirty streets or organised crime as they would usually get, but no less deadly (as proved for poor Phil Lubeck who dies in an explosion during the stagecoach scene). The slapstick isn't the only amusement to be had (though I do love it when Starsky walks into a post while saying goodbye to Julie!), as we also see S&H show their mettle, such as when the stuntmen they're supposed to be fighting decide to play it for real and get more of a fight than they expected, much to the appreciation of the filmmakers! I wonder if that success at selling the action in their first scene was what helped bring the Director on board, leading him to give Hutch a line.

The bar scene in which Hutch has that line is the funniest sequence - you can see him rigidly brace himself against the bar and peel himself away to walk falteringly across to the window in his extreme fear (just like in 'Long Walk Down A Short Dirt Road' where Soul was acting out being a nervous performer as a singer and musician, now he acts as an amateurish screen actor, and does so brilliantly). He first forgets his line, just grinning inanely at the camera, then says it too fast as one word, and finally speaks in a slow, robotic voice, until the Director wraps for the day. And of course Starsky's there to give loud encouragement and make him even more nervous - the banter is another box to tick because it shows them wonderfully bouncing off each other as they discuss things throughout, both inexperienced, but full of enthusiasm. The action side of things isn't catered for as much, with the screen fight, the chase at the end, and the escape from the exploding trailer (the only time I noticed S&H's doubles, and then it was well disguised thanks to the extreme contrast between the explosion in the dark, and being in a long shot). In some ways the episode feels almost claustrophobic in comparison to the usual kind of episodes where they're at large in the city - they do go back to Police HQ to see Dobey, but apart from that it all takes place at and around the film set.

Dobey doesn't feature much (and Huggy not at all), there to give them the background checks on suspects, since Steve passes on a grudge list of those that may have had a problem with the Wolf Pack after all four other members had died in apparent accidents at Monarch Studios. S&H also visit Wally's sister, Ruth Willoughby, who doesn't know he's alive, but feels as if he still is because he can be seen on TV - "old comedians never die." They had someone who bore a family resemblance to McCann, just one of many details this episode got right, another being that they didn't focus on S&H becoming infatuated with Julie West, the young Script Supervisor (and daughter of one of the Wolf Pack members), who gets kidnapped by Wally as a nun. I suppose she was there was to give S&H more reason to chase down Wally and for him to have a bargaining tool for when he inevitably got tracked to his underground hiding place which was actually on the lot. Otherwise it would have been difficult to have an ending to build to without having them shoot Wally, which would have made it like any other chase from Season 1. This season definitely tried other things and improved on what had gone before, and this episode is a great demonstration of that.

Another improvement this season has been the music, with several of the best themes being reused in this episode: the lazy, clanging horror music which I think originated in 'Vendetta'; the most memorable piece of the season (der derrr der, diddle de dum - that's the extent of my musical vocabulary!); and the twanging, twiddly excitement music, both from the opening two-parter. It would have been nice to have had some original music as they did in some recent episodes (the cool cat opening to 'Survival' sounded like it was about to make an appearance, then was cut off), but at least they used the best pieces. As for references, take your pick: Hutch refers to Ingmar Bergman (while Starsky assumes he's talking about Ingrid Bergman!); Wally talks about being compared to Chaplin; 'High Noon' is mentioned by Starsky as Steve makes his walk down the deserted western street; I wasn't sure if Kate Jackson, whom Starsky mentions, was a real actress, or 'The Late, Late, Late, Late Show' as spoken of by Wally's sister, was a real TV show. Hutch almost falling through the breakaway railing (in his ridiculous feathered hat!), would be used in later credits montages; S&H fight to be the first to shake Julie's hand; Patrolman O'Brian, knocked out by Wally, may have been the regular 'gawping man' extra, as I call him; and the food thing comes up again when S&H eat at Dobey's desk, he complains about mustard and they're not eating anything with it in - it must have been something he ate earlier! And he helps himself to his men's food.

You notice that Wally didn't kill anyone he didn't feel he had to, to complete his objectives - O'Brian is merely knocked out, he shows sadness at having to kill Steve's dog, Friendly, because it followed its namesake behaviour and recognised him. His motive is purely revenge, which is why he let Julie go at the end after melting at the thought of times past. At the same time he showed no remorse for those he'd already killed, admitting matter-of-factly that he'd murdered her Father as she stands caged nearby. There's also something scary about someone thickset who can move quickly, and the way he pulled the nun's habit off over his head to reveal a wild and crazy demeanour was very creepy. Apart from him there weren't any wacky characters (I'm not even sure he qualifies because a lot of it was acting), and that was because S&H were being wacky enough for a full cast of characters! I'm surprised that McCann didn't get a 'Special Guest Star' credit as he did in 'Silence' - I can't remember if we've had more than one of those credits in a single episode, but I don't see why there can't be two 'Special Guest Stars'. One guest star who must have had connections on the inside: Layne Britton, probably related to Shotgun Britton who's always credited for Makeup, not the least as he played someone called 'Shotgun,' though I didn't catch if he was the stunt coordinator on the film, or what.

Like last episode it was remarkably solid as a story with very few things to nitpick, but when Steve gives S&H the grudge list he includes people that are dead! I know they needed to do that so Wally Stone could be spoken of, but it's not natural to write a list of people that might be responsible for killing off the other four members of a group, making sure to have those that had died on there as well! Also, how did Steve survive the rifle bullet that seemed to hit him from Wally's gun? Did he have a bulletproof jacket on or was he not hit? The biggest mistake is when Starsky doubles Steve so he can have a stool smashed over him, and then later, when Starsky offers to double him for the walk down the street Steve protests that he looks nothing like him! I suppose the camera was filming from behind and with the hat Starsky's distinctive hair wouldn't necessarily be seen in the stunt scene, but even so… I sort of wish this had been the last episode of the season because it's undoubtedly one of the high points, and I don't remember the final episode well, whereas this one sticks in my head. The season had already surpassed its quota compared with Season 1's twenty-two, so it wasn't like we needed twenty-five.

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