PART 1
I agree with the last reviewer the sets in this adventure are the real star. The studio production folks did their research thoroughly, making some realistic backgrounds and the costumes are impressive. This should have gotten a special Emmy for production values, but there probably was no category back in the day.
Lee H. Katzin directed with his usual style, which meant some fine performances from all. It's all about a nefarious king in the far East, a small country in the Persian Gulf, who trades slaves with a passion! Joseph Ruskin is just perfect as King Borca, who played so many crafty types in his long career. He had a distinct look, and an excellent actor at that.
Naturally, to bring the king down, Phelps enters the mix as a slave trader! (looking like a kind of pre INDIANA JONES) --and poor Barney (with a beard) has the terrible task of playing a slave. But that's what the team gets paid the big bucks for, right? Watch how this all comes down, another extremely clever fake out, and with some close calls!
Beautiful Antoinette Bower plays Amara, and Sid Haig as Musha, another great heavy in the tradition of Joseph Ruskin. Both actors had similar styles. An interesting note is that we get a glimpse of Peter Lorre, Jr, playing Kani. Lorre looked like the famous actor, but was absolutely NO relation (Lorre actually had a daughter) and was sued by him. Unfortunately, the real Peter Lorre died and the fake Lorre continued to use his name for the rest of his short career. He made two appearances on the series, and actually was not a bad actor. His downfall was his name and he should have changed it.
One of the best tricks in this episode is hiding underneath a truck! That goes back to the days of classic serial movies, and no doubt the writers watched a lot of those old films for ideas.
Also Rollin (Martin Landau) looks great undercover with curly hair, and Peter Lupus is a hoot selling robes in the market place. Barbara Bain (Cinnamon) plays a singer on tour! That's original. Popular actor Warren Stevens plays one of the no nonsense slave buyers. Warren was a natural in many cop shows.
It's true, this all could have been done in one episode, but the producers wanted to stretch it, for big ratings, which they probably got in the end.
SEASON 2 remastered (2007) Paramount dvd box set.
I agree with the last reviewer the sets in this adventure are the real star. The studio production folks did their research thoroughly, making some realistic backgrounds and the costumes are impressive. This should have gotten a special Emmy for production values, but there probably was no category back in the day.
Lee H. Katzin directed with his usual style, which meant some fine performances from all. It's all about a nefarious king in the far East, a small country in the Persian Gulf, who trades slaves with a passion! Joseph Ruskin is just perfect as King Borca, who played so many crafty types in his long career. He had a distinct look, and an excellent actor at that.
Naturally, to bring the king down, Phelps enters the mix as a slave trader! (looking like a kind of pre INDIANA JONES) --and poor Barney (with a beard) has the terrible task of playing a slave. But that's what the team gets paid the big bucks for, right? Watch how this all comes down, another extremely clever fake out, and with some close calls!
Beautiful Antoinette Bower plays Amara, and Sid Haig as Musha, another great heavy in the tradition of Joseph Ruskin. Both actors had similar styles. An interesting note is that we get a glimpse of Peter Lorre, Jr, playing Kani. Lorre looked like the famous actor, but was absolutely NO relation (Lorre actually had a daughter) and was sued by him. Unfortunately, the real Peter Lorre died and the fake Lorre continued to use his name for the rest of his short career. He made two appearances on the series, and actually was not a bad actor. His downfall was his name and he should have changed it.
One of the best tricks in this episode is hiding underneath a truck! That goes back to the days of classic serial movies, and no doubt the writers watched a lot of those old films for ideas.
Also Rollin (Martin Landau) looks great undercover with curly hair, and Peter Lupus is a hoot selling robes in the market place. Barbara Bain (Cinnamon) plays a singer on tour! That's original. Popular actor Warren Stevens plays one of the no nonsense slave buyers. Warren was a natural in many cop shows.
It's true, this all could have been done in one episode, but the producers wanted to stretch it, for big ratings, which they probably got in the end.
SEASON 2 remastered (2007) Paramount dvd box set.