77 Sunset Strip (TV Series) The Odds on Odette (1962) User Reviews

Our fortune is in the stars

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 24 May 2018]

Just looking at the cast which contains veteran character players Douglass Dumbrille and Henry Daniell is reason enough for me to stay up and catch this old episode of 77 Sunset Strip. Even though both are in the story only briefly.

Jeff Spencer is hired by James Milholin who is an astrologer and writes under the name of Odette. Milholin has been getting threatening phone calls and wants Roger Smith's protection, but only for a short bit because the stars tell him the threat is only good for a short time and has an expiration.

The guy with the expiration problem is Henry Daniell who expires falling down some stairs. Daniell has a will which cuts out nephew Eddie Fontaine and leaves the bulk to Odette the astrolger.

But who is Odette? Milhollin or Merry Anders a woman who answers the phone as Odette. Like Peter Lawford who was Dear Phoebe a female advice to the lovelorn columnist. Or is it someone who was being Odette before Milhollin took over the writing of the column?

I will say someone worked out a very clever scheme to get their hands on Daniell's money.

Key plot point isn't well executed

[bribabylk · 6/10 · 25 May 2018]

I saw this last night on MeTV at 3 a.m. so maybe part of the episode was "edited for time"--cut out to make room for more advertising. But anyway, I wasn't entirely convinced (at first) that the old millionaire's death was homicide. The way it's shown, he just clutches his chest and falls as he's coming down some stairs; I assumed he'd had a heart attack, and it's mentioned in the story that he suffered from a long time heart ailment. No one's feet or anything is seen behind him, nothing that I saw to indicate he was pushed. For a good part of the story I assumed that this was one of the rare occasions in which Jeff's certain intuition that the guy had been murdered wasn't on the beam--in fact, that would have made the script a tad more interesting; the surprise baddie in the story could still have been prosecuted for the attempted murder on Parmenter. But no, the killer confesses to the murder at the end. Speaking of which, while I won't say that the identity of the culprit behind the whole michegoss is a complete stunner, there's enough doubt in play up until the last few minutes to make it worthwhile. Also--in the version I saw there's no mention of who actually ends up with the murder victim's $100,000 bequeathal; two of the "Odettes" are obviously disqualified by 1) the terms of the will and 2) their murderous actions. So it should go to the first "Odette"! The old woman living in shabby circumstances who was the old who the old guy was actually fond of, the one who I thought was a heavily made up Barbara Bain for a few minutes; alas, it's never addressed. These quibbles aside, the episode contained the typically sharp dialogue and nice character beats of a 77 SUNSET STRIP episode. I tell ya, this series was never shown in syndicated reruns in my area when I was growing up, so catching it on late night TV has been a revelation; it's very good. While I had certainly heard of the series before, and knew a little of the "Kookie" teen craze that attended it in its initial run, 77SS seems to be one of those gems that has faded largely from public memory. Perhaps it's hour-long length made it less attractive for syndication, though that didn't hamper other popularly rerun shows that I saw as a kid like THE BIG VALLEY, LOST IN SPACE, and THE AVENGERS, so I dunno.

A murky, muddled misfire; Roger Smith singlehandedly saves it.

[sdiner82 · 5/10 · 24 May 2018]

Even a terrific show like "77 Sunset Strip" occasionally fell victim to a hopeless script, and "The Odds on Odette" is one of them. It's certainly one of the murkiest episodes of the series: most of it takes place at night, but even the daytime interiors seem shrouded in darkness. And for reasons I don't understand, guest star Merry Anders, an attractive blonde who brightened many a TV episode and 'B' movie of the late-1950s-early-1960s, is here forced to forego her customary brightness by tucking her blonde tresses underneath an unbecoming, frumpy black wig. What is going on here? You won't find any satisfactory answers (much less suspense) in the muddled, incomprehensible script, a hodgepodge having to do with some astrologists involved in a moneymaking scheme (or scam). And even when that brilliantly sinister character actor Henry Daniell shows up and we expect his presence to kick some life into this dud, our hopes are completely dashed when he is quickly kicked down a flight of stairs to his death! So why go on? Simply for one significant reason. The private eye assigned to this dreary case is Jeff Spencer and while Roger Smith is deprived on this occasion of even cracking a smile, he once again proves why he is the most valuable member of the 77 Sunset team. Though still in his 20s as this classic TV hit nears its end, this dashingly handsome, quick-witted, self-deprecating and woefully underrated young actor has brought more genuine high spirits, sincerity, and a classy romantic panache to "77 Sunset Strip" than all of his other colleagues combined. The 7 scripts he either wrote or co-wrote are among the finest, most original of the entire series, Moreover, when least expected, Roger Smith often accompanied himself on his guitar, revealing his fine baritone voice. And when confronted with an impossible script like the one for "The Odds on Odette", instead of throwing a hissy fit like the stars of other hit TV series often did, Smith was the ultimate professional, keeping whatever complaints he may have had to himself and managing to give a solid performance despite the shortcomings of the material he was given to work with. For this reason alone, I'm giving "The Odds of Odette" a higher rating than it actually deserves. And for Roger Smith's many admirers, I highly recommend it!