The Dick Powell Theatre (TV Series) Thunder in a Forgotten Town (1963) User Reviews

Interesting idea, badly done.

[westernone · 4/10 · 24 May 2012]

The idea of the story, basically, is that a man has returned to a small town after many years and finds his old friend is the mayor. Said Mayor suddenly is killed by a burglar, though the hero (Cooper) uncovers that the friend (Janssen) suicided because of corrupt politics. All well and good, but all kinds of non sequitirs and red herrings are larded on for no benefit to the story. In fact it confuses it. Really interesting possible points are tossed in and then vanish forever. Like that he's supposedly been mysteriously reported dead in Korea ten years ago, or that he's really overly sensitive to bare light bulbs. Why? we can guess, but so what? The story never picks up on it at all. He's been accused of colluding with the Red Chinese- but who cares if he did or didn't- it's never developed either. The worst part is the pointless gang of cameos. Joey Bishop,Edie Adams, Pat O'Brien...- Milton Berle even cameos reprising his role as the craps table man from "Doyle against the House" for no reason. It's a waste of Jackie Cooper's talents and what could have been a much better drama.

An All Star Cast supports Jackie Cooper

[Stan16mm · 8/10 · 19 June 2021]

This episode was one of the handful of programs that aired after Dick Powell's passing. A galaxy of celebrities appear. This episode was introduced by Steve McQueen.