"Blaze of Glory" is remembered as one of Lou Costello's last performances, not as dramatic as his later WAGON TRAIN, "The Tobias Jones Story," as it's accompanied by a laugh track. Lou plays plumber Neal Andrews, who receives an odd call for service at 11:00PM, alarming his wife (Lurene Tuttle), but because he's a trusting soul goes along to the hotel, only to learn that he has to recover some valuables lost down the drain for a gang of jewel thieves headed by smooth talking Favier (Jonathan Harris). Costello isn't bad, but he's slightly overshadowed by Harris, who looks and sounds no different than Dr. Smith. There's so much talk that little actually happens, leaving one with the impression that the wonderful Costello deserved better. He was able to do one final feature before his untimely death, "The 30-Foot Bride of Candy Rock," and that too failed to do him justice. Bud Abbott got his chance to do a GE THEATER in 1961, "The Joke's on Me," opposite Lee Marvin and Kathleen Hughes.
3 Reviews
LOU fixes their pipes !
ciullo356727 March 2011
BLAZE OF GLORY - comedy - Lou Costello plays a happily married plumber who is called out in the middle of the night for an emergency job. Unbeknownst to him, the people who hired him are diamond smugglers and some of the jewels were accidentally dropped down a bathroom sink. Lou catches on to the scheme and thwarts the thieves who are led by Jonathan Harris by using his blowtorch to subdue the baddies. Lou in great form in one of his last TV performances. Also in the cast are Phil Arnold, Joseph Corey, Joyce Jameson, Olan Soule, Lurene Tuttle and Herman Rudin. And of course hosted by Ronald Reagan. I gave it a review of 10 only because it is Lou Costello. He made another TV appearance on Wagon Train and a solo feature in 1959 before succumbing to a heart attack in March 1959 three days before his 53rd birthday. A trouper right up till the end.
Unfunny....and Costello deserved better.
planktonrules19 April 2016
This is a very odd installment of "General Electric Theater". Instead of the usual dramas, this one is a comedy starring Lou Costello. And, like some comedies of the day, this one features an unnecessary laugh track. This is because you often hear chuckles and guffaws when nothing funny is happening at all...and not much funny happens with this bland script...one which SHOULD have either been funnier or just not played for laughs.
Costello plays a plumber who receives a very unusual late night phone call. Some lady wants him to show up to a hotel dressed in nice clothes--not his usual overalls he'd wear to fix some plumbing. Once there, however, he realizes that some diamond thieves need his help and they're gonna get or else! So, the plumber tries delaying and then escaping when the crooks all fall asleep. When this doesn't work, he tries something else...none of which is funny in the least. This is pretty sad as it's one of Costello's last performances, as he'd die the following year...still a relatively young man in his early 50s.
Costello plays a plumber who receives a very unusual late night phone call. Some lady wants him to show up to a hotel dressed in nice clothes--not his usual overalls he'd wear to fix some plumbing. Once there, however, he realizes that some diamond thieves need his help and they're gonna get or else! So, the plumber tries delaying and then escaping when the crooks all fall asleep. When this doesn't work, he tries something else...none of which is funny in the least. This is pretty sad as it's one of Costello's last performances, as he'd die the following year...still a relatively young man in his early 50s.
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