The Wild Wild West (TV Series) The Night That Terror Stalked the Town (1965) User Reviews

One West, Two Wests, One Janus, Two Janus

[DKosty123 · 8/10 · 10 September 2009]

The second Dr. Loveless episode of this series is directed by Alvin Ginzer whose first work behind the camera appears to be Million Dollar Legs starring Betty Grable no less. Ginzer is a veteran director with a lot of television under his belt by the time he directs here. He has already tackled episodes of Gunsmoke & Half Gun Will Travel, as well as other shows.

This episode is about Loveless trying to create his own West to take care of the real West & Artie so that Loveless can then get back into his plotting to take over the world. This one employs some tricky camera work in that Conrad has 2 roles. Artie intervenes in the last part to help sort things out only to confront West & Janus and get confused too.

Richard Kiel is along for his second outing. Overall, you can't lose if you catch the good Doctor trying to finish off West in any episode of this series.

Dr. Loveless' Second Appearance is An Amusing, Sometimes Surprising Entry

[Aldanoli · 8/10 · 1 September 2008]

McGarrett had Wo Fat on "Hawaii Five-O," and James West had Dr. Miguelito Loveless on "The Wild, Wild West" -- a formidable enemy whose repeated appearances gave the show a sense of continuing existence -- unlike many series, where every episode seems divorced from every other one. In his second appearance, Loveless and his giant assistant, Voltaire (Richard Kiel) -- even their names are interesting! -- have escaped from prison and Loveless sets about creating a double for West. In some ways, it's a plot that's been done many times before and since (an early episode of "Star Trek," made during the following television season, had an android playing Captain Kirk, for example) -- but here it brings some interesting twists and surprises.

The doppelganger gimmick, of course, must have created some headaches for the production staff, since West had to play both himself and his evil look-alike whenever they were on-camera together. There's one scene -- a leap from a building -- where they almost didn't pull it off; but the scene moves quickly, and given that it was created for mid-1960s television with fuzzier, over-the-air broadcasts and no way for viewers to record and then back-up to watch the scene, these moments are generally done well. And, as usual, Artemus Gordon provides the needed scientific counterpoint to Dr. Loveless' evil genius.

And as always, as played by the diminutive Michael Dunn, Dr. Loveless was never less than a fascinating character. He tells his assistant Antoinette (played by Dunn's real-life singing partner, Phoebe Dorin) how he abhors violence, and how shocked he was that West punched Voltaire while trying to escape, and then launches into song with her; and later, he reminds Voltaire, just before he intends to have Voltaire kill West, that the thing he *really* hates about violence is the noise -- because "it destroys conversation." Of course, he would have killed five thousand people with his high-tech explosives in his first appearance if West hadn't stopped him, and he's kidnapped Jim West (and at one point nearly electrocutes him) this time; but somehow, Loveless manages to overlook these details.

So, Loveless may have been an evil genius and a hypocrite . . . but he always had a sense of style. Any episode in which Dr. Loveless appears ranks high on the list of the best that this series had to offer.

One West too many

[ShadeGrenade · 9/10 · 27 November 2013]

John Kneubuhl's 'The Night That Terror Stalked The Town' saw a return to the series of that evil cherub 'Dr.Migelito Loveless' ( Michael Dunn ). Having escaped from jail - along with his giant henchman 'Voltaire' ( Richard Kiel ) - he lures Jim to an abandoned mining town which is full of wax dummies, and sets about turning one of his men - 'Janus' - into Jim's double. Jim cannot escape as the fence around the town is electrified. Loveless still wants his land back, along with Nielsen's explosive formula so he can kill top military figures. To test the double's effectiveness, Loveless sends him back to Arte, but will the master of disguise be fooled?

Very reminiscent of 'The Double Affair' from 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.', this is entertaining in its own right, with Jean Hale ( later to grace 'In Like Flint' ) providing glamour as 'Marie', Loveless' assistant. In one amusing scene, Jim tries to apprehend Loveless only to receive an electric shock - the doctor has insulated himself by wearing rubber underwear!

Michael Dunn Steals The Show.

[Mark_The_TV_Geek · 10/10 · 15 September 2020]

Top notch entry to the series. Michael Dunn is absolutely marvelous as Dr. Miguelito Loveless. Richard Kiel as the menacing Voltaire, Gadgets, inventions ahead of their time, a beautiful girl and crazy rule the world schemes. Everything that made the show great. An easy 10

the ending kills it

[ndarch · 4/10 · 24 June 2023]

Hard to rate a Dr. Loveless episode so low, especially because almost all of it is great. But one can thank the writers for the horrid and illogical ending. We have the two Jim's arguing to Dr. Loveless about which of them is actually Janus. So, the good (and highly intelligent) doctor goes completely clueless and has to depend on a woman to kiss each and tell him which is the real Jim. Why wouldn't he have simply asked both of them to say where he and Janus first met, or maybe provide Janus' last name? The real Jim couldn't answer except to maybe try to quickly repeat what the real Janus says.