Sal Jarrett and Doctor Asgard

Who has seen Simon play a crooked politician with Mob connections? Yes? Well, what about a scientist seeking to prove that humanity is corrupt and that they will always turn against each other, no matter how close they appear to be?

Finding appearances by Simon is growing more difficult. There are so many not readily available at all. But I recently saw two new (to me) characters: Sal Jarrett, from the Quincy, M.E. episode Passing, and Doctor Asgard, from The Starlost episode And Only Man is Vile.

Sal is kind of the typical crooked politician, but Simon manages to make the role unique. I love that he doesn’t want the Mob people backing him up to kill the woman who’s putting the pieces together concerning an old murder they were all involved with. Even when he learns that their actual plan is to incapacitate rather than kill, he is not all for it. Of course, he does nothing to stop them, but his displeasure is very evident.

My favorite line from Sal is in his first scene, when he goes to his receptionist and complains about the latest promotional picture of him. He exclaims something about hating the picture and that it makes him look like he eats kids for breakfast. Classic Simon.

Doctor Asgard reminds me a little bit of a mad scientist character I created years ago. She is always looking to pick apart the human mind and see how strong and resilient it and the ties that bind are. Doctor Asgard, meanwhile, is researching how to best teach the young people onboard his section of a giant spaceship bound for who knows where. He wants to be sure that they will have the stamina to last wherever the ship eventually puts down, and his idea of giving them that stamina is to teach them that man is a monster—always has been, always will be. The law of survival is the first and most important instinct.

His scientific ally, Diana Tabor, disagrees. She believes humanity is inherently good and that if they’ve been given moral, ethical teachings they will not stray far from them. To this end, she sits and watches while Doctor Asgard performs his experiment on the show’s hapless three main characters. While he believes he can break up their friendships, she believes he will fail. And in the end, although it looks rough for a time, he does.

It would be nice to say that Doctor Asgard became convinced of his error and came around to Diana’s way of thinking. As it is, we really don’t know. He jumps up and exclaims that the experiment failed because there were too many unknown factors. In one way he behaves as though his opinions have not changed. But his exclamations seem shaky, as if he knows it’s more than that. I have to wonder if a chink was made in his thinking.

He’s definitely the antagonist of the episode. And yet I don’t know that I can call him an out-and-out villain. He is fully convinced of his beliefs, which are not entirely unfounded. He doesn’t appear to have any malice towards the trio, albeit one wonders what he experienced and studied to give him such a grim outlook on mankind. (Perhaps it was even more studying than experiencing, and the few experiences seemed to back up his research.) And by the end, he does act as though he may have realized there’s more to humanity than what he thought, even if he can’t bring himself to admit it yet.

Once again, Simon proves himself masterful at making all kinds of characters believable, human, and very three-dimensional. I’ve yet to see a one-dimensional character from him. I doubt he could play one if he tried.

~Lucky Ladybug

Books and Their Covers: the Multifaceted Roles of Simon Oakland

When character are introduced, it’s usually very easy to see whether or not they will be an ally to the main character, or an antagonist---writers try to establish a character’s stance within the first five minutes of the first scene featuring them.  Nine times out of ten, that’s what the writers go for, and the ratio seems to be about the same for the many characters that Simon Oakland has played; the opening scene of the “Justice Deferred” episode of Bonanza, for example, shows you everything you need to know about Mel Barnes---the twist being that it takes a while for the other characters and the audience to realize that it was Mel Barnes and not his unfortunate lookalike Frank Scott.

However, sometimes, it is that remaining one character out of ten that is the most intriguing---the antagonist with the hidden depths, the antagonist with the surprisingly sympathetic backstory, or the antagonist who seems like an adversary while really being on the same side as the protagonist and respecting them.  Given Simon’s preferred acting method of trying to make all of his characters as multifaceted as possible, it is in roles like these that he shines even more brightly than usual.

Jim Nation from the “Overland Express” episode of Gunsmoke is a prime example.  His first scene features him shooting at Matt and Chester, clearly on the run from them, and, upon his surrender, Matt confirms that Nation is wanted for murder after killing a man in Dodge City---to which Nation insists that it was in self-defense.  At this point, neither Matt nor the audience knows whether or not to believe him, and they are left wondering again when, as they ride the stagecoach back, Nation insists that one of their fellow passengers is a wanted murder who is likely planning to hold up the stagecoach.  When this turns out to be true and the man demands that everyone surrenders, Matt counters Nation’s “I told you so” with a request for help---for Nation to pretend that he’s going to side with the murderer so that he can make his escape and avoid being put on trial for the murder he committed.  Even Nation is surprised by how much trust Matt is giving him.  Luckily for Matt and everyone, Nation is absolutely sincere and plays his part marvelously---the same man who, in the episode’s beginning had been shooting at the protagonist, ended up being the hero.  And even when Nation realizes that he has the chance to truly escape, he decides not to take it and willingly returns to Dodge with Matt to stand trial---after which Matt promises him that that Nation’s character is enough to convince him to testify on his behalf that he would only kill a man in self-defense.

Another example would be Simon’s portrayal of Sgt. Driscoll in the “No Sanctuary” episode of Medical Center.  Driscoll appears to be using rather callous methods to try to get an assault victim to identify her attacker, ignoring the doctor’s insistence that she is in no condition to talk about it, still in shock and trying to recover from a punctured lung.  Furthermore, he brings the suspect to the victim in the hopes that she will confirm that she knows him, yet only succeeds in nearly giving her a complete breakdown.  Without a positive identification, however, Driscoll has to let the suspect go, yet continues to tail him, only to be shot by the suspect once he figures it out.  Facing an operation performed by the same doctor he had been clashing with earlier, Driscoll eventually reveals to him that his late wife was killed during a similar assault incident---and that he had to let the perpetrator go because no one would identify him, explaining his furious zeal in pursuing this particular case he had been working on, giving a heart-wrenching and sympathetic side to an otherwise abrasive character.

Even Tony Vincenzo, one of Simon’s most famous roles, started out like this.  In the first Night Stalker movie, most of his scenes seem to suggest that his character is there to stand in Carl Kolchak’s way as he tries to save Las Vegas from a vampire.  It’s only in the final scene that Carl and Tony share that it becomes apparent that Tony really does respect Carl---something that becomes clearer in the second movie and then the series proper as Tony evolved from adversarial boss to concerned boss.  Tony still doesn’t believe in the monster stories that Carl uncovers and still refuses to publish the stories, but his genuine concern for his unlucky employee manifests itself in more obvious  ways, such as the numerous times Tony bails Carl out of jail or checking up on him if he hears him yell out in fear.  It eventually becomes clear that, rather than being a foe, Tony is one of the very few true friends that Carl has.

Characterization has always been one of Simon’s strong points as an actor.  And while it’s always fun to watch him play a straight-forward good guy, antagonist, or all-out villain, the true peak of his talents can be seen in the characters that keep you guessing---the books you can’t judge by their covers.

 

~Crystal Rose

Simon alongside other actors

I’ve been pondering on what my next topic should be. I at last decided that perhaps I would highlight some of my favorite performances Simon made alongside other actors I especially like and/or actors who were quite in the big time—as well as bemoaning the lack of interaction between them in some cases where they appear in the same production but had no scenes together.

As mentioned repeatedly by both of us but especially by Crystal Rose, there is Simon and Darren McGavin. It would be sacrilege not to bring up their amazing chemistry! Crystal speaks of it so well I doubt I could ever hope to do better, but I want to add my voice to how wonderful their time together is. The strength, or at least one of the strengths, of Kolchak: The Night Stalker is their characters’ interaction. There must have been a reason why Simon was called back to play Tony again and again after the initial Night Stalker movie, first in The Night Strangler sequel and then in the TV series proper. No one else could bring that character to life as incredibly as did Simon.

I also greatly enjoy seeing Simon appear alongside Steve Ihnat, in their guest-spot from The F.B.I. Steve was an amazing actor we lost even sooner then we lost Simon. I first became acquainted with him through his performance in The Outer Limits and from there began to deliberately seek out other things he appeared in. I was excited to discover that he and Simon had worked together! Their characters are close friends and their scene, described in detail in my post for The Maze episode, is a joy to watch. Steve and Simon have appeared together other times too, including in the rare series The Name of the Game. I wish I could locate that series, for that reason among others!

In The Outer Limits Simon has several scenes of interaction with Don Gordon. Aside from this episode, I have only seen Don in another venture of The Outer Limits and in the movie Bullitt, which also featured Simon. He is a good actor and I enjoy stumbling across him while watching things.

Bullitt brought Simon in contact with two very well-known actors: Steve McQueen and Robert Vaughn. As the boss of Steve McQueen’s character, Simon portrays a gruff and serious police captain of the highest level of integrity. He trusts Frank Bullitt and tries to allow him the leeway he needs to bring the bad guys to justice. And he refuses to give Robert Vaughn’s character the time of the day when he’s tempted to play politics. Simon only has a handful of scenes in the film, but they’re very memorable. Simon was deliberately chosen for the role by the director, and it’s very easy to see why.

In West Side Story Simon has a scene where he interacts with both Natalie Wood and Rita Moreno. It’s one of my favorites, where we see his character Lieutenant Schrank doing a better job of keeping himself composed than he does when dealing with the teen gangs.

I wish there had been more of him interacting with his apparent police partner, Sergeant Krupke (played by William Bramley). Actually, he only addresses one or two lines to Krupke throughout the film and they have two silent scenes together. Interestingly enough, I think their first silent scene says more about both of them than it might have if they had spoken. It’s only a few seconds long, set during the Tonight Quintet sequence. Krupke is driving, looking for the gangs to try to stop the impending rumble. Schrank is going for a cigarette, agitated. Krupke gives him a worried glance. Their obvious concern shows how deeply they care about the kids and don’t want them to get hurt, a very different image than what they usually seem to project when they’re interacting with said kids. It takes really good actors to make a silent scene come off so well.

One of my earliest encounters with Simon is in Susan Hayward’s intense vehicle I Want to Live! Playing real-life reporter Ed Montgomery, he documents the arrest and trial of Barbara Graham. Although initially he believes her to be guilty of the murder she’s accused of committing, he comes to feel that she is instead innocent and works feverishly to undo the damage his previous stories caused.

He has many scenes with Susan Hayward. Their relationship is shown starting with the antagonistic and gradually developing. His sincere regret comes out very well later, although Barbara does not want to discuss it. By the end of the film she seems to have warmed up to him. She leaves him a last letter, which he reads in the final scene, after her execution. He then trudges back to his car, pulling out his hearing aid so as not to hear any of the busy sounds around him. It’s a very powerful and poignant scene.

Another favorite actor of mine appears in this film, but regrettably, he and Simon do not interact. At least, not that I recall. He is Wesley Lau, probably best remembered as Lieutenant Andy Anderson on Perry Mason. His role in I Want to Live! is small but important, as the deadbeat husband of Barbara Graham. I would have loved to have seen Wesley and Simon play off of each other.

They do both appear in the Gunsmoke episode Miguel’s Daughter, but I can’t remember the extent of their interaction. Wesley plays, I believe, one of the guys harassing Miguel’s daughter. I don’t know if he’s the one Miguel kills or if he’s the other one. I watched that episode before Wesley really meant anything to me. I need to watch it again.

And, according to IMDB.com, they also appear together in the TV movie Crosscurrent. I’ve been trying to get hold of that for some time. I have no idea if they actually have any scenes together in it or not. According to TCM.com, Crosscurrent was a failed TV series pilot that became a TV movie instead. Were it to have been a series, Simon would have been a regular as the police captain. What a shame it didn’t work out. Then again, if it had, perhaps we wouldn’t have Kolchak: The Night Stalker, as Crosscurrent was made around the same time.

When it comes to main Perry Mason actors, the only other one I can affirm as having interaction with Simon is Raymond Burr. Sadly, they did not interact in either of Simon’s Perry episodes, but on Ironside they did. In the Puzzlelock episode, which I believe Crystal has spoken of, Simon plays a former policeman who is a friend of Ironside’s. He is also the villain of the episode. We have since seen one of his other two Ironside appearances, Love Me in December, in which he plays a reporter. This character initially comes across as a slimeball, but in his last scene his strong reaction to the truth behind the crime suggests that he really is a good person. I don’t recall that he interacted with Ironside in that episode. His other appearance, Lesson in Terror, we have not found yet.

Richard Anderson, Lieutenant Drumm from Perry, played the bad guy in The Night Strangler. He did not interact with Simon. They both appear in an episode of Burt Reynolds’ series Dan August. I have no idea whether Simon interacts with either Richard or Burt in that episode.

I most lament over the fact that Simon never interacted with William Talman, my other most favorite actor right now. They had no scenes together in the one Perry episode in which they both appeared. But I like to think that they met off-screen, on the set. I wonder what they thought of each other.

~Lucky Ladybug

Sgt. Tremaine: Noble to the Bitter End

Some postings ago, LuckyLadybug talked about the needless, tragic death of one of Simon’s characters: Captain Caldwell, from Perry Mason.  Not having seen the episode in question, I couldn’t quite grasp what it must have been like, to see that… until I saw a similar needless death befall one of Simon’s other characters: Stg. Austin Tremaine, from The Raiders.  And I found it just as heartbreaking as Ladybug found Caldwell’s death.

Sgt. Tremaine, much like Captain Caldwell, only appeared onscreen for a very little amount of time, but he was an incredible, morally strong and upright character.  He was a former Southern major in the Civil War, but joined the re-unified US Army after the war, apparently not minding too much that he had to be an NCO after being a major.  When one of his old colleagues from the war, Genera McElroy, starts causing trouble by leading a band of Raiders to pillage wagons and trains in Texas, Tremaine makes it clear to McElroy that, under no uncertain terms, he will have to fight against him if ordered to do so, regardless of their mutual past.

This is, of course, what inevitably happens; Tremaine’s acting commander, Captain Benton, soon has enough of McElroy’s raiding ways, and orders Tremaine to set up a deathtrap for McElroy---conceal a Gatling in what appears to be a lumber shipment to fire upon the raiders with.  Though Tremaine knows that McElroy has to be stopped, he is very much against such an underhanded trap, seeing it as murder.  Despite not wanting any part of it, Benton pulls rank on him, forcing him to go along with it.

When the time comes to spring the trap, however, McElroy has a counter-maneuver that will result in the death of everyone on board the train if Tremaine opens fire.  Benton assumes McElroy to be bluffing (he isn’t) and orders Tremaine to fire; Tremaine points out that McElroy did a similar trick during the Civil War, but Benton refuses to believe him and again orders him to fire—this time, at gunpoint.  When Tremaine again refuses to fire upon McElroy and the raiders, Benton cruelly shoots him, killing him on the spot.

Wild Bill Hickok arrives immediately after this to apprehend Benton, declaring him a murderer under no uncertain terms, and both Hickok and McElroy lament that Tremaine’s death was indeed needless, given the circumstances.  And those watching the movie will surely agree with them.  McElroy does stop his raiding ways, but the overall price is that of Tremaine’s life---a heavy price to pay indeed, given how Tremaine’s only thought had been to save the lives of those on the train.

Despite the role being a tragic one, Simon brings Sgt. Tremaine to life just as well as he does with any of his various other characters.  Due to his limited screentime, very little is known about him.  Did he have a family?  Friends?  Plans for the future?  And yet, with what little he has to work with, Simon clearly shows us how good a person Tremaine is---that he probably knew full well that Benton would kill him if he continued to refuse to open fire on McElroy, yet still willing to hold his ground to save the lives of innocents.  Simon also shows us that Tremaine is a man of honor; he was willing to follow orders up until Benton came up with his underhanded scheme, and even then continued to follow orders until the lives of others were at stake.

As needless as Tremaine’s death is, he did what he had set out to do---save those innocent lives.  And after that, McElroy’s raids stopped, restoring calm once again. 

At the very least, then, Tremaine’s sacrifice was not for nothing.

~Crystal Rose

Nikos Capralos: A Heartfelt Performance

It’s been some time since I’ve seen a performance of Simon’s that I have not previously seen. But this past week I have at last seen another, an episode of The F.B.I. entitled The Maze.

Simon plays Nikos Capralos, a man grieving over the loss of his daughter due to an overdose of drugs. She gave the name of a man she claimed gave her the drugs, and now Nikos, heart-broken and devastated, wants to see this man pay for it.

A friend of his on the lam from the law, Frank Dixon Wells, stops in to see him and learns of the tragedy. He wants to see justice done too, and offers to kill the guy for Nikos. Nikos is very agreeable and relieved.

But things grow far more complicated. Tina Aliki, a pub owner who is love with Nikos, knows something he refuses to face: his daughter lied. The man who gave her the drugs was someone else. She tries again to get Nikos to listen, but he explodes and says that she’s always been jealous of his daughter.

Meanwhile, Frank is involved in a shootout with the authorities and winds up mortally wounded. With no one to knock off the man Nikos still believes is responsible for his daughter’s death, he decides to take matters into his own hands. He sets out to kill the man himself.

The F.B.I., hot on the trail, find out what’s happening from the horrified Tina. They manage to track down Nikos just in time to save both the man’s life and Nikos’s own. Finally reasoning with the devastated father, they witness Nikos dropping his knife and stepping away from the frightened man.

I was worried wondering what would happen to Nikos. The epilogue is wonderfully satisfying. The real drug pusher has been found and confessed. No attempted murder charges have been pressed on Nikos, most likely because of his mental state at the time. We see him finally beginning to heal. He appears happy again, mingling with some of the people in the pub. And he has asked Tina to marry him at last.

Simon delivers an amazing, thoroughly believable performance, as always. As Nikos Capralos, we see a man utterly torn apart by his daughter’s sudden and needless death. He doesn’t even have the will to dress neatly or, apparently, to comb his hair. Losing hold of all reasoning power, he becomes focused on one thing and one thing only: serving his brand of justice on the man supposedly responsible for his daughter’s death.

The character of Frank Dixon Wells affords Simon with the unique opportunity of interacting with another highly skilled character actor whom we lost far too soon—Czechoslovakian-born Steve Ihnat. Frank is also a multi-faceted person. In the opening scene we see him shoot and kill a man as he and his girlfriend flee. Yet he is not entirely cold-blooded; with Nikos he shows a definite softer side. The two friends even embrace during their meeting. And he is outraged by the death of Nikos’s daughter. His offer to kill the drug pusher, while of course illegal, seems to be born out of his genuine caring for Nikos and the girl.

Also of note is Ina Balin, who plays the pub owner Tina Aliki. She is forced to stand by and watch Nikos descend into hopelessness and despair. It’s even worse since Tina loves Nikos and wants only to see him be able to be happy again. For most of the episode, that seems a near-impossibility.

To see Nikos at last begin to climb out of the pit he fell into is beautiful and inspiring. Some actors would not be able to successfully portray this after having played someone so tortured. But Simon pulls it off perfectly. We believe in the character; we rejoice in his finding peace.

And this episode takes its well-deserved place among my most favorite of Simon’s performances.

~Lucky Ladybug

Antagonists, Villains, and Anti-Heroes, Oh My!

As Lucky Ladybug mentioned in her previous entry, she and I happened upon a few archived news articles about Simon that helped us understand a bit more about him.  We already knew before that he was an extremely talented actor who could fit in flawlessly in any genre, taking on roles of different kinds.  We also already knew that he was a Renaissance man---an actor of the screen, of the stage, and also a musician, as well.  And we also knew that with a filmography covering decades of media and bringing to life several vibrant characters (featuring an impressive group of heroes, anti-heroes, and villains), there’s guaranteed to be something in Simon’s credits to please even the pickiest TV or movie watcher, if not absolutely enamor them altogether.

I have mentioned in previous posts about several of Simon’s complex characters, including ones that you couldn’t help but sympathize with a little bit, even if they were in the wrong.  I normally don’t think too much of villain or anti-hero characters, yet I found myself curious about William Poole from Bonanza, siding with and worrying for Frank Epstein in Hawaii Five-O, laughing at Nick from Follow That Dream, crying for Adam Howard in The Big Valley, pitying Howard Walters in Perry Mason, and being intrigued by Lt. Schrank in West Side Story. 

Even someone like Stawski from The Sand Pebbles---a man who, at times, was an utter brute and, if he were real, would’ve gotten a slap upside the face if he ever crossed paths with me---managed to have me captivated during the times he wasn’t making me cringe.  My feelings of intrigue and curiosity for these villains and/or anti-heroes puzzled me initially, especially in the case of Stawski, who was a character that, normally, I would’ve detested immensely at his worst.  But I found that I couldn’t hate him; he did have his good moments, plus there was the fact that I was able to see past the brutishness of the character and appreciate Simon’s acting ability.  I decided not to overthink and try to analyze why I didn’t hate Stawski, so I just shrugged it off.

After Lucky Ladybug and I made our article archive discovery, we were both thrilled to find an article where Simon described how he brought his antagonistic characters to life---that he tried to make them as multifaceted as possible and showcase their good points.  And, suddenly, the lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that was why I couldn’t find it in me to hate Stawski; Stawski did have his good moments, and that definitely factored into my accepting the character.

It’s why I couldn’t bring myself to hate Adam Howard in The Big Valley, either.  Every fiber of my being was ready to loathe Adam for some of the things he had done.  But then he just had to launch into a heartfelt speech that had me in tears, and I couldn’t hate him anymore than I could Stawski.

It’s why I sided with Frank Epstein in Hawaii Five-O, believing him when there was (initially) no evidence to otherwise, despite his short temper and sharp tongue, and why I was so worried when it became clear he was heading for a trap.

It’s also why I find myself intrigued by Lt. Schrank, whose abrasive words I would normally find repulsive and would want nothing more to do with him---but then it seems that his words are just a product of his own frustrations and that he might not even mean them.  It doesn’t excuse him, but it opens up another way to look at his character.

For a while, before I read that article, I was initially worried about myself because of my inability to detest these antagonistic characters that I normally would detest (Frank Epstein is not included among these---he was vindicated, as the Hawaii Five-O episode later revealed, which earned from me a sigh of relief and an “I knew it…”).  Was I so charmed by Simon that I was letting my personal standards slip in regards to some of those nastier characters?  I didn’t want to think so, and after reading that article, I realized that I hadn’t; it was Simon’s intent to give those antagonistic characters another side to them and make them difficult to loathe.  In the article, he referred to it as a “trick.”  Well, it looks as though I’ve fallen for that trick, and on more than one occasion, yet!

And you know what?  I don’t mind at all.

~Crystal Rose