Thank you so much, Doug. You are truly, literally the first fellow The Whole Truth fan I've encountered anywhere, in real life or on-line. The wiseguy dialogue is hilarious, with the references to the Battle Of the Marne. Also, the hipster with a bit of Damon Runyon thrown in for good measure writing, with Jack Carson's expert delivery, make this one, for me, a treasure. My favorite part is Carson's character encountering, sizing by and being sized up by the politician. Yes, it's all stereotypes, with the hats and cigars, but it feels larger than life, archetypal. For me it's almost like a mini-Gilbert & Sullivan without the songs.
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doug65oh (205)
7 years ago
You know, the same thing crossed my mind as I was replying to your message up there - there sure don't seem to be many fans of "The Whole Truth" at all!
But aye, now that you mention it the episode reads more like a stage play than anything in the way it's crafted. It's not "Oklahoma!" or "Damn Yankees!" but it ain't bad just the same.
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telegonus (727)
7 years ago
Yes, Doug, and it plays like a stage play as well, or one written for live television. The videotape doesn't bother me and I think it rather enhances the mood. Don't ask me why. It puts this Zone into another zone on account of it. Is it me or is the set for the used parking lot fascinating to look at? Those shiny vintage cars draws me in. The Kennedy-Krushchev references lock it into its time, and for me it makes it nostalgic, as when I first saw this one JFK was still alive and well in the White House, Krushchev the Premier of the Soviet Union.
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doug65oh (205)
7 years ago
That’s the one thing that almost everybody misses nowadays actually. “The Whole Truth” (as you likely well remember) was broadcast for the first time on Friday evening, January 20, 1961 – less than 12 hours after President Kennedy took the oath, making it (as best I can recall anyway) the first time a sitting President was mentioned by name in a fictional television program. I know he’s mentioned at least one other time in the series as well – in “The Parallel” it might be.
It seems I’ve heard or read somewhere that “The Whole Truth” created a bit of a minor diplomatic flap, essentially because Khrushchev couldn’t take a joke.
I don’t especially mind the videotaped episodes myself – although for the record I will say I’m very glad there’s only a handful. The effect in each case adds something that would otherwise be absent on film.
I know what you mean about those “vintage” cars, too. I didn’t come along until the (original) Social Security Act was 30 years old, but in my earliest years it seemed that they were still pretty much everywhere. Of the cars we had the one I remember best was a little red 1964 Beetle – the “plain vanilla” model under the hood, to which a good tailwind was always a great help. My Dad said awhile back that he averaged about $3.00 / weekly driving back and forth to work in that little bug. (I liked it because on long trips I could wiggle over the back seat and take naps in the back.)
Those were the days indeed.
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