MovieChat Forums > Bewitched (1964) Discussion > Birdies, Bogies, and Baxter

Birdies, Bogies, and Baxter

posted 7 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
17 replies | jump to latest

Watched this one yesterday, as it's one of my all-time favorites - and I don't even play golf!
Loved all the greeeeeeeen - Liz's outfit, the trees and grass, Liz's dress in the tag. And
all that TWITCHING. I believe Liz does the nose twitch more times in this episode, than in
any other. I also love the guest actors, MacDonald Carey and (especially) Joan Banks as
the wife (Banks was also effective in I Love Lucy's "Fan Magazine Interview" as columnist
Eleanor Harris).

While we're on the subject of the twitch: Erin Murphy has claimed several times that Liz's
twitch was "aided" by speeding up the film. I believe she is mistaken, at least for the
the most part. I could/can twitch my nose just as quickly and effectively as Montgomery,
and I don't need special effects! Plus, there are too many shots - including in "Birdies" -
where Montgomery is twitching in a two-shot, and the actor next to her doesn't speed up.

I believe Montgomery's only "effect" here was the sound effect.

[–] [email protected] (5497) 7 years ago

Gee you read my mind! I was considering making a comment on this one. It wasn't a favorite childhood episode, but when I bought season four last year I really started to like this one. Not a golfer myself, but my ex-husband was and I can attest to the fact that Baxter was acting like a normal golfer! ha! Something about the game brings out the childish maniac in people. They throw tantrums, throw clubs, etc. Heaven forbid that you breathe too loud on their backswing. lol

MacDonald Carey was great. I remember him from Days of Our Lives. That was a soap my grandmother liked and I used to watch it with her in the summer.

But Joan Banks was Eleanor Harris! HOW did I miss that? Fan Magazine Interview was one of my all time favorites of ILL. Margaret Baxter always seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't place where I saw her before. Now I know!

One thing puzzled me. In the opening scene Endora put a spell on Darrin to presumably help his game. He was SO enthusiastic when he explained his great performance to Larry that morning. But when he was golfing with Baxter, Sam had to keep twitching to improve his shots. Did Endora take the spell off Darrin without any prompting from Samantha?
Sam usually had to plead "Mother!" to get her to take the spell off Darrin.

I like the final scene when Darrin tells Sam that he is going to be a professional golfer. But he was just teasing her. He knew all along that Sam was improving his game to teach Joe Baxter a lesson. Nice to see that Baxter was gracious and took his loss well. Endora couldn't tell Sam that mortals were all sore losers!

[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

Yeah, the forgetting about Endora's "Give him back his College Game" bit IS a weird goof. Still it's fun to have her in
the episode, despite her brevity.

Filming locations: This show was divided between shots at a REAL golf course and the Columbia ranch. In real life,
of course, they'd all be wearing sunglasses, like Larry. But Asher wanted to see the full FACIAL expressions, so
that was that (it was also Asher who directed I Love Lucy's "The Black Wig"...another example where the lead should've
been wearing sunglasses, but that's been covered).

[–] [email protected] (5497) 7 years ago

I figured that some of it was filmed at a real golf course. I enjoy those location scenes. Do you happen to know which golf course it was? I'm guessing it was one near L.A.

As for Sam's twitch, yeah she did it a lot in this episode! I listened to a radio interview on youtube last month that Elizabeth Montgomery did years ago. The interviewer naturally asked her about the famous twitch!

She said that they were looking for something for Sam to do that would indicate that she was doing magic. Bill Asher suggested that she do her little twitch. Actually she wasn't twitching her nose, it was her upper lip that moved. Miss Montgomery said that she had NO idea what he meant. It was a little unconscious move that she did when she was upset or thinking. She wasn't even aware of it.

So they incorporated a little facial tic of hers into a series and it became famous.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

It was a means to an end, so to speak. To make one's NOSE wiggle, you have to twitch the mouth. But her nose
was moving. As I wrote, I happen to do the nose twitch perfectly (always alone, thank you), and when I look in
the mirror, my nose is moving as well.

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (1562) 3 months ago

The "give him back his college game" was not a goof. At the end he admits to Sam that even in his best college days he couldn't play that well. That's how he knew she was helping.

[–] Garyandfilm (513) 2 months ago

It IS a goof. In the opening teaser, ENDORA casts the spell to make him play great. Her spell is never addressed nor removed. In other words, if Endora cast a spell, why would Samantha need to magically aid Darrin?

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (1562) 2 months ago

I just explained that. Endora's spell made Darrin play only as well as he could in college. Samantha's spell made him play BETTER than he EVER could.

[–] Garyandfilm (513) 2 months ago

It is STILL uncharacteristically sloppy writing, as Endora's spell is never found out, addressed or removed. With what Sam does on the golf course, Endora should've never been written into the script. The magic applied should've been from one OR the other, not both.

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (1562) 2 months ago

Might this be the only case of a spell of Endora's not being discovered or removed?

[–] Garyandfilm (513) 2 months ago

I believe so. In any case, I adore this ep.

[–] [email protected] (5497) 2 months ago

I think it's a case of running out of airtime to tell any more story! There was no time to address what Endora did. So I have to think that she removed the spell offscreen. As you said about I Love Lucy, we don't get to see everything the characters do.

In this instance I think Endora would've removed the spell in secret. Whenever she put a spell on Darrin, whether it was making him vain, cheap, shrinking, etc, her intent was to embarrass him him or to prove to Samantha that he was a loser.

This time her spell didn't have the intended effect. She wanted to prove to Samantha that if his game improved, he'd become obsessed with getting even better and Sam would be a "golf widow".

Darrin did enjoy the sport but he really wasn't obsessed with it, so Endora's spell didn't prove anything. To save face and avoid Sam telling her "I told you so", she quietly removed it and didn't say a thing to them.

[–] Galactus03 (4289) 7 years ago

Loved this episode. I actually love all classic gulf themed episodes...I'm an avid golfer so I can relate....lol.

[–] [email protected] (5497) 7 years ago

Did you like the golfing episode in The Honeymooners where Ralph Kramden learned to play golf in his apartment? lol

First you address the ball. Ed Norton- "Helllooo ball!"

[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

Ed Norton was a GOD!

At the end of the (live) show, Gleason would introduce the cast, and when he yelled, "ART CARNEY!," the audience exploded.

[–] Galactus03 (4289) 7 years ago

Yes...love the Gleason ep. The Munsters also did a Golf episode and Herman's big feet ruined the green. He also addressed the ball with Hello...guess the writers recycled the Honeymooners line...lol

[–] [email protected] (5497) 7 years ago

Oh I forgot about the Munster episode! I think they won a free membership to a country club and Herman decided to check out the greens early in the morning. Herman succeeded in destroying them.

The country club thought someone had vandalized the place.

I Love Lucy did an episode called 'The Golf Game". The girls were tired of being golf widows so they decided to take up the sport too. Ricky and Fred made up all sorts of outlandish rules hoping the girls would quit.

[–] GolfnGuitars (2394) a year ago

It's my favorite episode also, which has also been described here. As someone who wasn't even born yet (1969) when this episode first aired (1967), I loved seeing the golf technology back then and hearing the golf names!

This is something that I've often wondered...did the people who worked on those shows back then ever realize that someone like me would be watching these shows again, over 50 years later? These older shows are just such great "snapshots" in time...I just love watching these older TV shows. Plus, I still think they're funny and entertaining today.