Shadow of Sam Penny, Season 3
What was the "mystery theme" used in this spin-off from "The Maltese Falcon"? It was not from that movie, but is familiar.
shareI was pretty bored by this episode. Good performances all around - especially Robert Lansing as the hard-boiled PI Sam Penny (in an obvious nod to Bogie) - but the plot just didn't really interest me. But then I guess you have to be a fan of the old Bogie films to really appreciate this episode. And I'm not really a fan.
Also of note was Elisha Cook's appearance. He was in both THE MALTESE FALCON and THE BIG SLEEP.
Connery, Moore, and Brosnan! Accept NO substitutes!
You appreciated it more than I did, ringfire. This is one of a handful of S&S shows that I'll never rewatch because I found it downright distasteful.
- First, I found the whole "hard-boiled PI" character as a dull, overdone stereotype that didn't fit the contemporary '80s vibe of S&S (I can't imagine either Rick or AJ admiring or emulating this old geezer).
- Second, the old Hollywood "Maltese Falcon" style is outdated and unappealing to me and to the viewership this show was trying to target. To produce a show with this old film noir quality, cheaply done, when viewers expect the sunshine, convertibles, and bikini-clad babes of the S&S style made no sense at all. I'd guess most viewers were either too young to get what they were apeing, or just found it a complete turnoff and reached for the remote.
- And third, as a woman I was downright offended by the notion that their pretty, intelligent young cousin (can't even remember the character's name now -- Elizabeth?) would have any interest in the Sam Penny character. What on earth was she supposed to find sexually appealing about this old guy with his stogie and his old-fashioned sexist views? We go from Janet Fowler, rising young attorney and public prosecutor, to this scenario of a young woman chucking her own ambitions to dance attendance on a man old enough to be her father? Geez. And why on earth would Rick and AJ encourage her in this relationship? No way. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but I feel strongly that taking this plot twist just to wrap up the show and write out the character of the cousin was a poor move.
As regards your signature ... I'll also opine that I think Timothy Dalton was the most compelling Bond of them all ... just sayin' ...
I'm not sure what cousin you're talking about? Janet Fowler was not the Simons' cousin. She was an attorney and some-time girlfriend of A.J. Plus she wasn't even in this particular episode. Maybe you're confusing 2 different episodes.
The woman that loves Sam Penny in this episode (actually 2 women) is the one played by Anne Francis (the jewel thief he arrested a long time ago and then fell in love with) and the one played by Joan Leslie (who was his secretary/girl friend - she was the one who hired the Simons to find Sam).
And both of these women were in their 50s - so they could hardly be called young girls who are falling in love with an old geezer. They're roughly his age.
And I can totally see the Simon brothers admiring someone like Sam. You have to remember the types of movies these guys were watching when they were kids. Since they're adults in the 80s that means they were kids in the 60s. Which means they most likely were huge fans of all those 40s/50s noir films with guys like Bogie and Cagney. That's most likely why they even got into the PI business in the first place. Just because they're living in the 80s doesn't mean they're automatically listening to Michael Jackson. Most people's fondest memories are of their childhood. So they will fondly remember music and movies from that time.
For example, I'm a huge fan of the Sean Connery/Roger Moore Bond era. Those are my earliest memories of the Bond films. And I easily prefer those early (and more sexist, mind you) Bond films to the more recent and more politically correct ones. To me Connery will always be more cool than Daniel Craig. And the 60s Bonds more cool than the 90s/00s Bonds. Just because something is outdated doesn't mean it automatically loses its appeal.
P.S. And yes Timothy Dalton was quite good too.
Connery, Moore, and Brosnan! Accept NO substitutes!
lynettecon was refering to Caren Kaye's character Elizabeth Charles who appeared in the season 5 episode Reunion at Alcatraz. And I also agree that Shadow of Sam Penny was a weak and boring episode.
shareOh ok. I only vaguely remember "Reunion at Alcatraz". It was probably a better episode than "Shadow of Sam Penny" if just for featuring Alcatraz.
But I really can't recall what that story was about.
Connery, Moore, and Brosnan! Accept NO substitutes!