Excellent NOIR that gives us Cassavetes at his late-50's BEST.
And even though much of this show takes place in a passenger airliner, it still captures the intensity, darkness and edgy WIT required of real crime/noir/drama.
It's got everything: opening scene in Waldo's dark, smoky night-club, a beautiful blonde (two of them, actually), a tough-guy kingpin, a (brief) fist-fight in the alley, a bit of "B-Roll" of Johnny on the streets of N.Y., an intriguing scene in the big guy's office, a suspicious brief case as the focal point of Johnny's mysterious assignment, which involves a cross-country flight, the sultry Gena Rowlands (Cassavete's real-life wife at the time), who comes with a fascinating surprise of her own, AND--- for comic relief, harrumphing old Howard Freeman, an amateur, would-be composer of popular "Teen" Rock hits, and the guy who Johnny is stuck with as his seat partner on the flight--- and who also carryies a briefcase identical to Johnny's.
WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR in a 26-minute TV show?? Sharp dialogue and direction, to boot. AND-- if all this weren't enough, there's an absolutely brilliant bit at the end, as Johnny decides to "bite the bullet" and join forces with Howard Freeman for a 4-hand piano duet of his doomed (I'm sure) musical opus "Teenage Mother."
I guffawed with delight. Very clever stuff. LR
And even though much of this show takes place in a passenger airliner, it still captures the intensity, darkness and edgy WIT required of real crime/noir/drama.
It's got everything: opening scene in Waldo's dark, smoky night-club, a beautiful blonde (two of them, actually), a tough-guy kingpin, a (brief) fist-fight in the alley, a bit of "B-Roll" of Johnny on the streets of N.Y., an intriguing scene in the big guy's office, a suspicious brief case as the focal point of Johnny's mysterious assignment, which involves a cross-country flight, the sultry Gena Rowlands (Cassavete's real-life wife at the time), who comes with a fascinating surprise of her own, AND--- for comic relief, harrumphing old Howard Freeman, an amateur, would-be composer of popular "Teen" Rock hits, and the guy who Johnny is stuck with as his seat partner on the flight--- and who also carryies a briefcase identical to Johnny's.
WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR in a 26-minute TV show?? Sharp dialogue and direction, to boot. AND-- if all this weren't enough, there's an absolutely brilliant bit at the end, as Johnny decides to "bite the bullet" and join forces with Howard Freeman for a 4-hand piano duet of his doomed (I'm sure) musical opus "Teenage Mother."
I guffawed with delight. Very clever stuff. LR
