Route 66 (TV Series) In the Closing of a Trunk (1963) User Reviews

A very good "Tod Meets Crazy Lady" episode

[lrrap · 8/10 · 7 January 2020]

A well-crafted show with excellent location photography and strong performances all around.

For me, the highlights are:

1.) The fishing scene between Ed Begley and Martin Milner-- shot with actual sound as they both stand waist-deep in the rolling surf--a scene that neatly advances the plot while simultaneously providing the actors with a real challenge. Very cool.

2.) Ruth Roman's big emotional scene near the end, which really brings home the emotional content of the show with power and, yes--restraint (it's relatively brief, which increases its impact).

3.) The look on Ed Begley's face during this scene. A master actor.

4.) The final scene in the ambulance. I was really moved by the director's choice (I assume) to dress Don Dubbins in coat and tie, as he "mans up" and takes the long walk past the townspeople to meet his mother for the first time. Very nicely done.

Two other things that I must point out: a.) the imaginative scene as Ruth Roman recalls her intense, youthful fling with her young lover---filmed through a broken pane of glass, with two young lover "Stand-in's" neatly framed on the beach outside. Only when we see a close up do we realize that it's Ruth herself AND MARTIN MILNER making out. All sorts of issues and "subtexts" here---maybe a tad too "Bergmanesque", but typically "artsy" for this series.

B.) Milner's TORTURED (not again!) voice-over in the opening, having been stuffed in the titular Trunk by Ms. Roman; something about his "Brain on Fire" and his "Heart between his Teeth"? Huh? What?? Why??? LR

Salvaged by Good Acting and Staging

[dougdoepke · 25 November 2014]

The series' strength of getting primo guest stars is evident here. The one-note premise itself is none to believable, but Begley and Roman manage to salvage much of the material with convincing turns. Roman returns home from prison after murdering her son's father. Why prison released the obviously wacko woman remains unclear. Anyway, because of Tod's resemblance to the dead father, the addled Roman believes Tod is her son. Begley, the dead son's uncle, persuades Tod to act out the role at least for a while. But then things go badly wrong.

Several things to note here. This looks like the first episode without Maharis who quit the show after several seasons. In fact, the next episode introduces Glen Corbett as Linc, Tod's new road buddy. I may be wrong, but Milner as Tod looks a little distant, perhaps because of Maharis' abrupt exit. Second, that Begley-Milner scene fishing in the surf is a triumph of difficult staging and acting. Begley was certainly a powerful presence and he shows it here. Lastly, repeating in its entirety the lengthy scene where Roman attacks Tod appears unnecessary, and may be one of the few instances of the series padding an episode's runtime.

Overall, the entry's screenplay is highly contrived, made watchable by the fine guest stars and location staging.

Ruth Roman's performance

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 5 October 2015]

Currently, the first three seasons of Route 66 are available on Hulu. Not having seen this particular episode, I sat down recently to watch it. It features Ruth Roman as a woman who thinks she is Todd's (Martin Milner) mother. The script was written by show creator Stirling Silliphant, and it takes Todd who is between partners, in a slightly different direction.

Miss Roman is particularly good in this offering, running the gamut from sweet and fragile to outright confused and demented. She should have received an Emmy nomination for it. I had read that the part was intended for Joan Crawford but Crawford was unavailable (though she would do a different episode the following season). But looking at the way this one was written, I think Crawford would have been too edgy and possibly over-the-top. Ruth Roman projects just the right amount of vulnerability and refrains from chewing scenery.

3/8/63 "In the Closing of a Trunk"

[schappe1 · 5 November 2015]

This is the first two encounters in a row Todd has with crazy ladies, neither of them very satisfactory.

In this one Ruth Roman plays a woman how has been in prison for killing her abusive father. She left behind a small child and has returned to find him. But she's a bit unbalanced and focuses on Todd after he's been nice to her when nobody else would. Her paternal uncle, Ed Begley resents her for having killed his brother and hatches a plan to inflict pain upon her. He wants to hire Todd to pretend to be her son and then Begley will prove he isn't, thus breaking her heart. Her real son is Begley' s partner in a fishing boat, (Don Dubbins), and he's been taught to hate his mother.

Todd refuses but finds the woman won't believe him. (We find out Todd was born March 12, 1936 in the LeRoy Sanitarium in New York City, which makes him five years younger than Martin Milner: no wonder she didn't believe him!) He takes pity on her but when Begley finally springs the trap, Roman goes berserk and tries to do to Todd just what she did to Daddy- including putting his body in a trunk!. That's not spoiler as it's actually the first scene ….Just a wee bit over wrought.

This is the first episode not to have George Maharis in the credits so I assume it was the first one done after it was decided he would not be returning.