Route 66 (TV Series) One Tiger to a Hill (1962) User Reviews

Excellent episode that features some very dark issues

[rwint1611 · 8/10 · 19 May 2008]

Excellent character study featuring a very violent prone man (Janssen) who takes a very personal disliking to Todd after Todd starts seeing his girlfriend.

At first this episode seems very routine as the boys are always running into brooding characters with a dark past, but this one digs much deeper than most and gets into some very dark issues that are not usually handled. It is also fun to see Janssen in the uncharacteristic role of the heavy and his character's eventual revelation is quite well done.

The only downfall of this episode is the tidy wrap-up that seems a bit phony and almost defeats the story's main purpose. Signe Hasso is also wasted in a small and dull role, however she does appear in another later episode 'A Feat of Strength'.

Grade: A-

The Best of Route 66

[robwoodford-83390 · 10/10 · 27 February 2019]

There are several great episodes of Route 66, but "One Tiger to a Hill" is the best. The setting is Astoria, OR, and its reputation as a sea town plays an important role in the plot. Its rich history by the early 1960s had been based around logging in the summer and fishing in the winter, and both physically-taxing professions required rough people with a special kind of single-minded toughness. David Janssen plays the role of Karno Starling to perfection. His angry pursuit of Tod borders on the psychotic, and viewers know something deeper is going on because Karno's rage is supposed to be over a beautiful girl - Toika Gustafson, played well by Laura Devon in one of her two appearances on the show - but Karno had rejected Toika prior to Tod's and Buz' arrival in town. [It's important to note this episode features the return of George Maharis, who missed four episodes at the end of season two due to illness.] Eventually viewers learn Karno's real anger is about Tod personally, but that revelation is just a cover for Karno's more deeply-rooted problems, which unfold as the show progresses. "One Tiger to a Hill" is a mystery wrapped in a mystery, with a resolution that makes perfect sense. Janssen plays a crazed force so well that there are moments when viewers will wonder what Tod can possibly do to get away from him. This is a serious and great episode from start to finish, with a memorable payoff. It's the best Route 66 has to offer.

9/21/62 "One Tiger to a Hill"

[schappe1 · 6 July 2015]

It had to happen. Tod Stiles and Buz Murdock meet Richard Kimble!!! Not really, but sort of.

Before that, we get a delightful scene where the boys, back together again, are driving along an Oregon beach with the sun shining brightly and the future looking great. They mention that the beach in Oregon is officially a highway and you can almost drive the entire coast of the state on the beach. A wonderful start to the third season.

Like the second ever episode, (Lance of Straw), they wind up working on a fishing boat owned by a female, in this case Signe Hasso who has a gorgeous daughter played by Laura Devon, (she reminds me of Kim Novak). Against her mother's wishes, she has a relationship with another fishing boat owner named Karno, played by ….dumb de da dumb…. David Janssen! (This is the year before THE FUGITIVE premiered.)

Unlike Richard Kimble, Karno is not a nice guy. In fact, he hates nice guys. He especially hates Tod because he is a nice guy and a rival for his girl. Tod can't see what Laura, (the character's name is "Toika") sees in Karno but it's one these "reform the bad boy" things. Karno later reveals the source of his sour attitude: he was a young lieutenant , (and a nice guy), during WWII when he couldn't bring himself to shoot a captured German officer and the end result was an attack that wiped out his platoon- except for him. Since then, he's tried to bring everyone down to his level and, hopefully bring them to kill him so his pain will be over and they will never be a nice guy again. Humbug to nice guys!

He's badly screwed up but a near-death experience unscrews him, (after 17 years of being like this), and Laura comes to him, not Tod, (who doesn't need her as much), and it's time for everyone to move on- literally.

It's comforting, in a way to watch the shows I saw as a youth and know that the stars, (such as Marty Milner and George Maharis), are still with us. Unfortunately, David Janssen is not. But it was jarring to look up Laura Devon, young and gorgeous here, and see that she died eight years ago at the age of 76. That has implications for my own age and future. Humbug, indeed!

Very good drama

[Christopher370 · 10/10 · 6 May 2023]

I recently finished watching The Fugitive series and was curious to see other performances by David Janssen. I've caught a couple of Route 66 episodes on TV when I came across it in the past, but haven't bothered to watch the whole series through before. This episode however made me buy the dvd series because it left me wanting to see more of it. I enjoyed it that much.

As for Janssen's performance, I found it to be exceptionally good, especially during the final emotional scene. What I found surprising while watching that scene was how we never really saw his Fugitive character Richard Kimble show this kind of emotion over the course of the series, (and someone on the run convicted of a murder he didn't commit should be angry as hell) but it was very clear from this episode that Janssen did have it in him and was fully capable of it.

Until now, I thought maybe he just didn't have the chops for getting too emotional in scenes so the writers never made him to go too heavy with emotion, but his performance here proved that theory wrong. I just wish we had seen his Fugitive character show this kind of angry emotion over that show's 4 seasons like we saw him do in this episode.

I liked the story as well, and in the beginning I wasn't sure what the hell was going on from the way things slowly unfolded. I wondered why Karno had such a strong and sudden hatred for Tod seemingly at first sight. It was obvious that he was a troubled soul, but in the beginning I didn't know why he was the way he was and wondering why he was being so hateful to everyone, especially Tod.

It all unfolded nicely though and I especially liked how the whole story wrapped up in the end and now I want to watch the whole series due to the strong performances all around. I think that 1960's television had some of the best dramas made, and the sad offerings we have in the 2020's just pales in comparison. 10 stars for this episode and I like the title.

EDIT: I watched this episode over again tonight (11/30/23) 6 months from my first viewing, and this time around I understood Karno's initial hatred for Tod since he felt threatened that he was seeing his girl (even though he acted like he didn't want her). I don't know why that seemed to go over my head on the first viewing.

Watching it again, I do think Tod was overstepping his bounds with Toika and really should've just backed off after realizing there was history between her and Karno.

When Tod went to the bar to purposely pick a fight with Karno I thought that was overstepping of him, but I guess it was needed to advance the story and it also gave David Janssen a great dramatic scene where he reveals his war history.

I have to say I enjoyed this episode so much more the second time around and the emotional final scene where Karno appears had me teary eyed right along with Toika. (I'm a sucker for this kind of drama!) I have now watched the first 2 seasons of Route 66 (when I first wrote this review 6 months ago I hadn't yet viewed the series) and for me this is definitely one of the series most strongest episodes and David Janssen's performance as Karno was top notch. It's a shame the producers of The Fugitive didn't allow him to display the range he showed here. 10/10....and I still love that episode title!

Colorful Entry

[dougdoepke · 29 September 2015]

I can see why the producers led off season three with this flavorful entry. The guys are in scenic Astoria, OR, working on a salmon boat. Trouble is there's another commercial fisherman (Janssen) who gets up on the wrong side of the bed every morning. He despises Tod because of Tod's educated background. Neither does it help that Karno's (Janssen) girl (Devon) takes a shine to Tod. As a result, this may be the brawlingest episode of the series as the two brawl on both land and sea.

Anyhow we get a really good look at wharf-side Astoria, with lots of local folks in the background. Plus, there's the fishing fleet and processing center for Bumble Bee salmon. Fortunately, the drama, locations, and staging are well blended, lending a lot of color to the hour. And note the attention to detail with the battle scars that continue realistically throughout the episode. I also like the camaraderie between Buzz and Tod, more evident here than usual. However, I wish the ending had carried through with the unconventional. The screenplay was flirting with that since it looks like Karno didn't survive his tumble into the sea. But then I guess the producers wouldn't risk Tod being even indirectly responsible for a man's death. So we get a conventional ending, instead. Oh well, it's still a superior episode, and I'll probably think of it when I open my next can of Bumble Bee,