“The Night of the Casual Killer” follows yesterday’s theme of giving Artie a more proactive role in the adventure. As a bonus, he and Jim are undercover as a traveling minstrel show, so Jim even has to take a beating from some roughnecks and be saved by arte I order to main the ruse. It is definitely an Artie show. Ross Martin not only show off his hammy acting chops, but plays the violin twice. Our heroes are assigned to find a former corrupt associate of Ulysses S. Grant named John Avery who has enough dirt on the president’s administration to warrant his capture. Fortunately, he has killed 22 cavalrymen who first tried to bring him back to Washington, so there actually is a good reason to arrest him other than political embarrassment. Considering how corrupt the Grant administration was in the first place, Avery must have been associated with some seriously nasty stuff.
Avery is played by John Dehner. He was a character actor who played either a cowboy, criminal, cop, military officer, doctor, lawyer, or politician in just about every sitcom or drama series you would care to name from the late ’50’s until his death in 1992. He plays Avery as a formidable villain who is cunning enough to be one step ahead o Jim and Artie at every turn, including durig the climactic escape from the mining town he has taken over.
The prerequisite pretty girl Avery has control over is played by Ruta Lee. She is probably most famous for her role on Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but she is still active in movies and television today at the age of 74. She has maintained a certain Eartha Kitt charm in her golden years.
Lee plays Laurie Morgan, an ex-singer who apparently was not all that great since there are deliberate attempts to keep her from doing so. Within my young frame of reference, she reminds me of Jessica Simpson. There is not only a slight resemblance, but lee plays her with that English as a second language mall speak enthusiastic clueless demeanor that you really hope Simpson is faking, but in your heart fear she is not.
The climactic escape from town involves a mining car chase that is not exactly Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but is cleverly done for a low budget, ’60’s show. Avery makes for a good villain and an enjoyable show. It is also good to see Artie take the spotlight for once, even though he does not get the girl. Rating: *** (out of 5)
