Freedom and JK - Pt. III

Part III of "Freedom and JK"...

Jerry is put on trial by the State after being arrested at the museum:

The prosecutor (Mike Road) reads off the charges against Jerry: "Subversion, deviationism, and treason". He offers Jerry a chance to confess his crimes, but Jerry asks where the proof is that he committed any crimes at all. The prosecutor answers that it's up to Jerry to prove his innocence.

Jerry asks how he can prove his innocence if he doesn't know what he's accused of: "'Subversion' against whom? 'Deviationism' from what? 'Treason' against what government?"

The prosecutor states that Jerry was given the opportunity to confess and should now be sentenced. Jerry protests that the State is falsely accusing him of crimes while it committed actual crimes such as breaking into his home without a warrant, taking Linda away, desecrating a house of worship and turning his family against him.

He begs Helen to back him up. But, the prosecutor produces a document signed by Helen stating that Jerry tried to turn their children against the Communist State. He asks her if the statement is true:

She answers "Yes":

The prosecutor has signed accusations from other witnesses, including Bill Martin, and they each confirm that their statements are also true:

 

The prosecutor says that the evidence against Jerry is overwhelming and that he should be sentenced immediately. Jerry demands to read the witness statements and to speak in his own defense.

The judge (Andrew Duggan) orders him to return to the box.

He tells Jerry there's no need to examine the witness statements, because he stands condemned by his own words. The judge calls Jerry "a dangerous enemy to the proletariat, who must be treated as such, as an ugly remnant of a diseased bourgeois class, who must be eradicated before the contagion can spread". He sentences Jerry to be shot at a time and place to be decided:

Before Jerry is removed from the courtroom, he delivers an impassioned speech against Communism, saying that although the State uses big words like "proletariat", there's one word they're afraid of: freedom.

Jerry is chained to a chair by Communist soldiers. His executioner is the same officer (Peter Breck) he saw speaking in the street. The executioner offers him one last chance to confess his "crimes". Jerry refuses, but tells him that one day people will finally realize that "Communism" is just another word for "slavery":

 

As he utters these final words, the executioner fires a shot:

Luckily, Jack Webb shows up again and assures us that the bullet won't reach Jerry:

Jerry really wakes up to discover that it was all just a Red nightmare:

And Helen is Helen again:

Sally and Jimmy are back to being their playful selves:

 

And, Linda and Bill have decided to postpone their marriage until after Bill finishes his hitch in the service:

Everything's back to normal:

 

Except this time, as Jack Webb concludes, "Jerry knows now so he'll never forget it--responsibilities are a privilege...freedom has a price, and its price is vigilance..."

JW then launches into a patriotic salute to the US and its armed forces, which, like the end credits, was filmed in color. Too bad the rest of the film wasn't:

Well, that's the end of Freedom and You...but please stay tuned because there's more of "Freedom and JK" coming up in TDS! :)

What's Up, Doc Holliday? :)

Howdy!

A number of TV westerns wove historical personages into fictional plots. For instance, Paladin of Have Gun--Will Travel swapped epigrams with Oscar Wilde; the Cartwrights of Bonanza encountered Mark Twain and Charles Dickens; Secret Service agents Jim West and Artemus Gordon reported to President Ulysses S. Grant on The Wild Wild West.

Even Maverick got into the act. Real-life westerners John Wesley Hardin and Wyatt Earp appeared fleetingly, but John Henry "Doc" Holliday made several appearances, first played by Gerald Mohr and then most memorably by Peter Breck, who guest-starred opposite Jack Kelly's Bart Maverick in six episodes as the consumptive dentist turned gambling gunfighter. 

Breck's Holliday is a darkly comic figure who gets his "friend" Bart into some hair-raising situations. In the excellent "Triple Indemnity" episode, Bart comes this close to being done in by Doc, who's mixed up in an unsavory insurance scheme. Bart is spared at the last second, but Doc wasn't really trying to kill him--right? (Bart, and the viewer, are left to wonder.)

Below are some photos of this odd couple from the Kellection. I found the two behind-the-scenes stills in, of all places, a Goodwill store not far from my home, which just goes to show you never know where JK will pop up. Enjoy! :)

I love this still, taken during the filming of "Triple Indemnity".

Dig the extras and crew members in sunglasses!

 

A screen cap from the scene shown being filmed in the still above.
 

A great candid still from "A Technical Error". I thought this was a regular scene shot until I noticed the cigarette in JK's right hand. (Actor Stephen Coit is on the left side of the sign.)

 

Screen cap from this hilarious episode

 

BONUS PHOTO! No Doc Holliday here, but this marvelous pic is from "The Maverick Report", an episode in which he appeared. That's lovely Jo Morrow with JK. I'd searched for this pic for some time and was recently able to add it to the Kellection. I first saw this image in a 1962 Cleveland Press TV log purchased several years ago (note the painted out background):

 

 

It's a pity JK and PB didn't get to do more episodes as Bart and Doc before Maverick ended in 1962. But, a few years later, a very different version of Doc Holliday appeared in an episode of The High Chapparal--played by Jack Kelly! :)

 





The Maverick Report - "Destination Devil's Flat"

One of the Maverick episodes shown on Encore Westerns this evening (9/1) was "Destination Devil's Flat". It was an enjoyable romp about a reformed faro dealer who keeps trying to convert Bart, a sheriff who keeps trying to get rid of Bart, and some gold that keeps getting the old switcheroo. And, I just happen to have a publicity still for it. Poor Bart has such a "Why me?" expression--probably from some of the antics he experiences in this episode. Well, his co-stars (Merry Anders and Peter Breck) look happy anyway. :)