SO LONG, MICHAEL GRAY

When I was a lad, you were the live-action Billy Batson, Captain Marvel's gracious host, on Filmation's Saturday morning hit, Shazam!

Even when you weren't turning into Jackson Bostwick or John Davey, you held a superlative command as a young man who (along with Les Tremayne's Mentor and, on those special, crossover occasions, JoAnna Cameron's Isis) fixed problems and stomped wrongs. In other words, you were an excellent role model. 

Shazam! wasn't your only claim to fame. You were seen on Brian Keith's The Little People (for twenty-four episodes), The Brady Bunch, Room 222, The Flying Nun, Marcus Welby M.D., Comic Book Men and Archer, plus The Davy Jones Special (where you got to sing); and in the movies, Run, Simon, Run (led by Burt Reynolds & Inger Stevens), Myra Breckinridge (headlined by Raquel Welch), the Russ Meyers/Roger Ebert satire, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (where you encounter Zachary Levi's marvelous Captain), in addition to having made an indelible impression on the 1970s, teen-mag scene.  

You became a part of our lives, a part of our hearts, Mr. Gray: a spiritual brother with a staunch, pervading code. I, for one, remain in your debt for that. Thanks for showing me--for showing us all--how to get through the everyday grind, for as you demonstrated time and again, kindness and respect possess the power to overcome any doubt, any woe, any fear. 🗱

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS & THE WEREWOLF

 

FAREWELL, TOM SKERRITT

Some are heralded as creme de la creme, but you, Mr. Skerritt, were without question the personification of it. 

To a generation of sci-fi/horror fans, your portrayal of Captain Dallas in Ridley Scott's Alien made you cinematic royalty, but you were in the Hollywood spotlight well before and well after that groundbreaking, creature yarn. 

For example, you dominated the excellent, vigilante endeavor, Fighting Back, in addition to starring in the heartfelt, character study, Lucky (helmed by  your Alien costar, Harry Dean Stanton), as well as the original adaptations of M*A*S*H and The Dead Zone. You also entered Stephen King's Desperation, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2008), The Devil's Rain, Poltergeist III, Contact, Mammoth, Ted, Savage Harvest, Knight Moves, Red King White Knight, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, Category 7: The End of the World, Poison Ivy (1991), Top Gun, High Noon (2000, as Will Kane), The Trojan Horse, A River Runs Through it, Rivers of a Lost Coast, Field of Lost Shoes, Run Run Joe!, Maid to Order, Ice Castles; Up in Smoke, Smoke Signals, Poker Alice, At Middleton, War Hunt, Path to War, Wings: Skyforce Heroes, Wild Rovers, Fuzz, The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer, Harold and Maude, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Birdmen, The Grid, One Man's Way, The Calloways, The Parent Trap II, The Rookie, Plot of Fear, Sexycop, The Turning Point, An American Daughter, The Last Day, A Dangerous Summer, Silence of the North, Singles, Texas Rangers, The China Lake Murders, Whiteout, Two for Texas, Child in the Night, East of the Mountains, She'll Take Romance, For Sale by Owner, Beer for My Horses, Tears of the Sun, Redwood Highway, Redemption Road, A Hologram for a King, Broke, Day of Days, A Valentine's Date, Journey Back to Christmas, Your Love Never Fails, Catch the Bullet, What the Deaf Man Heard and Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue.

Your television career was a whopper, too, with the lead role of Sheriff Jimmy Brock on the cherished Picket Fences, and appearances on Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wagon Train, The Virginian, Laramie, Death Valley Days, Cimarron Strip, Nichols, Sara, The Fugitive, Run for Your Life, The Outsider, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Twilight Zone (1986), The Hitchhiker, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Combat!, 12 O'Clock High, My Favorite Martian, My Three Sons, The Real McCoys, Cheers, Roseanne, Will & Grace, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Felony Squad, The F.B.I., Mannix, Baretta, Barnaby Jones, SWAT, Hawaii Five-O, Medical Center, Danger Bay, Storefront Lawyers, The West Wing, Madame Secretary, Leverage, White Collar, Going Home, The Good Wife, The Manhunter, Homeland Security, The Closer, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. 

Indeed, your resume bursts at the seams, and in every respect, you stood out, whether the role was big, small, lingering or fleeting. That's because you were a master of your craft, Mr. Skerritt, an artist who knew the human soul, enough to make us watch, feel and care: the defining distinction of an accomplished actor. 

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: MORNINGSIDE THEATRE SPECTACULAR

I SAW CLAYFACE

Clayface, directed by James (Eden Lake/The Woman in Black 2012/Speak No Evil 2024) Watkins and written by Hossein (Snow White and the Huntsman) Amini and Mike (Doctor Sleep/The Fall of the House of Usher 2023) Flanagan, dwells within DC's rich mythology, though simulates Sony's adjacent Spider-Verse. To rephrase, its modified structure sloshes through Cronenberg-ian body horror, while clawing at chunks of Batman: The Animated Series' "Feat of Clay," sans the Caped Crusader. 

I had anticipated that Clayface would lift more from Twilight Zone's "The Four of Us Are Dying," and it does have discernible traces of the Rod Serling/George Clayton Johnson tale, but the fugitive-in-flux angle never reaches fruition. Such would work, perhaps, in a sequel or better yet, a miniseries, where an alteration of faces might lead the character from place to place.

Even with its Fugitive fuel omitted, the plot's desperation is palpable and rides off other tragic fables of exploratory mishap, like The Invisible Man, The H-Man, The Human Vapor, 4D Man, Man with the X-ray Eyes, The Incredible Melting Man, The Fly (any entry in the franchise) and The Substance, bolstered by subtle strands of The Face Behind the Mask, Eyes Without a Face and Frankenstein: The True Story. Such tales use skewed sympathy, if not elemental empathy, to underscore their weird self-destruction and/or criminality. Clayface, by design, clings to their masochistic habits. 

For the sake of this interpretation, the titular character is played by Tom Rhys (Jekyll and Hyde 2015/The Return) Harries, who basks in the limelight as a renowned, pretty-boy actor, until his face is slashed by mobster Markos Szabo (David Dencik), after Hagan has a tryst with the gangster's girlfriend, the seductive yet deceitful Mia Torrez (Joana Riberio). In desperation, Hagen seeks breakthrough-scientist Caitlyn Corr, played by Naomi (Lady MacBeth) Ackie, who injects him with an experimental nano-solution to mend his scars. It works, but after a spell, his flesh turns malleable, like clay, and in the ensuing stretch, so do his thoughts. 

Hagen's mania inspires him to pick off Szabo's associates (with Joshua James, Will Coban, Jake Curran and Eddie Marsden playing prime members of the overlord's immoral pack). Hagen's murders catch the attention of Corr's fiancé, John Borelli, a conscientious, Gotham detective, played by Max Minghella, who begins to connect the dots, but will it be enough to halt Hagen's spree?

Hagen does hold obvious advantages in the matter. Not only is he able to mimic facial features (as well as body styles and clothing pigments), but he has the acting chops to render any imitation near perfect. Regardless, his semblances do shift and fade with his rising rage, and when such occurs, one can't help but recall Darkman's Payton Wilder, where time constraints tended to thwart his ruses. In Hagen's case, it's his overwhelming contempt that expire his disguises. 

Though Clayface is being ballyhooed as a Grand Guignol sojourn, it's as much an offbeat character study, with a good man spiraling into something bad. It's also a mob-revenge movie, in step with the face-mended Johnny Handsome. Heck, when all is said and done, it's a bit of this and that, but isn't that the whole point of its infamous character? Clayface is never just one persona. His identity comprises many facets, as does the movie he embodies. 

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

HALLOWEEN 1978: THE TV CUT (YES, IT'S REAL)

If I had a nickel every time some know-it-all told me that a TV cut of John Carpenter's Halloween (broadcast on Friday, October 30, 1981) was a figment of my imagination (that it never existed), I'd be one wealthy son of a gun. 

Well, the NBC, "One Night Only" version of the slasher classic does exist, with twelve minutes of additional material directed by Carpenter to compensate for the deletion of its edgier elements. It surfaced among my YouTube suggestions. To flaunt the find, I've planted the link below. 

This NBC revision holds an interesting segment with Donald Pleasance's Sam Loomis arguing with sanitarium-review staff on why Michael Myers shouldn't be transferred to a new facility. There's even a Michael Myers unmasking at the movie's end. Yeah, pretty fascinating stuff, though on the whole, this network offering is way too subdued and padded for my taste. I wouldn't recommend it except, well, I just want to put those lousy know-it-alls to shame. 

At any rate, check out the presentation if you wish and Happy Halloween! (FYI: Take note of the Prom Night flub in the kickoff ad.)🎃