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This little one-act by a guy who sold two story ideas in his brief career incorporates a little of 1973's "High Plains Drifter," a little of the mythological "Flying Dutchman" & a little "Twilight Zone."

I'm not spilling the beans & saying how - you gotta watch.

It does feature a 54-year old gunfighter Dick Powell, who did not really look as though he was really into it. He was a tad too old but he was one of the show's producers as one-fourth of Four Star Productions.

He's in love with a favorite of mine: Beautiful 35-year-old Cathy O' Donnell and those incredibly sad eyes. Who's in love with older guy Dick. It's always wonderful seeing Cathy O'Donnell, who, sadly, died way too young of cancer, in 1970 when she was only 46.

Also on board is Nick Adams, who seemingly wore a envy & an unfortunate chip on his shoulder through his adult life - and who died in 1968 of a probably suicide when was only 36.

Nick was never a very good actor and he often stunk - and he had about 20 TV show appearances on his resume by the time he did this one.

So, it's hard to recall a actor doing a more unbelievable downing of a shot of whiskey during a poker game. You wanna tell a decent of good actor from a hack: Watch how they drink something, be it a glass of milk or a cup of coffee, a sip of beer at the bar - and downing a shot of whiskey. Nick Adams' attempt here was a hack trying to be "a dramatic actor" and it looked as fake as can be!

Overall, this was not a great episode.

Harry Truman was right when he said that the buck stops with the person in charge.

In the case of this "Banacek" episode, that would be a director I've always liked, Andrew V. McLaglan, son of Best Actor Oscar winner Victor McLaglan & the director of my favorite John Wayne movie, "The Undefeated" (1969).

Andy let cast members Andrew Prine as an inventor play like the overacting ham he often was. Arnold Ziffel & Porky Pig were never even close to the ham Prine was on numerous occasions, probably topped by this performance that only Farmer John could love (but in real life, he was married to Brenda Scott not once, not twice, but three times so I do give im credit for that).

Meanwhile, bit player Robert Rothwell as a security guard was as amateurish a performance by an actor as you'll ever see. Picture, say, Donald Trump or Ed Sullivan portraying the security guard and, believe it or not, Trump and Ed each would have been better actors.

So, whose fault was this? Director Andy's, of course because the buck stopped with him! It was his job to direct his actors and he didn't. His was a colossal failure.

I know: John Cassavetes is regarded by so many as a master actor - a giant in the world of Stanislavski's method acting, right there with Marlon Brando & James Dean.

True confession: I've found all three to have at times delivered performances so overwrought to the point of absurdity and even caricature.

In "Etude in Black," Cassavetes portrays a world famous classical music conductor, maestro of possibly/probably the Los Angeles Philharmonic, up there with genuine LA Phil conductors Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen and its maestro since 2009, Gustavo Dudamel.

Ha ha ha!

I would LOVE to show those guys Cassavetes as LA Phil conductor here & watch their faces & hear their reviews.

Oh, my God, is Cassavetes atrocious! My impression is that the last time he ever paid attention to any classical music conductor anywhere at any time may have been when he was seven years old.

John Cassavetes clearly knows absolutely nothing about conducting to the point of being laughable.

He appears to think that all a conductor does is wave his arms around virtually the same way every time, no matter what music was being performed.

Cassavetes, star Peter Falk & veteran actor-director Nick Colasanto should all be ashamed of his "show" because he ruins a fine episode.

Falk & Nick should have drummed up to the courage to actually direct this hard-drinking, temperamental star because no actor I've seen ever needed direction by a professional director more.