Pickman's Model/The Dear Departed/An Act of Chivalry

This interesting little segment revolves around the strange act of the séance to help those reunite with deceased loved ones, and the ones who are running these ceremonies are bilking their customers. The leader, and the one these poor folks pay good money to, is played by a slick Steve Lawrence(I never knew he acted), who knows how to tug at the purse strings. I have to admit, the first séance proved very effective as the whole scene was very creepy, especially the floating tambourine and dummy head(made to look like a young girl)in the dark room. Soon after, we see Joe(Harvey Lembeck) accidentally smoking a cigar as he enters the room, and Mark(Lawrence)makes a gesture for him to put it out; this lets us know that the whole thing is a scam. It's also knowledge that the handsome Mark and Joe's quirky wife(Maureen Arthur)have eyes for each other, but Joe's in the way. Mark insists he needs Joe to operate the cables to make the scam appear real for the paying customers, so he's at odds with Angela on why Joe needs to stay. The next scene has the 3 at a restaurant, and they convince Joe to go to the movies alone(I'm not 100% certain that's why he leaves), and as he's out, he gets hit by a car or truck and is killed. Mark has a mixed reaction, but now the 2 are together, and plan to go on with the scam without the talents of Joe, which turns out to be a big mistake.

Mark and Angela conduct another seance, yet this turns out rather sloppy, as Joe's absence(is he really absent?)is obvious and mistakes are made. Angela doesn't have the behind the scenes skills as her late husband once did. As it turns out, Mark calls for a spirit, but surprisingly, the spirit is Joe; he's surrounded by green light and mist. During an earlier conversation in the episode between Mark and Joe, they spoke of being partners for a long time and scam their way to a small fortune. Now, Joe(as a spirit)taunts Mark and insists he'll be with him forever, no matter what. This episode begins and ends with creepy scenes, with not much filler in between. I recommend this short episode, as it's one of the solid ones from Night Gallery's best season.

It is a lotta talk before it's just payoff of a conclusion. Also, it's a Boston, Mass. that never was. I think some of the set here was previously used in Universal's Frankenstein movies in the 1940s.

BTW Josh Bryant plays one of the two men in the opening and he was a fairly frequent guest star on the bad left-wing legendary Mash ( See my reviews).

'Pickman's Model' - Bradford Dillman plays Richard Pickman, who is a reluctant art teacher to wealthy society women who shocks them when he unveils a gruesome portrait of a legendary ghoul in a graveyard. One woman in particular is fascinated by him, but he has a dark secret that prevents him getting involved, though her life will still be in danger... Worthy filming of the H.P. Lovecraft story is one of the best, with a memorable monster and ending.

'The Dear Departed' - A phony séance act gets a shock when one of them is killed, but despite being betrayed by them, still wants in on the act... Marginal story is unremarkable but passable time-filler.

'An Act Of Chivalry' - Pointless, though good for one chuckle.

'Pickman's Model'. Scripted by Alvin Sapinsley, based on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft. Bradford Dillman plays Richard Upton Pickman, a painter / instructor whose works are decidedly creepy. Nevertheless, one of his students (Louise Sorel), a girl from a good, wealthy family, takes a BIG interest in him. She takes things to the point of tracking him to his studio, where, as it turns out, he is NOT the only resident. Lovecraft is served well with this almost 30 minute long segment: it's richly atmospheric, with appropriate costumes and set design. Sorel is appealing as the girl, and Dillman has a great weary and haunted quality about him. You just KNOW that nothing good can come of the girls' fascination with the man. Excellent support is provided by top character actor Donald Moffat (playing Sorels' uncle), and the creature design in this is actually pretty good for a production that probably didn't have a huge budget. Directed by Jack Laird, who here makes up for a lot of his short, lame comic vignettes on the series with his capable handling of this adaptation.

'The Dear Departed'. Steve Lawrence is good as a phoney medium who collaborates with Harvey Lembeck and Maureen Arthur in bilking believers out of their money. Arthurs' & Lembecks' characters are married, but she's actually been carrying on with Lawrence for a while, as she finds Lembeck to be incredibly inane. When Lembeck perishes in a traffic accident, this seems to solve their problems. That is, until a highly predictable resolution that throws Lawrence & Arthur for a loop, but isn't likely to truly thrill the viewer. Overall, this isn't really bad at all, but it lacks punch. Scripted by Serling, based on the short story by Alice-Mary Schnirring, and directed by the great Jeff Corey.

'An Act of Chivalry'. More ho-hum nonsense from Laird, writing and directing this segment that runs less than two minutes. It's good for one mild chuckle, as a stranger in a ghoulish mask gets on an elevator, and is politely asked to take off the mask. There are no stars in the roles, but this isn't a story that really needs "name actors".

Seven out of 10.

For the uninitiated, H. P. Lovecraft was Edgar Allen Poe without the press clippings. His stories are masterpieces of horror and the Cthulhu mythos is a wonderful creation. In this offering, a handsome young artist's life is looked at in retrospect. He made ends meet by giving painting lessons, teaching those he taught, to "paint what they see." His paintings are examples of incredible horror, disfigured, disgusting images on canvas. A young female artist takes a liking to him and begins to follow him. She wants to get inside his head and see his studio. Of course, she is heading for a fall. An excellent adaptation of the Lovecraft story.

A trio of film-flam artist make a living, doing séances, conjuring up phony spirits, and bilking vulnerable people out of their money. Steve Lawrence, Eydie's singing partner, plays the brains of the outfit. Harvey Lembeck, of the Beach Party movies, is the creative mastermind. Unfortunately, Steve can't keep his hands off Lembeck's wife. This leads to some unfortunate consequences in the afterlife. Kind of a standard story with little imagination.

"An Act of Chivalry" is a one minute filler. I will ask the question: When was the last time a group of men took off their hats in the presence of a woman?