Thursday, January 22, 2009

MUSEUM PIECE: "THE PRICE OF TOMATOES"

I went to the Paley Center today and watched two programs featuring Peter Falk. I went there with a whole shopping list of programs I wanted to see from the past (or particular actors - like Martin Gabel, especially as Hercule Poirot), but I came up empty. The only show from my list that they had - "Men Of Crisis - The Harvey Wallinger Story" by Woody Allen - was already signed out by somebody else.

Next time I go, I'll be watching "Best Of Friends" with Patrick McGoohan as George Bernard Shaw, but today it was early Peter Falk.

Anyhoo....

First up was an episode from the anthology series 'The Dick Powell Show' called "The Price Of Tomatoes". Falk played a trucker named Aristede Fresco from Cincinnatti who picked up a load of tomatoes in El Paso, Texas, and needed to get back home with them before his rivals, the Sindell Brothers.

Along the way, he reluctantly ends up with a pregnant Romanian woman, Ana Bezr (played by Inger Stevens), as a passenger and has to get her to the hospital before she goes into labor. It was mostly a character study with a touch of social relevance.

But it reminded me of how beautiful Inger Stevens was. I had a crush on her as a kid, from watching 'The Farmer's Daughter', and I was pretty upset in 1970 when she took her own life......
BCnU!
Toby O'B

4 comments:

Ivan G Shreve Jr said...

Thanks for reminding me what a stone foz Inger Stevens was. I was devastated when I heard she took her life, too--even though I was probably only seven or eight years old.

Ivan G Shreve Jr said...

Foz...sheesh. The secret word is fox.

Terence Towles Canote said...

You know, between Inger Stevens, Elizabeth Montgomery, Donna Douglas, and Barbara Eden, it is no wonder I grew up to have a taste in blondes. Fortunately, I was too young to hear the news about her death (only about 6 at the time, I think).

Toby O'B said...

Sure. Rub it in, the both of you! LOL!