Thursday, February 13, 2014

LITTLE BIG SCREEN - AN EDWARD G. WANNA-BE?


Movie stars have televersions in Toobworld, but their lives do not always conform to how they live in the Real World.  For instance, Emma Thompson - at least according to an episode of 'Ellen' - is a lesbian who was born in Akron, Ohio.  Marilyn Monroe married the Time Lord known as The Doctor.  

Movie stars have had quite an effect on their fans in Toobworld.  Goober Pyle loved to do his impression of Cary Grant:



And some TV characters were so influenced by the movie stars that they tried to emulate them.

Take for instance Sal Reiger.  Sal was a major crime figure in California who assisted in an attempt to organize a crime syndicate for the West Coast.  Luckily Chief Ironside and his team were able to nip it; nip it in the bud!

It could be that Sal might never have become a criminal had it not been for his obsession with the bad guy roles played by Edward G. Robinson - from "Little Caesar" through "Key Largo" and even up to "Robin And The Seven Hoods".

I think Sal Reiger was so obsessed with Edward G. Robinson that he even tried to emulate him in looks and style.  Just take a look at him here when he was confronted by Det. Sgt. Ed Brown, in comparison to the real Brother Orchid.....

 

Nothing came up in that episode clearly stating that Sal was a fan of Rico the Little Caesar, but the attempt to look like Edward G. Robinson seems O'Bvious to me!

SAL REIGER
(ABNER BIBERMAN)
'IRONSIDE'
"THE GHOST OF THE DANCING DOLL"

BCnU!

1 comment:

Mike Doran said...

Interestingly, if you check out Abner Biberman's film career, going back to the '30s, you find that he was sort of the B-Movie Edward G. Robinson - the guy you got if Edward G was out of your budget range for your crime programmer.
That can be frustrating for an actor, who naturally wants to be known in his own right, rather than be the low-price Somebody Else - which probably explains why Mr. Biberman started his second career as a TV director, racking up many episodes (including more than a few Ironsides) over a 20-year period.