T O P I C R E V I E W |
bornin62 |
Posted - 06/30/2020 : 07:12:20 A little help, without cheating, just your thinking caps please. Other than Mexico, and I believe possibly Canada, were the boys ever in any other foreign country? I know they were tricked into thinking they were in Russia when in Alaska. Please name the eps where they may have ventured beyond our borders.
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10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
bornin62 |
Posted - 08/17/2020 : 07:28:24 Thanks for a very, very comprehensive reply. |
ccb |
Posted - 08/17/2020 : 00:08:35 bornin62: Please name the eps where they may have ventured beyond our borders.
Cal gal drove the nail in: the farthest from the U.S. that the show ever ventured was on "Bottomless Pit," set on Devil's Island. We see it as the destination on the sign in the episode's first frame. It is repeatedly referred to by the characters in the show, notably Commandant Gustav Mauvais. In Act II West reassures the American agent in the pit, Vincent Reed, that the U.S. wasn't going to abandon him after he'd been sentenced to the penal colony during a rigged trial in France. In real life Devil's Island was located in French Guiana (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Guiana). In CBS reel life, it was located on the back lot of Studio City: the prison was redressed dozens of times for almost countless episodes; the lagoon from which they made their escape was the same as that for "Gilligan's Island."
"The Firebrand" plays footsie on its exact location. The Army fort is clearly south of the Canadian border. The implication is that O'Reilly (an Irishman) is headed to Canada to do mischief but hasn't yet arrived. Remember that, in Act III, Artie saves West's goose by delaying his execution by O'Reilly until the body can be freshly dumped across the northern border, the better to infuriate Queen Victoria for American intrusion in a foreign war on British soil.
The Mexican border was crossed a number of times: from as early as "The Deadly Bed" to "The Pistoleros." The reason for that was economics: anywhere in Sagebrush, California, near LA, was a cheaper place to shoot on location, which West rarely did.
The exterior shot for "Bleak Island" is identical to that for "The Tottering Tontine," which was said to be in Monterey, California. In "Bleak Island" its location is never specified, but there's nothing to suggest it was outside the U.S.
When bornin62 raises the issue of embassies located in the U.S. we open a can of worms. By international law embassies are considered foreign soil, and the agents visited several: Alabania's ("The Dancing Death"); maybe France ("The Glowing Corpse"), though I I don't recall that the Franconium was expressly stolen from a French embassy; probably Prussia ("The Big Blackmail"), though that isn't made clear, either. Artemus does make clear to Grant that they've pilfered the kinetoscope roll from an embassy, placing the U.S. in even graver international peril
Of westerns of that era Maverick and Have Gun–Will Travel occasionally took their characters as far as Alaska, but West never did. Even if it had, Jim reminds Count Sasanov that the U.S. had already purchased Alaska from Russia ("The Tartar").
Bottom line: The only show clearly set beyond the continental U.S. was "Bottomless Pit." |
bornin62 |
Posted - 08/10/2020 : 07:11:52 quote: Originally posted by bornin62
A little help, without cheating, just your thinking caps please. Other than Mexico, and I believe possibly Canada, were the boys ever in any other foreign country? I know they were tricked into thinking they were in Russia when in Alaska. Please name the eps where they may have ventured beyond our borders.
ccb, Please make an attempt at this one. I'm curious.
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California gal |
Posted - 07/02/2020 : 09:41:17 I was wondering about Firebrand, too. It starts in the U.S. because the fort is American. I cannot remember if it's said that Artie is up in British Columbia, or just at the border. |
bornin62 |
Posted - 07/01/2020 : 09:46:25 Bleak Island, I believe RC shows up on a stormy night, maybe we see a boat at the beginning? Always loved when the doors blew open and the dog's eyes were seen. I'm kind of scared just typing this now. Instead of just checking its fun to try to remember. I thought Firebrand, with Lana Wood and Pernell Roberts, was set in Canada. But maybe that was just because Roberts played I believe a French Canadian? |
California gal |
Posted - 07/01/2020 : 08:28:49 There was something in Bottomless Pit that made me think it was an island off France. Was the guy they were rescuing arrested in France? I really need to do a binge watching of the show to refresh memories (and enjoy!).
As for Bleak Island, I always thought it was off the coast of the U.S. somewhere since they arrived in small boat that could have made such a short trip. |
bornin62 |
Posted - 06/30/2020 : 11:54:00 Big Blackmail? Technically they were on foreign soil whenever they were in an embassy? |
bornin62 |
Posted - 06/30/2020 : 11:14:06 Where was the setting for Bleak Island? |
bornin62 |
Posted - 06/30/2020 : 11:12:06 Haven't seen that in a long time. Could have been in the Caribbean? Where was Papillon set? I believe somewhere in South America? A French possession somewhere? |
California gal |
Posted - 06/30/2020 : 08:54:14 France. Or at least an island off France,, in TNOT Bottomless Pit. |
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