Today we take another look at the Cowboy G-Men episode “Gypsy Traders,” first broadcast on February 28, 1953. The Tall Gypsy is about to have an unfortunate run-in (make that itch-in) with Zerbo (Phil Arnold) and his Siphonaptera circus.
In spite of this series being readily available on commercial DVDs from Alpha Video, the picture quality just isn’t that great. I imagine we should be grateful that they still exist and leave it at that. Still, one can dream.
Timothy passed away twenty-one years ago today. The world hasn’t been the same since.
Cowboy G-Men, “The Golden Wolf”, 1952
His last public appearance, Nuart Theatre, 1994
Our video this week revisits the Cowboy G-Men episode “Beware! No Trespassing”. It was first broadcast on November 1,1952. Timothy and Robert Lowery are stirring up some trouble at a tungsten mine.
I’d like to express my gratitude to all the folks who are rescuing these obscure television shows from oblivion. Even considering the poor quality of some of the prints (like this one), it’s still worth it to have some of Tim’s earliest screen performances available to us. Thank you!
Today’s pic revisits the Cowboy G-Men episode “The Golden Wolf”. It first aired on September 27, 1952. Wolf poacher Jake Kirby is flummoxed to discover that the legendary “golden wolf” of the title is, in fact – well, no spoilers here.
It’s hard to believe that Timothy is only 23 years old here. I apologize for the substandard quality of this and pretty much all the pics from Cowboy G-Men. I’m guessing cleaning up these prints is not a high priority for the DVD distributors. It’s a blessing that we have them at all, really.
Today’s pic looks in once again on “Gypsy Traders,” the episode of Cowboy G-Men that first aired on February 28, 1953. The titular gypsies are worried about a big court case that threatens to take away their copper mining rights.
Timothy must have had some difficulty early in his career trying to figure out what to do with his tall gangly atmosphere player self. What he’s doing there looks really uncomfortable. It does, however, remind me of the old MST3K riff, “This actor’s really using his where.”
Our video for this week features what is perhaps Timothy’s most fleeting appearance ever captured on film. It’s the Cowboy G-Men episode “California Bullets”. It first aired on June 13, 1953 and, in fact, was the final episode of the show. Please do not blink at about 1:30 in, or you’ll miss Tim enthusiastically greet a disembarking ship passenger, shake his hand, and walk off. That’s it!
If you listen close, you can hear Tim kind of whispering some lines as he’s mouthing them. This was before the days when sound started to be overdubbed on television soundtracks, as I learned when I was an extra on an episode of Grimm a couple years ago. We were told to make low-volume chatter while the scene was being shot. Later on they simply dubbed in some background noise. They hadn’t started doing that yet in 1953, so we can still hear Tim even though he was trying to be quiet. But even here, he throws himself into his role and plays it to the hilt. That’s our Tim!
This week’s video presents Timothy’s brief appearance in the Cowboy G-Men episode “The Sidewinder”. It was first broadcast on May 2, 1953. Don’t blink at about the 7:12 mark or you’ll miss him as a long-haired prisoner begging not to be dragged to the stockade.
The Sidewinder of the title is low-budget Western stalwart Roy Barcroft. He was frequently cast as the heavy in countless Western films, serials and TV shows during a career that spanned four decades. Film critic Leonard Maltin called him “Republic Pictures‘ number one bad guy.” His friend Clayton Moore recounts that Barcroft modeled his screen persona on the great cinematic villain Harry Woods, even to the point of attempting to imitate Woods’ voice.
Today we take another look at the Cowboy G-Men episode “Beware! No Trespassing”. It was first broadcast on November 1, 1952. Evil-doers Benton and Jardine (Robert Lowery) eagerly anticipate the execution of their dastardly plan that involves a tungsten mine.
As I believe I’ve mentioned before, Lowery was the second actor to portray Batman (after a fellow named Lewis Wilson), in a 1949 serial. In 1942 he appeared in a “sex hygiene” training film for the U.S. War Department, warning against the dangers of venereal disease, with none other than the future Superman, George Reeves. Just use your super-powers, fellas!
Our video of the week showcases another of Timothy’s earliest performances. It’s one of the six episodes of Cowboy G-Men in which he appeared, “The Secret Mission”. Baby boomer cowgirls and cowboys first gathered around their Saturday morning televisions for this one on October 4, 1952.
He’s got a fairly substantial part as henchman to main bad guy Robert Lowery, and he gets a great fight scene with series star Russell Hayden. Enjoy this one, it’s pretty good as these things go. Except for those damn kids. No idea who played them. Holy cow, they’re annoying.
Let’s kick off the week with some vintage Timothy from very early in his career. Our pic today is from the Cowboy G-Men episode “The Golden Wolf”. It was first broadcast on September 27, 1952, and is one of six episodes of that Saturday morning baby boomer staple in which he appeared. Wolf poacher and con man Jake Kirby is worried that the authorities will discover that he and his partner Gil Clement (Robert Lowery) have been selling the same recycled wolf pelts to unsuspecting suckers for ages.
Directing this episode was Reg Browne, a real jack-of-all-trades in the television industry – editor, director, writer, even bit actor. He also directed Tim in the CGM episode “Beware! No Trespassing” (11.1.52).
The Timothy Carey Experience 