Czar Of The Underworld
Reviewed by Bruce Dettman

When I was growing up in the 1950s my father regularly took our family to Los Angeles. At the time he worked for a major aluminum company that sponsored several TV shows (Maverick, for one) and it was often necessary for him to travel from our home in the Bay Area to Hollywood to provide technical expertise for the commercials. Once at a Warner Brothers' studio luncheon he not only met the show's star James Garner, but both Cheyenne's Clint Walker and Bronco's Ty Hardin yet somehow failed to get me any autographs, an unpardonable oversight that, to say the very least, cost him dearly for weeks to come. On these trips my parents would often disappear for sightseeing excursions (my mother undoubtedly canvassing the town for any sign of Lucille Ball, my father for Ava Gardner) leaving my poor older brother--who I'm sure would have rather been on his own looking for Sandra Dee or Tuesday Weld or someone--rather than watching over me. Even back then the smog was ruinous and I recall my eyes burning terribly as he took me on afternoon walks down to Grauman's Chinese Theatre (where I examined Roy Rogers' boot marks in the cement) and Hollywood and Vine to hunt for celebrities. Occasionally during our wanderings we would get off the beaten track and roam various back streets. One time, as we crossed elevated train tracks, we saw below us a film crew staging what appeared to be a gun battle near some stationary freight cars. Naturally I thought it must be an episode of Dragnet--the only crime show I had been exposed to up to that point-- that they were shooting, but my brother was not so sure. To this day we have no idea what we were watching, but I still romantically cling to the notion that it was Jack Webb and Ben Alexander getting the upper hand on some nasty crooks.

Anyway, I was recently thinking back to all of this--in black and white images which is how I tend to recall certain aspects of my youth--as I watched Clark and Inspector Henderson heading out to Hollywood to get the goods on oily gang leader Luigi Dinelli in TAOS first season's Czar of the Underworld.

I must say for a so-called "mild-mannered reporter" Kent is pretty brazen when still in Metropolis he warns the gangster by phone how he and Henderson are going expose his criminal activities. This is certainly not the milquetoast reporter of the early comics but this fact has never bothered me. Since the Reeves' characterization of Kent is the first I was ever acquainted with I've always accepted it with no problem or questions asked. Besides, I've always felt Christopher Reeve's performance as Kent was over the top and a bit silly. I could never quite buy the idea of a big city reporter covering tough urban stories and being such an obvious wimp.

Kent and Henderson act as technical advisers as the film Czar of the Underworld is being shot. They are also around as the star is murdered while filming a scene (Steve Carr, brother of real-life director Tommy Carr, plays his sibling in the process of setting up the camera shot).This puts Kent and Henderson in direct conflict with Dinelli and, given his inflated reputation as a big mobster, his rather meager number of henchmen.

One of these is Paul Fix who a few years later would have a steady role as Micah Torrence, the reformed drunk and ex-marshal who would redeem himself on The Rifleman. Fix was a long time actor (To Kill A Mockingbird, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, The Bad Seed) and playwright who often worked with John Wayne (and even tutored him on occasion) Meanwhile the kingpin is played by Anthony Caruso who despite his equally long career which ranged from classics like The Asphalt Jungle to hundreds of TV shows and even an appearance with Laurel and Hardy I will always recall best getting his cheek carved up by Lex Barker in Tarzan and the Slave Girl. Meanwhile while Henderson enjoys all the perks of a studio budget and seems to be having a good old time despite all the death and mayhem going on around him, Clark's out investigating the case and as the Man of Steel confronting Dinelli in his apartment. I particularly like this scene because of how obvious it is that Superman is getting as much as enjoyment beating the stuffing out of Dinelli and his men as Henderson is with his free steak dinners (one is supposed to be for Clark).

I'm sure Lois and Jimmy, nowhere to be seen in this episode, weren't too happy being excluded from this trip to Tinseltown (particularly Lois who would finally have had a chance to buy a new outfit), but Perry White shows up just long enough to verbally take Henderson's head off over the telephone. Nonetheless, the Inspector continues to thoroughly enjoy himself. Seems the California sunshine and free meals really agree with him. In any case, it's nice to see Bob Shayne get a bit more time in front of the camera and have something more to do than clean up things after Superman saves the day.

I have to say that while I miss Lois and Jimmy, I rather like Clark and Henderson teaming up together. They make a good team and there is obviously some nice chemistry between the actors. I wish it would have happened more often.

September 2005
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