Mon Petit Chou, another solid if not great season two episode, is a recommended watch for several reasons. First, the great Sam Peckinpah directs, second, Lee Marvin is on board, and third, and most compelling is American TV audiences are introduced to Macha Meril.
Tod and Buz are working on a tug boat on the Ohio River when a beautiful young lady water skis around their rig. The young lady doesn't want to end her day of recreation but her Svengali of a manager directs her life and relays to her driver she must come in. In protest she drops and climbs aboard the tug with a helping hand from Tod. The young beauty is a rising French cabaret singer whose manager is, more or less, patterned after a Colonel Parker type whose iron-grip is akin to a straight-jacket. Tod vows to learn more and tracks her down. Tod finagles a late date ending with a blinding punch to the kisser from Lee Marvin who plays the cold as ice manager. This sets up an eventual showdown between Tod and Lee Marvin where the dynamics of the relationship between artist and manager change for the better, though Tod is, more or less, out of the picture.
The story isn't nearly as compelling as many Route 66 episodes, but is always a pleasure to see Lee Marvin craft a character and between him and Peckinpah he does a nice job within the framework of the story. What really is a treat is the "clock-stopping" beauty of Macha Meril. Why she didn't become an important American star is mostly due to her being drawn back to Europe I'm sure. She can really hold the camera with her mesmerizing eyes set against a strikingly perfect face topped with a most flattering modern bob. Too bad for Tod that he doesn't really get that second date!
Not a stand-out episode, but a solid one with the reasons mentioned making it a recommended watch.
Tod and Buz are working on a tug boat on the Ohio River when a beautiful young lady water skis around their rig. The young lady doesn't want to end her day of recreation but her Svengali of a manager directs her life and relays to her driver she must come in. In protest she drops and climbs aboard the tug with a helping hand from Tod. The young beauty is a rising French cabaret singer whose manager is, more or less, patterned after a Colonel Parker type whose iron-grip is akin to a straight-jacket. Tod vows to learn more and tracks her down. Tod finagles a late date ending with a blinding punch to the kisser from Lee Marvin who plays the cold as ice manager. This sets up an eventual showdown between Tod and Lee Marvin where the dynamics of the relationship between artist and manager change for the better, though Tod is, more or less, out of the picture.
The story isn't nearly as compelling as many Route 66 episodes, but is always a pleasure to see Lee Marvin craft a character and between him and Peckinpah he does a nice job within the framework of the story. What really is a treat is the "clock-stopping" beauty of Macha Meril. Why she didn't become an important American star is mostly due to her being drawn back to Europe I'm sure. She can really hold the camera with her mesmerizing eyes set against a strikingly perfect face topped with a most flattering modern bob. Too bad for Tod that he doesn't really get that second date!
Not a stand-out episode, but a solid one with the reasons mentioned making it a recommended watch.