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Harpo Marx's dramatic debut, 29 March 2003
Author:
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre (Borroloola@earthlink.net) from Minffordd, North Wales
'The DuPont Show with June Allyson' (formerly 'The DuPont Show of the
Month', WITHOUT June Allyson) was an anthology series hosted by former
movie ingenue June Allyson, who introduced each episode's dramatic or
(occasionally) comedic story, and sometimes also took an acting role in
the story itself. The format was similar to that of the much better
'The Loretta Young Show', but Allyson lacked Loretta Young's glamorous
image. June Allyson's most successful on screen image was that of a
girlish virgin who managed to be slightly cynical: by 1959, she was a
bit too old for such parts but had gone on to nothing more promising.
The best episode of this anthology series was 'Silent Panic', which
aired on 22 December 1960: a taut suspense story with a Christmastime
setting, starring Harpo Marx in a dramatic role! Harpo had the most
varied career of all the Marx Brothers: for instance, Harpo was the
first Marx brother to speak on the radio (yes, Harpo spoke on the
radio), way back in 1926 for a news broadcast with Admiral Byrd.
First, some background on this story: in the days of cheap labour, it
was fairly common for department stores to hire some poor schlub to
perform as a 'mechanical man'. For an insultingly small wage, some
bloke would stand in a shop window for hours at a time (no bathroom
breaks?) and perform some repetitious action such as walking back and
forth, moving stiffly as if he were a robot ... usually wearing gloves
and face paint as well as a ridiculous costume, so that his human
features were not immediately evident. When this act was done properly,
a crowd would gather outside the window, trying to catch out the
'robot' if his mechanical routine revealed some imperfection that would
expose the mechanical man as an actual human. You can see an example of
this 'mechanical man' routine in the 1943 movie 'The Human Comedy'. In
this movie, Mister Mechano must continue his 'robot' act in the shop
window late at night, even after the shop is closed ... a situation
which also prevails for Harpo's character in 'Silent Panic'.
Now, back to Harpo. In 'Silent Panic', Harpo Marx plays a genuine
deaf-mute... as opposed to his usual role as a man who chooses not to
speak. Because of his handicap and his advanced age, Benson (Harpo's
character) is impoverished and has trouble holding a steady job. For
the Christmas season, a local department store engages Benson to
perform in the front window as a mechanical man. Harpo spends most of
this drama in costume and make-up for his 'mechanical' turn, and he
looks truly bizarre: blacked-out eyes, whitened face, scarecrow
clothing. Harpo was genuinely gaunt at this point in his life: in his
'mechano' get-up he looks like a character in a horror movie. This
story is NOT a comedy.
All goes well enough until one night, after closing hours: the store is
shut, but Benson must continue his mechanical turn in the front window.
A dark car drives into the car park, full of gangsters. They've just
killed a man, and now they need to dump the corpse someplace where
there are no witnesses. One of the gangsters spots Benson in the shop
window: is he a witness? The gangsters watch the stiff movements of the
'mechanical man' and decide he's just a robot. The camera shows us
Harpo's face in close-up as he realises his predicament: in order to
avoid getting rubbed out, he's got to convince these men that he's
really a mechanical man! He manages to continue his imposture, and the
gangsters leave.
But then they find out that he's a live man after all ... which means
he's going to be a dead man soon. The gangsters don't realise that
Benson is an imperfect witness at best: as a deaf-mute, he didn't hear
anything and he can't say anything. Ernest Truex (an actor whom I
usually dislike) is excellent here as the elderly security guard at the
department store, to whom Benson goes for help. Gradually, the
authorities realise that Benson has witnessed some sort of crime, but
they can't figure out WHAT. (There's some expository dialogue about
Benson never having gone to school as a child, so he can't write down
what he witnessed.)
'Silent Panic' is expertly paced by Arthur Hiller. The photography is
effective, capturing the cheesy atmosphere of the downmarket department
store. The Christmas setting and the dodgy commercialism make an
excellent contrast with the murder and mayhem of this plot line, and
the gangsters' thick-ear dialogue. The ending is only slightly a
letdown from the suspenseful pacing which precedes it. Most of all,
Harpo's bravura acting is a revelation: he is genuinely convincing as a
man who is unable to hear and unable to speak. He conveys a wide range
of emotions splendidly in this low-budget drama. If all the episodes of
this anthology series had been as good as this one, 'The DuPont Show'
would be a classic of television's golden age.
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