Wednesday, August 26, 2015

The Prisoner (TV)



The Prisoner – Living in Harmony

A 1967 British production [Everyman Films, ITC (London)]
Producer: David Tomblin
Director: David Tomblin
Story: Ian L. Rakoff, David Tomblin
Teleplay: David Tomblin
Photography: Brendan J. Stafford [color]
Music: Ron Grainer (theme music)
Music: Albert Elms
Running time: 46 minutes

Cast:
Number Six – Patrick McGoohan
The Kid – Alexis Kanner
The Judge/Number Two – David Bauer
Kathy – Valerie French (Valerie Harrison)
Town Elder – Gordon Tanner
Bustander – Gordon Sterne
Will – Michael Balfour
Mexican Sam – Larry Taylor
Town dignitary – Monti De Lyle (Monti DeLyle)
Horse dealer – Douglas Jones
Gunmen – Bill Nick, Les Crawford (Leslie Crawford), Frank Maher
Horsemen – Max Faulkner, Bill Cummings, Eddie Eddon
Stunt Coordinator – Frank Maher (Francis Maher)
Stunts: Frank Maher (Francis Maher), Les Crawford (Leslie Crawford), Max Faulkner
Horses: Toby, Viking


Season 1, episode 1. Number Six finds himself in a western town called Harmony, which is run by the Judge, with the Kid, a young gunslinger, as his murderous assistant. The Prisoner would appear to have been the town sheriff, who resigned and refused to carry a gun. The Kid leads the townsfolk in an outbreak of killing with Kathy, a saloon girl befriended by Number Six, as one of the victims. This persuades Number Six to take up arms but then finds that he has been enacting a role play in the village to make him more disposed to killing and the Judge is yet another Number Two. The result ends in tragedy

‘The Prisoner’ was a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the United Kingdom from September 29, 1967 to February 1, 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory, and psychological drama.

The series follows a British former secret agent who is abducted and held prisoner in a mysterious coastal village resort where his captors try to find out why he abruptly resigned from his job. Although sold as a thriller in the mold of the previous series starring McGoohan, ‘Danger Man’ (1960–68) [retitled as "Secret Agent" in the U.S.A.], the show's combination of 1960s countercultural themes and surreal setting had a far-reaching effect on science fiction/ fantasy programming, and on popular culture in general.

YouTube link complete episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYwYvdw4wU8

1 comment:

  1. This episode was banned from US television when the series was originally shown. There have been many speculations about the reason why. It is a great episode as is the entire series.

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