Honey West: The Complete Series (4pc) (Full B&W)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anne Francis, Bruce the Ocelot, John EricsonDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 900 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-09-02
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Vci Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Honey West: The Complete Series (4pc) (Full B&W)
Movie Review: Nostalgia
Summary: 3 Stars
The "Honey West" 4 single-sided disc DVD release contains all 30 (half-hour) B & W episodes, which ran on ABC during the 1965-66 television season. Also included are some vintage commercials and several promos for other ABC shows. The set is nicely made from high quality recordings of the original episodes.
If you are unfamiliar with the show it is like a blend of Honor Blackman's "Avengers" episodes and Gene Barry's "Burke's Law" stuff. In fact, the title character and her associate Sam Bolt (John Ericson) had been first introduced to television audiences in the "Who Killed the Jackpot" episode of "Burke's Law".
It did not approach the imaginative whimsy of Diana Rigg's "Avenger" episodes. It was played pretty straight, putting it a bit behind the times as shows like "The Wild Wild West" and "The Man From UNCLE" were following "The Avengers" down the self-parody road. This odd disconnect was one reason the series never made it past its first season.
Another problem (obvious at the time even to a pre-teen like myself) was the casting of a high mileage actress like Anne Francis in the title role. Francis had been tantalizing eye candy back in the 1950's (see "Forbidden Planet" and "Susan Slept Here"). Unfortunately by 1965 she looked like my Cub Scout den mother, but with too much make-up and a much more tacky wardrobe. Poor Anne had gotten a little chunky by this time and you felt sorry for her trying to go after the same demographic as the svelte and much younger looking Diana Rigg. And they wonder why these things get weak ratings.
The half-hour format also hurt the series as there was not sufficient time for either character development or interesting misdirection. The production design was pretty basic and generally low budget. They did manage a few gimmicks like a pet ocelot (named Bruce), high tech gadgets, and a nicely understated attraction between Honey and Sam.
Honey is more Cathy Gale than Mrs. Peel, using her feminine wiles and a few judo moves. Francis and her stunt coordinator were not up to Mrs. Peel's fighting skills so Honey mostly resorts to a gun. The action sequences are generally pretty lame, so you can imagine that after a few tries at staging fights the producers decided that it would be a good idea to give Honey marksmanship ability.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Summary of Honey West: The Complete Series (4pc) (Full B&W)
As televisions first title roll female Private Eye, Honey West would take on any tough case. After the death of her father, the sexy private detective took over his high-tech PI firm. Being assisted by the rugged Sam Bolt and her pet ocelot Bruce, she could handle herself mingling with millionaires just as well as scaling a thirty foot wall.Bonus Features: Episode Selection, Vintage Commercials, Anne Francis Photo Gallery, Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery Specs: 4-DVD9s; Dolby Digital; 900 minutes; B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA NR; Year - 1965-1966
"A girl's place is in the home." Someone forgot to tell Honey West (Anne Francis), a "private eye-ful" unlike any character American television had ever seen. Created in the 1950s by Skip and Gloria Fickling for a series of steamy pulp fictions, Honey was introduced on TV in an episode of Burke's Law, in which she matched wits with Gene Barry's playboy chief of homicide (that would have been a nice extra in this set). A woman of exotic charms, Honey was seriously sexy, glamorously outfitted, proficient in karate and judo, and kept a pet ocelot. Who wouldn't want to see her in her own weekly series? Honey ran her late father's Los Angeles detective agency with hot-headed Sam (John Ericson), a former junior partner, who provided her with such Bondian gadgets as tear gas earrings and an radio transmitter disguised as a martini olive. The first episode, "The Swingin' Mrs. Jones" establishes the show's cool vibe and cult appeal. Honey sets herself up at a resort as "blackmail bait." And over the course of the 30 episodes, it only gets hotter, as Honey pursues a gang of thieves that includes a Honey look-alike (and is fronted by Alan Reed, the voice of Fred Flintstone!), solves the mystery of a kidnapped rock and roll musician (Bobby Sherman), protects a woman receiving death threats, and foils an insurance fraud scam (in the award-winning episode, "The Grey Lady," written by future Columbo collaborators William Link and Richard Levinson). Along the way, she inevitably runs afoul of the police ("When your father was head of the agency, I never had any trouble") or enrages Sam with her impulsive actions. The cleverly plotted half hour black-and-white episodes feature witty dialogue, jazzy scores (dig the accordion!), and great action (Honey is a knockout in more ways than one). By 1965, when Honey West premiered, spies and detectives rivaled cowboys in popularity. Honey was the first female detective to front her own series, and certainly the first detective to be spied luxuriating in a bubble bath. Honey West only ran one season. For this, we can reportedly blame the top-rated Gomer Pyle and the arrival on the same network of The Avengers, with Diana Rigg's Emma Peel. But Honey West still delivers retro kicks. As one high society hostess remarks to Honey in one episode, "You're welcome at any party of mine." --Donald Liebenson
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