I found this one of the lesser JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN episodes, halting at times and muddling the classic L. P. Hartley story of THE KILLING BOTTLE which I remember being good, hence it being a much-anthologised tale. The problem with this is, I think, theatre director John Gibson, who has his whole cast overact in the most horrible fashion making this both dated and hard to sit through. Roddy McDowall hams the scenery as only he can while Barry Evans - the same star of many a saucy '70s sex comedy - comes across as painfully wooden as the naive young lead. A pity, as the Hartley story has potential even here.
3 Reviews
Hopefully A One Off Duff Episode
Theo Robertson5 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Jimmy Rintoul hopes to be a famous composer . His manager Rollo Verdew has cash flow problems so uses a plan using his brother Randolph to kill Jimmy
After seeing the excellent Girl Of My Dreams I recently looked forward to seeing any episode from Journey To The Unknown . Even a substandard was going to be more enjoyable than the rubbish TV companies churn out these days . One thing is certain and that is The Killing Bottle is a very substandard episode from the series
First of all it differs from how my memory interpreted the show . It's set in ( I think ) Canada or more accurately a stately home in Canada since a policeman turning up to investigate a crime wears a Canadia police uniform and speaks in a Canadian accent . Strangely everyone else seems to speak with an English accent including Randolph who is native to the location
But you'll instantly forget about the location of the setting when you see Roddy McDowall's performance as Rollo Verdew since he's so over the top he's gone out of orbit and is located halfway between the Moon and Mars . Try and imagine a camp pantomime dame trying to play a charismatic hetrosexual pop guru , kind of like Simon Cowell played by Quinten Crisp and who have a rough idea of how bad it may be
But at least McDowall is entertaining in its most vague sense . The rest of the cast are painfully wooden . Barry Evans as Jimmy kept reminding me of Adric from DOCTOR WHO and thought perhaps Rollo's plan to kill Jimmy might be a blessing for humanity . You can see the headlines " Jimmy Rintoul found dead from axe wounds . Splinters found everywhere "
After seeing the excellent Girl Of My Dreams I recently looked forward to seeing any episode from Journey To The Unknown . Even a substandard was going to be more enjoyable than the rubbish TV companies churn out these days . One thing is certain and that is The Killing Bottle is a very substandard episode from the series
First of all it differs from how my memory interpreted the show . It's set in ( I think ) Canada or more accurately a stately home in Canada since a policeman turning up to investigate a crime wears a Canadia police uniform and speaks in a Canadian accent . Strangely everyone else seems to speak with an English accent including Randolph who is native to the location
But you'll instantly forget about the location of the setting when you see Roddy McDowall's performance as Rollo Verdew since he's so over the top he's gone out of orbit and is located halfway between the Moon and Mars . Try and imagine a camp pantomime dame trying to play a charismatic hetrosexual pop guru , kind of like Simon Cowell played by Quinten Crisp and who have a rough idea of how bad it may be
But at least McDowall is entertaining in its most vague sense . The rest of the cast are painfully wooden . Barry Evans as Jimmy kept reminding me of Adric from DOCTOR WHO and thought perhaps Rollo's plan to kill Jimmy might be a blessing for humanity . You can see the headlines " Jimmy Rintoul found dead from axe wounds . Splinters found everywhere "
Death Behind Glass
ShadeGrenade21 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Jimmy Rintoul wishes to become a composer, but his prospective manager, the trendy Rollo Verdew, has no money to promote him. Noticing Jimmy's dead butterfly collection ( he kills them by means of a jar he calls a 'killing bottle' ), an evil idea forms in Rollo's mind.
He invites Jimmy to stay at his wealthy brother Randolph's country house. Randolph is somewhat unbalanced. He will kill anyone - or anything - he knows has been cruel to living things.
Rollo is gambling on Randolph losing his mind on seeing Jimmy demonstrating the killing bottle. With him put away for life, the estate will be entirely his...
Based on a story by L.P. Hartley, this tale of murder, madness, and greed is pretty offbeat. It never occurs to Randolph that murder is in itself an act of cruelty. The ending - in which Rollo has a change of heart following a hastily blurted-out ultimatum from his girlfriend - is rather unconvincing. As I have not read the original short story, I do not know if Julian Bond was faithful to it or not.
There's no American guest-star in this episode. Roddy McDowall was familiar enough across the Atlantic ( in films such as 'Planet Of The Apes' ) to take the lead here, while future 'Doctor In The House' star Barry Evans plays the naive 'Jimmy'. William Marlowe steals the show as the deranged 'Randolph', a man outwardly normal until he sees cruelty displayed towards animals or even insects.
The scene in which Jimmy puts the butterfly in the killing bottle as the others look on is disturbing even now.
He invites Jimmy to stay at his wealthy brother Randolph's country house. Randolph is somewhat unbalanced. He will kill anyone - or anything - he knows has been cruel to living things.
Rollo is gambling on Randolph losing his mind on seeing Jimmy demonstrating the killing bottle. With him put away for life, the estate will be entirely his...
Based on a story by L.P. Hartley, this tale of murder, madness, and greed is pretty offbeat. It never occurs to Randolph that murder is in itself an act of cruelty. The ending - in which Rollo has a change of heart following a hastily blurted-out ultimatum from his girlfriend - is rather unconvincing. As I have not read the original short story, I do not know if Julian Bond was faithful to it or not.
There's no American guest-star in this episode. Roddy McDowall was familiar enough across the Atlantic ( in films such as 'Planet Of The Apes' ) to take the lead here, while future 'Doctor In The House' star Barry Evans plays the naive 'Jimmy'. William Marlowe steals the show as the deranged 'Randolph', a man outwardly normal until he sees cruelty displayed towards animals or even insects.
The scene in which Jimmy puts the butterfly in the killing bottle as the others look on is disturbing even now.
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