Hollywood finds the concept of this classic
television series still wild after all these years



By David Hofstede

The hot new Western opening this summer (well, okay, the only one) is The Wild, Wild West, a big-screen adaptation of the 1965-1970 television series starring Robert Conrad as secret agent James West and Ross Martin as his partner, Artemus Gordon.

I'd celebrate the idea of a Wild, Wild West movie, if it weren't for the fact that most of these TV show adaptations wind up polluting video stores after bombing at the multiplex. What separates the few triumphs (The Fugitive, The X-Files), from the many failures (Sgt. Bilko, Leave it to Beaver, Lost in Space, The Avengers) is a respect for the source. If the filmmakers recognize what made the TV show successful in the first place, the movie has a fighting chance.

It's too early to know how The Wild, Wild West will fare in the shadow of the Star Wars prequel. But in the race for second place, West's familiar brand name and likable stars are the early favorite. Will Smith, who plays Jim West, has a perfect track record with movies that open on the July 4th holiday weekend (Independence Day in 1996 and Men In Black in 1997). Kevin Kline seems like an inspired choice to play the artful Artemus Gordon. Director Barry Sonnenfeld previously brought The Addams Family to theaters without losing much in the translation. And Salma Hayek's in it, which gets my eight bucks right there.

The movie opens on July 2nd, which, according to the TV show, is Jim West's birthday-- July 2, 1842, to be exact.

The series was created by Michael Garrison. In 1955, Garrison and his writing partner Gregory Ratoff read the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, and immediately saw its motion picture potential. They bought the movie rights and tried to interest 20th Century Fox in a series of Bond movies. The studio passed on it. After Ratoff died, his widow sold her half of the film rights, and Garrison threw his in as well. Eight years later, United Artists debuted the first 007 movie, Dr. No, and inaugurated the most successful film series of the 1960s.

The Wild, Wild West was Garrison's attempt to capitalize on the fad he tried to launch 10 years earlier. Garrison combined Western elements with espionage bordering on science fiction, so that the series appealed to both Bond and Bonanza fans.

James West was ultimately played by Robert Conrad. Conrad would star in six more television series, but he will always be best-remembered as the dashing West who never seemed happy unless he was beating up least six guys.

When Jim West was trapped in a tight spot, Artemus Gordon got him out using his skills at disguise and mimicry. As Gordon, Ross Martin supplied the series' comic relief without reducing the character to the status of sidekick or buffoon. He created more than 100 different alter-egos, including Foreign Legionnaire Pierre Gaspard, salesman Jeremiah P. Threadneedle ("I travel in ladies' corsets"), and President Ulysses S. Grant.

The Wild, Wild West could play it straight, but the best shows featured time travel, fourth dimensions, and one evil scientist's use of a giant tuning fork to vibrate millionaires' homes into rubble. West and Gordon had a colorful rogues gallery: Victor Buono as the rotund magician Count Manzeppi; Agnes Moorhead as murderous Washington hostess Emma Valentine; and Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless, a devilish dwarf played by Michael Dunn. The much-taller Kenneth Branagh will play the character in the film.

I wish the movie well, but for those wanting to get reacquainted with the original Jim and Artie, The Wild, Wild West now airs Saturday mornings on TNT.

Copyright ©1999 Cowboys & Indians


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