BEN WRIGHT
More Wrightfulsomeness & Atrocities
In the Escape episode 'The Grove Of Ashtaroth,'
Ben Wright is absolutely annoying
with yet another... Scottish accent.
To grasp the maniacal extent of his irritating accentitis,
note how the original character in John Buchan's novel was called Jobson;
but to accommodate Wright's monomaniacal accentismus,
on radio his name was changed to... MacJobson.
Wright actually played a semi-regular character in Gunsmoke
whose whole being, personality, and reason for living
emanated from his Scottish accent.
Monumental ass Miles McTaggart can be heard
in the episode 'Doubtful Zone,'
complaining to Matt about his general store being robbed.
He appears again nine episodes later in 'Bear Trap,'
where Matt refers to him and stableman Andy
as "the two biggest liars in Dodge."
Just when you truly hate Wright, he does something right.
The Romance episode 'Monte Carlo' is made appealing by Ben Wright
doing an endearing 'middle-aged' voice as an English schoolteacher
spending the last week of his sabbatical in Monte Carlo.
Can a nice, dull, mild-mannered man survive an episode of Romance
without becoming enmeshed in intrigue, action, and danger,
before he has to return to his humdrum existence? Of course not.
In the tradition of other train thrillers,
he becomes involved with spies, thugs, and... love.
Writer Antony Ellis invests this standard adventure
with a couple of surprising pinpricks of poignancy,
and his wife Georgia Ellis plays the love interest.
In the Escape episode 'The Grove Of Ashtaroth,'
Ben Wright is absolutely annoying
with yet another... Scottish accent.
To grasp the maniacal extent of his irritating accentitis,
note how the original character in John Buchan's novel was called Jobson;
but to accommodate Wright's monomaniacal accentismus,
on radio his name was changed to... MacJobson.
Wright actually played a semi-regular character in Gunsmoke
whose whole being, personality, and reason for living
emanated from his Scottish accent.
Monumental ass Miles McTaggart can be heard
in the episode 'Doubtful Zone,'
complaining to Matt about his general store being robbed.
He appears again nine episodes later in 'Bear Trap,'
where Matt refers to him and stableman Andy
as "the two biggest liars in Dodge."
Just when you truly hate Wright, he does something right.
The Romance episode 'Monte Carlo' is made appealing by Ben Wright
doing an endearing 'middle-aged' voice as an English schoolteacher
spending the last week of his sabbatical in Monte Carlo.
Can a nice, dull, mild-mannered man survive an episode of Romance
without becoming enmeshed in intrigue, action, and danger,
before he has to return to his humdrum existence? Of course not.
In the tradition of other train thrillers,
he becomes involved with spies, thugs, and... love.
Writer Antony Ellis invests this standard adventure
with a couple of surprising pinpricks of poignancy,
and his wife Georgia Ellis plays the love interest.
Ben Wright's most vocally rousing performance on television
may have been the one in the Gunsmoke episode 'Wagon Girls.'
Wright plays a Cavalry sergeant leading the way
into a potential brawl, or preventing it,
with... a Scottish burrrr.
Fortunately, this time it's not just the accent--
Wright actually acts too.
'Den Of Thieves' is a perfect episode of Romance.
In Romance's best episodes, for example 'Pagosa,'
people speak softly as if they are lost together
in the fog of dusk, dawn, or a romance novel.
In 'Den Of Thieves,' Virginia Gregg and Ben Wright
speak to each other as though they were
the two most quietly beautiful people in the world.
When Gregg stroked and unfolded the soft side of her voice,
she sounded like a movie beauty. Ben Wright responds and in voice
becomes Cary Grant, Laurence Olivier, and James Mason, all in one.
Not a lover but not to be left behind, Parley Baer lisps & wisps out
a sinuously slithering character evil of tongue and soul.
Always-a-boy Richard Beals' giggle evokes a whole school of the damned.
Add the menace of small town mores, smugglers, and Communists,
and you have just enough elements to threaten a vocally perfect romance.
may have been the one in the Gunsmoke episode 'Wagon Girls.'
Wright plays a Cavalry sergeant leading the way
into a potential brawl, or preventing it,
with... a Scottish burrrr.
Fortunately, this time it's not just the accent--
Wright actually acts too.
'Den Of Thieves' is a perfect episode of Romance.
In Romance's best episodes, for example 'Pagosa,'
people speak softly as if they are lost together
in the fog of dusk, dawn, or a romance novel.
In 'Den Of Thieves,' Virginia Gregg and Ben Wright
speak to each other as though they were
the two most quietly beautiful people in the world.
When Gregg stroked and unfolded the soft side of her voice,
she sounded like a movie beauty. Ben Wright responds and in voice
becomes Cary Grant, Laurence Olivier, and James Mason, all in one.
Not a lover but not to be left behind, Parley Baer lisps & wisps out
a sinuously slithering character evil of tongue and soul.
Always-a-boy Richard Beals' giggle evokes a whole school of the damned.
Add the menace of small town mores, smugglers, and Communists,
and you have just enough elements to threaten a vocally perfect romance.
Copyright © 2011-2013 E. A. Villafranca, Jr.
All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved