The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
2
2%
9.5 (One of the Best)
10
10%
9.0 (Excellent)
18
19%
8.5 (Very Good)
27
28%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
24
25%
7.5 (Decent)
6
6%
7.0 (Average at Best)
4
4%
6.5 (Not So Good)
2
2%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
2
2%
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 97

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thechickinthemiddle
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#41 Post by thechickinthemiddle »

It's possible Selleck just ad-libbed that part too and the producers liked it because it was so unusual. You'll never see Higgins doing that! :lol:

marlboro
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#42 Post by marlboro »

Maybe he's hoping for a visit from the bottle cap fairy?




I have no clue. That is definitely weird though. Is there a chance that it could be something that was a fad that kids used to do? One of those little childhood things that has gotten lost in the mists of time.

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Danny Lin
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#43 Post by Danny Lin »

thechickinthemiddle wrote:It's possible Selleck just ad-libbed that part too and the producers liked it because it was so unusual. You'll never see Higgins doing that! :lol:
Perhaps. But would the director really let something go through that the audience doesn´t have a chance to understand and would leave them clueless and perhaps even with the feeling that the makers of the show weren´t willing to put enough effort into it?

marlboro wrote:
...

I have no clue. That is definitely weird though. Is there a chance that it could be something that was a fad that kids used to do? One of those little childhood things that has gotten lost in the mists of time.
Yah, I was thinking at that direction too in a way. It could be something that totally makes sense for some people but leaves others clueless.

I´m always thinking that there must be a convincing explanation because what Magnum does is the only action on the screen at that time (with the camera zoomed in on it) and the audience is forced to notice it :shock: and to interpret it in some way...
On the other hand, if it is something that only very few people understand, this would mean again that the vast majority of the audience is left clueless... :roll:

Any further attempts to explain this, someone?
... Then I'm history... Walking history... I'll be just another chapter in one of those dumb books Louise Peardon makes me read: "Prince Danny Lin, assassinated July." ...

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Danny Lin
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#44 Post by Danny Lin »

The wall hanging we see at the side of the front door in Big Sally´s house is the same that we saw in the conference room in the KKC in "The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club".
... Then I'm history... Walking history... I'll be just another chapter in one of those dumb books Louise Peardon makes me read: "Prince Danny Lin, assassinated July." ...

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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#45 Post by RamblerReb »

Danny Lin wrote:In this episode Thomas does something that´s kind of weird and that I can´t explain. If someone could provide an explanation that would be very much appreciated.

Here´s what he does:

In the first scene with Thomas, when he´s lying in the hammock, he takes a beer from the cooler and opens it with an opener that is held in his right hand. He takes the crown cork from the bottle with his left hand, leans back on a pillow in the hammock, holds the crown cork in front of his eyes, taking a closer look at it, then takes it in his right hand and seems to position it between his right shoulder and the pillow.

What! on! earth! is he doing there??!!

If this is something that explains from earlier episodes I will eventually come across an explanation but until now I really don´t have a clue.

Perhaps it´s only that in Jororo we don´t do things like that and everyone else knows what it is good for? :P :P
What he's doing is a bottle cap flinging trick wherein the cap is placed between the thumb and middle fingers and the cap is flung away using a finger-snapping motion. He did not get the distance desired, hence the grimace.
I know how this looks, but I can explain!

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K Hale
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#46 Post by K Hale »

Lots of humor makes this very watchable for me. The debate over getting the mail, the reaction to Luther and Blanche showing up, Higgins and Blanche teaming up, Big Sally, you name it. But Luther IS a heel for leaving Blanche at the altar.

When TM and JQH are trying to dissuade Luther and Blanche from staying at the estate and Higgins says two plane loads of flight attendants are going to be occupying every single room, while Magnum emphatically nods as if to say "Yep! They sure are! Honest!", does anyone else think Higgins made that story up on the spot? :lol:
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KingKC
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#47 Post by KingKC »

"Higgins, I can explain" from the mail scene was a priceless quote in the series. Priceless also describes Eugene Roche as Luther Gillis. I did notice that the chronology seemed to be off in a spot or two. At one point I thought they said Blanche had been with Luther for 25 years but she was talking about cases from the early and mid 1950's which had to be about 30 years prior. Sheree North is a fun actress to watch as well.

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Luther's nephew Dobie
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#48 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

Hi Guys,
I think it is pretty apparent that Donald Bellisario is a classic film buff, especially film noir/gumshoe flicks. I just saw for the first time the four star classic
"The Late Show"(1977), with future Magnum veterans Eugene Roche and Howard Duff. Art Carny stars as a past it old style private eye with terrible taste in clothes, his patter out of a old Bogie movie. All thru the flick I kept thinking either Bellisario used the Carny character as the basis for Luther Gillis, or Eugene Roche did, it is just too much of a coincidence.
The Late Show is full of goodies for the film buff, down to the wryly amusing ending shot of a ad on a bench as the bus pulls away.
Co-star Howard Duff starred on radio as Sam Spade, a beau coup entertaining series from the golden age of radio plus it had a sense of humor; come to think of it Bellisario might have borrowed from that series for aspects of Magnum. Probably the Sam Spade connection is why he cast Duff on Magnum, another wink to classic PI's.
Eugene Roche plays a bad guy in the film, he really crackles onscreen.
Eugene might have inspired Bellisario to create another Magnum trademark. In one scene Roche is climbing out of his pool in almost transparent "Magnum"
style shorts, talk about a full moon, lady Magnum Mania fans may want to check it out. Others, avert your eyes!
Hopefully with such a successful career Bellisario will write his Bio one day and answer a lot of questions. Hmm, does anyone know if Bellisario has written any articles,or commented in depth, on Magnum?

"If it's important I'll get back to you. If I don't you'll know why"...Rick's answering machine

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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#49 Post by brianw »

Not a huge LG fan, this one was pretty average. There were some funny moments though (the jail cell scene). I love Geoffrey Lewis, he was in a lot of great movies (especially with Eastwood).

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K Hale
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#50 Post by K Hale »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote:"If it's important I'll get back to you. If I don't you'll know why"...Rick's answering machine
I need to steal this for my voicemail message.
I didn't realize you were so addicted to pool.
It's not pool.
Billiards.
Snooker!
Snucker.
SNOOKER!

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Chris109
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#51 Post by Chris109 »

Image

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Luther's nephew Dobie
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#52 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

Hi Guys,
I never saw Sheree North's early work, first taking note of her as Lou Grant's sultry club singer girlfriend on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Recently I tuned in to "The Lieutenant Wore Skirts" (1956) starring Tom Ewell and Sheree and beautifully shot on a very rich color stock.
It was a sort of sequel to The Seven Year Itch starring Ewell and Marilyn Monroe and references it in a in joke.
Sheree was being groomed as the often unstable Monroe's replacement and this was her big intro.
It starts out showcasing North's legs, then about every 15 minutes shows her in ever more sexy outfits, culminating with her gyrating to a very snappy
"Rock Around the Island" song that will make every male in the audience start panting.
Holy Smokes, she makes Monroe look like somebody's still developing annoying kid sister!
Also in the cast is a young Rita Moreno who ain't exactly chopped liver either. Plus future Combat! star Rick Jason who is aces as a roue trying to bed Ewell's
wife North. The last shot of the film has Jason waving from a plane's window, mouthing "you son of a bitch" to Ewell on the tarmac.
This is a average service comedy and it stretches the imagination that a homely, middle aged guy like Ewell could land North in this flick and Monroe
in Seven Year Itch. But it did let all the regular schnooks in the audience feel that they too could score someone like Sheree, if Ewell could.
Poor Sheree, starting out with Tom Ewell, then on to Ed Asner and Eugene Roche's Luther Gillis.
Tom Selleck they ain't. Or even for that matter "Scrung-o", the cellmate Magnum and Luther drove to a suicide attempt with their non-stop bickering.

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ENSHealy
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#53 Post by ENSHealy »

4.16 THE RETURN OF LUTHER GILLIS
Famous guest stars:
Hawaiian shirts: 1
Image
Tigers Cap: 2
Image Image
Island Hopper shirts:
Shirtless Magnum:
OMG: 1
Higgins Organizations:
Higgins musings: 1
Negotiations:
Body Count:
Bullet wounds:
Little Voice:
I know what you’re thinking: 1
When I write HTBAWCPI: .5
Investigator corrections:
4th wall breaks: 1 Higgins - I’m on the fence about this one. Not 100% sure Higgins is looking into the camera. (25:23)
Magnumometer: 7.5
Magnumometer Moments: https://vimeo.com/393273335

Potential magnumania usernames: Nick the Stick, Bertie Farnbush

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MachoTaco
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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#54 Post by MachoTaco »

Chris109 wrote: Fri Dec 21, 2018 8:08 pm Image
When I first started watching MPI, I didn't like the Luther Gillis eps. Now, I love them! Luther has so many good and funny lines. I would have loved a re-hash montage of Luther Gillis: File #521 in the trailer. Scrung-o, from File #521, demanding another cell was a priceless payoff! I really like how TM and Luther can't stand each other, but they really are so much alike; cut from the same cloth, but from different parts of the pattern. So much so that while riding together in the Ferrari thinking to themselves, they answer each other's thoughts, and Luther even asks Magnum, "did you say something?" 😂

I do agree with everyone about Luther leaving Blanche at the altar was a pretty low thing to do. That was the only disappointment of the episode for me.

Also, on the Magnumometer score: Doesn't Sheree North count as a famous guest star? And doesn't Luther's "brother" getting shot in the hand in the opening scene count as a bullet wound?

TM: Where's Doc lbold? How did you know to get to Hotel Street?
LG: Let's just say that Sawbones got a taste of his own medicine. You know what l mean? And if you wanna know how l figured out how to follow you to Jo's well, you'll just have to wait till my next book comes out!
Don't hand me that wretched understatement, I was bloody marvelous. Tropical Madness

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Re: The Return of Luther Gillis (4.16)

#55 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

MachoTaco wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 7:09 am
Chris109 wrote: Fri Dec 21, 2018 8:08 pm Image
When I first started watching MPI, I didn't like the Luther Gillis eps. Now, I love them! Luther has so many good and funny lines. I would have loved a re-hash montage of Luther Gillis: File #521 in the trailer. Scrung-o, from File #521, demanding another cell was a priceless payoff! I really like how TM and Luther can't stand each other, but they really are so much alike; cut from the same cloth, but from different parts of the pattern. So much so that while riding together in the Ferrari thinking to themselves, they answer each other's thoughts, and Luther even asks Magnum, "did you say something?" 😂
I do agree with everyone about Luther leaving Blanche at the altar was a pretty low thing to do. That was the only disappointment of the episode for me.
Also, on the Magnumometer score: Doesn't Sheree North count as a famous guest star? And doesn't Luther's "brother" getting shot in the hand in the opening scene count as a bullet wound?

TM: Where's Doc lbold? How did you know to get to Hotel Street?
LG: Let's just say that Sawbones got a taste of his own medicine. You know what l mean? And if you wanna know how l figured out how to follow you to Jo's well, you'll just have to wait till my next book comes out!
Hi MachoTaco,
Hmm, no matter what, you just have to post something - 3 posts in 5 years - every 20 months. But it's worth it, good post from a fellow Lutheran, er Lutherite.

"cut from the same cloth, but from different parts of the pattern. So much so that while riding together in the Ferrari thinking to themselves, they answer each other's thoughts"

Thats darn insightful. TV writers put these goodies in hoping we catch it but sometimes it takes awhile. I didn't care for "Way of the Stalking Horse (6.17)" at first but several viewings later I realized it
is the best directed - a quick shot of Magnum entering his hotel, his ragged condition and the hookers there signaling both his degraded new world and ethics - episode
of the series, at least in my humble opinion. The writing is superb, there is so much going on and being commented on, Magnum and the assassin slowly becoming mirror images of
each other, both trained killers, former sniper Magnum regressing to the tortured man he came to Hawaii to escape. Only TC it seems is understanding the situation.

Now Thomas also has his mirror image from 25 years in the future Luther to contend with. It's not nice he jilted Blanche? Well TM, check out your record with the ladies, at the end of
the day they are in your rear view. The creators sneakingly weaving these themes into different episodes in different ways, they probably designed the characters course
from the start when they laid out the series "bible" and stayed true to it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Higgins: You're simply to be his "legman" as he describes it.
Luther Gillis: Yeah, yeah. The day I'm Tom Magnum's "legman" is the day I sit on the street corner selling pencils and drinking cheap pink out of a paper bag.

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