Horror Movie News and Reviews - Horror Express.com

REST IN PEACE, NIGHT STALKER: DARREN MCGAVIN 1922-2006

I was not even born when KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER left the airwaves in early 1975. However, anyone who is worth anything in the world of horror cites it as one of the most influential television programs in the genre.

Darren McGavin – the man who is, was and will always be Kolchak – passed away on Saturday. He was 83 years old. The immortal Carl Kolchak was just one of nearly two hundred roles McGavin originated on screen, not to mention a multitude of stage roles.

Trained in the Actors Studio and New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, McGavin quickly embraced a career on the stage. But he was also a quick study in the still-growing mediums of film and television. He made his first on screen appearance in the 1945 Paul Muni vehicle, A SONG TO REMEMBER. Like many young bit actors, he was unbilled. No matter, he continued to gather an impressive resume over the years.

In 1955, ten years after his first screen role, McGavin shocked audiences with three amazing and radically different performances. Otto Preminger's THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM was the most controversial film of its time, dealing with the taboo (and believe it or not, largely unknown) subject of heroin addiction. As Louie, the pusher who gets Sinatra's Frankie Machine hooked on smack, he gave an unsettling and realistic portrait of the parasitic underworld. Preminger was so happy with McGavin's performance, he cast him in his next film as well, THE COURT-MARTIAL OF BILLY MITCHELL as Capt. Russ Peters, not the first nor the last in a series of roles as authoritarian figures. The same year, he was also featured in SUMMETIME, widely recognized as one of David Lean's greatest films.

One of my favorite McGavin roles from the 1950s was in the Jerry Lewis comedy, THE DELICATE DELINQUENT. Loosely based on the classic tale of “Damon and Pythias,” it was to star the Martin and Lewis comedy team. Dean Martin, already estranged from his partner, reportedly balked at the idea of playing a cop and turned the part down. Fortunately, McGavin stepped in. It's an important study in just how great an actor McGavin was. As the idealistic police officer who takes the so-called delinquent Sidney Pythias under his wing, McGavin was able to shine. Many actors faded into the background as Lewis worked his genius on the screen. But McGavin was more than a straight man, his character was tough yet idealistic and hence ridiculed by the brass for being a bleeding heart. At the same time, even though he reached out to the outside world, he seemed to be very lonely in his own right, a loneliness that is put to the test as he courts a district attorney with Lewis' help. It just shows that while McGavin inhabited many different roles, one could not categorize them as: soldier, reporter, cop, etc. He brought a quiet depth to each and every role he took which is why his characters always seemed to resonate more than his counterparts.

At the same time, McGavin built up an impressive television resume. McGavin had roles in many classic shows, including: I REMEMBER MAMA, ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, CLIMAX!, STUDIO ONE, DEATH VALLEY DAYS, ROUTE 66, RAWHIDE, THE DEFENDERS, DR. KILDAIRE, THE VIRGINIAN, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, MANNIX, POLICE STORY and of course, GUNSMOKE. His impressive television resume led him to his first regular series, playing the title role in MIKE HAMMER, based on Mickey Spillane's harder-than-hard-boiled pulp detective. Although the series was not on the air very long, it developed a cult following, much like another show McGavin would star in fifteen years later.

That show was, of course, KOLCHAK. Originally, it was nothing more than a TV movie produced by Dan Curtis (DARK SHADOWS) and written by the incomparable Richard Matheson. Called THE NIGHT STALKER, it surprised television insiders everywhere when it became the highest rated TV movie to date. A sequel, creatively titled THE NIGHT STRANGLER, met with similar success. With an obvious hit on their hands, ABC greenlit a weekly series. KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER premiered in 1974. It starred McGavin as Carl Kolchak, an old-fashioned reporter who routinely came face to face with even older evils.

KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER is one of those shows that seems to have survived despite itself. There were only twenty episodes of the show before its cancellation. There are many factors that figured into KOLCHAK's continued resonance. A group of gifted genre writers and some impressive guest stars certainly helped, as did the impression that there was nothing else on television quite like it. But even all of that is minor compared to the show's most crucial component – the character of Carl Kolchak himself.

Although he was certainly an intelligent, and well-rounded person, McGavin seemed to have an uncanny instinct about his character on Kolchak. Fans of the show didn't just enjoy the storylines, they appreciated and empathized with Kolchak as a person. Had McGavin played to expectations – a stoic, chiseled exterior combined with an unflappable heroism, we probably wouldn't be talking about the show today. Kolchak wore the same cliched straw hat, the same loud suits, drove the same car, had the same arguments with his boss and probably would have only let go of his manual typewriter if it were pried out of his cold, dead hands. He did not seek out the forces of darkness, he just didn't close his mind to the possibility of their existence, and hence seemed to cross paths with them much more than he would have liked.

In one memorable early episode, Kolchak is hiding in a cloakroom from a modern-day vampire. As the beast's hand paws around in the closet, it gets closer and closer to a visibly terrified Kolchak. The suspense is unbearable. After decades of horror before this, we would expect the tension to be broken in one of two ways – either the vampire would grab ahold of Kolchak, or Kolchak would strike the beast (as Jamie Lee Curtis would do in a similar scene from HALLOWEEN a few years later). Neither of these things happen. Instead, Kolchak does what probably any one of us would do. He screams in a most unheroic fashion and bursts out of the cloakroom frantically grasping for the exit. The effect of the scene is two-fold. There is a relief in the tension because of the humorous and unexpected turn. And yet, in some ways the stakes are higher because we now relate to Kolchak more than ever. This isn't Van Helsing or Lamont Cranston. Kolchak is one of us.

Incidentally, this is what killed the recent attempt to bring back the old show. Stuart Townshend (who let's face it, was God-awful in QUEEN OF THE DAMNED and TRAPPED) played a hip and sexy Kolchak. The producers failed to realize that Kolchak was neither hip nor sexy and that's why we loved him. Oh well.

KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER continued to gain a cult following after its cancellation throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In the early 1990s, two factors led new generations to the world of the intrepid reporter. First was the fledgling cable broadcast network, Sci-fi Channel. They aired the original KOLCHAK series for the first time in years. This is personally where I discovered the show, as one of the people who ribbed on the channel on their old MST3K'S CAPTION THIS! page. Sure, we had our fun but we discovered some great entertainment and KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER was the most fascinating of them all. An even more major contribution was another cult television show, THE X-FILES. Whenever Chris Carter was interviewed about his influences, he always enthusiastically credited KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER. Carter even had the chance to repay the favor as McGavin was featured on two episode of THE X-FILES and one of Carter's MILLENIUMs as well.

Post-KOLCHAK, McGavin continued to rack up an impressive filmography, including SOMETHING EVIL (an early Speilberg effort), TRIBES (excellent political character study with McGavin stealing the show), BRINKS: THE GREAT ROBBERY, NO DEPOSIT NO RETURN, AIRPORT '77, IKE, THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, HANGER 18, FIREBIRD 2015 A.D. (remember that one?), A CHRISTMAS STORY (playing the father in a memorable performance that hit close to home for my family), TURK! 182, FROM THE HIP, RAW DEAL, DEAD HEAT, INHERIT THE WIND, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (the best version of Verne's novel), BY DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT and BILLY MADISON. He also gained critical acclaim for his role in Barry Levinson's THE NATURAL. Much like his first role on screen nearly forty years before, he went unbilled. Unlike the first time, it had nothing to do with fame, but politics. Robert Redford was so taken with McGavin's performance that he worked with him to expand the role. When union reps insisted on renegotiating his billing and salary because of it, McGavin reportedly told his agent to forget about it. This is an important distinction of Darren McGavin. He was an artist and a professional, first and foremost.

McGavin was married to two wonderful women in his life. He spent 25 years with Melanie York, with whom he had four children. In 1969, he married Kathie Browne. They stayed happily married until her sudden death in 2003.

The accomplishments mentioned in this article do not begin to mention the amazing talent of Darren McGavin. His exploits on screen were always a welcome sight. His triumphs on the stage were too numerous to mention here (I highly recommend his official site for more info). McGavin was a remarkably prolific and versatile artist whose presence will never be forgotten.

----------