T+100 Years

InexorableTash

Active member
Northern Italy, June 1918

(a.k.a. the first half of Tales of Innocence)

TheAlmanac said:
I'm afraid we're almost out of June...

And you thought I'd forgotten. Well, I had. I remembered when I was in Prague but life has kept me busy. Okay, here's the recap:

Indy's doing some cosplay and sneaking across enemy lines trying to get some Czech soldiers to defect, giving out cigarettes and selling them stories of the Italian women they'll surely woo. He meets a freshly frocked ambulance driver named Ernest Hemingway and then is off to meet Giulietta and her Italian soap opera family. But someone else is trying to win her heart. Ernie and Indy swap advice for defeating the other guy, and Indy escalates. Spoilers: Ernie is the other guy, and then things get even more comedic.

I'm torn by the character of Giulietta. Is she a dullard being trafficked by her parents to accrue material goods from the suitors? Or is she actively playing the clueless dolts against each other, enjoying her boy toys while ruthlessly planning for her more practical future with Alfredo? And... wait... is "Alfredo" even real? Now I'm thinking his picture came with the frame, and this is part of the plot. Oooh, that sneaky Giulietta!

(I also wonder what Indy sees in Giulietta. Compared with Nancy, Maggie, Vicky and especially Mata Hari, she's lacking in character. He may have a more meaningful relationship with the woman on the train in Attack of the Hawkmen.)

Anyway, Ernie and Indy have a fight then get blowed up real good at the end, convalescing in the hospital. Poor Indy has to take the train with the lovely but silent Sofia to (Aaah...) Venice where she takes off his... bandages. Indy then slips in time to September 1917 somehow.

The music is good, the setting is just fine, but overall the episode is just meh, even when you watch it as a rom-com.

Next up, Istanbul September 1918 a.k.a. Masks of Evil Part 1 (right?)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
InexorableTash said:
I'm torn by the character of Giulietta.
Hilarious post, Tash. :D I've always been confused by Giulietta's motives, too! With regards to Indy's attraction, it seems to be purely physical but there's enough meat in this topic to carry it on over here:

Ep. 15: Northern Italy, June 1918

InexorableTash said:
Anyway, Ernie and Indy have a fight then get blowed up real good at the end, convalescing in the hospital. Poor Indy has to take the train with the lovely but silent Sofia to (Aaah...) Venice where she takes off his... bandages. Indy then slips in time to September 1917 somehow.
"Northern Italy" is actually one the handful of episodes that cross over into the next month. In this case, it's to match up with real-world events. The 100th anniversary of Ernie gettin' blowed up real good is 8th of July 1918 so we haven't reached the end of this Italian episode yet. ;)

InexorableTash said:
Next up, Istanbul September 1918 a.k.a. Masks of Evil Part 1 (right?)
Correct. (One of my favourites.)
 

InexorableTash

Active member
Istanbul, September 1918

a.k.a. Masks of Evil, first half.

Another sleeper, I'm afraid.

This time, Indy leads French Intelligence in Istanbul while posing as a Swedish journalist, Nils Anderson. He is tasked with receiving then delivering the "red letter" proposing a separate peace between the Allies and the Turks to Mustafa Kemal. He has also met and fallen for Molly, an American teaching at an orphanage, to whom he proposes. (That makes how many now?) The delivery of the letter to Indy goes awry, and it becomes clear that one member of the circle of intelligence operatives is a double agent, working for the Germans. Indy eventually recovers the letter but is wounded. Molly helps him recover, and he delivers the letter to Kemal, who sees the concessions as incompatible with his dream of a Turkish republic and rejects it. Molly learns that Indy is a spy, and leaves him. An attempt on Indy's life puts him on the run. The double agent attempts to kill Indy, but kills a returning Molly by mistake, and she dies in his arms.

It's a thin episode, which feels particularly short. The scenery is luscious, and the rooftop fight and other scenes featuring the Blue Mosque are gorgeous. Molly is well acted given the limited material. The gang of spies failed to make an impression on me - I'm still not sure who the double agent was, and if there are clues that should have tipped me off. The score is forgettable, with fairly generic cues.

Okay - what did I miss? Why is this episode secretly awesome?

A two month hiatus, then the big one: in November the damn war finally ends and we get to chase a red line at breakneck pace. I've got my eye on the treasure!
 

InexorableTash

Active member
Keeping the spirit alive [originally posted to Facebook]

Paris, May 1919 (a.k.a. The Winds of Change, Part 1)

Indy puts his language skills to good use in Versailles at the peace conference. As usual, everything goes swimmingly. French PM Clemenceau, British PM George, and US President Wilson hear the claims of Prince Faisal and listen to the reasoned advice of Ned Lawrence, and honor previous commitments to give the Arab world self-determination, thus ensuring peace in the Middle East. Germany is greeted with fair reparations and also reconstruction by the Allied powers, securing a lasting peace in Europe. Indy also arranges an audience for the young leader-to-be Ho Chi Minh and his wish for an independent Vietnam is granted, thus leading to stability in Southeast Asia throughout the 20th Century. Wait... what? That's... no... you're kidding right? Most of the global turmoil and trauma of the last hundred years can be traced back to this sh*tshow and arbitrary lines sketched on a map? *sigh*

Indy is... well, I guess he's in the episode. He manages to not snog anyone, which is actually a bit remarkable. We say goodbye to Ned for the last time, with some good speechifying. And can truly say that the War To End All Wars is behind us, never to see its like again, despite what the medal-lusting kid on the train says.

Stoo recommended "Lawrence After Arabia" which was a fun watch, covering the conference as well... and making "T.E." a much more flawed human character.
 

InexorableTash

Active member
Later that night, 1919

For some reason, I have August 2019 tagged as a T+100 date. Did someone decide that Princeton, 1919 (a.k.a. The Winds of Change, Part 2) was in August? Gotta happen some time, I guess.

Indy travels by stock footage back to America, romances Amy (who at least makes it off the boat, unlike some previous flings), then takes a train to Princeton (subbed for in half a shot by SF's Presidio, yay!) His dad warmly welcomes him back from his little adventure, in time for dinner at 7:30 sharp. Gets a job sweeping up for rocket scientist Goddard ("we're on the verge of a very great change"), and comes across his old friend Paul Robeson and is reminded of rampant racism in America (maybe not so much change?). Watching the episode in 2019, Goddard's high-minded speeches filled with predictions, and optimism for humanity and how technology will force social progress come across as somewhat naive. But Robeson's appeal for a government with character as a standard of excellence opposing racism could be shouted more loudly today. Goodbye to Amy, and also goodbye to Lloyd Owen's Henry Sr. Adieu.

Back in winter 1950... er.... April/May 2020 for Mystery of the Blues?
 

InexorableTash

Active member
I got real busy for the next few. It's like 2020 was a difficult year, or something...

April 1920 - Mystery of the Blues (part 1)
May 1920 - Mystery of the Blues (part 2)


Bookends with Harry! John Williams score!

Otherwise... I consider the overall plot of this two-parter a sleeper. It's good to see the series continue to highlight Indy's growth and awareness of racism, at least in 90s TV Movie format. But both Indy's jazz obsession and the organized crime story... didn't really stick with me.
 

InexorableTash

Active member
June / July 1920 - Scandal of the 1920s

Now this chapter I adore. I did not appreciate it much on first viewing in the 1990s, and this CD was my least favorite of the four OSTs back in the day. But as I've aged the episode and the score has grown on me. It's a slapstick romp roughly following the old template of "we're doing a musical about producing a musical". Meeting New York's literati at the Algonquin was more interesting to me than the name dropping in the previous chapter.

One more to go, next month!
 

InexorableTash

Active member
August 1920 - Hollywood Follies

The final T+100 Years, for this forum at least: Hollywood Follies

August 1920 - 100 years ago this month - Indy takes a trip out West and gets meta by entering the fray in Hollywood!

In the first half he ostensibly tangles with von Stroheim. But his bigger struggle is with Claire's aspirations and independence and juggling relationships with multiple men, a fair turnabout on the previous chapter of the series. Another episode that mixes a bit of relationship drama with slapstick comedy. Von Stroheim is a hoot, the sets and shenanigans are entertaining, but it's yet another story in the series where Indy tries his best but is ultimately ineffectual.

In the second half, the meta hits really hard when Indy is roped into being a stunt man and a terrible actor, with a supporting cast of characters like John Ford (no relation) from Tinseltown's serial era who inspired Lucas and Spielberg. And hey, Wyatt Earp! The climax is the wagon chase stunt, of course. At least that's not the scene where Indy gets a hat, whip, and fear of snakes....

Script is acceptable, acting and casting is great, sets and locations are top notch as usual, and the score by Rosenthal is full of melodramatic flourishes and I'm missing SoCal now that I'm writing this. As much as I'd have loved to see further episodes where young Indy tangles with young Belloq, this episode makes a perfect bookend to the series. Lucas does know what he's doing, sometimes.

Whelp, that's it for Indy T+100 Years until 2035, unless a pre-boot happens in the mean time. Thanks for joining the party!
 

TheAlmanac

New member
Later that night, 1919

For some reason, I have August 2019 tagged as a T+100 date. Did someone decide that Princeton, 1919 (a.k.a. The Winds of Change, Part 2) was in August? Gotta happen some time, I guess.
There've been conflicting references to that happening in June 1919 versus August 1919...

Only seeing the scripts could really confirm this, but what I suspect happened is that the original Travels with Father bookends on The Family Channel (with Indy arriving back in the US on his own sans romantic subplot) were meant to be set in August based on "Buenos Aires, June 1919" taking place beforehand (and Indy leaving for Uni at the end of them). When they were expanded into their own episode with the Paul Robeson plot, however, the dating changed because Robeson's valedictory speech from the episode occurred on June 10, 1919, and "Princeton, June 1919" was born.
 

EdwardRandy

New member
Tash, that comic was made available here at The Raven 8 years ago (courtesy of Rob Dangerous) and the links still work!
Page 1
Page 2

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Couple more thoughts:

February 1916: The more I learn about Edison, the more I find out what a jerk he was. The latest ugliness being his way of eliminating motion picture competition. He would hire thugs to go around the New Jersey/New York area and smash any movie camera equipment that belonged to someone else. What an A-hole!(n)

March 1916: Before "Curse of the Jackal" aired, I had only a mild interest in the Mexican Revolution era but the show really turned me on to it. Soon after, I began to record any TV programme about 'Pancho' Villa and chronologically compiled all of the actual, real film footage onto 1 tape. It's amazing how much there is.

Anecdotes include how Villa would get his men to re-ride a battle for the camera while dead bodies still laid on the ground. Another is the cameraman being told to film an execution but, long before the guns were even fired, his film ran out. He kept turning the crank for fear of being shot, himself! :gun:

The documentary on the Young Indy DVD testifies to the abundance of existing material so that brief appearance of the cameramen filming the train in the actual episode is a nice, little touch.

Anyway, all of that footage is now +100 years old.
Hey Stoo I'm looking for that other short story that appeared in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Magazine. Indy in China: The Runaway Adventure. If it's here somewhere I can't seem to find it using the search.
 
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