SWC75
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ROUTE 66 3/22/63 “Fifty Miles From Home”
After carrying a long series of episodes, Martin Milner takes a back seat to Glenn Corbett as a new character, Lincoln Case, who has recently come back from a place called Vietnam that few Americans had heard of at the time. The biggest interest in this script is his description of the fighting there, which includes some phrases we would hear later: Viet Cong, Ho Chi Minh Trail, Fire Control, Strategic Hamlet Program, etc.
The story, which must have been hastily written, shows Case as a guy trained to fight and kill who now finds himself back home, trying to figure out who he is. Soldiers have to create someone who can do what they have to do. They don’t necessarily like that person and sometimes they have trouble removing him once created. But unlike a lot of dramatists, Stirling Silliphant doesn’t present Case as being out of control. He’s just troubled and Corbett’s impassive face is useful to suggest this brooding.
Still, it’s strange when he refuses to see his own father because he regards his son as a hero and instead decides to join Todd in his cross-country peregrinations. The two start out at odds because Linc injured one of Todd’s charges at a local boy’s club in a brawl. When Todd tries to take revenge, having had it explained to him that Linc is an expert in judo and karate, He’s surprised to find his opponent isn’t using all of his skills and realizes it’s because he doesn’t want to really hurt anybody. This forms the basis for their new friendship and the second seat in the corvette has an occupant again.
IMDB: "Route 66" Fifty Miles from Home (TV Episode 1963) - IMDb
You-Tube: entire episode for free
After carrying a long series of episodes, Martin Milner takes a back seat to Glenn Corbett as a new character, Lincoln Case, who has recently come back from a place called Vietnam that few Americans had heard of at the time. The biggest interest in this script is his description of the fighting there, which includes some phrases we would hear later: Viet Cong, Ho Chi Minh Trail, Fire Control, Strategic Hamlet Program, etc.
The story, which must have been hastily written, shows Case as a guy trained to fight and kill who now finds himself back home, trying to figure out who he is. Soldiers have to create someone who can do what they have to do. They don’t necessarily like that person and sometimes they have trouble removing him once created. But unlike a lot of dramatists, Stirling Silliphant doesn’t present Case as being out of control. He’s just troubled and Corbett’s impassive face is useful to suggest this brooding.
Still, it’s strange when he refuses to see his own father because he regards his son as a hero and instead decides to join Todd in his cross-country peregrinations. The two start out at odds because Linc injured one of Todd’s charges at a local boy’s club in a brawl. When Todd tries to take revenge, having had it explained to him that Linc is an expert in judo and karate, He’s surprised to find his opponent isn’t using all of his skills and realizes it’s because he doesn’t want to really hurt anybody. This forms the basis for their new friendship and the second seat in the corvette has an occupant again.
IMDB: "Route 66" Fifty Miles from Home (TV Episode 1963) - IMDb
You-Tube: entire episode for free
