THE DICK POWELL SHOW – Out of the Night – 1961
This is an episode of the anthology series that ran for 60 episodes during 1961 to 63. Dick Powell produced the series as well as acted as the host. He also took a turn every so often as an actor. This is the 6th episode of the production run.
In this one, Powell is an aircraft designer attending a party on July 4th, 1953. Out of the crowd and up to Powell, walks Charles McGraw. McGraw was Powell's commanding officer during World War 2. They had been in the Air Force in Italy.
They shake hands and talk about old times, McGraw brings up the name of a small village in Northern Italy. He asks Powell if he had been back since the war. Powell shakes his head, lights a cigarette and the story goes into flashback.
Powell is the pilot of a B-25 bomber that has been shot down. Powell manages to parachute into the night. He is quickly grabbed up by several men from a nearby village. The men are part of a local partisan band. They hide Powell when the local German garrison comes looking.
The villagers dress him up as a peasant and supply Powell with a map and some food. He is led out into the mountains and wished good luck. At the same time, the Nazi's have returned, they have info that Powell had indeed been hiding there. This time they round up all the villagers, men, woman and children. The Nazis machine-gun the bunch as Powell watches from the hills.
Several weeks later Powell has made it to the Allied lines. He is returned to his unit for a bit of rest. Rested, Powell is soon back in a B-25 cockpit on a raid to Germany. He however fakes engine trouble, then diverts to the village and drops his bombs on the site. He hopes to kill the Germans.
The flashback ends and Powell decides he needs to return to the village to put his mind at rest over the incident. He discovers that the same woman, Ziva Rodann, who had led him out of town and to safety, had been the one to report him to the Nazis. He confronts her about her actions and she just says she wanted to live. She did not know the Germans were going to kill everyone.
Rodann though has paid for her actions. She was caught in the bomb blasts of Powell's return visit and is crippled.
Also in the cast, is, Vito Scotti, Rosemarie Stack and John Van Dreelen. Miss Stack was the wife of actor, Robert Stack. Charles McGraw is hardly used here and is just there to draw the story out of Powell.
I have seen several cracker-jack episodes of this series, but this one is not one of them.
This is an episode of the anthology series that ran for 60 episodes during 1961 to 63. Dick Powell produced the series as well as acted as the host. He also took a turn every so often as an actor. This is the 6th episode of the production run.
In this one, Powell is an aircraft designer attending a party on July 4th, 1953. Out of the crowd and up to Powell, walks Charles McGraw. McGraw was Powell's commanding officer during World War 2. They had been in the Air Force in Italy.
They shake hands and talk about old times, McGraw brings up the name of a small village in Northern Italy. He asks Powell if he had been back since the war. Powell shakes his head, lights a cigarette and the story goes into flashback.
Powell is the pilot of a B-25 bomber that has been shot down. Powell manages to parachute into the night. He is quickly grabbed up by several men from a nearby village. The men are part of a local partisan band. They hide Powell when the local German garrison comes looking.
The villagers dress him up as a peasant and supply Powell with a map and some food. He is led out into the mountains and wished good luck. At the same time, the Nazi's have returned, they have info that Powell had indeed been hiding there. This time they round up all the villagers, men, woman and children. The Nazis machine-gun the bunch as Powell watches from the hills.
Several weeks later Powell has made it to the Allied lines. He is returned to his unit for a bit of rest. Rested, Powell is soon back in a B-25 cockpit on a raid to Germany. He however fakes engine trouble, then diverts to the village and drops his bombs on the site. He hopes to kill the Germans.
The flashback ends and Powell decides he needs to return to the village to put his mind at rest over the incident. He discovers that the same woman, Ziva Rodann, who had led him out of town and to safety, had been the one to report him to the Nazis. He confronts her about her actions and she just says she wanted to live. She did not know the Germans were going to kill everyone.
Rodann though has paid for her actions. She was caught in the bomb blasts of Powell's return visit and is crippled.
Also in the cast, is, Vito Scotti, Rosemarie Stack and John Van Dreelen. Miss Stack was the wife of actor, Robert Stack. Charles McGraw is hardly used here and is just there to draw the story out of Powell.
I have seen several cracker-jack episodes of this series, but this one is not one of them.
