Peter Graves - the mission is sadly over

It's sad to have to mention that actor Peter Graves has died today. The news has just gone over the news, he was 83 - four days before his 84th birthday.

For my younger readers, you might only recall Peter Graves as Colonel John Camden on the WB Network TV series 7th Heaven, or perhaps as the odd but funny airline pilot Captain Clarence Oveur from the Airplane! spoof movies. Some who are a bit older, or anyone that has had the chance to see the original television series Mission: Impossible (which the Tom Cruise films are very loosely based on), will remember Graves as Mr. Jim Phelps. But fans of older classic films might also recall his serious and strong performance in the film Stalag 17, as the German undercover spy Price.

Peter Graves was more than just an actor. He served in the Air Force, went to the University of Minnesota, and was a member of Phi Kappa Psi. He was a husband to his wife, Joan Endress, for 60 years (a number most people today have trouble reaching in months of a marriage). He was also the father of 3 children.

But the thing the general populace knew Graves for was his acting. Whether on the big screen or small, he was a mainstay for decades. Like very few in Hollywood, Graves was in 70 movies and televisions shows throughout his 52 year career (his most recent role was in 2003).

He was the well recognized voice of Biography on A&E, to the point of his parody of his Biography work in the film Men in Black II, hosting an exposé television show. It was that humor that likely garnered his roles in Airplane!

One thing he was not known for was any part of the Mission Impossible movies made by Tom Cruise. Like every surviving member of the cast, Graves had no desire to be a part of the revisioned film portrayal of the famous television show. It was rumored that Graves did not want to appear in a version of Mission: Impossible that made the Phelps character a villain.

Along the path of Peter Graves career he was nominated for Emmy's and Golden Globes, winning a Golden Globe Award in 1971 and an Emmy in 1997.

Here are some videos of the man.







My condolences to his family and friends.

My favorite Mission Impossible episode

For no particular reason, I want to share an episode of Mission Impossible that was a favorite of mine. This is from the original series and was on television first on November 21, 1970. The episode is called Hunted.

This episode starts off with the rescue of a religious leader of an African nation that is ruled by Apartheid (namely South Africa). The goal of the IMF team is to get him out of the nation so he can start the process of revolution and end the racist laws that hold down the majority of people in the nation.

It only took another 16 years before America seriously looked at South Africa and joined with the world in denouncing Apartheid. It took a total of 24 years from this episode before Apartheid ended. The episode was well ahead of it's time, and sadly it failed to inspire our nation or Government.

It's also one of the few episodes (or television shows) where African Americans are featured and not merely background thugs. Even when you compare it to 90% of the shows on television today.

The episode stars: Greg Morris, Sam Elliott, Leonard Nimoy, Peter Graves, Lesley Ann Warren, and Ta-Tanisha (who I think did a great job of being deaf and mute in this role).

[The video is not a production or edit by M V Consulting, Inc.]











I've long remembered this episode. It was quite good.

As a side note, does anyone else think that Ta-Tanisha looks incerdibly like Nana Hill (another beautiful woman) from A Good Day To Be Black & Sexy and Star Trek (the 2009 remake) fame?

Mission Impossible 4 - more explosions, more Tom Cruise close-ups

Well the news is out. Tom Cruise will be doing yet another Mission Impossible movie. But I wonder if we really care.

Given that Tom Cruise makes money every time he shows up on a screen. It’s actually very hard to think of a movie with Cruise, in the past decade or so, that was not a blockbuster. Of course that does not mean they were great films. Just greatly packaged.

But specifically when we think of the Mission Impossible films, we are reminded that this is the revisioned idea of the series that spawned the big screen adaptation. There is almost no connection between the television series and the movies.


Because Cruise knows how to market to the youth, men and women.

The Mission Impossible films are lots of flash, explosions, a couple of cool stunts, and massive amounts of close-ups of Tom Cruise removing a face mask while inevitably running.



Occasionally we get a glimpse of a team, something dropped hard in the early minutes of the first film. Why pay extra money for a cast of celebrities when you can just show Cruise smiling again? I mean it’s not like the youth market expects a “remake” to have anything to do with its original source.

So I expect that the next Mission Impossible film will include generous amounts of the following:

• Big explosions
  
• A chase on a motorcycle, and cars
  
• Tons of shooting with automatic pistols and assault rifles
  
• A bunch of tech gadgets every guy would love to have
  
• At least a dozen nameless bad guys that will be killed off seconds after being seen
  

• Location shooting in at least 3 major cities (probably European)
  
• At least one major stunt involving Cruise doing something that the insurance companies will hate (likely in the first 5 minutes of the film or the last 10)
  

• Oh, at least 2 very slender and somewhat exotic women. Probably 1 of them will be topless or allude to nakedness and/or sex. It is a Summer movie you know.
  

Beyond these essential items, a very loose plot will be formed. It will mandate that Cruise don and remove a mask in a big close-up, invariably running at the time. We will be able to notice that Luther (Ving Rhames) and some actor that no one really knows or cares about (beyond his mom, family, friends and landlord) will be in a few scenes to allude to team actions – all executed primarily by Cruise. And I expect that Cruise’s character (Ethan Hunt) will either be divorced and bitter, or really upset after having a major blowout with his on-screen wife (from the 3rd film) – which is bad news for the first bad guy he finds.

We might get Laurence Fishburne back for a return as the boss. Possible a quick scene or too of comedian Simon Pegg in a return role.

So will I go to see this film? Probably.

I already know that these films are light on anything but action. They are virtually forgettable, but provide a great distraction for a couple of hours. In fact I don’t consider this Mission Impossible, but Mission Explode Lots Of Stuff. Which can work after a long day of work in the real world.

So plan ahead that at least one day in 2011 will be spent at the theater. Just don’t expect it to be memorable.

Comments on Stanley Crouch's Opinion Part 2 - 7.2.2007.2

Continued from Comments on Stanley Crouch's Opinion Part 1...

And we must recognize that this is not just something that is limited to rap. Far beyond the music entertainment industry, there is video and television and movies. They have all promoted and molded the culture to be a commodity that is sold daily. I recall Mr. Chris Rock saying in one of his stand-up shows, ‘Not one of you white people out there want to tade places with me. You could be a one-legger dishwasher, and you won’t change places with me. And I’m rich!’ I believe it went just like that. But that same person that wouldn’t change places with Mr. Rock, and definitely not with somone of more moderate means like yourself or I, is happy to purchase a piece of our lifestyle by owning some FUBU or Rockawear, listening to Snoop Dogg and watching a music video on BET. That’s not an example of a person selling out, it’s a culture as a commodity.

And I want to focus on BET for a second. A television network that is known for it’s singular targeting of African Americans. What does the Viacom corporation think we are interested in? Well loking at today’s line-up, music videos, the Wayan’s brothers show, In Livin Color and gospel. Oh I forgot the 3rd rate blaxploitation film, Leprauchan: Back 2 Tha Hood. Of all the movies, television programs and media that could be provided by Viacom, that’s the best we get.

BET has promoted the rapper image, and music video exploitation of women, more than any other cable channel. Under the guise of giving the community what it wants. Of course several of the shows by Mr. Bill Cosby (beyond the last 2 most are familiar with), Mr Will Smith and those with notable African American leads didn’t make the cut. Not even the original Mission Impossiblwe series, which was one of the first to have a permanent Black supporting character that had a purpose and intelligence. Thanks BET.

I have no comment on the Real World rip-off College Hill. I find the concept unfathomable. S.O.B. is a Candid Camera rip-off that seeks to add in a touch of Punk’d, just enough racial tension to get a laugh I suppose. And Hot Ghetto Mess I will have to dedicate an entire post to seperately.

BET may have sponsored the town hall meeting, but it has promoted and been a part of the problem as much as rappers themselves.

Mr. Crouch has a great point. The town hall meeting is a good step. The growing awareness is fantastic. But we cannot forget what has contributed to the state of the community today and the hurdles that need to be surmounted tomorrow.

This is what I think, what do you think?