Grimerlana
Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike
SnoReptilePlenty
Memorable, crazy movie
RipDelight
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
GJValent
Seriously, I caught this show in second run on WGN in Chicago,(like at least one other poster), in the early 1960s. As I remember the opening, Keenan Wynn comes uphill towards the camera on a motorcycle, (make, unknown), and Bob Mathias comes down towards the camera riding a hook on a construction crane. They are, the troubleshooters ! Interesting look at the life of 'globe trotting' construction workers. Aside from their work, these two, naturally, get involved in the lives of the people who work for, with, or, around them. One episode had them, and their crew, build an iron lung for a young local/native lad who had apparently contracted polio, or a similar type of respiration paralysis. Another had them hold a carnival, subsidized by the construction company they work for, to raise funds for something or other. The highlight of this episode was a booth where each kid got a free ice cream cone, which they could either eat, or, throw at Keenan Wynn's face sticking through a canvas backdrop. Now, the telling part. As I remember, the name of the construction company was Corbett. At the same time, early 1960s, my uncle worked for a Corbett Construction Company, on the project to build what is now the Michigan Ave., Oak St. Lake Shore Drive interchange. Yet, I can't find it on Google.
xylx55
For some reason I was recently thinking about this TV show. It is my earliest recollection of TV. I'm 54. I could not remember the name of the show, only that Hartz Mountain (the flea collar people) sponsored it at one time. I looked all over the internet to no avail then remembered for some reason that Keenan Wynn was in the show as some tough guy. So I looked on IMDb and got the answer. I had many Tonka toy construction trucks and used to emulate the show by myself in the house. My parents would not let me take the trucks outside. How messed up is that? I wanted to grow up to blow stuff up. It didn't work out. I'm a lawyer. So I sort of blow stuff up on paper now. I think it is wonderful that people have posted on here about this obscure bit of history. I would pay $1000 for the DVDs if they existed.
Big
This is a very obscure, essentially forgotten construction-based show from NBC from 1959-1960. My father, Chet Allen, played the role of "Slats" on the show. He has for many years tried to obtain VHS/DVD copies of the show but with no success. There is rumor that the archives were destroyed due to neglect over the years. I've never seen the show and would be delighted to be able to do so. Anyone out there with any concrete information about how to obtain copies of this show or who is in contact with former cast members or who have any memorabilia from the show, please feel free to contact me. My Dad would be really grateful if you have any information. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks.
dpdorgan
Back in 1959, me & the boys would play construction, digging up the dirt, moving it around in dump trucks, etc. So, here comes a TV show about guys that do just that. Of course, they used dynamite to move more dirt! Hey, we could use firecrackers! You get the idea, eh? A really cool show for 9-year-old boys...Keenan Wynn as the grizzly old troubleshooter, a real take-no-crap kind of guy.And, by the way, wasn't Bob Mathias an Olympic decathlete? Is that the same guy who was on the Wheaties box? I think so.
