Saturday, October 08, 2016

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam!: "Little Boy Lost" (November 16, 1974)


In “Little Boy Lost,” Billy (Michael Gray) and Mentor (Les Tremayne) rescue a mute runaway boy named Howard (Mark Edward Hall), who has stolen a puppy. 

His Dad, Sam (John Carter) is grateful to have his boy back safely. He tells Billy and Mentor that the boy has not spoken since his friend was involved in an accident.  Young Howard feels responsible for it.

After Howard and his Dad leave, they take a detour to a ghost town, and the dog falls down into a deep hole.  Sam, trying to rescue the dog, falls down the mine-shaft.

Howard, trying to rescue his father, seeks out the help of Captain Marvel (Jackson Bostwick).


  
Well, at least Captain Marvel isn’t stuck helping out teenagers this week on Filmation’s Shazam. 

Instead, he must help a boy with low self-esteem rescue his father from a hole in the ground in a deserted mining town.



Of course, it’s very strange that Sam and Howard would decide to stop and walk around a very dangerous ghost mining town, but as I like to point out in these reviews, Shazam had no standing locations upon which to rely, week-to-week.  The film crew just had to tool around Southern California and find places to shoot.

This week, there's some good footage of Michael Gray's Billy rescuing young Howard from a rocky, tumultuous sea.



The Elders’ don’t name-check any famous historical or literary figures in “Little Boy Lost,” But do have some advice for Bily, vis-à-vis Howard.  “There are those who speak, but do not hear. And those who hear, but do not speak.”  

I suppose that fortune cookie wisdom means, simply, that you should pay attention to the quiet ones. They may not seem to be suffering, but they very well may be.


Next week: “The Delinquent.”

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