User Reviews

Yes we can rebuild him and he did! Yes the steel assassin is a cross between $6 million man Steve Austin, Iron Man and Terminator!

We know that the series has sci fi elements, horror mixed with espionage and this episode definitely had it in spades! John Denher doing a great job as the villainous man made of steel. And so does Sue Ann Langdon who is always fun to watch. Someone on here didn't approve of her casting but she's perfect especially when she becomes the hypnotised ditzy showgirl. But this episode also looses points for some of the cringy, silly overtures of that. Oh and I finally noticed Phyllis Davis this time as a salon girl.

Overall ludicrous but fun!

In his introduction on the Paramount D.V.D.'s, Robert Conrad describes this Calvin Clements Junior-scripted episode as being 'a little ahead of its time'. Indeed it is. Jim is walking past a shop that sells old military memorabilia when he overhears a struggle. The owner - 'Gilbert' ( John Pickard ) - has been murdered by 'Lt.Torres' ( John Dehner ), a man with revenge on his mind. Years before, Torres was almost killed when the arsenal he was in charge of guarding blew up. He only survived by being repaired using mechanical parts. Now is virtually superhuman. The idea predated 'The Six Million Dollar Man' television series by nearly a decade. Jim's bullets fail to stop him, so he uses a bomb. That does not work either. Torres runs off into the night. Jim and Arte track down Gilbert's niece 'Nina' ( Sue Ann Langdon ). Six of her uncle's former regiment have recently been murdered. President Grant is keen to see the killer brought to justice, and with good reason - he is on Torres' hit list...

John Dehner - who had previously appeared in 'The Night Of The Casual Killer' - gets a good role here as the revenge-seeking cyborg. When he first speaks, it is a genuinely chilling moment as his voice has a flat, robotic quality. His fondness for creepy organ music evokes comparisons with 'The Abominable Dr.Phibes'. He hypnotises Nina, turning her from a conscientious ex-student into a sexily-dressed strumpet at Torres' gambling den at Alton Nuevo. President Grant is due to pay a visit, and Torres plan killing him using fake Fourth of July rockets. The story grips throughout, even allowing for the improbability of a cyborg existing in the America of the 1880's. The idea was recycled again in 2012 in 'A Town Called Mercy', an episode of the B.B.C.'s 'Dr.Who'.

We enter a stretch of mostly good first-season episodes with 'Steel Assassin'. The first season was mostly the show finding its footing, with cowboys and whacked-out colonels. Sure, Dr. Loveless had already been introduced, but Torres is almost the good doctor's equal. He's a genius, cultured, noble in defeat/death, and appears to respect Jim and regrets having to kill him.

Kudos to John Dehner, a second banana actor who never got the fame he should have. Whether he was in "West", "Maverick", "Kolchak", or many of his other roles throughout the 50s, 60s, and 70s, Dehner was always a class act. He has a relatively rare villainous turn here and makes the most of it.

Like many first-season episodes, Ross Martin doesn't have much to do. But he does a lot with what he's given. He has fun with what he's given, whether it's offering a toast to American fatherhood, or flirting with women, or posing as Grant in another of his disguises-that-aren't-really-disguises (you can always tell it's Ross Martin). Robert Conrad does some subtle acting, particularly with Torres' death. First Jim all but smirks as his opponent sinks out of sight, then he offers his hand.

The use of Toccata and Fugue is inspired. It really doesn't jibe with the era or the character, and presumably it's just background score rather than Torres hunching over an organ somewhere in his villa. But it does add to the ambience, even if it sticks out like a sore thumb.

The only real flaw in the episode is Sue Ane Langdon and her character, Nina. She's pretty much a 60s female, and certainly fills out a saloon girl dress. But why does Torres waste his time hypnotizing her into regressing? Does his mastery of autohypnosis really give him the power to cloud Nina (and Artie's) minds. I don't think the writers understood what "autohypnosis" is.

Other than that, there aren't any real flaws in the episode as far as the main storyline, and the characters, and the set pieces. Overall, a great episode.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?

SPOILER ALERT

"I am Iron Man!" They should have played the classic song from Black Sabbath to start this one. James West and Artemus Gordon both call John Dehner (character Torres) "The Iron Man".

Torres, a war veteran out for revenge, is a cyborg with super-human strength. He is a completely rebuilt bomb victim who is now half man, half machine. Metal bones, metal sinews, metal plates in his skull. John Dehner is absolutely outstanding, he plays one of the best "bad guys" in the entire 5-year run of Wild Wild West.

Featuring a cyborg on prime time television was way ahead of its time. This show aired a decade before The Six Million Dollar Man. Torres predates The Terminator, and so many other famous movie cyborgs.

There are a few detractions. The scene where Nina Gilbert is hypnotized becomes tedious. The scene with the swinging girls in the saloon, followed by a speech from Artemus Gordon, is also too long.

A couple of co-stars do a particularly good job. Allen Jaffe, as "Lopez", is at the top of his game. Sara Taft, as "Maria", is the over-protective governess of Torres (that also explains where Torres got the mansion and the money, if he had a governess he obviously came from a wealthy family).

With respect to actress Sue Ane Langdon, Casting should have chosen someone else. She overplays her part; the silliness and the laughter are overbearing.

The writers were smart to end it the way they did. Torres falls into the water pit. "I find myself in the position of the Knights of Old in armor. Rule #1, stay away from water more than head deep." The weight of the metal in his body pulls him under, and it would seem that he drowned. But that leaves open the possibility that Torres could have somehow survived, and return for a future episode (unfortunately that never happened).

The Night of the Steel Assassin is a truly great show. This one gets 10 stars!

It's only fair to start with this episode's virtues: John Dehner's superlative performance as the "iron man," and an exciting fourth act, with some cool special effects as the rockets zip past Jim. Simple, but expertly done.

The faults are almost too numerous to mention. There's the clunky pace, which has us asking questions. Such as, if West has (we assume) been asked by Grant to check on the sixth victim, why would West show up after closing time, mere seconds behind the murder? Simply for the sake of a audience-grabbing teaser, and never mind logic? And Torres moves slowly--this is established in any number of scenes. So, how does he swiftly vanish from sight after West tosses the smoke bomb? And, was the president not concerned about any of the previous five murder victims, all from the same regiment? And why, after Grant refuses to show up at the event, do we see Artie in disguise? And West seems to possess advance knowledge that Torres is the "iron man," but how would he have reasoned this out? The chief flaw, I think, lies in starting the story midstream. Everyone except Grant has been bumped off, so a good deal of suspense potential has been wasted. Thus, the story lumbers along until West allows himself to be captured--whereupon, things pick up. But given that Torres' plan is dirt-simple--using explosives to obliterate the president--couldn't Artie or Jim have anticipated as much? It's hardly (no pun intended) rocket science.