Psst! Hammerman's
After You!
(aka THE 18TH EMERGENCY)
With: Christian Juttner (Benjamin, aka "Benji", aka "Mouse"), Lance Kerwin (Ezzie), Titos Vandis (Mr. Casino), Jack Manning (Mr. Stein), Jay W. MacIntosh (Mother), Penny Santon (Mrs. Casino), Lillian Adams (Mrs. Schwartz), Ann D'Andrea (Margy), Jim Sage (Marv), Kevin McCarley (Peaches), Robert Lussier (Stumpy)
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SYNOPSIS: A contemplative young boy triggers a confrontation with the school bully. He tries everything to avoid facing the brute, but finally realizes there is nothing to do but walk up and take his lumps.
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This early After School Special produced by Martin Tahse (as "D. Martin Tahse") has a lot going for it; a clever screenplay, an affable protagonist (the adorable Christian Juttner), and some delightful set pieces. Even the credits are cool, drawn in chalk on neighborhood walls.
Little Benji has one of childhood's primal dilemmas; he's a kid with a (perceived) life-and-death situation, not helped by an ineffectual pal and a clueless parent.
There is a chart on the hallway at school, showing the progress of human evolution from Neanderthal to Cro Magnum. For some reason, Benji scrawls the school bully's name underneath the lowest of the apes, and of course, incurs the wrath of the ape in question.
Regretting his foolish actions immediately, Benji learns swiftly one of the great lessons of childhood: "Mind Your Own Business!" But this begs the larger question: why do some folks tend to incite anger from those bigger than they? Is it simply a self-destructive urge, or a curious attempt to force personal growth through hostile confrontation?
Benji draws on walls a lot; as an attempt to express his largely-unarticulated fears, as a cry for help, and in part a creative act in a life which feels threatened with extinction. He ruminates at length on the various "Emergencies" of childhood; these emergencies (and most importantly, their solutions) are illustrated with cute little animated vignettes by Dave Brain.
Big, gruesome Marv Hammerman looks, in fact, pretty goofy for a bully, but is nonetheless threatening to his victim. Benji tries everything to avoid the brute, but to no avail; he soon realizes that avoiding confrontation creates its own ghosts, more horrible perhaps even than the realities they are meant to protect; he decides to face his enemy head-on.
The bloody climax takes place in front of an abandoned movie theatre (apparently unused for decades, as the posters on the wall advertise DINOSAURUS! and SIMBA: MARK OF MAU MAU, two B-movies from 1961 and 1955 respectively!)
Benji takes his lumps and moves on, realizing several things in the aftermath. He has survived, and is in fact stronger for the crisis. Also, he is now revered by his peers as a man of integrity and courage.
Good show, more than a little "heavy", the stuff true education is made of.
DVD availability: Brentwood/BCI Eclipse
(1974, U.S.) color 46 minutes
Martin Tahse Productions / American Broadcasting Company
"An Entertainment Media Production"
Screenplay: Bob Rodgers
Music Supervision: Bill Loose, Jack Tillar
Cinematography by John Hora
Produced by Fred W. Bennett, Martin Tahse
Directed by Jack Regas
