|
Then in
1970 came a pilot for a new western comedy-adventure, Alias Smith
and Jones, co-starring with Ben Murphy. Hannibal Heyes was to become
the role for which the public would remember Pete and he brought a
great deal of charm and charisma to the role. He admitted though,
that it took him a while to "discover" who Heyes was.
"I
still haven't found my way in playing Hannibal Heyes. I know what
Heyes should be, at least I did in the pilot. He favors sweet
talking, card playing and safe cracking and needs situations to
display those attributes. But when you put a series together in a
hurry, it's hard to get scrappy dialogue for such occasions. That's
difficult to do even with plenty of time. I make it a point never to
criticize writers--they have the hardest job going--so I often work
around the situation and dialogue, trying to have fun."
 One
of the most memorable things about the show was the on-screen
chemistry between Pete and his co-star Ben Murphy who played Kid
Curry. Ben later described it as a good chemistry which began at the
audition and said that that was what he thought people liked about
the show. "The chemistry between Peter and I was wonderful. I
have never quite had it since. It was a marvellous chemistry."
In
October of that year, Universal offered Pete a co-starring role as
Hannibal Heyes in the series and it was brought in as a mid-season
replacement for the ailing Matt Lincoln.
Pete was
not keen to become involved in a series but he had already turned
down two previous ones and if he had said no, the studio could have
put him on suspension which meant he would not be paid and would be
unable to work elsewhere. What he really wanted to do, was to
continue the dramatic roles he had been doing on other series, but
as his brother Geoffrey later explained "He really had no
choice. That's the way it is; that's the rule of the game. Certain
other actors would just love to have a series - they would be on
cloud nine."
Pete
himself admitted "Some actors sign contracts hoping they'll
land in a series. I signed hoping I could restrict my work to
movies. However, a legal hassle developed and I wound up suffering
from battle fatigue. They sweetened the pot a little bit and here I
am."
Clearly
he was not on cloud nine. By the end of the first season he was, by
his own account, close to a breakdown.
"Yeah.
I've been pretty outspoken about how I feel about this television
series. I hate it. I never wanted to do it. But, I'm stuck. I'm
under contract. I think last season I hated everything and everyone.
I hated the series and the whole idea of being in a television
series. In fact, looking back I think I was as close to a nervous
breakdown as I ever want to be. I realize that's a very dramatic
statement, but day by day, week by week, inch by inch, I was getting
more and more unhappy, more and more frustrated."
During
the break in filming between the first and second series of Alias
Smith and Jones, he filmed a version of the stageplay The Scarecrow
by Percy MacKaye, co-starring with Gene Wilder. Pete claimed that
this was the work he was proudest of.
In
September 1971, during filming of the second series of Alias Smith
and Jones, he said "This series, any series, is a big fat drag
to an actor who has any interest in his work. It's the ultimate
trap. You slowly lose any artistic thing you may have. It's utterly
destructive." By November he was becoming even more
disenchanted and unhappy. "Contractually, I have to do this
series - or some other trash."
 Despite
his feelings about the series, he never gave anything but his best.
Roger Davis, who took over the role of Heyes after Pete's death,
also guest starred on an episode with Pete and his co-star Ben
Murphy. "He was a complete natural" he commented. "He
didn't even have to learn his lines until just before he went on.
Such a complete absence of nerves gives you great strength as an
actor.' He remembers one scene in particular. "Pete and Ben
were at a poker table and Pete had the script on his lap. He kept
having to get up and in the end just let it fall to the floor and
got on and did the scene. It was great ensemble acting. Nobody
wanted to let the other two down and Pete knew he could always rise
to the occasion."
In
fact, he had a reputation of wanting perfection and of raising hell
if a script was inadequate. He would also pester the directors with
pertinent questions about character motivation. As one producer said
"He's a stickler about having everything perfect with his
acting--he'll raise hell if something is off or if the acting is not
up to his standards."
"I
like the challenge of being his agent," said Marc
"Butch" Clavell. "He is terribly headstrong and
willing to take a suspension at the drop of a hat if the property is
not up to par. He's not afraid to fight with the biggest people, but
he's honest and a beautiful friend. When I was in the hospital, he
offered to finance my three children's education in a private
school."
Pete did
keep his feet firmly on the ground throughout his career and never
became "affected" by his stardom, never played "the
star". He didn't like press interviews, but understood their
importance - and their danger. "These interviews with the press
can be fun, but they can also be a little scary. Sometimes they can
build up your image to the point where you don't know yourself if it
is a myth or reality."
 Alias
Smith and Jones had enjoyed only minor success in the US, due in
great part to its being scheduled against the country's favourite
show, Flip Wilson, on a Thursday night. Despite this, it was renewed
for a second and indeed a third season. As Pete explained "When
you throw somebody to the wolves, and they don't get devoured, you
keep them on. After all, it's cheaper. You save money by not trying
with a new baby.
On the
other hand, the series was a major success abroad in countries such
as the UK, the Netherlands and Japan. In fact, to this day many
still remember the series, and Pete Duel, in the UK.
The
series would not, however, survive without Pete for very long. As
Egbert "Swack" Swackhamer said "He was the real star.
A lot of the success of the series was due to him."
On the
day of his death, Executive Producer Roy Huggins had assumed the
show would be cancelled but the studios instructed that filming
would continue and a replacement would be found to take over the
role of Heyes. Filming even continued that very afternoon as they
shot sequences involving Kid Curry but not Hannibal Heyes. Three
days later, Roger Davis arrived on the set as the new Hannibal Heyes. The final five episodes of the second series were completed
but after only 12 episodes of season three, the show was cancelled
mid-season in 1973.
One
final ironic comment from Pete Duel: "It would be funny if the
series runs a couple of years, then the film is re-released, and the
new audience that hasn't seen the movie will say, 'Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid' resembles Alias Smith and Jones."
I don't
know what Pete would say to this, but I remember clearly as a nine
year old sitting down to watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
with my parents and my father saying that I would probably like the
film because it was "kind of the film version of Alias Smith
and Jones." Maybe Pete just never quite knew what an impact he
was making?
|
