A Trio of Horror Icons on "Route 66"

The stars of Route 66 meet the monsters

The television drama Route 66 aired for four seasons from 1960-1964. The show concerned the adventures of two young men who roamed the United States in a Corvette convertible, showing up in different locations every week.  Like Richard Kimble on The Fugitive, our heroes interacted with various people, helping them out of trouble, and often getting into some difficulties themselves. The initial co-stars were George Maharis and Martin Milner. Maharis later left the show, and was replaced by Glenn Corbett. The series was very popular with fans, and featured a host of stars to be in various roles, including Lee Marvin, Julie Newmar, and Walter Matthau. But on the night of October 26, 1962, longtime horror fans were given a very special Halloween treat, with the premiere of an episode entitled "Lizard’s Leg and Owlet’s Wing."

In this entry, our heroes Todd (Milner) and Buz (Maharis) are temporarily working as staff liaisons at a Chicago hotel, which is hosting a secretarial convention. Meanwhile, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney, Jr. (playing themselves) arrive at the hotel to discuss a new project. They register with their first names reversed (Peter Lorre is Mr. Retep, for example) and once they’re together, Lorre and Chaney try to convince Karloff that old style scares can still be successful, even in a world where there is a more graphic "new" type of horror film. This leads to the trio causing all kinds of havoc at the hotel, including Chaney wandering the halls in his Wolf Man makeup, hoping to frighten the convention attendees! As Todd helps the titanic terror triumvirate with their shenanigans, Buz falls for one of the secretaries, and the two stories end up intertwining in more ways than one. Karloff even ends up helping fix the broken relationship of the object of Buz’s affections!

The best part of this enjoyable show is seeing Chaney and Karloff suit up as some of their most famous horror characters. Chaney gets to play the Wolf Man, The Mummy and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Karloff dons the makeup of the Frankenstein Monster one last time. Lorre, as always, has some great moments, including a funny scene at the hotel desk when he checks in under his “assumed” name. Karloff, Chaney and Lorre play off each other to great effect, and are clearly having a grand time. Martin Milner seems to be enjoying himself interacting with these iconic actors, and the story wisely focuses on their antics. The only truly outdated aspect of the episode is that (for modern audiences) there are some decidedly un-politically correct moments in the depiction of the secretaries, but that is a sign of the era in which the show was produced.

"Lizard’s Leg and Owlet’s Wing" was penned by Stirling Silliphant (who co-created the series) and directed by Robert Gist. Even if you’re not a familiar with Route 66, this episode is worth seeking out if you are a fan of Karloff, Lorre and Chaney, and their classic films. You may even find yourself opting to check out more episodes of the series; it's a well-written and handsomely-produced show, almost like an anthology series. As I mentioned earlier the show features a number of familiar faces in guest star roles, including William Shatner, Suzanne Pleshette and Edward Asner. The series is available for purchase on DVD, for viewing on Amazon Prime and also on the free streaming website TubiTv.  Here’s a link to a trailer for the DVD release of the series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaT4pQDSWZw.