ABLAZE FOR HEYES: A FISTFUL OF DIAMONDS

Is that the first few notes of The Pink Panther I hear in the first scene while the bank manager removes money from the safe and stages the murder/robbery? It probably isn’t, but it has the same feel, and it seems kind of odd.
Heyes mentions that the banker’s description of him is wrong…he even says the mark on his neck is on the wrong side. Have we seen Heyes’ neck? Have we seen a mark? SHOW ME THE MARK!
That Soapy character just cracks me up. Our boys are asking for help to virtually save their lives. If they can’t get the banker to retract his accusation, they will be wanted for murder and will be hung if caught. Soapy, filled with concern, says, “Well, I’ll give it some thought, boys, but I am afraid I can’t help.” Then without even a slight segue, he merrily says with a big smile, “Meantime, you’re both going to have dinner with me—right here…” As if that will make up for the day the judge declares ”…where you will hang by your necks until dead.” I’m just not sure that is a fair trade.

Heyes looks very handsome in his suit when he and Kid visit Soapy to ask for his help. Kid’s suit would look better with a different cut. This one makes him look stockier than I think he is. And that grey washes out his eyes, which is obviously unfortunate.

Coming into the bank looking like dirty old diamond miners is surprising, but both men still look handsome under the dirt and bad clothes. I love how Heyes, as the miner, walks toward Binford’s office with his posture so different than his usual walk—his stomach jutted forward, his shoulders back, a bounce in his step. Peter does such an incredible job of making every embodiment of his character so unique. His acting skill amazes me. There is nothing overt about the change in his gait; it is a subtle variance that takes him a step above being simply a good actor. Other actors might have hammed up this moment, making their characterization obvious and common. Peter’s style of acting was quite extraordinary, and I honestly believe he had a brilliant, and highly respected, future ahead of him. I wish he had known that.

I have always thought Paul McCartney would grow up to look something like John McGiver, only with less severely tweezed eyebrows! No offense to my British friends, since I know he has been knighted by your queen and I don’t know if that means he is someone we must all revere and never speak disapprovingly of. Now that Paul McCartney is in his 60s, I see that he doesn’t look much like this actor, but I still wonder if they may be distant relatives.

Heyes’ way of speaking as the miner borders on his backwoods bumpkin voice again, but unlike in The Pilot when it was Peter’s portrayal of Heyes, this time it is Heyes’ portrayal of a kind of simple diamond miner, as part of the con. It is more subtle than in The Pilot, and mercifully fleeting.

I am certain now that I am either some kind of weird fetishist or a nut case. I simply love the moment as Binford is gathering up the stones to return them to their bag and Heyes stops him; the close up of that beat up and weathered old glove—the contour formed to the hand inside it—and Heyes’ exposed wrist, is enough to make me swoon a bit. Probably only for me, I add my symbols ® and definitely §. *sigh*
Those “10 little stones that sparkle and glitter a lot” were 21 stones just seconds ago.
There are our boys, sitting on the porch, enjoying cigars. My, they do clean up nicely, don't they? And I must admit that I find Mr. Joshua Smith exceedingly sexy with a cigar in his mouth. I would challenge you to find one picture of him with cigar that I’m not enchanted by. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but always a cigar between the lips of Hannibal Heyes is a sight to behold. §
Knowing Ben is a non-smoker, and always was, I wonder if having to smoke cigars in several episodes bothered him. He seems natural at it, not put off or finding it distasteful. Maybe he enjoyed an occasional cigar, kind of in the way I consider myself a non-drinker, but I enjoy a glass of wine every once in awhile.
I love, I mean really love, Peter’s left profile, which we happily see several times in this episode. I love the end of his nose, how it is turned up a bit. I love that left dimple, which seems to me to be deeper than his right dimple. I love the shape of his face from the left when he smiles.
How cute is the word dimple, anyway?
Heyes can’t seem to shake the shit-eating grin off his face as he stares at Betsy when they all meet in her room.

And what is she anyway, some kind of American geisha? She gets Heyes all enchanted, then gets down on her knees to light the Kid’s cigar. Subservient? Or predatory? I guess we wait and see.
I can’t quite read what Heyes is communicating to the Kid as he kicks his leg from a crossed position, sits very close to him and looks at him disapprovingly. Is it a testosterone-flowing man thing, that he wants the girl—or maybe a warning to Kid not to lose focus on why they are there?
Both men seem particularly handsome in this episode. Part of it may be the fact they are not overly made up. I have seen some episodes where they were almost orange they had so much makeup on.

The arrogance our boys display as they talk about using Betsy as a spy against Binford is a paradox to me. Men using women as objects or tools—or divvying her up between them offends my very nature, and yet these men use wording like Kid’s “Well now, you usually save something like that for yourself. How come you’re being so good to me?” and it not only does not offend me, it is somehow endearing; even enticing. Have I lost all feminist sensibility because of the intoxicating allure of Hannibal Heyes? I am thinking, 'well, yeah—I guess I have. I mean, really, who needs feminism when there is this beautiful, arrogant man to be in love with?' *giggle*
I love the dark blue shirt and brown corduroy jacket combo on Heyes. It compliments Peter’s coloring. And even though I like him any way—hatless, or with his hat tilted back on his head—my absolute favorite Hannibal Heyes look is that of his hat placed a tiny bit forward, shadowing his eyes and giving him an air of mystery and machismo. Delicious. *sigh*

I enjoyed seeing Kid get rebuffed by Betsy, while Heyes watched. His confident swagger skipped a step or two on his way back across the street to Heyes after she showed him no interest.

Hey, if there are going to be kissing scenes, have them be with one of our boys, and not some unknown guest actor! The only scene in the whole episode this cowboy is in and he is standing there in a lip lock with Betsy.
Ok, that is the tightest dress I have ever seen. I don’t think it was meant for a big busted woman like Betsy. Is it leftover wardrobe from some smaller guest star?? Note to self: Keep an eye out for the purple dress in other episodes on other women! Oh, and Betsy? You'd better be careful if your cowboy returns. Don't do any heavy breathing while in that dress--any expansion of your lungs is liable to burst the seams.

Speaking of Betsy…what’s up with that ridiculous “I’m a stupid, innocent girl” way of speaking? She is an attractive woman, but that affect of hers is enough to send me running for the hills. Grating, very grating.
Kid always gets a very intense, distinctive look on his face when a quick draw is brewing. He looks like he needs sweet release. ®

Hey it’s Indiana Jones! Oh, no—wait a minute, it is just some mining engineer wearing his hat atilt, attempting to appear urbane.

I know that diamonds are the hardest natural element on earth, but I would still be more careful with them than greedy old Binford is, tossing them, one after the other, into a cloth in Betsy’s lap.
There’s the ugly bag! That’s three sightings so far, at least to my count. I guess we could say it has a more frequent recurring role so far than Wheat!
The Kid carries himself with self-assurance when Heyes isn’t around and he is the one doing the talking. He moves and speaks in a very confident way, handling Betsy quite deftly with his veiled threat to expose her dalliance with her cowboy.
I love the scene when Heyes tells the banker that he’s been had. So many intricacies of this scene work so well. Binford tries to leave, and Kid stands up to block his way. Always the muscle of the duo, that Kid. And when Heyes stands up almost nose to nose with Binford and divulges who they are…”I’m Hannibal Heyyyyeees, and he’s Kid Curry” the way he draws out his last name is supremely intimidating, and very sexy. Our two boys as a team of intimidators work well, although the scene is right on the cusp of being over played. And as our favorite outlaws take leave of Mr. Binford, they walk with total self-confidence, knowing their strong arm tactics have coerced the greedy man into recanting his story.

The actor replacing James Drury isn't terrible as Lom Trevors. His voice is deep and commanding and he even slightly resembles Drury. Still there is a moment of surprise when I first see him and realize he is who we will now know as Lom Trevors.

Oh, my, there’s that purple dress again. Do you suppose they actually sewed her into it??
As the Kid tells Betsy she too has been had, I am startled by how young Ben looks. It hits me every once in awhile how young they both were and how long ago this was. The fantasy bubble is burst for the tiniest moment, and it is jarring.
Now this part I love…in the two episodes I have seen so far where Heyes pretends to be a government agent (in Wrong Train he pretended to be a Bannerman detective—in this episode he impersonates a US Treasury Agent) he uses the most wonderfully affected way of speaking. It is so over the top, we know anyone should be able to guess he is faking it. He sounds a bit like Jack Webb...and he always comes up with comical sounding aliases; tonight it is "Hotchkiss and Rembacker". Sweet.
I cherish seeing Peter laugh…even if it is only as Hannibal Heyes.