... By Its Cover (3.21)

[MACattack]

All I know is that Magnum isn't above having a few beers (Coops or Old Dusseldorf)! To each his/her own.
Also, Never judge a book BY IT's COVER!

[lutherhgillis]

Oh yea, how about the box of 'encyclopedias' that Magnum and TC deliver to the dopers in the icecream truck. Magnum seems to struggle under the weight of the box but when the dope pusher opens the box, he tosses out about 4 volumes and the rest is packages of hootch. Now would Magnum struggle to carry a box full of dope? And wouldn't Magnum be suspicious of a box that large and that light? Maybe there was a row of encyclodedia on the bottom but the weight should have tipped Magnum off that something was wrong. After all, he is a world-class investigator...

[MACattack]

or maybe he was too stoned to notice. Just kidding!!!!

[Jay-Firestorm]

Another week, another batch of reviews. I can’t believe I’m almost up to the fourth season (and my all time favourite ep, ‘Home From The Sea’), already! Anyway, I’d almost forgotten what a great ep this is.

[rating=9.5]

Reunited with an old Naval buddy, who is now an encyclopaedia salesman, Magnum tries to do his old friend a favour by delivering a batch of the books to their buyer – only for it to turn out that the packages actually contain marijuana. A very good, and amusing, ep…

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I know I’ve said this about several third season episodes, but I had almost forgotten what a great episode ‘…By It’s Cover’ is. Well written, well performed, and with a lot of humour, one of the key traits of the series.

Stuart Margolin puts in a great turn as Magnum’s old Navy pal, Rod. Margolin (who also directed ‘Legacy From A Friend’ a couple of episodes before this), will be familiar to many as the recurring, shady Evelyn ‘Angel’ Martin in ‘The Rockford Files’ (1974-1980). Rod is actually a very similar character to Angel – both being slippery and unreliable, but then capable of acts of outstanding kindness.

Near the start of the story, Rod reads a newspaper article with the headline ‘Oahu P.I. Helps Break Aerial Dope Ring’, a nice reference to the previous episode, ‘Two Birds of a Feather’. The episode also makes mention of Ivan from ‘Did You See The Sunrise?’; it is some nice touches of continuity from an era where many such shows effectively hit the reset button after most episodes and seldom made reference to past stories.

Another really amusing touch is how the parole officer, Ms. Gordon (Carlene Watkins), continually mistakes Magnum for an offender named Peters, who looks extremely similar to him. This is made even more humours by the fact that Magnum’s doppelganger Peters is played by Tom Selleck’s stunt double for the series!

The story – and Rod – has many twists and turns, and on first viewing, it kept me guessing right through the story. The climatic scene is also very good, and had me laughing throughout.

Overall, a really good episode, and one that I’d forgotten about somewhat until I came to review it. It’s probably not a series classic, but it is certainly one of the best from the latter end of the third season.

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Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* When Rod arrives at the Estate trying to sell encyclopaedias, the shots from inside the door seem to be filmed on the real Anderson Estate. The background is clearly not a set (movement, a bird of a passing car or something, can be seen), and the sound (particularly for Higgins) is much more echo-y that the shots further into the house.

[J.J. Walters]

* When Rod arrives at the Estate trying to sell encyclopaedias, the shots from inside the door seem to be filmed on the real Anderson Estate. The background is clearly not a set (movement, a bird of a passing car or something, can be seen), and the sound (particularly for Higgins) is much more echo-y that the shots further into the house.

Somebody mentioned this once before, although not in this tread apparently. It must have been the "Robin Masters Estate" thread, or something similar... In any event, I think you're right Jay. It does appear to be filmed inside the doorway of the real Anderson Estate! The interior looks very similar to one seen in a couple of Hawaii Five-O episodes.

I wonder why they decided to film this scene there? Or why Eve would allow them to? Either way, I'm glad they did!

[Sam]

Hi James,
I think I mentioned this before..Seeing a passing car can not be seen from the estate front door, The estate front door opens towards the tennis courts.What you are seeing is...The interior shots of the house are the studio...the outside shots are taken from the estate in the hallway under the lanai (hence the echo) that leads to the front door...Remember,the side door is not the entry to the house...The scene is a mix of studio and the side door.

[J.J. Walters]

That's exactly right Sam. But in order to get that shot from inside the side-part of the house (I guess you could call it a "lanai", a completely enclosed lanai), looking out toward the driveway, the film crew had to be inside the house (inside the second set of doors that lead into the main part of the house).

On second thought though, I guess it's not TOO strange that this happened, as, outside of the Pilot Movie, Eve had allowed the crew inside to film several scenes from the second-level balcony ("From Moscow to Maui", etc.), looking out towards the lawn.

Still, it was very rare that the film crew was allowed inside the actual house.

[Sam]

James...I believe there are only one set of doors on the side.The film crew does not need to enter the house for that shot.You can get to those doors without entering the house.If one walked to the front from the enclosed courtyard,turned right,you would be facing the side door.The walkway to those doors are under the lanai,not in the house.

If you look at this picture taken from the driveway.The frontdoor is beyond the steps to the right,the courtyard is to the left.
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1038/46ny8.jpg

This pic is from that walkway back to the side door,Higgins scene is from these doors.
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/7407 ... re4om5.jpg

[Sam]

Hi James,
It's clear in this old head but not sure if I'm expressing clearly enough.

Here are two more pics.In the first pic you can see the side driveway door,Higgins spot from the scene..Notice the bell

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/1877 ... e35wl6.jpg

The second pic is from the courtyard and RC has marked the bell,also notice the estate's real front door.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/2087 ... lz0qg8.jpg

I think this is the location we are discussing,so it's not actually not from the interior of the house.

Yes....no?

[golfmobile]

Sam,

So what's you're saying is that the covered front porch that runs the length of the house (with the open balcony above), ends at the driveway (to the right as you're standing facing the house [in our dreams . . .], but instead of being open with columns like the front, it has a wall with double doors in it (for some reason)?

VERY rough drawing (and doesn't account for the rest of the house behind the porch and balcony):



golf

[Sam]

Hi Golf,
Yes,standing facing the estate main door,the double doors are to the right and open to the driveway.In the show,those doors were used to portray the entrance to the house...Living room straight ahead,Higgins study/den and stairs to the right.

In this pic the doors are open and you can see the steps.That passageway leads to the front door and beyond.The house wall is on the right.Immediately to the left of the doors before the steps is another door as an entry to the small wing towards the tennis courts.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1038/46ny8.jpg

In your sketch..the double doors to the driveway have a cover...as seen in the above photo.If you placed the wing on your right arch from your drawing that is the only wall on the left..then the arches along side the courtyard...Double pocket doors in the real main house entry..double swinging doors at the driveway..

I've marked the small wing that is on the left of the passageway.


If I didn't answer your question...let me know.

Sam

[golfmobile]

Okay, I see now. I forgot about the extra rooms/annexes (where you have your "X" on the roof) on that end of the porch. Access to the house from the driveway is the purpose, so one doesn't have to get out of one's car and walk all the way around the enclosed courtyard to get to the front door. What I still don't get is why there are wooden doors there. Why not just an open "tunnel" to the walkway in front of the house? Is there ANOTHER set of doors, facing these doors, on the other side of the annex building on the left, so the annex could, in effect, be closed off from the rest of the house? AND are there more doors into the house, where if one was in the annex and needed to go in the house, one could simply walk across the passageway and into doors into the house? This would, in essence, make a square there, with four doors (or sets thereof): 1. double-doors to driveway (west end of "tunnel"); 2. double-doors opposite/facing those to the covered front porch/walkway (east side of "tunnel"); 3. (as you enter from driveway) door(s) to the right (south side) after going through the driveway doors to enter the house; and 4. door(s) to the left (north side) to enter the annex.

Boy, I should would like to be able to just to walk around the house and see details like this. What's really strange is how the shooting around the grounds while MPI was filiming sure skewers our perception of what's where.

And one thing on that note: When ghost Mack was pestering Magnum and about to blow up, Thomas was walking away from the main house (technically toward the tennis courts, I believe), but wasn't he supposed to be going to the guest house where he lived? That would be accurate based on where the real boat house is, but I thought the show almost always implied the guest house was behind the main house -- all the scenes of people walking through the passage way at the house-end of the driveway (e.g., when the Simon brothers came from the guesthouse to go swimming at the end of that episode).

Now I've thoroughly confused myself. Please correct me if I'm messing this up, but it seems that there were some times when people seemed to walk across the front yard to go to the guesthouse, which contradicts other people coming through the passageway at the end of the driveway to the back yard. This would be continuity issue, I guess. The guest house roamed the property from episode to episode . . . . .

golf

[Sam]

I'm not sure why the double doors are there.I've seen some fairly long shots of the passageway but have never seen any other double doors by the small wing..I have a hunch that there is a door to the right before the steps.
In this pic there are DD past the main entrance.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1038/46ny8.jpg

Here is another shot from HFO.The guard is walking towards the driveway doors but has not reached the main door.There also seems to be another door over his left shoulder.


To the left of the DD's seen in that pic is another covered passageway next to the courtyard which is the ocean side wing and there is at least one other door.



I think you're right about the guesthouse roaming the estate.

[J.J. Walters]

Ok, I'm completely and utterly confused now! LOL!

Let's go back to the scene in question... The scene starts at the "door", looking into the house (from Hot Rod's perspective)...



Truthfully, I'm not sure if this is a set, or the real thing!

We then see Magnum coming around a corner, inside...



This is clearly a set at the "Magnum Soundstage".

We then see Higgins talking back to Magnum (with a noticeable difference in audio sound; sounding very "echo-y")...



This is the shot that appears to filmed at the real house, with the cameras technically inside Eve's pad! Although we don't see much of the interior, it appears to be very similar to what was seen in the scenes filmed in a couple of Hawaii Five-O episodes, which did film inside the house.

Here's another shot, as Hot Rod leaves...



What a strange scene! Unless I am wrong, it appears that they edited together the scene from footage taken at the estate (inside, just by the "door") AND at the soundstage.

[golfmobile]

James,

I think you're right that they edited two locations into one "continuous" scene, using Eve's doors only.

Look at the wall sconce/lamp/lantern (whatever you want to call it) over Higgins' left shoulder in your first picture.

Same light is on the wall in the picture with TM. So if those are sound stage sets (probably because of the "estate" phone on the wall), then the first is a sound stage shot too.

Could it be that the two pictures of the double doors (the one with Higgins calling to TM and the one of Rod leaving) are taken from the porch/covered walkway (with the cameras and lights actually just under the balcony but aiming toward the driveway and the doors there) pointing toward the driveway double doors that aren't really inside? That way they still wouldn't be IN Eve's house.

golf

P.S. Now, after going back and looking at the pictures again, EYE'm getting even more confused.

Okay, in the picture below with McGarritt, this is looking from the driveway doors all the way down loggia (new word for this covered front "porch") to the oceanside wing of the house, right?



If so, that makes it look as though that end of the house adjoining the oceanside wing has NO doors that actually close, just curtains and French doors beyond in the next room. That makes NO sense. You have to be able to close up the house for security reasons, surely. PLUS, where do those French doors open up to? If you look at the aerial shot Sam posted, I don't see any French doors on the oceanside wall of the house on a line with the loggia where these should be -- or at least not any steps or porch or anything for them to open up to! Pretty fancy doors not to have something outside to walk out onto. Where the yellow arrow points here:



And the picture makes the French doors look a lot closer than the width of that part of the wing of the house. NO! WAIT! With the loggia on the land side (facing the courtyard) of the oceanside wing too, then the room in that end of the estate main house ISN'T as wide as the roof line, because two loggias meet there so that would leave only the space for one large room at the end of the mainhouse loggia that extends UNDER the roof line to meet the loggia of the oceanside wing. Did I say that right? Still doesn't explain why there are no doors to close at the ocean end of the main house loggia. Or to what those French doors open. Also those French doors look even closer in the scene shot of the guard -- not a full room width behind him till you get to those French doors.

I give up. We just all need to GO SEE these loggias in person.

Or we could just ask Rick Romer, couldn't we?

golf

P.P.S. Sam, could that guard you pictured be INSIDE the room in the oceanside wing? inside of the yellow curtains that show in the McGarritt shot? I don't see having that table, candelabra, and statue out on the loggia.