Objection! Stupid hat!
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This movie leaves a major question unanswered, much to my dissatisfaction: Did they ever find the dog’s meat?
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EVER. Agreed.
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I’m not overly knowledgeable on the rights issues surrounding The Deadly Bees, outside of knowing that the film has a current Blu-ray/DVD release by way of Olive films via licensing by Paramount (as you pointed out).
I also know that Kino Lorber struck up a 65-film catalog deal with Paramount this year, and to the best of my understanding, this deal doesn’t include those Olive releases, so… who knows what the future holds for The Deadly Bees?
Stranger things in the MST3Kverse -have- happened!
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I acknowledge that I say this about every MST3K episode that can’t get an official DVD/streaming release, but it bears repeating here: it’s a damn shame that The Deadly Bees can’t get an official release, because it’s a fun little episode.
Are the overwhelming majority of MSTies going to mention this in the same exalted breath as time-honored Season 9 fan favorites like The Pumaman, Werewolf, The Touch of Satan, and The Final Sacrifice? Probably not. I don’t see a great deal of conversing about the episode in general, probably due in part to how the episode hasn’t received very much attention due to its absence on home video and official streaming venues. It may also be due in part to the film being a little bit drier and drearier than those other titles I mentioned.
Ah, but don’t let that fool ya! There’s still some really neat stuff going on here. And honestly, the ride here is a far more enjoyable one - in terms of the movie experience AND the riffing - than this season’s premiere episode, The Projected Man.
Some classic MST3K episodes have that ONE character that stand out as a riffing highlight, a lightning rod that attracts all the really hardcore jokes. In The Deadly Bees, we get that with the crusty, perpetually chain-smoking Mrs. Hargrove. Gah, what a delight she added to this film. She isn’t quite as much of a memorable standout quip magnet as, oh, say, Gloria from The Sinister Urge or Natalie from Werewolf, but her presence here gives the gang some serious rocket fuel to work with.
A favorite riff: Mike as Mrs. Hargrove: “Would you like a glass of cigarette?”
Crow has another winning one with “Why didn’t I marry a cigarette?” and with regards to the Hargroves, “Sure, they argue, but the sex is great.”
And then there’s Crow channeling Mrs. Hargrove with “Ah, has the hate gone out of our marriage?” as well as Servo’s observation: “One of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s stages of grief: heavy smoking.” Sure enough, there’s some serious Lockhorns-esque action going on here, and it all adds up to something fantastic. Easily one of MST3K’s more underrated characters (and the instigator of the impossibly goofy “dog’s meat” recurring bit).
I also had a lot of fun with the special effects of the front-projected bees, giving us quips like “So, why did this movie cost $170 million?” That’s not to mention that great bit during the opening credits with the bees all buzzing about the various names, causing Crow to fret, “They named every bee? This is going to take forever!” Plus you’ve got Mike bringing more scientifically flavored humor with “Help, according to physicists, we can’t fly!”
Outside of all of this, you have the usual suspects of fun comedy, like all the busting on all the British everything, the ridiculous notion of Vicki going on a relaxing vacation at A FARM FULL OF BEES, a neat little mystery, and the humorous ribbing of all the moments where an imperiled Vicki somehow finds a way to end up in EVEN MORE PERIL. Mike calls attention to that with such riffs as “Ow! Well, let me run around to the window and… ow!” and “She’s actually caused more damage and destruction than any of the bees!”
The appearance of the bowler hat guy near the end may leave some confused, but this episode offers a clear-cut example of why it is that MST3K is such a funny -and- relaxing show.
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The episode may not be available on DVD, but Shout Factory offered fans something special by including all the host segments from previously unreleased titles as part of Satellite Dishes, the fourth DVD in the (as of now) final classic era box set.
And that’s fantastico, because the host segments here are ON FIRE. The “Previously on the Satellite of Love” cold open segment is a mad experiment of random joy and wild camera work, and I’m all here for it. Same goes for Crow penning a sonnet in honor of Mrs. Hargrove and Jim Mallon confusing the hell out of everyone as the random Bowler Hat Guy™.
The REAL story here is the overarching storyline of the Mike Nelson and Paul Chaplin Observers coming back for the Bill Corbett Observer. That gives us a lot of terrific stuff here, including the “Stay” operetta. This song never caught on like the other memorable musical moments of the Sci-Fi era, which is too bad, because it can go toe-to-toe with any of them, in my book.
And the final fate of the other two Observers is an absolute HOOT (even though it’s not the last we’ll see of Paul Chaplin as an Observer).
In closing, while the episode has a multitude of enjoyable comedic moments, I will say that I’m prepared to love it forever for including this inevitable end credits gag that capitalized on the name of prop diva Beez McKeever AND the title of the film:
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I loved this episode when it first aired, and wore out my VHS I had taped off of the SciFi channel.
Something I can add is that this movie is based on a novel A Taste for Honey with a main character, Mr. Mycroft, who is heavily implied to be the Mycroft from Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. I still need to sit down and read the actual novel (I’m a sucker for any SH pastiche, and will try any author/setting at least once), but Raymond Chandler gave the novel a thumbs up so I’m pretty sure it will be good. Anyway, I’m pretty sure Mycroft is replaced by the singer in the plot, which makes me picture Charles Gray running around in his underwear, killing bees, inhaling smoke, and getting into car accidents.
Maybe someone else has talked about this in the forum, but I didn’t see it in this official thread so I thought it deserved a mention.
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… can we see that version?
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This is another episode I really love (and one I have on my computer since it’s not available for purchase.
The two best scenes are the inquest (“Will you take the chair?” “Don’t you need it for the rest of the inquest?”) and then the final scene with Vicky and Manfred (“You said I could pour!”). As the episode following the tour de force that is Werewolf, it holds its own very well.
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If I had it in my power, we would.
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There are so many talented people involved in this film. Not just Freddie Francis and Robert Bloch, but also actor Frank Finlay. And there’s a pre-Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood, appearing at the beginning of the movie as a member of The Birds (not to be confused with The Byrd’s).
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And I have to throw some in direction of Kiwi character actor Guy Doleman, who of course played the miserable, chain smoking Mr. Hargrove. Doleman appeared in my two favorite Spy movie franchises! First as henchman Count Lippe in Thunderball:
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And then as Michael Caine’s dour superior Colonel Ross in the three Harry Palmer movies!
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This experiment is the origin of one of my most useful riffs. Whenever I see the Paramount logo I say, “I give this movie, uh, 28 stars.”
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Never seen this episode. Will have to check it out sometime for sure.
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THANK YOU! I wasn’t able to place him and that troubled me. Yes Thunderball (1964) and he’s THE LIFE OF THE PARTY in both movies. He obviously was hired for his taciturn quality and I’m not sure that’s aged well. He has a unique face and his voice is gruff and forceful. Perfect as a Bond Villain.
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DOUR is his middle name much as odd would be David Warner’s. A British trait I think. One I’ve spied in Olivier and Caine especially.
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Yes. He did actually have a purpose in the plot.
The movie opens at a small office at the science ministry in London. They’ve been receiving letters on a regular basis from a guy trying to gain recognition for his scientific work, but the boss has dismissed him as a crackpot and has taken to throwing out the letters unopened. An underling, however, decides to open the letter and give it a fair look. The scene carefully skirts around ever allowing the audience to know the name of the would-be scientist in question.
Vicki is sent to stay with the Hargroves and starts noticing odd happenings with the bees. There’s a rivalry between Mr. Hargrove and Mr. Manfred, both of whom are avid beekeepers experimenting with new techniques. Ultimately, Vicki discovers the culprit, who confesses that he’s taken to desperate measures because his scientific advancements as an apiarist have been dismissed and ignored. He’s been driven to the point that he’s willing to commit murder if that’s what it takes to get attention and prove his techniques work. But, ultimately, he dies and his house burns down, killing his carefully-bred bees and destroying all his notes and materials.
And that is when the ministry official he’d been waiting for finally arrives, looking dapper in his bowler hat. If only he’d arrived a few days sooner. If only our culprit had been patient for a few days more. He could have gotten the validation he’d sought for so long. He wouldn’t have had a need to kill those people. He wouldn’t have died. Everything could have been different. But, alas, it is too late. It’s all gone up in smoke. The end.
Of course, the achievement in question was the ability to assassinate people with bees, so it’s probably for the best.
Also, as mentioned, it’s filmed in such a way that the bland opening scene is entirely forgettable and we don’t even get a good look at the ministry official’s face. Nor are we given much of a reminder of who he is or why he’s significant. So instead it just seems like a random guy we should know has arrived just in time for the movie to end.
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There is one scene in the middle of the movie where one of the bland guys is talking on the phone and he mentions the same crackpot but then promises that he’ll send the other bland guy to check it out. It’s almost as if the filmmakers knew that no one would remember these two guys and had to remind us.
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I eyed those. The beginning, middle, and end. A feeble try to ground the bookends into comprehension and it failed.
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