Rob Price
A “Cliffhanger” is an ending to an episode of a serialized drama that leaves the audience in suspense. The term is believed to have been originated with the serialization of Thomas Hardy’s A Pair of Blue Eyes which was published in Tinsley’s Magazine in 1872. One of the chapters end in the hero literally hanging from a cliff. The term was popularized in the early 1900s with films like The Perils of Pauline, in which each serial would end with the actress literally hanging from a cliff. In 1979, NBC attempted to revive the old movie serials by creating a series in which each hour-long episode contained chapters to three separate stories. Every week each story would end with the one of the main heroes in mortal peril, thus the name Cliffhanger. The three stories included a film noir mystery, Stop Susan Williams; a science fiction/western hybrid, The Secret Empire; and a horror story, The Curse of Dracula.
Stop Susan Williams features a globetrotting newspaper photographer, Susan Williams (Susan Anton) who is investigating the mysterious death of her brother and stumbles upon an international conspiracy with a quickly approaching event that could spell out world devastation. The filming style was meant to be reminiscent of the old Humphry Bogart mysteries with lots of action and excitement and was a take-off of the afore-mentioned The Perils of Pauline.
The Secret Empire was modeled after the 1935 serial The Phantom Empire with Gene Autry. The Secret Empire takes place in the 1880s where Marshal Jim Donner (Geoffrey Scott- Dark Shadows, Dynasty) finds the entrance to a secret civilization living underground run by a tyrant with some of its inhabitants planning a revolution. The above ground scenes were filmed in sepia-tones to mimic the old westerns, while the underground empire of Chimera was shown in full color.
The Curse of Dracula involved Mary Gibbons (Carol Baxter) seeking revenge against Dracula (Michael Nouri) who killed her mother years before. The Count is in modern day San Francisco (1979) and posing as a college professor. Joined by Kurt Von Helsing (Stephen Johnson), the grand son of the original Professor Van Helsing. Dracula is played as both a monster and a romantic sympathetic character with regrets about what he is, and yet accepting that he is a monster.
To add to the novelty and the overall vibe of an old movie serial, the first episode started at different chapters for each story. Stop Susan Williams started at chapter 2, The Secret Empire started at chapter 3, and The Curse of Dracula started at chapter 6. Cliffhangers was an expensive series to shoot needing to have three different production units running simultaneously. In addition to the cost, it was slotted up against Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley which were the two most popular shows at the time. The show was cancelled after only ten episodes with only The Curse of Dracula having completed its story. The two concluding episodes of The Secret Empire and the last episode of Stop Susan Williams was only shown overseas. Although Stop Susan Williams was later edited together into the television movie The Girl Who Saved the World. Dracula also got re-edited into two separate television movies with Dracula ’79 and World of Dracula. The conclusion of The Secret Empire never aired in the United States.
I really enjoyed watching the first episode of this show again, since it had been nearly 25 years since I had last seen an episode. The stories were fun, and the approach was novel for its day. The acting was passable, if a little over the top, and the scripts were clever as was the storyline. The pacing was good and the show had a nice rhythm. It is unfortunate that the show didn’t get better ratings as it would have been interesting to see what new stories could have been introduced.
