Night Gallery - The Ring with the Red Velvet Ropes

As much as I love Chuck Connors in this episode of Night Gallery, “The Ring with the Red Velvet Ropes” left me a bit confused. I *think* this is a version of hell or something similar where being the best at your sport can demand a heavy price. Granted being “married” to Joan Van Ark for as long as you remain the champ in their enigmatic netherworld would seem to be quite a perk, Lockwood doesn’t get a lot of answers as to how he got to the luxurious hotel where he’s granted access to a pool room, fancy digs, and pleasant view of an ocean outside the window. He just can’t seem to leave unless he agrees to fight Connors, a champ considered the best although to the viewing public Lockwood is the Heavyweight Champion of the World. It does seem that prior to Lockwood winning his championship, the man he defeated, Big Dan Anger (Ji-Tu Cumbuka), once boxed Connors…and lost. And Joan Van Ark tries to convince Lockwood to lose, too, but he’s “never thrown a fight” so once the two bulls locks horns in the ring with the red velvet ropes it will not be a fraud. I definitely felt “A Game of Pool” Twilight Zone vibes while watching this episode, where Lockwood sort of slides into the Klugman role while Connors is the “Fatman”, a legend in his own sport and has survived for quite some time. Connors, before the boxing match serves as his undoing—even the best have an expiration date—is quite intimidating. You can always hear him punching the bag while Lockwood is seduced by the alluring Joan Van Ark, who is always a sight for sore eyes.

The boxing match, although edited to keep the pace going, has some really great moments as Lockwood and the aging but still formidable Connors throttle each other, carefully shot so that body doubles could be used (notice a lot of lower torso shots rather than showing Connors and Lockwood’s faces being pummeled) with the heavy-hitting action in the ring. How Lockwood left his shower, finding the hotel concierge waiting with a robe and eventually greeted by Van Ark, and ended up at this whole other place is never explained with any great detail. It was as if this whole other dimension took him from his world, “kidnapped” without his say, and dumped him into competition with Connors. The ring of fire, set off by Connors’ eagle-tipped torch, with the Great Book of Competitors listed who had fallen to him, is quite a visual, if it just made sense. Just the same, it does appear that Lockwood would assume his place, no longer able to return to his position as Heavyweight Champion. I thought that scene where a bruised-face Big Dan questions Lockwood’s victory, with welts and lumps warping his visage, although he wasn’t actually there was quite eerie. And a withering Connors barely able to stand much less compete against an advantageous but sympathetic Lockwood, collapsing in a heap and dying, was quite tragic…but expected. Quite a head-scratcher, this one. I’m sort of mixed on it. 2.5/5