Artie, is that you?

[California gal]

In the Fatal Trap thread the subject of Artie's disguises came up, and in particular when he wasn't as recognizable as other times. We could talk about that and also mention his best (and worst?) disguises.

I know there were a few times when even Jim didn't recognize his partner. TNOT Eccentrics comes to mind, and also possibly Surreal McCoy. I'm still not certain whether he knew "McCoy" was Artie when he first appeared up on the landing. But I'm pretty sure he did by the time Artie walked by the table.

As for disguises where he might have been least recognizable to the public, I'd nominate the preacher in Skulls for one!

p.s. I remember starting a thread similar to this previously, but I think it was on the other board. Couldn't find it here but the search engine here is wonky (in that I can't figure it out!). But this is always something fun to discuss, no?

[artiesniecewannabe]

Jim didn't seem to recognize Artie as the Indian Rope Trick Fakir until Artie did his little invocation and ended it with 'To the WEST!'

[California gal]

I love to watch Jim's expression when he realizes that's his partner under all that!

[artiesniecewannabe]

One thing that gets me about Artie playing (eastern) Indian in that episode, Golden Cobra, as well as in Raven where he's playing the other kind of Indian, is that he starts blabbering on in some sort of (dare I use the term?) jibber-jabber that is apparently supposed to be the language of the respective types of Indians involved. And the real Indians, hearing him blathering like that, don't suspect anything when he's spouting all that nonsense?

Which, of course, is me overthinking things again. But it does strike me as weird.

[California gal]

I think in Sue's book it says that in TNOT Arrow, when they were filming the funeral scene, the actor playing Oconee just did some blathering, with the intent of replacing it with the real Indian language later. But the producer or director or someone decided that the blather sounded more Indian than the real thing!

I've always wondered about the Chinese spoken by Artie in Dragon Screamed too.

[artiesniecewannabe]

The Sheik Hokar disguise in Grand Emir is an especially good one, I think. That particular type of fake nose (and he used it again in Burning Diamond) alters his look very effectively. Funny how adding what amounts to a triangle of putty high on his nose can make his nose actually look smaller -- or at least it looks smaller to me.



Another disguise that I have trouble seeing Artie under is the Australian captain in Egyptian Queen.

[Apple]

Australian?! Really? Huh. I just assumed British, but yeah, how about that!

[snish]

Feb 13, 2012 10:54:22 GMT -8 @artiesniecewannabe said:

One thing that gets me about Artie playing (eastern) Indian in that episode, Golden Cobra, as well as in Raven where he's playing the other kind of Indian, is that he starts blabbering on in some sort of (dare I use the term?) jibber-jabber that is apparently supposed to be the language of the respective types of Indians involved. And the real Indians, hearing him blathering like that, don't suspect anything when he's spouting all that nonsense?

Which, of course, is me overthinking things again. But it does strike me as weird.

It would be politically incorrect these days, to put it kindly. (and the audience would be more likely to see through it--no doubt the producers thought Americans couldn't tell the difference, so who cared?) I think Dragon Screamed is sort of interesting though. I think Artie is imitating the sounds he's heard the other Chinese make and keeps repeating them, hoping they're what the Chinese woman wants to hear.

Or we could just believe that Artie actually knows all these languages, and the blather was supposed to be correct.

[artiesniecewannabe]

Snish, I think you must be right about Artie's Chinese, that he's parroting what the others said.


Now, his Russian -- that is correct, isn't it? And his French and Spanish (not to mention, Jim's Spanish) sound pretty good too.

[California gal]

I know he spoke Russian, and I believe Spanish and French. But I can't remember what the other languages are. How about in Burning Diamond when he's trying to get through to the butler? He speaks several languages, including German, I believe. Whether they are actually the ones Ross knew or he was just reading the script, I don't know.

I always thought the ship captain in Egyptian Queen was British too. He talks about the Queen's Navy, doesn't he? Or something like that. Of course, an Australian sailor might refer to the queen too!

[artiesniecewannabe]

Hmm... Well, I went back and watched the Egyptian Queen. I don't know where I picked up him being Australian, because there's no mention of it in the episode. He's simply some variety of Brit, which of course would have included Australian back then. Oh well!

[snish]

Artie did speak Russian (he mentions once that he can speak it but not read it), also French, Spanish, German, and Italian. And whatever Slavic language they're speaking in Iron Fist. I don't think they said. There may be something else I've forgotten too.

I think his accent in Egyptian Queen is more or less Cockney, or some lower-class British, which could pass for Australian as well.

[madhaberdasher]

I think his accent in TNOT Egyptian Queen is closer to Australian than a cockney. There are phrases that he uses in character that are, in my opinion, more appropriate for an Australian character than an English one.

My favorite disguises of Artie's are the nautical ones. Especially with the lovely striped shirt! I'm also rather fond of Ascot Sam and Lightning McCoy.

[Double Take]

One disguise that I never saw through was as a Mexican soldier in Assassin. I had watched the episode multiple times before I realized he was one of the soldiers carrying the stretcher with Halvorsen on it.

[California gal]

I'm with you, DT. I can't remember now what tipped me off, but even though he showed up in the rail car in the uniform, I never realized he was actually in the group of men that Col. Arsenic talked to until I had watched the episode several times!

[artiesniecewannabe]

Me too. He really tricked me with that one. I kept wondering, 'Why does the camera keep showing that bunch of soldiers?'

[California gal]

When you think about it, Jim has to be a pretty good actor too, to not react too strongly when Artie shows up in disguise. As we talked about in another thread, he shows it in his eyes. I was watching Death-Maker the other night, and I paid particular attention when Dane is sentencing Jim to the firing squad and one of his men comes in to tell the general that a "Frenchman" wants to talk to the head abbot. There's a twinkle in Jim's eyes as he realizes that "Frenchman" is Artie-to-the-rescue. He's as proud of Artie's ability to enact a disguise as Artie is of Jim's fighting prowess!

[artiesniecewannabe]

Then later in Death Makers, Artie is sneaking around, slips through a door and gets grabbed -- only to find that Jim is the one who grabbed him. And Jim let him go because he felt the phony moustache and recognized, This must be Artie.

[California gal]

At least he didn't slam a door against Artie like he did in Skulls!

[Nydiva]

Aside from the Preacher in Skulls, I think the next two most unrecognizable are the clown from Sudden Death and Falstaff from Plague.

Still, Ross manages to shine through no matter what. ;D

[California gal]

Definitely unrecognizable as the clown. I can't remember if I realized it was him right away or not.

Among his disguises, the ones I like best are the Portuguese in Samurai, the mountain man in Firebrand, and "old timer" in Montezuma's Hordes.

Question: I know there are episodes in which he did not don a disguise as all, but is Vipers the only one where he wore a disguise from start to finish?

[California gal]

How many times was Artie recognized while in disguise?

I can think of Flaming Ghost and Vicious Valentine.

[artiesniecewannabe]

Not exactly recognized, but in both Fugitives and Spanish Curse, the baddies twigged to him when they learned of the whereabouts of the real guy.

In Poisonous Posey, similarly, he was outed when the real Ascot Sam showed up.

In Gruesome Games, someone who knew the real man Artie was impersonating outed him.

Artie was recognized in Ready-Made Corpse; they then tried to make him the title character.

[California gal]

I always wonder why, in Fugitives, Artie swiped the preacher's wagon instead of renting it from him or something. Of course, then the writers would have had to figure out a different way to "out" him.