The Fugitive (TV Series) Ballad for a Ghost (1964) User Reviews

A very unusual change of pace...and for once, Kimble's being a fugitive is not the primary plot.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 14 April 2017]

Richard Kimble has been in one place for a while and is ready to be on the move once again. His boss is furious, as a famous pop singer is going to be performing there and if Kimble isn't there, who will operate the lights? That won't stop Kimble from leaving but once he meets Hallie Martin (Janice Rule) he decides to stay. After all, he is a doctor and clearly something he found in her belongings indicates she's either a very, very sick lady or she's a drug addict. In fact, the plot never really deals with him being a fugitive very much at all and is more about Kimble working with Martin in order to help her through a very, very difficult time in her life. So, while she is famous and has much to be thankful for, she is in trouble and needs a friend...and Kimble is her friend.

A very nice change of pace for the show, it's worth seeing because it is so different.

A rarity: Kimble departs town on his own terms

[Guad42 · 8/10 · 10 November 2020]

Good episode without the usual vibe of "will they catch him this time" hanging over it. The plot has been covered by other reviewers so a few comments. Good guest performers as always with QM shows. Janis Paige does well as the hard woman with a secret. Paul Fix is the steadfast, suffering father who knows more than he is letting on. Peter Mark Richman is the jealous ex-husband. He is always an intense actor and this role fits him well. Noam Pitlik has been in a hundred shows as a guest star and he did some directing too. One of those actors where you recognize the face but don't know the name. As of this writing, Paige and Richman are still with us. I wonder how many women fall in love/semi-love with Kimble over the four years of this show. Seems like about fifty. (Kimble - Pick Suzanne Pleshette!) At the end, Hallie gives him a lift to the bus station and he gets to leave town with a paycheck and his clothes, for once. A nice, change of pace episode.

Dick finds himself in another complicated situation

[jsinger-58969 · 9/10 · 8 February 2023]

Dick is working at a small night club as kind of a do-it-all who happens to be a natural operating the stage lights. Just one more thing he's great at. He's ready to move on anyway and when he hears that a bunch of reporters are going to cover an act that starts the next day, he gives boss Mark Richman notice. Richman is mad because no one else can work the lights like Dick. It turns out that the new act is Richman's X who left him for the bright lights. And she happens to look just like Helen! Now, Dick's marriage didn't end well, but there were some good times before the alcoholism and the murder. The two of them hit it off immediately, much to the chagrin of Richman, who still has a thing for her. She tells Dick she's tired, and Dick's medical training leads him to instantly deduce that she is shooting morphine because she has a terminal illness. She says she'll keep his secret if he keeps hers, because she knows he's Dr Richard Kimble. She leaves a syringe in his room, which is found by Richman who thinks Dick is a drug addict. So he calls the law and Dick is going to be arrested after the show for being a dope shooter. Except her daddy, Paul Fix (old Marshall Micah from the Rifleman) knows about her habit and tells Richman. The cops start to take Kimble away. He thinks they know who he is so he doesn't question why, but Fix tells the cops he's a diabetic and they found his insulin needle. The cops think this is a bit strange, but they buy it. Helen 2 drives Dick to the bus stop, and they share a passionate goodbye kiss. It's one of Dick's slowest, and saddest exits.

Plot summary

[ynot-16 · 10/10 · 14 October 2008]

This sweet and poignant drama is different from most episodes of The Fugitive. Kimble, using the name Pete Glenn, is working at a small town Ohio night club (Haywood's Log Cabin) when he hears that the owner's ex-wife, popular singer Hallie Martin (actress Janis Paige), will be performing the next evening. After learning that reporters are likely to be present, he tells the owner, Johnny (actor Mark Richman), that he is quitting in the morning, before she gets there. This disturbs Johnny, since Kimble works the lights for the shows, and he has no replacement handy.

Kimble awakens in the middle of the night to hear a woman playing guitar and singing, and he meets Hallie, who bears a strong resemblance to his deceased wife (though Helen Kimble is always portrayed by a different actress, Diane Brewster). The two of them quickly form a close bond, which further disturbs Johnny. Hallie had left Johnny to pursue her career, and Johnny is still upset, and maintains hope for a reconciliation. Despite possible risk, Kimble stays to work the next night.

Kimble learns secrets about Hallie she does not want revealed, while Hallie discloses that she knows Kimble's real identity.

Matters are complicated by the presence of Hallie's sister Nora (actress Ann Helm), who is jealous of and angry at Hallie's apparent snobbery, and Hallie's father Dan (actor Paul Fix), who loves her but wants to help reform her bad habits, including her excessive drinking.

Circumstances place Kimble in danger of arrest for a crime of Hallie's, but the matter is resolved. Kimble and Hallie leave town with an abiding affection for each other, understanding that each has a different path to follow. She drops him at a bus station and, for once, Kimble leaves town without being chased by police.

12/29/64 "Ballad for a Ghost"

[schappe1 · 21 May 2015]

Per Ed Peterson's book on this show: "The Fugitive Recaptured", Diane Brewster, who played Helen Kimble in the flashback sequence of "The Girl Form Little Egypt" wanted to appear in more episodes, particularly since she knew Quinn Martin often reused his performers in different roles. "I would like to have been used on the show more frequently either in flashback or as a different character and I couldn't do it, having played that pivotal dumb thing on the floor."

Why isn't she in this episode? Janis Paige plays a singer who has come back to play a night in her ex-husband's night club: she made the big time and he didn't and he resents it but needs the money. Kimble takes one look at her and sees his wife Helen, (we even see Paige lying on the floor in the same dress Brewster wore).

He becomes obsessed with her, especially when he finds out she's taking drugs. It turns out she's dying of cancer and the drug she is taking is morphine. What's more, she is aware of her resemblance to Kimble's wife because people comment on it: she followed the trial and knows who he is, (it's the second straight episode where a character suddenly announces to Kimble that he/she knew all along who he is). They agree to keep each other's secret. Her ex, Peter Mark Richmond, is jealous of the attention Kimble is getting. He sees Kimble with a syringe and concludes he's the drug addict and calls in the police.

Janis Paige, (who is still with us at age 92) is a song and dance lady from way back. Diane Brewster does not appear to have been a singer so maybe that's why she didn't play this character. But the singing sequences are brief and she could have been dubbed. I don't see that much of a resemblance: Diane: http://image2.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2005/46/11396_11085597 8394.jpg Janice: http://www.nndb.com/people/583/000132187/janis-paige-2- sized.jpg The episode is weaker because Janis just doesn't look that much like Helen Kimble. It would have much stronger with Brewster, (although Janis' acting is quite good), and it would have given Brewster something more than just being "that dumb thing on the floor". She deserved better.