The Night of the Feathered Fury - Recap

An organ grinder hands his monkey Loki a small metal sphere and tells it that it has 60 seconds. Meanwhile, Jim and Artie arrive to meet Colonel Armstrong at his laboratory. Armstrong introduces Gerda Sharff and explains that she is a former member of Count Manzeppi’s organization. The agents are curious to know how much she’ll be charging for information on Manzeppi. Gerda assures them that she won’t charge money, but she does want protection. Loki climbs into the room through the window and sits on the mantle. The agents dismiss it as a concern and Jim goes to the window... and sees the organ grinder, Manzeppi.

The monkey tosses the grenade and when the smoke clears, the agents realize that Gerda is gone. Artie takes the stairs while Jim drops down the window on a mini grappling hook. However, all he finds is the hand-cranked organ. Artie returns and shows Jim the one thing he found: a small mechanical toy chicken that Gerda apparently dropped. He cranks the organ and it plays a recording of Manzeppi warning them of his infinite resources and his plans for their destruction.



That night, Jim returns to the Wanderer and discovers that the lights are out. Gerda is there, wearing Jim’s dressing gown, and she explains that she had to take a bath. She thanks him for saving his life but Jim tells her that she’s not fooling anyone. Gerda draws a gun on him and tells him to turn over his gunbelt. Once he does, she throws it out the window and demands the toy chicken. Jim claims it’s in Armstrong’s vault but she says that she’s on the run and needs it. Jim goes to the window and warns her that Manzeppi is out there somewhere and has figured that she’ll come to Jim.

Right on cue, Manzeppi comes in and turns on the lights with a series of gestures, and then offers Gerda a bouquet of flowers. It transforms into a rattlesnake and she warns that she’ll shoot him. Unimpressed, Manzeppi demands the return of the stolen toy in return for his forgiveness. He then compliments Jim on the elegance of the train while his assistant, Luther Coyle steps in. Luther toys with a ball-and-cup toy and Manzeppi tells him to demonstrate. The assistant shoots the ball at Gerda, disarming her. He then shoots it at Jim, who blocks it with a table and knocks Luther back through the door.



When Doyle goes for a knife, Manzeppi tells him to let others amuse themselves. His second assistant, Dodo Le Blanc, steps in. He launches a kick assault at Jim, who tugs on a curtain. Outside, a flare shoots out of a lighting fixture, alerting Artie while he’s in the middle of a date. Meanwhile, Dodo launches another attack and Jim knocks him back. Luther and Dodo prepare a joint attack but Jim notices the lights flicker. He reaches for a hidden panel and Artie hands him a gun, which Jim uses to shoot off the ball on Luther’s weapon. Artie emerges from the fireplace to get the drop on Dodo. Manzeppi congratulates them and realizes that they planned the entire thing as a trap for him. He invites Gerda to leave with him and the agents warn that he won't be departing. The count takes a seat and the agents suggest that Gerda make a quick exit.



Once she leaves, the agents ask Manzeppi about the toy chicken. He claims that it only has sentimental value but it’s the principle of the thing. Artie suggests that they search the monkey and Jim tells Manzeppi to have it hand over its tin cup. The count has Loki go over and hand over the cup, which is empty. However, it then removes a grenade from its hat and throws it, allowing Manzeppi and his men to escape.

Later, Jim and Artie go to Armstrong’s office and examine photos of the chicken, trying to work out its significance. As the agents go to see Armstrong, Jim sets off the toy and realizes that the tapping pattern is Morse code, and it spells out the name Heinrich Sharff. He goes on his own to the toy store of Heinrich Sharff. The clerk, Benji, comes out and Jim asks to meet Sharff rather than hand over the toy. Benji goes to get the owner and Jim tries out a kinematoscope. It shows Manzeppi performing a series of magic tricks culminating in the production of a miniature Jim West doll.



Dodo moves in to attack Jim while Manzeppi plays the violin as he descends on a suspended moon. As Luther comes in, Manzeppi asks for the bird and confirms that Sharff is Gerda’s uncle. Sharff drops out of a compartment, dead. Benji, wielding a scythe, moves in and Manzeppi explains that Sharff made the toy to Manzeppi’s specifications but then kept it. Jim goes for his gun but Luther disarms him and Dodo grabs the revolver. He wants a rematch with Jim first and Manzeppi agrees. The agent uses a hidden sleeve knife to drop a hanging star on them and then disarms Benji while Manzeppi plays the violin.



Jim runs to an upstairs hallway and comes to a blank wall. He notices a toy parakeet in a cage, takes the real toy chicken, covers it with a chemical leech, and throws it up onto the roof. He then pockets the other bird as the wall panel opens. Jim goes up to the next landing and a blower shoots him through a panel and down a slide into Manzeppi’s office.

The count and his men are waiting for him and demand the bird. Jim hands over the parakeet and Manzeppi is well aware that it’s not the real one. Luther and Dodo search Jim and find nothing, and Manzeppi invites him to sit down for dinner. Benji brings in the meal: a hand emerges from the dish and shoots Jim with a gun.

Armstrong and Artie try to figure out where Jim went before he disappeared. Artie figures that his partner is following a hot lead and figures that they should make the enemy contact them. He dresses as an organ grinder and stands on a corner, displaying the toy chicken. Gerda soon arrives to steal it at gunpoint and he shows her that it’s a chocolate chicken. Artie then suggests that they work together to get the chicken and Jim.



Jim wakes up in a giant birdcage and Manzeppi explains that he had his man fired an opium-coated dart. They’ve searched the building without success and now it’s time for Benji to torture Jim for the information. Jim asks what the secret of the toy chicken is and Manzeppi obliges. He shows the agent various common items transformed into solid gold. In the light of the full moon, Manzeppi placed the items next to the toy and they turned to gold. The toy contains the Philosopher’s Stone, an alchemical agent capable of transforming base metals into gold. Manzeppi summons Dodo and Luther to help and leaves.

In the toyshop, the two henchmen prepare to assist when Artie arrives, disguised as Sharff’s Uncle Hansi from Pennsylvania. He gives them cigars and lays out a picnic dinner. When they prepare to knock him out, Artie sprays them with drugged seltzer water and heads upstairs... unaware that Manzeppi has seen the entire thing.

Artie enters Manzeppi’s office and interrupts Benji. He tries to spray him but discovers that he’s run out of seltzer water. He slips Jim some thermite tape and then struggles with the henchman while Jim frees himself and lends a hand. When Luther and Dodo run in, the agents make short work of them and go back downstairs to the toy store and then back up to the hallway. Using Artie as a stepladder, Jim gets up and gets the toy. However, Manzeppi and Gerda step out from behind the hidden panel, and the agents realize that the count set them up and is working with Gerda instead.



Jim hands over the toy and asks why Gerda is permitting Manzeppi to keep the toy, particularly since she has the only gun. She forces Manzeppi to turn over the gun and says that he made the mistake of showing her his escape route on the roof. Once Gerda leaves, Manzeppi congratulates them on their triumph, stands up on a platform to make his final speech, and triggers a hidden panel to make his escape.

Luther and Dodo come running up and Jim makes short work of them. Avoiding the blowers, they get to the roof just as they hear Gerda scream. They step out and find Gerda transformed into a golden statue, the toy in her hand. As Manzeppi reaches for the chicken, Gerda and the toy explodes into gold leaf, leaving her golden-transformed gun behind. Manzeppi explains that possibly due to her corrupt soul, she dissolved into foil. As Manzeppi tries to leave, Jim point out that he has the gun but Manzeppi says that it will soon explode just as Gerda did. Jim drops the gun as it explodes and Manzeppi escapes in a hidden balloon.



Later, Jim and Artie show their dates the gold leaf, all that’s left of Gerda and the chicken. Artie suggests that they might be able to recreate it given the right conditions, but Jim is more interested in going out. They offer a toast to their chef, Mama Angelina, and then leave with their dates. As Mama Angelina comes up, she turns down the lights and opens the drapes. The light of the full moon falls on the gold foil and transforms back into the chicken, clattering away. When Angelina returns and notices it, she picks it up and takes it home for her grandchildren.

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