Subject: Major Briggs actor appears in TP-like chess drama
From: neto@cs.toronto.edu (David Neto)
Date: 1991-06-12, 08:24
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks

This has nothing to do with the finale.  Hurrayyy!!!!!!

On the 27th of May, the First Choice pay tv movie channel here in
Canada broadcast a film adaptation of three stories from Kurt Vonnegut's
_The Monkey House_ collection.  Although the collection is 20-odd years
old, the stories were adapted for a more recent audience.

The third story in the set had some interesting similarities to our
beloved Twin Peaks.  The essence of the story (no spoiler ... :) )
is that the American ambassador to a fictional Central American country
ravaged by civil war is captured along with his wife, son, and 13 U.S.
military personnel.  Held hostage in a jungle hideaway, the ambassador
must beat his captor at chess to gain freedom for himself and his
entourage.  The twist is that each player taken in the game means one
of the captives dies, a-la Pete Martell vs. WE.  Also, life-size pieces
are used in the game, reminiscent of the papier mache' one that WE used
to trap the "you promised me beer" transient.

But the one that got me was that the ambassador's right-hand man
(literally:  the ambassador played the White King, and his right-hand
man played his King's Bishop) was Maj. Vernon Sutherland, played by the
actor that plays Maj. Garland Briggs!

Kooky.

Now, the story is 20 years old.  I don't know if the chess-for-life
idea originated with Vonnegut, but it's a nifty one.

Art imitates art.       :)

David Neto