Enter John McGiver, one of the BEST character actors in the biz. You can find him just about anywhere and in some truly classic movies. He was a diamond in the rough. Here he plays the rather stuffy (as usual) Lord Beasley, a renown collector of butterflies who, of course, steps out of nowhere to visit the island.
Beasley's focus is the rare Pussycat Swallowtail which has everybody running around with nets! This is goofy stuff that all us kids grew up on back in the day and McGiver is the whole show. This guy is over the top! Interestingly, Mr. Howell (Jim Backus) has a funny closing line, not Lord Beasley. Now that's a switch.
Another episode that keeps you wondering; how and why do all these kooks show up on the island --and yet the castaways are never rescued??? The ending is most always the same with the guest of honor talking about his or her exploits on the famous white radio, but totally forgetting everybody else! Poetic license 101.
Note the change and style in directors here. Veteran Leslie Goodwins headed this episode, who began his career in the 1930s with comedy shorts. Among his other tv shows was MY FAVORITE MARTIAN. Goodwins just let the camera roll and let the cast do their schtick, particularly McGiver, who I am sure did not require a second take! This guy WAS the eccentric butterfly catcher. The "one take" style was quite the norm with many directors, especially those who worked on low, low budget productions in their career where every dollar counted. If you truly had a talented cast (naturals), it made good sense, and the results were even better than expected. It shows.
The color in this episode is beautiful, and note Ginger and Maryann's wardrobe changes. Where they came from, we don't know! SEASON 3 EPISODE 7 1966 restored dvd box set. Get this.