THE BROTHERS BRANNAGAN – Her Brother's Keeper – 1960
This series, which ran during 1960 to 1961, stars Stephan Dunne and Mark Roberts as a pair of brothers who are private investigators. The two are based in Phoenix, Arizona. The series ran for a total of 39 episodes. This is episode nine of the run.
Dunne and Roberts are having a beer at their favourite bar with an old buddy (Britt Lomond). Enter Kent Taylor and Lomond's sister (Bek Nelson). The two are an item--much to Lomond's disgust. He takes Taylor for a seedy type and figures his sister can do better. Taylor runs a "Loans" company with his partner (Theo Marcuse).
Lomond wolfs down his drink and steps up to Taylor. The usual "Stay away from my sister or I'll kill you" stuff is yelled for the whole bar to hear. Lomond then decks Taylor with a solid punch to the head. The Police are summoned but Lomond is in full tilt angry mode. He decks the cop and runs out into the night.
Needless to say several hours later, Taylor is found in his office with his head bashed in. An all-points bulletin on Lomond goes out. Lomond now shows up at the P.I. brothers' office. He wants to turn himself in to the Police for belting the cop at the bar. He would like Dunne and Roberts to go with him to the station.
When asked by the Police about the murder, Lomond seems surprised. He swears that he did not do the deed. He asks his friends, Roberts and Dunne, to help him. The local police lieutenant (Barney Phillips) of course happens to be a friend. He gives the two a look at the murder scene, etc.
Now a few juicy red herrings are thrown at the viewer. It seems that Taylor's business partner (Marcuse) has been dipping into the company funds. Maybe he bumped off Taylor? Then, Taylor's former girlfriend (Maureen Leeds) turns up as a possible suspect. These leads turn out to go nowhere. It looks like Lomond is at the deep end of the pool.
Dunne and Roberts though are not ready to throw in the towel. They check up on the last possible person on the suspect list: Lomond's sister (Bek Nelson). They hit pay dirt as Nelson is indeed the killer. She had realized, too late, that Taylor was a rat, and had flattened his head with a handy blunt object. Lomond is freed while Nelson takes his place in jail.
A well done little episode.
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