THE LINEUP – "The Silk Stocking Case"- 1955

During the 1950's there were two police series that rose to the top. DRAGNET and THE LINEUP, were both solid police procedurals that showed the everyday life of a cop. The LINEUP ran between 1954 and 1960 with a total of 200 episodes produced. The leads were played by Tom Tully and Warner Anderson as a pair of San Francisco police detectives. This particular episode is number 41 and is from the second season.

There is a robbery at a downtown book store just as the place locks up for the night. A man had stepped up to the female clerk (Gloria Saunders) and gave her a vicious bash with a small sandbag. He had then cleaned out the till and fled on foot. Miss Saunders can only tell the Police Detectives, Warner Anderson and Tom Tully, that the man was very "ugly."

The detectives figure that the thug must have been wearing a mask. A man had witnessed the fellow leaving the store, and gave them a description of a tall man with a pulled down hat. The detectives hit the files and look up any possible suspects.

Soon the squad room is full of the usual suspect types. Miss Saunders and the other witness (Jackie Kelk) are brought in to see if they recognize anyone. No go here. A short time later there is another robbery with the same description: "an ugly man."

The police dig deeper and a few clues pop up that point the Detectives towards witness Kelk. A trip to look through his place turns up several items that convince them they are on the right trail. The Detectives then get a call about a robbery in progress just a few blocks away.

No horses are spared as the two men speed to the scene. A quick foot pursuit and the suspect is soon cornered on a rooftop. Kelk is their man all right. He had been pulling a tight silk stocking over his face to distort his features. This was the "ugly" man. The rather short Kelk had only stepped up to give the police info in order to throw them off the trail.





You'll note what might be a familiar face in the image used in the episode's YouTube link--yes, that's Hans Conried, better known for his roles in comedy (MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY). Here he plays another witness involved in the case.

The director of this little ditty was veteran b-film helmsman, Harold Schuster. Schuster touched on film noir as the director of LOOPHOLE, SECURITY RISK, FINGER MAN and PORTLAND EXPOSE. Even less known is Schuster's early career as a film editor, which started in the Silent era and included work on Murnau's classic SUNRISE. Schuster directed a total of 15 episodes of THE LINEUP during its run.

The d of p was Nicolas Musuraca. Musuraca is well known to film noir fans as the cinematographer of THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, CAT PEOPLE, GHOST SHIP, DEADLINE AT DAWN, THE LOCKET, WHERE DANGER LIVES, BLOOD ON THE MOON, THE WOMAN ON PIER 13. ROADBLOCK, THE HITCH-HIKER, THE BLUE GARDENIA, SPLIT SECOND-and, of course, OUT OF THE PAST.