First, Gord's list--then all in one post, his IMDB writeups for the episodes. When time permits, I'll search for any YouTube links...

Posted by Gordon Gates on 1/19/2021, 1:17 am
Some more television noir that I found quite watchable.
DRAGNET: The Big Casing 1952
77 SUNSET STRIP: All our Yesterdays 1958
KING OF DIAMONDS: Wizard of Ice 1961 - Brod Crawford
INNER SANCTUM: Face of the Dead 1954
JOHNNY MIDNIGHT: X Equals Murder - 1960 Edmond O'Brien
HONG KONG: Murder by Proxy 1961 Nancy Gates
ADVENTURES OF McGRAW : McGraw in Reno - 1957 Angie Dickinson
G.E. THEATER: A Little White Lye 1961 Dorothy Malone
FOR THE PEOPLE: Seized, Confined and Detained 1964 Ellen Burstyn
77 SUNSET STRIP: A Well Selected Frame 1958 Peggy Castle
HONG KONG: Double Jeopardy 1961 Felicia Farr
NAKED CITY: Fallen Star 1959 Robert Alda

DRAGNET "The Big Casing" 1952

This is the 13th episode of the 283 episode run of the original Police Detective series, DRAGNET. This series ran from 1951 to 1959.

Sgt Joe Friday (Jack Webb) and Detective Ed Jacobs (Barney Philips) are working the day watch out of Homicide Division. They get a call to an apartment building about a possible murder. A woman has been found shot and it looks like the husband did it. The man, Harry Bartel, swears that the wife had put a gun to her head and blew out her brains. They had been arguing and the woman had grabbed up Bartel's ex-army .45 and did the deed.

The problem here is that the evidence does not jive with what Bartel is saying. The main bit is the shell casing which is in the other room from the gun, too far to have ejected there. The boys from the crime lab are called in to take a look. The forensic boy's early investigation seems to agree with the Detective's take, it is murder. Bartel is cuffed and hauled off downtown for a bit of "face to face".

The Detectives lay into the man with how they see the event happening. They figure that Bartel had become upset during the argument with his wife and shot her. Other people in the apartment building are interviewed and they all say the couple were always screaming and yelling. The Detectives are sure they have their man.

However, the take on the crime scene changes as the forensic team completes their exam. It now looks like Bartel was telling the truth about the woman killing herself. Gunpowder residue tests and ballistics work prove Bartel innocent.

This is a rather interesting episode featuring an early take on what would become the CSI type program of the future. Jack Webb also directs and shows a firm hand on the material.

77 SUNSET STRIP "All our Yesterdays" 1958

This is the seventh episode of the 1958 to 1964 Private Eye series. The series ran for a total of 206 episodes. Series regulars were, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Roger Smith, Edd Byrnes and Jacqueline Beer.

This episode starts with Private Investigator, Stuart Bailey (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) being hired by Herbert Rudley. Rudley wants Zimbalist to keep tabs on his wealthy aunt, Doris Kenyon. Kenyon is a former silent film star who wants to produce a new silent remake of one of her films. (Kenyon was actually a fairly big star during the silent era)

Zimbalist meets Kenyon and is hired by her to help produce her new film. She intends to spend at least a million on the film. Zimbalist is assigned by Kenyon to find her old director, writer and leading man from the first film. Now we find out that, Rudley, and several other members of Kenyon's family, want to have her committed. They are afraid that Kenyon will spend their inheritance.

The episode follows Zimbalist as he finds Kenyon's old friends and hires them. These includes several actual silent stars, Francis X Bushman, Owen McGiveney, Snub Pollard, Joyce Compton as well as John Carradine. All are pretty well down on their luck and can use the work.

Zimbalist, finally tumbles to Rudley's plan to have Kenyon put away. Rudley was hoping to use Zimbalist's reports as evidence in a commitment hearing. Now there is some rough stuff involving Zimbalist and some mob bookies. One of Kenyon's relatives is in big with a gambling debt. The sooner the aunt is committed, the quicker he can pay the bookies.

Zimbalist soon discovers that Kenyon will not see the completion of her new film. She is terminally ill and will soon die. She was doing all this to help out her former acting friends etc. The family members back off now as they could not win in court.

This is a rather enjoyable episode, which has director Richard Bare handling the action. Bare won a "Directors Guild of America" award for helming this episode.

Francis X Bushman was a huge star of silent films with at least 175 films to his credit during the era.

KING OF DIAMONDS "The Wizard of Ice" 1961

KING OF DIAMONDS was a one season private detective/crime drama with Broderick Crawford as a rough and tumble hard case. Crawford is also the head of security for a large diamond company. He goes anywhere in the world to combat jewel thieves and smugglers. He works with Ray Hamilton who does most of the leg work. The series ran for 38 episodes during 1961-62. This was Crawford's first big gig after his 1955-59 run on HIGHWAY PATROL.

In this episode, the first of series, we have it all, robbery, murder, double dealing and a gorgeous femme-fatale. This one starts with Crawford at the New York airport waiting for a flight to London. He is paged and told that he is needed back in the city. The 2 million in diamonds that Crawford had delivered earlier that day have been stolen. The new courier and his driver had been killed during the robbery.

Crawford calls up his man Hamilton to meet him at the jewel wholesaler's office. The office manager, Telly Savalas, is despondent over the murders and theft. He tells Crawford and Hamilton that no one besides the dead men and himself knew about the delivery plans. Crawford and Hamilton head out to beat the bushes for any underworld chatter on the robbery. They will also look into any local jewel fences.

The viewer is filled in on the four men who had pulled the robbery and murders. The two main thugs are Bert Freed and John Marley. We also find out that mister Savalas is not so upset with the crime as he said. In the back room of his office, he is now swapping spit with blonde bombshell, Lola Albright. The whole deal had been set up by Miss Albright.

Albright suggests that Savalas go over to Marley's apartment and collect the diamonds. Albright shows some cleavage and smiles while suggesting that Savalas take his automatic pistol along. She does not trust Marley completely she coos to Savalas. In true femme-fatale fashion, Miss Albright now gets on the horn to Marley and tells him Savalas is coming over, and intends to cut him out of his share. She mentions that she had emptied Savalas' weapon of live ammo. What Savalas and Marley don't know is that Miss Albright has also been stepping out with gang member, Bert Freed. Freed had switched fakes for the real gems during the getaway.

Marley, feeling safe knowing Savalas has no ammo, lets the man into his place. Savalas now discovers the fakes and yards his piece. Marley does not believe the diamonds are not the real deal. He figures this is Savalas making his play to cut him out of his cut. Boy is Marley surprised when the gun Savalas has, proves, to be anything but, empty.

By this time Crawford and Hamilton have narrowed the robbery suspects down to 4 or 5 men, including Marley. They arrive just as Marley is hitting the floor with the added weight of a couple of .45 slugs. They break in while Savalas is beating the feet down a handy fire escape. Meanwhile, back with our femme, Miss Albright, she is now with Freed and licking his ear and telling him he needs to bump off the diamond detective,Crawford. Then it will be a life of tall cool drinks in a nice southern climate somewhere. Albright of course has relieved Freed of the bag of diamonds. Once Freed has went out on his mission, Miss Albright heads to her place to back a bag and split without "any" male companionship.

Freed however fumbles his job and is collared by Crawford and his aide, Hamilton. By now Crawford and company have also figured out that Savalas is in the robbery mix as well. They catch Savalas and several other men coming out of his office and going to the car park. Savalas has likewise made a discovery. He knows that Albright has played him like a world class chump. He wants payback.

Crawford and Hamilton tail Savalas to Albright's place. Savalas has the pair of hired guns turn over Miss Albright's room for the stones. Albright had been a bit slow off the mark in her packing, and is now being "nicely questioned" by Savalas. Crawford and Hamilton burst in with drawn guns exchanging rounds with the two hired thugs. The two are dispatched quickly while Savalas and Albright are collared for a long stay on the State's dime.

Also in the mix with a small bit are John Anderson as a Police Detective, and Joan Tabor as a lounge piano player and info tout. (Tabor and Crawford were married at the time) Look close and you will see Richard Kiel in an early role as a club doorman. Lola Albright had just completed an 86 episode run on the popular PETER GUNN series.

The whole episode is smartly made with plenty of action and great b/w photography, supplied by the sure hand of director, Irving Lerner. Lerner is well known to noir fans as the helmsman on the excellent b-noir, MURDER BY CONTRACT and CITY OF FEAR.

The only problem here is that the series is 5-6 years too late on the air. The hard-boiled no nonsense detective phase was over on television. It was being replaced with shows like 77 SUNSET STRIP, HAWAIIAN EYE, BOURBON STREET and SURFSIDE 6. These series featured a more, shall we say, urbane take on the detective genre.

For a ZIV production it is quite good.

INNER SANCTUM "Face of the Dead" 1954

INNER SANCTUM was a television series that ran for 40 episodes during 1954. It was based on the long running radio program (1941-1952) of the same name. It presented various mystery, terror and thriller stories. (There was also a b-film series released by Universal Studios in the 40's)

In this one, we have a man pulling a pistol out and shooting Everett Sloane, then staggering out of the room. The viewers do not get to see the gunman's face. The next scene has a Police Detective, Jack Klugman in an early role, standing over the mortally wounded Sloane. Sloane is well known to the Police as he is a local crime boss.

Klugman asks who shot him, not really expecting an answer. Sloane does respond and tells Klugman that it was number one henchman. Sloane had found out that his wife, Gloria McGehee has been stepping out with said henchman. Sloane had just beaten the man up and destroyed his face before getting shot. Sloane then smiles and dies.

Now the story cuts to a shady plastic surgeon's office. In the waiting area is Miss McGehee and minor thug, Harry Bellaver. The surgeon exits his operating room and says that his patient is a mess. It will take 4-5 days to fix the damage and create a new face. The doc wants to head out to get some air, but a pistol stuck in his ribs ends that idea. Back to work is the implied suggestion.

Several days later the doc is finished with his work. The man he has operated on has his face completely bandaged. The man staggers out and is hugged by McGehee. He then turns on the surgeon and pulls a gun. The surgeon, John McGovern, says that he was expecting a move like this. He says that the last laugh will be his as he is shot dead.

Bellaver and McGehee load the bandaged man into a car and they head for San Francisco. The plan is to hide out for a while so the bandaged man can heal up. They are then going to take a boat to warmer climes.

When the bandages come off all are in for a rude shock. The doc has indeed had the last laugh, he has given man the face of his murdered boss, Everett Sloane. This needless to say turns Miss McGehee right off any idea of a south-seas trip. Of course we all know this is going to end up with more dead bodies.

Considering that the whole production was filmed in just two rooms, it works rather well. Old pros Sloane and Bellaver are quite good here. Sloane was on the big screen and television from 1941 till 1965. Bellaver some will recall from his 136 episode run on the top flight (1958-63) cop show, NAKED CITY. He also had bits in various film noir like, KISS OF DEATH, SIDE STREET,NO WAY OUT, THE BROTHERS RICO and SLAUGHTER ON TENTH AVENUE.

JOHNNY MIDNIGHT "X Equals Murder" 1960

Edmond O'Brien stars in this 1960 series, "Johnny Midnight." The series ran for 39 episodes during 1960. O'Brien plays an ex-actor who is now a New York based private detective.

Answering his apartment buzzer, O'Brien finds a weeping Viveca Lindfors on the other side of the door. Lindfors tells O'Brien she needs his help to prevent a murder. The victim? Lindfors' husband. Lindfors informs O'Brien that her husband and herself are refugees from East Germany. The East Germans want her husband, a skilled engineer, back, or else dead.

The husband is on a train heading to Quebec City to offer his services to a West German company. Lindfors is sure the East German's are going to kill him before hubby gets to Quebec. O'Brien hops a plane to Montreal in order to get ahead of the train. He meets the train but is too late. The man is dead.

He grabs a flight back to N.Y. to inform the wife. Lindfors takes the news rather too calmly which gets O'Brien to thinking. He checks around and finds out the newly departed had left 3 different insurance policies to Lindfors. Our man Edmond digs a little deeper and up pops a boyfriend. O'Brien now figures Lindfors has played him for a chump. She has used him to set up an alibi for herself while the boyfriend disposed of the husband.

O'Brien sets out to prove his theory which needless to say ends in violence. The boyfriend does not come easy and an exchange of shots followed by fisticuffs and a general curb-stomping is needed. Things are wrapped up and Lindfors and her cohort are handed over to John Law.

O'Brien is very good here and fits the p.i. role like a glove. The rest of the cast includes Richard Coogan, Harry Townes, Alan Calliou, Jean Allison and Tom Palmer.

The director was vet TV helmsman Robert Stevens. The story and screenplay are by Edmond's brother, Liam O'Brien. Liam wrote the Bogart film, Chain Lightning.

The d of p was Oscar nominated Ellsworth Fredericks. Fredericks started out as a cameraman for Warners where he worked on Flamingo Road, Key Largo, The Damned Don't Cry, The Breaking Point. He was d of p on Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Sayonara, 7 Days in May.

HONG KONG "Murder by Proxy" 1961

Rod Taylor headlines this 1960-61 series as a newsman who is stationed in Hong Kong. Taylor is constantly in trouble with various shady types who are always involving him in their troubles. It usually takes several round of fisticuffs, a dead body or two and a gun battle before things get settled. This is the 22th episode.

This one begins with Taylor out for drinks with and old friend, Nancy Gates and her new husband, Gene Lyons. Also in the mix is another old pal, Hong Kong banker, Richard Anderson, and a not so friendly Paul Richards. Taylor and Richards are at odds over the affection of a woman.

Taylor is sure Richards is behind a series of close calls the reporter has had the last few weeks. Someone fiddled with the brakes on his car, then, the gas at his apartment sprung a leak. Now as the group leaves the club, a taxi nearly runs him down and then speeds off. Now a new problem pops up, Lyons, the hubby of Taylor's long-time friend, Miss Gates, seems to think that the two are having an affair.

Taylor's pal, Hong Kong Police Inspector, Lloyd Bochner wants to assign a detective to keep an eye on Taylor. Bochner is sure that Taylor has annoyed someone with one of his news stories and they are looking for some pay back.

Taylor is thinking the same thing, but believes it is Paul Richards behind the trouble. He pays Richards a visit for a "friendly" discussion. The talk leads to more than a few left hooks and right crosses being exchanged between the two, with Richards ending up on the losing end of the conversation.

That evening there is a large dinner party thrown by Nancy Gates and husband Lyons. While most of the group are out on the balcony enjoying drinks, someone shots Lyons dead from an upstairs window. The deal here is that Lyons was standing beside Taylor when killed. The Police suspect that it was a hit that was meant for reporter, Taylor.

Inspector Bochner quickly puts the grab on the most likely suspect, Paul Richards. Both Bochner and Taylor are sure that Richards was smarting from the beating Taylor had given him, and wanted revenge. Richards swears he is innocent of the murder, and with no evidence, he is released.

The Police and Taylor now go looking for the cab driver who had nearly creamed Taylor. There is a whole plethora of red herrings tossed out for the viewer to chew over. But the suspects are soon thinned out and it turns out that it is the dear wife, Miss Gates. Gates was involved in an affair all right, but it was with Hong Kong banker, Richard Anderson. The two wanted Lyon's millions. All the close calls on Taylor had been to make the Police think it was a messed up hit against Taylor.

Taylor finally tumbles to the ploy when the cab driver is found with a large knife in his ribs. There is a showdown at Taylor's apartment with Anderson blasting away with a revolver. Unfortunately for Nancy Gates, her paramour, Anderson's aim is off and she collects a fatal dose of lead. Anderson gets a sound thrashing from Taylor and is handed over to the local constabulary.

This is an entertaining episode, with lots of nice work from both the cast, and crew. The story is from veteran big-screen writer, Jonathan Latimer. His work includes the screenplays for the noir, THE GLASS KEY, THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME, NOCTURNE, ALIAS NICK BEAL and THE BIG CLOCK.

The look of the episode is really top rate with twice Oscar nominated cinematographer, Philip Lathrop at the controls. He also handled the lensing duties for 61 episodes of the popular series, PETER GUNN.

MEET McGRAW "McGraw in Reno" 1957

MEET MCGRAW was a Private Investigator television series that starred Frank Lovejoy as P.I. McGraw. The show started as a stand-alone episode of the popular FOUR -STAR PLAYHOUSE in 1954. It took till 1957 before the actual series hit the airwaves. It ran for 42 episodes between 1957 and 1958. This particular episode is the 23rd of the series run.

While visiting Reno, Private Investigator McGraw (Lovejoy) is hired by mobbed up gambler, Harry Landers. Landers would like McGraw to keep an eye on his wife, Angie Dickinson. Landers tells Lovejoy that Dickinson had seen a killing back in Detroit and she is in danger. A fistful of hundreds tossed on the table quickly find their way to Lovejoy's wallet.

Lovejoy introduces himself to Dickinson and explains that her husband has hired him as a bodyguard. Dickinson is not impressed and tells Lovejoy to blow. It seems that Dickinson is in town to get a quickie divorce from Landers. Dickinson and a friend, Jeanne Bates are staying in town till the divorce is settled.

Lovejoy takes his job seriously and sticks like glue to Dickinson. Dickinson however pulls a fast one and bolts out of the hotel garage in her car. Lovejoy follows the woman up into the hill country. There, he sees another car run Dickinson's automobile off a handy cliff. The car needless to say goes up in a big blaze, leaving little to id the corpse.

The Police are called and are not sure what to make of Lovejoy's story of another car. They write the incident off as a spot of poor driving by Dickinson. Lovejoy of course smells a rather smelly rodent in the old cheese cupboard. He roots around tracking down various leads.

He discovers that Dickinson is very much alive and staying at a country cabin. The crispy critter in the car had been her friend, Jeanne Bates. It appears that the whole thing was a play by Landers to kill his soon to be ex-wife. He could not handle that she was dumping him. He had run Bates off the road thinking it was Dickinson in the car. The Police are summoned and Landers is soon up for a long fall with a short rope.

A pretty good episode that has a few nice curves tossed at the viewer. William F Claxton directs with Joe Novak handling the cinematography duties.

Interesting to see Dickinson before she went blonde, the dark hair suits her very well. The then 26 year old is quite the looker!

GENERAL ELECTRIC THEATER "A Little White Lye" 1961

This is an episode of the long running (1953-1962) anthology series, GENERAL ELECTRIC THEATER. There were 300 plus episodes made. This one is episode 19 from season 9.

Five minutes in I realized I had seen the story before. Episode writer Fredric Brown had simply dusted off an old script he had written for a 1953 "Pepsi Cola Playhouse" episode. He made a few name changes and of course the actors are different.

The story has newlyweds, Dorothy Malone and Michael Pate looking for their first home. They find a place that just seems too good of a deal to be real. The real estate agent admits that the reason for the low price was that a murder had happened there some months before. The deal is too good to pass on and they buy the place.

A talkative neighbor (Dot Neumann) soon fills Malone in on the gory details of the murder. A wealthy 45 year-old woman had just married a 27 year old hunk. Soon after-ward the woman was chopped up and the husband had disappeared. The police figure the new hubby was after the cash the woman was known to have hidden in the house.

There is now a series of events that has Miss Malone thinking that maybe her new hubby might have been involved in the murder. Is he? This is a pretty good little episode that keeps the suspense level buzzing right along.

FOR THE PEOPLE "Seized, Confined and Detained" 1965

FOR THE PEOPLE was an American legal drama that aired for 13 episodes during 1965. The series follows the daily grind of a New York City Assistant District Attorney. The lead is played by William Shatner with a 24 year old Jessica Walter as his wife. Howard Da Silva plays Shatner's boss while Lonny Chapman plays an investigator for the D.A.'s office. This episode is the 11th of the production run.

This one starts with a 7 year old child being grabbed by a woman off the street in front of his apartment. The cops are called as is Assistant District Attorney William Shatner. The parents of the child, Ellen Burstyn and Lloyd Bochner are well-known concert musicians.

The phone is bugged and all wait for a phone call. The Police assume the grab was for a ransom. Of course there is a fly in the ointment. The child, Chris Man, suffers from diabetes and is due for his next shot in just 6 hours. A call soon comes asking for 100,000 in cool cash. A meet is arranged and the cops stake out the location.

There is another problem for the Police and DA. The newspaper types are on the story and are hanging around. The meet is buggered up because a newsman is spotted at the meet site. The head DA, Howard Da Silva calls in all the reporters and promises them all equal info if they will back off. The life of the boy is at stake. Da Silva also asks the papers, radio and TV news to put it out that the boy needs his insulin.

Shatner has the Police keep an eye on any drug stores in the area. If someone comes asking for insulin he wants them grabbed. Sure enough, a man hits one of the druggists looking for insulin without a prescription. The man, Don Francks, is gobbled up and tossed into an interview room. The Police "lean heavy" but Francks refuses to play and does a great imitation of a clam.

DA Shatner has a go and tells Francks that if the boy dies, it is a murder rap. Francks breaks a little and admits there is a woman involved. If the Police will not charge his girl, he will arrange for the child to be released.

Again the newspaper types are being a pest. One of the reporters, Logan Ramsey, tumbles to Francks being arrested. He wants to scoop his fellow reporters and queers the deal. Now Shatner and the Police really step into Francks for the location of the boy. Francks finally spills the location and the Police raid the house. The child, in a coma, is rushed off with his father to the nearest hospital. Shatner now walks up to the idiot reporter, Ramsey, and flattens him with a solid punch to the jaw.

This is another intense episode with cast and crew really stepping up their game. Canada is well represented with Shatner, Francks and Bochner hailing from the Great North. The episode's director, Paul Almond, was also from Canada. All four of the men had worked together in Canada in the 1950's.

The stark black and white photography and New York Location shooting really makes this show stand out.

Though the viewer never sees her face, the woman who grabbed the child is played by Diana Muldaur. She and Shatner would work together on several STAR TREK episodes.

The episode I watched came complete with 1965 ads, including one with actor Robert Taylor and his wife, Ursula Thiess, hawking Maxwell House Coffee.

77 SUNSET STRIP "The Well-Selected Frame" 1958

This is the eighth episode of the 1958 to 1964 Private Eye series. The series ran for a total of 206 episodes. Series regulars were, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Roger Smith, Edd Byrnes and Jacqueline Beer.

P.I. Roger Smith is approached by Peggy Castle with a problem. She informs Smith that she believes that her wealthy husband, Bartlett Robinson is trying to kill her. There has been a series of close calls like a cut brake line on her car. Castle tells Smith that she thinks Robinson is stepping out with his secretary, Frances Fong.

Smith is not all that unenthusiastic about getting mixed up in the case. A retainer of 1000 dollars in cash changes his mind. Smith is to call on Castle and Robinson, posing as a designer for some house renovations Castle is planning. He will stay in a guest room for the weekend.

Smith meets Castle and Robinson for drinks and takes an instant dislike to Robinson. Also in the mix here is Castle's drunken brother, Richard Webb, as well as the secretary, Frances Fong. Smith cannot shake that back of the head feeling that something is amiss here. He is sure that Castle is not telling him the whole story.

Castle agrees to fill him in on the details after dinner. They can have some drinks in his room and talk. The two meet, and while Smith is pouring drinks, Miss Castle walks up behind him and clobbers him with a fireplace poker.

When Smith finally comes around, he finds himself on the floor beside the dead as a door-nail, Robinson. He also has his own gun in his hand. There is also Miss Castle and her brother, Webb, standing there holding a pistol of their own. Of course Smith's pistol has no live rounds in it.

Smith feels like a complete chump for not seeing the frame job coming. Castle tells Smith to play along with her story when the Police arrive. Smith and her were having a "friendly fondle" when Robinson burst in and went at Smith with the poker. Smith had to defend himself and shot Robinson. Castle tells Smith it is that, or, she will say that Smith attacked Castle, and that Robinson had been defending her honor.

With Police sirens growing closer, our boy, Smith, decides he does not like either idea. He leaps out a handy window and hotfoots it. The Police are now swarming the estate looking for Smith. He ducks into one of the guest suites. There he finds the pretty, Miss Fong enjoying a bubble bath. He gives her the quick version of what has happened and asks for help. Fong agrees. She does not want to be accused of steeping out with her boss, Robinson.

The Police are looking through all the rooms and are now at Fong's. They take a quick look around and find nothing. Smith had been hiding at the bottom of the bathtub under the bubbles. Smith now calls his partner, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, and fills him in.

Between Smith, Zimbalist and the pretty Miss Fong, they find out some interesting details. Castle and Webb are not brother and sister. They are actually husband and wife and had played Robinson over a 10 million dollar estate. Smith now decides to turn himself in to the Police. He spills all he knows about Castle and Webb and the two are soon looking at life behind bars.

This is a nifty episode with several nice twists and turns. Most will recall Peggy Castle from her bits in the big screen film noir, 99 RIVER STREET and THE LONG WAIT.

HONG KONG "Double Jeopardy" 1961

Rod Taylor headlines this 1960-61 series as a newsman who is stationed in Hong Kong. Taylor is constantly in trouble with various shady types who are always involving him in their troubles. It usually takes several round of fisticuffs, a dead body or two and a gun battle before things get settled. This is the 18th episode.

This one starts with pretty, Felicia Farr paying a man, Steve Marlo, a visit in his Hong Kong hotel room. It seems that the two had pulled a con in Manila that has netted the two, 200 large in cash. It is now time to divvy up the proceeds. Miss Farr pours them each a healthy shot of whiskey and hands Marlo a glass. The man wolfs the drink down then reaches for Farr for a cuddle. He does not make it. The drink had a heavy belt of poison in it. Farr grabs up the $200,000, smiles at the stiff and leaves.

Farr hits a bank and stashes the cash in a safe deposit box at a Hong Kong bank. Then it is to the airport to arrange a flight to the States. She buys a ticket for the next morning and checks her luggage. She then turns white as a ghost when she spots a pair of men entering the lobby from the landing field. The men, Mario Gallo and Howard Caine just happen to have been in on the cash grab. They are not amused that they had been left in Manila without their end of the score.

Farr now bolts out the door and leaps in a cab with Gallo and Caine in hot pursuit. She has the driver head downtown while she decides how to throw the two thugs off her trail. She finally has the cab drop at the building of reporter Rod Taylor. She happens to know a mutual friend back in the U.S. Taylor is somewhat surprised by the late night call, but being a gentleman, invites her in.

The next morning, Farr, now in a slinky housecoat, fixes breakfast for Taylor. He is soon off to work and after swapping a bit of spit with Miss Farr, agrees to meet her later at his favorite club. Farr does not show that night, a rather disappointed Taylor is surprised when he sees a poster of Farr in the club. It seems that Farr is part of a twins night club act opening soon. Taylor heads home and finds the place crawling with Police. They point to the bloodied body on the bathroom floor. It is none other than Miss Farr.

Taylor teams up with his pal, Hong Kong Police Inspector, Lloyd Bochner. The two pay a visit to the other sister for a talk. The sister, again played by Farr, tells the men that her sister was a wild and always mixed up with the "wrong kind of men" type stuff.

Needless to say the all the mayhem is being dealt out by Messrs Gallo and Caine. They are now convinced that the surviving sister had to be in on the double cross, and come a calling. It takes a Police sting to draw the two lowlife types out of the shadows. Of course the two refuse to play nice, forcing guns to be quickly drawn and used with deadly results.

Taylor though has smelled a rat here with the last sister. He is sure Farr is the same sister that had paid him the late night visit. He plays a game of his own and sure enough, he is right. This sister had set up her sibling to take the fall for the cash. The cash is recovered and the proper sister is soon under lock and key.

This is a pretty complex little tale for episodic television. The man behind the story is former big screen man, George W. George. He did the story or screenplays for BODYGUARD, THE WOMAN ON PIER 13, THE NEVADAN, RED MOUNTAIN and BIG HOUSE USA.

The director is long-time television stalwart Stuart Rosenberg. Rosenberg would move to the big screen in the mid 60's and score with several well received films. These include, COOL HAND Luke, THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN, THE DROWNING POOL and BRUBAKER.

Felicia Farr, the soon to be Mrs. Jack Lemmon, was seen on screen and television between 1954 and 2014. Howard Cain is remembered by a whole generation of television viewers as the bumbling Gestapo officer Major Hochstetter on the popular 60s comedy HOGAN'S HEROES.

NAKED CITY "Fallen Star" 1959

This is the 27th episode of the 1958 to 1963 Police series, THE NAKED CITY. The series covered stories of New York's 65th Precinct. The leads were played by John McIntire, James Franciscus, Harry Bellevar, Paul Burke and Horace McMahon. The first 39 episodes of the 138 episode run were half-hour productions. The remaining episodes were expanded to an hour running time.

Robert Alda plays a former big-time football star who is now a drunk and a not to talented card sharp. Along with Al Morgenstern and Rocky Graziano, they hit the convention crowds looking for suckers. They then fleece the marks in a not so honest poker game.

This time they are pulling the con in a hotel where, bell boy Arnold Merritt is working. Merritt knows Alda and looked up to the man as a hero back when Alda was a star. Merritt is trying to convince the man to quit the racket and go straight. Alda is too much of a drunk to quit.

Shortly after Merritt leaves the room, the mark, Guy Sorel, figures out he is being played and threatens to call the Police. The muscle, Rocky Graziano, clocks the guy with a solid punch. Sorel goes down like a sack of potatoes smashing his head on a handy bit of furniture. The man is dead. The three card sharps grab up their take and split.

The next day, the cops are called when the body is discovered. Detectives James Franciscus and Harry Bellaver are called to look into the death. The detectives are soon having a word with bell boy, Merritt, who had been on shift the night before. Merritt tells the cops he does not know anything about the matter. The Police have also pulled some prints from the hotel room, those of Alda.

Matters quickly come to a head when Morgenstern decides to make sure that Merritt remains quiet. He intends to bump the kid off. He has Alda call up the kid for a meeting. A gun is jabbed in Merritt's ribs and he is forced to walk outside. Morgenstern intends to drop the lad off a high building.

Detective Franciscus has however been following Merritt and puts a stop to the plan, but not before Alda goes for a wingless bit of flight. Alda had tried to stop any harm coming to Merritt. The Detective has to put four rounds into Morgenstern to stop him. Graziano surrenders without a fight.

This is an interesting episode that has former big screen director John Brahm at the helm. Brahm is well known for a string of film noir he directed, such as LET US LIVE, THE LODGER, GUEST IN THE HOUSE, HANGOVER SQUARE, THE LOCKET and THE BRASHER DOUBLOON.

Ex-pug Graziano became a bit player after his days as a boxer ended. His story was turned into the 1956 film SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME, with Paul Newman playing Graziano.