Sargeant Friday is investigating smut being distributed in and through the high schools of Los Angeles. One suspect leads to another until he gets the perp. The perp is an old washed up movie director who, along with his cameraman, has been reduced to supporting himself by manufacturing and distributing porn. He would sell it for 75 cents a copy to a high school student who would resell it to other students for $1.00. We never get to see the actual porn but we get various reaction shots of the faces of actors seeing the smut.
The perp is played by Ralph Moody who creates a poor soul who has been reduced by fate to a pathetic wretch. He takes Friday and his parter out to an abandoned studio of Jefferson Street where he lives and recalls his old life of making westerns back in the 1920. The entire scene is quite touching and Friday seems to pity the old man. Of course when Ralph Moody says he did it because he had to support himself Friday replies that there were honest jobs he could have taken.
In addition to the production and distribution of porn the old producer also set up parties where hard liquor was given to teenage girls. What actually happened at these parties is not told to us. But that is the way Hollywood handled these problems back then.
The episode is moving and painful to watch, but it still works even though it is more than 50 years old and it paints a picture of a Los Angeles which no longer exists except in our memories. Watch it if you get the chance.
The perp is played by Ralph Moody who creates a poor soul who has been reduced by fate to a pathetic wretch. He takes Friday and his parter out to an abandoned studio of Jefferson Street where he lives and recalls his old life of making westerns back in the 1920. The entire scene is quite touching and Friday seems to pity the old man. Of course when Ralph Moody says he did it because he had to support himself Friday replies that there were honest jobs he could have taken.
In addition to the production and distribution of porn the old producer also set up parties where hard liquor was given to teenage girls. What actually happened at these parties is not told to us. But that is the way Hollywood handled these problems back then.
The episode is moving and painful to watch, but it still works even though it is more than 50 years old and it paints a picture of a Los Angeles which no longer exists except in our memories. Watch it if you get the chance.