Roscoe is caught in the middle of a mafia hit.Roscoe is caught in the middle of a mafia hit.Roscoe is caught in the middle of a mafia hit.
Photos
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
- Stu Bailey
- (credit only)
Edd Byrnes
- Kookie
- (credit only)
Roland La Starza
- Lippy Torrance
- (as Roland LaStarza)
Murray Alper
- Little Ed
- (uncredited)
Louie Elias
- Plainclothes Cop
- (uncredited)
Chris Robinson
- Archie
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBecause this is a Roscoe-centric episode, Louis Quinn gets first billing in the end credits. Additionally, his real-life wife, Christine Nelson, plays his romantic interest; this was the last of her four guest appearances on the series.
- GoofsWhen Roscoe tells Jeff to hold on a moment, he hangs up the phone. But when the bomb goes off, Jeff is still on the line and can hear it.
- Soundtracks77 Sunset Strip
Written by Mack David and Jerry Livingston
Theme song; short instrumental version played during opening credits; full vocal version performed during closing credits
Featured review
Almost a spin-off
A most unusual episode as it's Louis Quinn as Roscoe who is front and center. Stuart Bailey is nowhere to be seen, the rest have some perfunctory involvement and even Byron Keith (earlier billed as Keith Byron) has a substitute batter in Richard X. Slattery playing a homicide detective. Not only does Roscoe get the scenes and lines, he even gets a girlfriend - and one who loves playing the ponies also.
We get to see a better look than usual at Roscoe's living quarters, a rooming house which seems a bit better than the conditions he lived-in in earlier seasons. Perhaps that was necessary so as to provide a place suitable for the female math teacher in the room next door, she uses a slide rule to pick long shots. We get to meet Roscoe's bookie, a barber named Little Ed who is played (albeit not billed) by screen vet Murray Alper who was usually cast as a cab or truck driver as in "The Maltese Falcon," "Strangers on a Train" and "Saboteur." Alan Baxter, one of the primary villains in "Saboteur" is also present as a mob boss who puts the pieces in motion to set the story here.
Roscoe gets in the middle of a turf war among some organized crime families strictly by being in the wrong place at the right time. Plot developments cause him to be stalked by hired killer James Best as well as by the family of one of Best's victims - they think Roscoe was the finger guy for the killing.
With so little involvement by the regulars other than Louis Quinn, one might almost think that the waters were being tested for a spin off. Whether that's so or not, it's still a highly enjoyable episode especially since it does veer from the norm but then, Strip did that fairly often.
We get to see a better look than usual at Roscoe's living quarters, a rooming house which seems a bit better than the conditions he lived-in in earlier seasons. Perhaps that was necessary so as to provide a place suitable for the female math teacher in the room next door, she uses a slide rule to pick long shots. We get to meet Roscoe's bookie, a barber named Little Ed who is played (albeit not billed) by screen vet Murray Alper who was usually cast as a cab or truck driver as in "The Maltese Falcon," "Strangers on a Train" and "Saboteur." Alan Baxter, one of the primary villains in "Saboteur" is also present as a mob boss who puts the pieces in motion to set the story here.
Roscoe gets in the middle of a turf war among some organized crime families strictly by being in the wrong place at the right time. Plot developments cause him to be stalked by hired killer James Best as well as by the family of one of Best's victims - they think Roscoe was the finger guy for the killing.
With so little involvement by the regulars other than Louis Quinn, one might almost think that the waters were being tested for a spin off. Whether that's so or not, it's still a highly enjoyable episode especially since it does veer from the norm but then, Strip did that fairly often.
helpful•110
- clore_2
- Jul 8, 2017
Details
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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