CITY OF ANGELS – Castle of Dreams – 1976
"25 bucks a day, plus expenses"
This series is about a P.I. in 1935 Los Angeles with Wayne Rogers as the headliner. Rogers is a permanently broke Private Detective who goes by the handle, Jake Axminster. He works out of an office in the Bradbury Building. He is constantly at war with corrupt Police Lt Clifton James. Always in hot water, Rogers is aided by his somewhat loopy secretary, Elaine Joyce, and his lawyer pal, Philip Sterling. Some nice period detail and such help the stories along. (Rogers tools around in a beat up old 1930's era rag-top) The series only ran for 13 episodes. This particular episode is the 10th of the production run.
In this episode, a famous Hollywood screen actress washes up on the local beach. Her boyfriend, producer, Michael Ebert is the main suspect. He however has an ironclad alibi. He had sent the actress home in front of numerous witnesses before boarding a plane out of town. The death is ruled a suicide.
Several weeks later, Rogers' secretary Joyce, gets a call from "working girl" Kristin Larkin. (Joyce runs a call-girl service on the side to help make ends meet) The girl says there is trouble with her "date". Joyce tells the girl to calm down and that she will drive over and pick her up. When Joyce arrives at the auto-court, she sees two men tossing a bound and gagged Larkin into a car. Joyce jots down the licence number as the two men drive off.
She now calls up her boss, P.I. Rogers. Rogers is quickly on the scene and they check out the auto-court unit. Inside is a stiff, and not in the way the guy had wanted. Rogers goes over the body and takes the dead man's wallet. A Police siren starts wailing in the distance, so Rogers and Joyce hot foot out.
Rogers figures they have seen the last of working girl. Murder usually breeds more murder. Rogers tells Joyce to go home and they will see what can be done the next morning. Later that evening, Joyce hears someone trying to break in. She grabs the horn and call Rogers who tells her to hide, he is on the way. She does as Rogers suggests and hurries to the attic.
Just in time it seems as the side window smashes and a man climbs in. The thug, James Luisi, does a fast look around before he sees the door to the attic. Now our man Rogers puts in an appearance. A quick round of one, two, button your shoes and Luisi is laid out as cold as a fish. Rogers and Joyce load up Luisi and haul him down to the cop shop. Luisi had been one of the men Joyce had seen at the auto-court. Luisi had likewise noted the licence plate number of Joyce's car.
Next thing you know Rogers and Joyce are arrested. They had been seen leaving the auto-court. Luisi is released for some reason. It is now Rogers' turn to get on the horn to summon assistance. Lawyer Philip Sterling, soon has Rogers sprung, but he cannot find any record of Joyce being booked. Rogers figures the Police are just bouncing her around different precincts. The question is why?
Rogers' tracks down the licence plate Joyce had given him. It leads back to a Studio "fixer" (Luisi) working for producer Ebert. Rogers bluffs his way onto the studio lot. He sees Ebert hand Luisi an envelope and overhears Joyce's name spoken. He tails Luisi out of town where the man meets crooked cop, Clifton James, who he gives the envelope to. Clifton had of course seen to Luisi being released at the station the night before.
After Luisi leaves, Rogers step up and belts Clifton and grabs the envelope. Inside, is, five large in cash. Rogers "leans" on the cop and tells him in no uncertain terms he is dead if anything happens to Joyce. Rogers knows James has Joyce on ice somewhere, and was planning on trading her for the cash. This is all tied in with the call girl and the stiff, Rogers is just not sure how.
Some rooting around the studio soon uncovers a few leads. The best lead takes Rogers to a house of ill-repute, "The Castle of Dreams". This establishment supplies high-class prostitutes who look like famous actresses to wealthy business types. (Shades of L.A. Confidential) Rogers hits the place for a look and discovers the truth behind the nasty goings on.
It seems that producer Ebert had actually killed his girlfriend. The two had had a set to and Ebert had caved her head in. He had done this several days before his flight out of town. He had dumped her corpse off shore knowing it would take several days to wash up. He then had the look-alike prostitute pretend to be the actress for the press. He promised her a career in films after.
The second murder had been to silence a man who had stumbled on the truth. He was planning a spot of blackmail. The call girl working for Joyce was collateral damage, as Joyce is about to be. Rogers calls lawyer Sterling and has the man call some honest cops with the info. The producer, Ebert, and thug Luisi are soon on the wrong side of the jail house walls. Joyce is freed and soon back at work.
This one is one red herring after another with plenty of twists and turns. I quite enjoyed it, and recommend the series. (That is if you can find it) A true shame it has not been put out on DVD.
"25 bucks a day, plus expenses"
This series is about a P.I. in 1935 Los Angeles with Wayne Rogers as the headliner. Rogers is a permanently broke Private Detective who goes by the handle, Jake Axminster. He works out of an office in the Bradbury Building. He is constantly at war with corrupt Police Lt Clifton James. Always in hot water, Rogers is aided by his somewhat loopy secretary, Elaine Joyce, and his lawyer pal, Philip Sterling. Some nice period detail and such help the stories along. (Rogers tools around in a beat up old 1930's era rag-top) The series only ran for 13 episodes. This particular episode is the 10th of the production run.
In this episode, a famous Hollywood screen actress washes up on the local beach. Her boyfriend, producer, Michael Ebert is the main suspect. He however has an ironclad alibi. He had sent the actress home in front of numerous witnesses before boarding a plane out of town. The death is ruled a suicide.
Several weeks later, Rogers' secretary Joyce, gets a call from "working girl" Kristin Larkin. (Joyce runs a call-girl service on the side to help make ends meet) The girl says there is trouble with her "date". Joyce tells the girl to calm down and that she will drive over and pick her up. When Joyce arrives at the auto-court, she sees two men tossing a bound and gagged Larkin into a car. Joyce jots down the licence number as the two men drive off.
She now calls up her boss, P.I. Rogers. Rogers is quickly on the scene and they check out the auto-court unit. Inside is a stiff, and not in the way the guy had wanted. Rogers goes over the body and takes the dead man's wallet. A Police siren starts wailing in the distance, so Rogers and Joyce hot foot out.
Rogers figures they have seen the last of working girl. Murder usually breeds more murder. Rogers tells Joyce to go home and they will see what can be done the next morning. Later that evening, Joyce hears someone trying to break in. She grabs the horn and call Rogers who tells her to hide, he is on the way. She does as Rogers suggests and hurries to the attic.
Just in time it seems as the side window smashes and a man climbs in. The thug, James Luisi, does a fast look around before he sees the door to the attic. Now our man Rogers puts in an appearance. A quick round of one, two, button your shoes and Luisi is laid out as cold as a fish. Rogers and Joyce load up Luisi and haul him down to the cop shop. Luisi had been one of the men Joyce had seen at the auto-court. Luisi had likewise noted the licence plate number of Joyce's car.
Next thing you know Rogers and Joyce are arrested. They had been seen leaving the auto-court. Luisi is released for some reason. It is now Rogers' turn to get on the horn to summon assistance. Lawyer Philip Sterling, soon has Rogers sprung, but he cannot find any record of Joyce being booked. Rogers figures the Police are just bouncing her around different precincts. The question is why?
Rogers' tracks down the licence plate Joyce had given him. It leads back to a Studio "fixer" (Luisi) working for producer Ebert. Rogers bluffs his way onto the studio lot. He sees Ebert hand Luisi an envelope and overhears Joyce's name spoken. He tails Luisi out of town where the man meets crooked cop, Clifton James, who he gives the envelope to. Clifton had of course seen to Luisi being released at the station the night before.
After Luisi leaves, Rogers step up and belts Clifton and grabs the envelope. Inside, is, five large in cash. Rogers "leans" on the cop and tells him in no uncertain terms he is dead if anything happens to Joyce. Rogers knows James has Joyce on ice somewhere, and was planning on trading her for the cash. This is all tied in with the call girl and the stiff, Rogers is just not sure how.
Some rooting around the studio soon uncovers a few leads. The best lead takes Rogers to a house of ill-repute, "The Castle of Dreams". This establishment supplies high-class prostitutes who look like famous actresses to wealthy business types. (Shades of L.A. Confidential) Rogers hits the place for a look and discovers the truth behind the nasty goings on.
It seems that producer Ebert had actually killed his girlfriend. The two had had a set to and Ebert had caved her head in. He had done this several days before his flight out of town. He had dumped her corpse off shore knowing it would take several days to wash up. He then had the look-alike prostitute pretend to be the actress for the press. He promised her a career in films after.
The second murder had been to silence a man who had stumbled on the truth. He was planning a spot of blackmail. The call girl working for Joyce was collateral damage, as Joyce is about to be. Rogers calls lawyer Sterling and has the man call some honest cops with the info. The producer, Ebert, and thug Luisi are soon on the wrong side of the jail house walls. Joyce is freed and soon back at work.
This one is one red herring after another with plenty of twists and turns. I quite enjoyed it, and recommend the series. (That is if you can find it) A true shame it has not been put out on DVD.