THE ADVENTURES OF THE FALCON - Murder with Hi-Fi - 1954
Noir favourite Charles McGraw headlined this television series which ran for 39 episodes between 1954 and 1956. McGraw plays Mike Waring, an agent of the U.S. government. The series follows Waring as he travels the world to put the kibosh on the bad guys.
In this episode, our man Chuck is in New York busting up a mob bootlegging outfit. The mobster, Barry Kelly, is less than ecstatic with the government attention. The main reason being that he thought the feds were on his payroll. He has been paying his lawyer a nice piece of change which was supposedly being passed on to the feds for protection.
Needless to say, the lawyer, Robert Bice, has been pocketing the cash instead. A quick visit to the shyster to deliver a beating seems in order. After the beating, Bice decides that a trip to L.A. might be in order for "health" reasons. He heads home to grab the wife and some bonds in his safe. The wife, Jean Willes, likes it just fine in New York and tells him to blow. Having been a "good" lawyer, he had put the bonds etc in her name for tax reasons and she intends to keep it all.
Bice then decides to hire a hit-man to dispose of mobster Kelly. The hit-man, Gene Wesson, takes the contract but switches teams when Kelly offers him twice his fee. Next thing we know the newspaper has a headline with "Lawyer Found Shot Dead"! The police soon pay McGraw a visit. It seems they found a set of books at Bice's law office with McGraw down for $500 a week. McGraw now has to prove he is not on the take, so he heads out to prove himself innocent. The bodies start to pile up and McGraw is soon running out of suspects. We soon find out that Bice's wife, Willes, is quite handy with a gun and McGraw just escapes with his life. Plenty of red herrings and false trails in this rocket fast half hour!
Directed by TV vet Ralph Murhpy. The d of p was Ken Peach. He shot 25 Outer Limits episodes as well as the 50's sci-fi classic It! The Terror From Outer Space. Jean Willes is quite good as the wife with the itchy trigger finger. She had bits in many TV spots as well as The Sniper, Chinatown at Midnight, Revenue Agent and From here to Eternity. Gene Wesson was actor Dick Wesson's brother. Barry Kelly has hundreds of film and TV credits to his name.
McGraw's noir credits include, ROADBLOAK, ARMORED CAR ROBBERY, THE KILLERS, T-MEN, THE LONG NIGHT, THE GANGSTER, ROSES ARE RED, THE BLACK BOOK, BLOOD ON THE MOON, THE HUNTED, BORDER INCIDENT, THE THREAT, SIDE STREET, THE STORY OF MOLLY X, LOOPHOLE and the classic, NARROW MARGIN. (b/w)
Noir favourite Charles McGraw headlined this television series which ran for 39 episodes between 1954 and 1956. McGraw plays Mike Waring, an agent of the U.S. government. The series follows Waring as he travels the world to put the kibosh on the bad guys.
In this episode, our man Chuck is in New York busting up a mob bootlegging outfit. The mobster, Barry Kelly, is less than ecstatic with the government attention. The main reason being that he thought the feds were on his payroll. He has been paying his lawyer a nice piece of change which was supposedly being passed on to the feds for protection.
Needless to say, the lawyer, Robert Bice, has been pocketing the cash instead. A quick visit to the shyster to deliver a beating seems in order. After the beating, Bice decides that a trip to L.A. might be in order for "health" reasons. He heads home to grab the wife and some bonds in his safe. The wife, Jean Willes, likes it just fine in New York and tells him to blow. Having been a "good" lawyer, he had put the bonds etc in her name for tax reasons and she intends to keep it all.
Bice then decides to hire a hit-man to dispose of mobster Kelly. The hit-man, Gene Wesson, takes the contract but switches teams when Kelly offers him twice his fee. Next thing we know the newspaper has a headline with "Lawyer Found Shot Dead"! The police soon pay McGraw a visit. It seems they found a set of books at Bice's law office with McGraw down for $500 a week. McGraw now has to prove he is not on the take, so he heads out to prove himself innocent. The bodies start to pile up and McGraw is soon running out of suspects. We soon find out that Bice's wife, Willes, is quite handy with a gun and McGraw just escapes with his life. Plenty of red herrings and false trails in this rocket fast half hour!
Directed by TV vet Ralph Murhpy. The d of p was Ken Peach. He shot 25 Outer Limits episodes as well as the 50's sci-fi classic It! The Terror From Outer Space. Jean Willes is quite good as the wife with the itchy trigger finger. She had bits in many TV spots as well as The Sniper, Chinatown at Midnight, Revenue Agent and From here to Eternity. Gene Wesson was actor Dick Wesson's brother. Barry Kelly has hundreds of film and TV credits to his name.
McGraw's noir credits include, ROADBLOAK, ARMORED CAR ROBBERY, THE KILLERS, T-MEN, THE LONG NIGHT, THE GANGSTER, ROSES ARE RED, THE BLACK BOOK, BLOOD ON THE MOON, THE HUNTED, BORDER INCIDENT, THE THREAT, SIDE STREET, THE STORY OF MOLLY X, LOOPHOLE and the classic, NARROW MARGIN. (b/w)
