THE LINEUP – "The Kasino Case "- 1955
During the 1950's there were two Police series that rose to the top. DRAGNET and THE LINEUP were both solid Police procedurals that showed how the everyday life of a cop was. The LINEUP ran between 1954 and 1960 with a total of 200 episodes produced. The leads were played by Tom Tully and Warner Anderson as a pair of San Francisco Police Detectives. This particular episode is number 38 from the first season.
There has been a hold up at a bar and the bartender has been beaten half to death. The two masked hold-up men escaped after emptying the cash register. The only witness, Georgia Ellis, calls the robbery in. Tully and Anderson draw the case and head for the bar. Ellis tells the detectives what she can about the masked robbery suspects. She does tell the detectives that the bartender gave them no reason to belt him around. "It was just plain mean". She also describes a distinctive leather jacket the one wore.
The call goes out for the two and the Police catch a break when the jacket wearer is spotted at a coffee shop. The man, James Best, is quickly collared and taken back to the Station. Some serious 3rd degree is applied and Best soon folds. He was dragged into the hold-up by his just out of prison brother, Mort Mills. A fast check on Mills shows that he is a real hard case, with multiple charges of assault and robbery against him.
Best coughs up where he believes his brother might be at. The Police do a quick entry and search of the address. All they find is Mill's wife, Claudia Barrett. Barrett, black and blue from the last beating Mills gave her, is more than happy to help. He is out on another job. The Detectives call in the warning but are informed that there has already been another bar robbery. This time two men have been shot dead and another man wounded. Tully and Anderson spare no horses as they head for the scene.
The wounded man tells the Detectives that the main suspect, Mills, just started shooting for no reason. "He had the money, already. It was like he enjoyed shooting people." The wounded man tells Tully and Anderson that he is a watchman at a warehouse up the street. He says he managed to get off a shot with his watchman's pistol. He is pretty sure he missed though. "I was busy ducking".
Another visit is made to the wife of Mills. Barrett gives them the address of Mills aunt. He sometimes hid out there. The boys quickly raid the house and call out Mills. Mills is not coming quietly they decide. Doors are booted and the Detectives rush in. They find that Mills has just expired from blood loss. It seems that the watchman's single shot had found a home.
The director of little ditty was veteran b-film helmsman, Harold Shuster. Shuster touched on film noir as the director of, LOOPHOLE, SECURITY RISK, FINGER MAN and PORTLAND EXPOSE.
The d of p was Nicolas Musuraca. Musuraca is well known to film noir fans as the cinematographer of, THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, CAT PEOPLE, GHOST SHIP, DEADLINE AT DAWN, THE LOCKET, WHERE DANGER LIVES, BLOOD ON THE MOON, THE WOMAN ON PIER 13. ROADBLOCK, THE HITCH-HIKER, THE BLUE GARDENIA, SPLIT SECOND and of course, OUT OF THE PAST.
During the 1950's there were two Police series that rose to the top. DRAGNET and THE LINEUP were both solid Police procedurals that showed how the everyday life of a cop was. The LINEUP ran between 1954 and 1960 with a total of 200 episodes produced. The leads were played by Tom Tully and Warner Anderson as a pair of San Francisco Police Detectives. This particular episode is number 38 from the first season.
There has been a hold up at a bar and the bartender has been beaten half to death. The two masked hold-up men escaped after emptying the cash register. The only witness, Georgia Ellis, calls the robbery in. Tully and Anderson draw the case and head for the bar. Ellis tells the detectives what she can about the masked robbery suspects. She does tell the detectives that the bartender gave them no reason to belt him around. "It was just plain mean". She also describes a distinctive leather jacket the one wore.
The call goes out for the two and the Police catch a break when the jacket wearer is spotted at a coffee shop. The man, James Best, is quickly collared and taken back to the Station. Some serious 3rd degree is applied and Best soon folds. He was dragged into the hold-up by his just out of prison brother, Mort Mills. A fast check on Mills shows that he is a real hard case, with multiple charges of assault and robbery against him.
Best coughs up where he believes his brother might be at. The Police do a quick entry and search of the address. All they find is Mill's wife, Claudia Barrett. Barrett, black and blue from the last beating Mills gave her, is more than happy to help. He is out on another job. The Detectives call in the warning but are informed that there has already been another bar robbery. This time two men have been shot dead and another man wounded. Tully and Anderson spare no horses as they head for the scene.
The wounded man tells the Detectives that the main suspect, Mills, just started shooting for no reason. "He had the money, already. It was like he enjoyed shooting people." The wounded man tells Tully and Anderson that he is a watchman at a warehouse up the street. He says he managed to get off a shot with his watchman's pistol. He is pretty sure he missed though. "I was busy ducking".
Another visit is made to the wife of Mills. Barrett gives them the address of Mills aunt. He sometimes hid out there. The boys quickly raid the house and call out Mills. Mills is not coming quietly they decide. Doors are booted and the Detectives rush in. They find that Mills has just expired from blood loss. It seems that the watchman's single shot had found a home.
The director of little ditty was veteran b-film helmsman, Harold Shuster. Shuster touched on film noir as the director of, LOOPHOLE, SECURITY RISK, FINGER MAN and PORTLAND EXPOSE.
The d of p was Nicolas Musuraca. Musuraca is well known to film noir fans as the cinematographer of, THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, CAT PEOPLE, GHOST SHIP, DEADLINE AT DAWN, THE LOCKET, WHERE DANGER LIVES, BLOOD ON THE MOON, THE WOMAN ON PIER 13. ROADBLOCK, THE HITCH-HIKER, THE BLUE GARDENIA, SPLIT SECOND and of course, OUT OF THE PAST.