The Contest (4 Nov. 1954)
"Four Star Playhouse" The Contest (original title)

When a police detective investigates the murder of a playwright, his investigation leads him to two possible culprits - his brother and his fiancée.

Director:

Robert Florey

Writers:

Milton Geiger (story), Milton Geiger (screenplay)

Stars:

Dick Powell, Marguerite Chapman, John Hubbard

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Dick Powell	...	Dan
Marguerite Chapman	...	Lisa
John Hubbard	...	Beecher
Ray Walker	...	Police Lieutenant
Alan Dexter	...	Macilvaine
Ralph Volkie	...	Police Sergeant

Storyline

When a police detective investigates the murder of a playwright, his investigation leads him to two possible culprits - his brother and his fiancée.

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Plot Keywords:

police detective | brother | playwright | murder investigation | fiancee

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1954 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Four Star Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
[Dan and his finacee are dancing in a swanky night club]
Dan: So this is how the other half lives, huh?
Lisa: I like it.
Dan: I was referring to the other half - not the future better half.

User Reviews

Well done TV noir

FOUR STAR PLAYHOUSE – The Contest – 1954 Dick Powell is the Chief of Detectives in a large city. He is out for an evening with his fiancé, Marguerite Chapman. Some dinner, drinks and dancing are on the card for the night. Into the place, walks John Hubbard. Hubbard, a con-man, is known to both, Powell and Chapman. He had swindled Chapman's father out of tens of thousands of dollars. He had also gotten Powell's brother some jail time on another scam.

Chapman and Powell decide to finish their drinks and leave. Hubbard sees them and comes over all smiles. He would like to stop by the next day and see Powell. Powell gives him a time and place to meet. He then pays his bill, helps Chapman with her coat and exits. He drops Chapman at her place and drives home.

The next morning, just as he gets to his office, he is called out to the scene of a murder. The victim is of course, John Hubbard. Powell has a look at the stiff and tells the Detective in charge, "Put out the usual suspects call and for anyone that had it in for him." The cop smiles and answers. "For this guy, that will be quite the crowd." Powell then has a look around Hubbard's apartment. He finds a single woman's glove behind the front door. He pockets the glove without anyone noticing. He then returns to the office to think.

The Detectives have finished the door to door of canvas of Hubbard's apartment block. Two witnesses say they saw a woman leave the apartment just after the shot was fired. They however did not see the woman's face.

Later that afternoon, Powell pays a visit to fiancé Chapman's apartment. He pulls out the glove, looks her in the eye and asks. "Were you at Hubbard's apartment? Did you shoot him?" Chapman admits to being there, but denies shooting Hubbard. Powell says he must play this straight, fiancé or not. "Did you shoot him! Or did you see who did!" Chapman breaks down and admits that she had gone to Hubbard's place to kill him. But that someone else had pulled the trigger. Who was the man, none other than Powell's brother. He was getting even with Hubbard. Powell has an arrest warrant issued for his brother.

A pretty intense little episode if you ask me. The director was, Robert Florey. His noir include, DANGER SIGNAL, ROGUE'S REGIMENT, THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK and THE CROOKED WAY.

The d of p was, George Diskant. THE NARROW MARGIN, RIFFRAFF, THEY LIVE BY NIGHT, PORT OF NEW YORK, THE RACKET, K.C.C., BEWARE MY LOVELY, and ON DANGEROUS GROUND are examples of his work. (b/w)