"High Stakes" is a different sort of episode of "Public Defender" for a couple reasons. First, it begins with Tom Hampton coming to the public defender's office BEFORE the police arrested him! Second, Bart Matthews (Reed Hadley) isn't in much of the episode...almost all of the show is the story that led to Tom's problems.
Tom's problems all came about due to his gambling addiction. A nearby town allowed poker and Tom played a lot...and lost a lot. Clearly he was hooked but after a bad night and a fight with the wife he vowed never to gamble. For some time, he was good at his word. However, when a client wanted to go to play some poker, Tom stupidly thought he could play a bit....and stop any time he wanted. Soon, he's heavily in debt and it's obvious that Barney's Casino set him up...especially when they offered to forgive his debts if he helped steal his company's money!! How does it all end? See the show.
This was a pretty exciting episode and holds up pretty well today. Well written and acted...with a cameo by the 1930s leading man (and "Plan 9 From Outer Space" aluminist) Lyle Talbot. And, if you like the shows or are interested in seeing them, they are available free to download from archive.org--a site frequently linked to IMDb.
Tom's problems all came about due to his gambling addiction. A nearby town allowed poker and Tom played a lot...and lost a lot. Clearly he was hooked but after a bad night and a fight with the wife he vowed never to gamble. For some time, he was good at his word. However, when a client wanted to go to play some poker, Tom stupidly thought he could play a bit....and stop any time he wanted. Soon, he's heavily in debt and it's obvious that Barney's Casino set him up...especially when they offered to forgive his debts if he helped steal his company's money!! How does it all end? See the show.
This was a pretty exciting episode and holds up pretty well today. Well written and acted...with a cameo by the 1930s leading man (and "Plan 9 From Outer Space" aluminist) Lyle Talbot. And, if you like the shows or are interested in seeing them, they are available free to download from archive.org--a site frequently linked to IMDb.