The ending of this show is dumb. Despite the fact that Gilliam and Ahern are shown driving down the coast at the same time that Stone and Keller are checking with the escort service's answering service (would the service provide such detail as to where she had gone "for a few days"?), the two cops are able to follow Gilliam and Ahern to Gilliam's love nest which is near Monterey (almost 120 miles away!) and arrive seemingly seconds after the two "lovers." Furthermore, how do the cops know where this love nest is located? Is this something that Gilliam's wife might have known about (I doubt it)? It is definitely not on the main road where Stone and Keller could see Gilliam's car.
6 Reviews
Another side of "Vertigo".
cidcastro18 December 2009
In spite of some mistakes and unexplained turns already mentioned by other people, what makes this episode of "The Streets Of San Francisco" interesting, is the fact that there is some kind of "salute" to ALfred Hitchcock's classic. Not only the city of Frisco itself, with some of the same spots(they seemed to me), but the plot also contains elements... it is about a man who recreates the same lover, over and over again. Is like the "dark" side of James Stewart (Scottie Ferguson felt guilty, but was no serial killer). There are even some remarks about the hair of the girls, as Stewart did with Kim Novak... By the way, the name of one of Powers' characters is... Kim.
Come with me to the Casbah
kapelusznik1819 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Both Det. Let. Mike Stone, Karl Malden, and Inspector Steve Keller, Michael Douglas, have their hands full here dealing with love sick psycho Amory Gilliam, Edward Mulhere, who's got this fixation on pretty Kim Ahern, Stefanie Powers, whom he met through the Golden Gate Escort Services. As Kim is soon to find out her date is a bit strange to say the least. He just left his old lady or wife of 30 years in order to play the field with women young enough to be his daughter. And even worse if they don't play along with him they may well end up at the bottom of San Francisco Bay!
A nut for all ages Amory is so consumed with the unsuspecting Kim, who at first thinks he's a real swell guy, that he plans to make her into his own, in what he thinks is perfect woman is, image. This nuts goes so far that he even buys a pad, or Casbah, on the Pacific Coast just to keep Kim close to him and prevent her from escaping his crazed and unnatural love for her. It's also discovered by Det. Let. Stone & Insp. Keller that Amory has been doing these kind of things for some time with two of his victims, women he met through escort services, ending up murdered!
***SPOILERS*** Amory holding the helpless and terrified Kim hostage at his palace or tower by the sea and planning to do her in in her rejecting his advances Det. Let. Stone & Insp. Keller get there just in time to prevent Amory from doing just that. The by them totally crazed Amory after offering mild resistance folded up and cried like a baby without his pacifier to be booked and examined a a battery of court appointed psychiatrists to see if he's mentally fit to stand trial.
A nut for all ages Amory is so consumed with the unsuspecting Kim, who at first thinks he's a real swell guy, that he plans to make her into his own, in what he thinks is perfect woman is, image. This nuts goes so far that he even buys a pad, or Casbah, on the Pacific Coast just to keep Kim close to him and prevent her from escaping his crazed and unnatural love for her. It's also discovered by Det. Let. Stone & Insp. Keller that Amory has been doing these kind of things for some time with two of his victims, women he met through escort services, ending up murdered!
***SPOILERS*** Amory holding the helpless and terrified Kim hostage at his palace or tower by the sea and planning to do her in in her rejecting his advances Det. Let. Stone & Insp. Keller get there just in time to prevent Amory from doing just that. The by them totally crazed Amory after offering mild resistance folded up and cried like a baby without his pacifier to be booked and examined a a battery of court appointed psychiatrists to see if he's mentally fit to stand trial.
Either confused or the ending was dumb
ty56633 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I've been rewatching Season 1 Volume 1 of the show and while I enjoy most of it, this one was bit too far-fetched.
Spoiler from this part on....
Now am I to believe that there were three women that looked like Stefanie Powers? The one in Seattle, the one killed at the start and the one that was going to be killed at the end? And none of them were even related? I can suspend disbelief but not that much....
At first, I thought we were seeing it in flashbacks, start off with Mulhare's character killing off Powers and then flashback to him going to an agency where he meets the woman they show him killing. Then when Keller recognizes the face, it was going to solve the crime that already happened. So the whole time, I thought it was just a flashback leading up to the killing that we saw in the opener but turns out the woman Mulhare got at the escort service was the third lookalike. And she lived in the same town as the one that was killed at the start, none of her friends commented on that?
Spoiler from this part on....
Now am I to believe that there were three women that looked like Stefanie Powers? The one in Seattle, the one killed at the start and the one that was going to be killed at the end? And none of them were even related? I can suspend disbelief but not that much....
At first, I thought we were seeing it in flashbacks, start off with Mulhare's character killing off Powers and then flashback to him going to an agency where he meets the woman they show him killing. Then when Keller recognizes the face, it was going to solve the crime that already happened. So the whole time, I thought it was just a flashback leading up to the killing that we saw in the opener but turns out the woman Mulhare got at the escort service was the third lookalike. And she lived in the same town as the one that was killed at the start, none of her friends commented on that?
Murder mystery meets a cop show.
mm-3912 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Murder mystery meets a cop show. Great characters we have a derange rich guy who is trying to create the idea women, during a mid life crises. The guy already had the sports car, which I guess was just not enough. A woman from an escort agency is in danger. Tower Beyond Tragedy is written in a romance novel way! A slow burn episode with the woman wondering about the mystery of an older rich guy. The murdered women leave a trail for Keller and Stone trail, to solve the case, before for a final conclusion! Well written and directed, and acted. 6 stars.
Identical strangers in San Francisco...I am sure it happens all the time.
planktonrules18 September 2013
Stephanie Powers and Edward Mulhare both guest star in this episode. It's an unusual show because there are some interesting parallels--perhaps intentionally so. One reviewer noticed the many similarities to "Vertigo", I was struck by how much it was like "Pygmalion" and "My Fair Lady"--which is REALLY ironic consider that Mulhare came to fame by playing Professor Higgins on stage in "My Fair Lady" (the musical version of "Pygmalion"). The big difference? This Henry Higgins-like character is freaking nuts!
The show begins with Avery (Mulhare) getting into an argument with a woman and killing her! Next, he's at an escort service* and is hiring a woman (Stephanie Powers) that looks almost exactly** like the dead lady. And, when they go out, he begins to remake her into the dead woman! The police get involved after they discover the last body. Can they find the lady in time to avoid her being next?
This is an enjoyable episode but one that really strains credibility--as have some of the previous installments. The psycho angle is interesting but also far-fetched. What's also far-fetched? The police discovering that Avery has taken his new girlfriend to Monterey and they take off that way with their siren blasting. This is a two-hour drive! And, oddly, they INSTANTLY found him about to kill her after this drive! Ridiculous. In fact, though enjoyable there are just so many silly plot devices in this one to take it very seriously.
*This escort service is an actual escort service--not a cover for prostitution. Surprising, huh?
**In a cheesy move, Powers played BOTH ladies. Now I know the plot needed them to look very similar, but the notion of identical strangers is a stupid cliché and made the show seem a bit dopey.
The show begins with Avery (Mulhare) getting into an argument with a woman and killing her! Next, he's at an escort service* and is hiring a woman (Stephanie Powers) that looks almost exactly** like the dead lady. And, when they go out, he begins to remake her into the dead woman! The police get involved after they discover the last body. Can they find the lady in time to avoid her being next?
This is an enjoyable episode but one that really strains credibility--as have some of the previous installments. The psycho angle is interesting but also far-fetched. What's also far-fetched? The police discovering that Avery has taken his new girlfriend to Monterey and they take off that way with their siren blasting. This is a two-hour drive! And, oddly, they INSTANTLY found him about to kill her after this drive! Ridiculous. In fact, though enjoyable there are just so many silly plot devices in this one to take it very seriously.
*This escort service is an actual escort service--not a cover for prostitution. Surprising, huh?
**In a cheesy move, Powers played BOTH ladies. Now I know the plot needed them to look very similar, but the notion of identical strangers is a stupid cliché and made the show seem a bit dopey.
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