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7/10
A Robin Hood Crook
gordonl567 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
THE LINEUP – "Paper Millionaire"- 1958

During the 1950's there were two Police series that rose to the top. DRAGNET and THE LINE-UP, 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 88 of the series.

The Police are called in to have a look into a case of a man passing bad checks. The man, Reg Sheffield, shows up at various shipping companies wanting to rent space of a freighter to Australia. He produces a letter of credit for a million dollars. This of course opens many doors as the company is looking at a cool $300,000 plus deal. Sheffield uses the deal with the local firm to establish credit with local stores etc.

After he cashes a load of checks, he disappears with the various businesses holding the bag. Detectives Tom Tully and Warner Anderson are assigned the case. They backtrack the man through the numerous checks etc till they come up with a lead. The man is something of a Robin Hood. He steals, but gives most of his ill-gotten funds away to various down on their luck types.

They finally catch up with Sheffield when he pays with a $50 bad check for a bicycle. The Detectives trace the sale and soon collar the man. The Detectives feel like a first rate pair of heels, when they take the bike back from the kid Sheffield had given it to. They decide to leave the bike with the young boy, and pay the 50 bucks themselves to the bike shop.

This one is played in a rather lighthearted, feel good manner that really did not work. Having said that, it is still a treat to see all the on location filming of 1950's San Francisco.

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.
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10/10
Unheralded Masterpiece
redryan6431 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
WE FOLLOWED THIS 1950's series faithfully during the original run. Now, through the magic of the VHS and DVD, we've been able to reacquaint ourselves with it. Of the 20 or so episodes that we have on 'pirate' or amateur video, this one, THE LINEUP: THe Paper Millionaire Case is our favourite.

FIRST OF ALL, this may well be unusual; for it is perhaps the only installment of the CBS TV Series which does not feature a scene in which a Police Lineup (aka a "Showup") is portrayed in the story. Oh yeah, it is shown briefly in the opening credits and montage. But that really shouldn't count.

THE STORY BEGINS interestingly enough with a rather haughty Brit's conducting some business with an executive from a commercial shipping line. His confidence, his demeanor and his manner of dress all add up to his gaining the trust of the shipping magnate. Together with the aid of a phony letter of credit and a jeweled walking stick, this all added up to his being a low, common Confidence Man (aka Grifter).

WE FOLLOW HIS trail of theft by deception as this "Colonel" Fitzhugh-Martin (Reginald Sheffield) as he makes thou$and$ of dollar$ of purchases in the area of luxury items. In the course of his fraudulent super-shopping spree, he meets up with a lonely British widow. Mrs. Gordon (Norma Varden); whom he apparently goes sweet on. He showers the reclusive and apparently alcoholic lady with mink, diamonds and all of the plastic trappings of wealth.

IT IS THROUGH this liaison that the "Colonel" is tripped up. His fatal mistake came because of a sort of side bar to his romantic efforts.

WHILE VISITING MRS. Gordon's residence. Lt. Guthrie (Warner Anderson and Inspector Grebb (Tom Tully) are confronted by a very anti-social boy, Harrigan (Peter J. Votrian).

ON A RETURN trip, the detectives discover that Martin has given the distressed youngster a brand new bicycle. Checking with the bicycle shop's owner, Clarence Herbert (Billy Nerlson), they manage to "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" as admitted ex-convict Herbert provides his part of the story.

MAKING YET ANOTHER visit to Mrs. Gordon's, the pair catches the elusive grifter and finds the kid with a new bicycle. They opt to buy the bike for the boy, rather than take it in to police inventory as evidence of the on-going crime spree. As they leave the scene, we see the troubled kid smiling for the first time.

HEARING OF THE duo's kindly deed, the bike shop owner visits them at Police HQ. He offers to sell it to them at discount and the Cops warn him that it may happen again; as they often meet up with some very unhappy juveniles.

THIS IS ONE Police procedural story that should be ranked up at the top of the heap. It has everything going for it: criminal behaviour, plenty of investigative leg-work and (above all) humanity.

THE ONLY ELEMENT missing is any sort of gun play. And that's all right with Schultz and me!
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