Vincent Price is Sherlock Holmes gone wrong in this engaging entry. It's New York at the turn of the century and Price is a detective who prides himself on his infallibility. He keeps mementos of each of his successfully solved cases.
One night James Gregory shows up and confront Price with evidence that the last man he convicted and sent to the chair was innocent. There are intimations that Gregory -- playing it straight here, rather than as a braying blowhard -- may leak the secret of Price's failure. Well, Price can't have that, so Gregory winds up strangled and turned into a vase in the pottery kiln. The vase takes its place among Price's mementos.
The performances are splendid for a half-hour television show, and the set dressing is more than perfunctory for a change. It's tautly written with no padding or wasted moments.
Price was an interesting guy -- out of St. Louis, a decent actor whose work included serious drama ("Leave Her To Heaven"), comedy ("Champagne For Caesar") and, later, the horror films of Roger Corman. As an added bonus, a combination of comedy and horror in "Theater of Blood." He was also a serious art collector and author of a book on a style of cooking approaching haut cuisine, but beware the recipe for eggplant parmigiana. A typo instructs you to add double the proper amount of bread crumbs. A word to the wise.
One night James Gregory shows up and confront Price with evidence that the last man he convicted and sent to the chair was innocent. There are intimations that Gregory -- playing it straight here, rather than as a braying blowhard -- may leak the secret of Price's failure. Well, Price can't have that, so Gregory winds up strangled and turned into a vase in the pottery kiln. The vase takes its place among Price's mementos.
The performances are splendid for a half-hour television show, and the set dressing is more than perfunctory for a change. It's tautly written with no padding or wasted moments.
Price was an interesting guy -- out of St. Louis, a decent actor whose work included serious drama ("Leave Her To Heaven"), comedy ("Champagne For Caesar") and, later, the horror films of Roger Corman. As an added bonus, a combination of comedy and horror in "Theater of Blood." He was also a serious art collector and author of a book on a style of cooking approaching haut cuisine, but beware the recipe for eggplant parmigiana. A typo instructs you to add double the proper amount of bread crumbs. A word to the wise.