77 Sunset Strip (TV Series) The Well-Selected Frame (1958) User Reviews

Very Noir like episode

[gordonl56 · 8/10 · 16 May 2016]

77 SUNSET STRIP "The Well-Selected Frame" 1958

This is the eighth episode of the 1958 to 1964 Private Eye series. The series ran for a total of 206 episodes. Series regulars were, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Roger Smith, Edd Byrnes and Jacqueline Beer.

P.I. Roger Smith is approached by Peggy Castle with a problem. She informs Smith that she believes that her wealthy husband, Bartlett Robinson is trying to kill her. There has been a series of close calls like a cut brake line on her car. Castle tells Smith that she thinks Robinson is stepping out with his secretary, Frances Fong.

Smith is not all that unenthusiastic about getting mixed up in the case. A retainer of 1000 dollars in cash changes his mind. Smith is to call on Castle and Robinson, posing as a designer for some house renovations Castle is planning. He will stay in a guest room for the weekend.

Smith meets Castle and Robinson for drinks and takes an instant dislike to Robinson. Also in the mix here is Castle's drunken brother, Richard Webb, as well as the secretary, Frances Fong. Smith cannot shake that back of the head feeling that something is amiss here. He is sure that Castle is not telling him the whole story.

Castle agrees to fill him in on the details after dinner. They can have some drinks in his room and talk. The two meet, and while Smith is pouring drinks, Miss Castle walks up behind him and clobbers him with a fireplace poker.

When Smith finally comes around, he finds himself on the floor beside the dead as a door-nail, Robinson. He also has his own gun in his hand. There is also Miss Castle and her brother, Webb, standing there holding a pistol of their own. Of course Smith's pistol has no live rounds in it.

Smith feels like a complete chump for not seeing the frame job coming. Castle tells Smith to play along with her story when the Police arrive. Smith and her were having a "friendly fondle" when Robinson burst in and went at Smith with the poker. Smith had to defend himself and shot Robinson. Castle tells Smith it is that, or, she will say that Smith attacked Castle, and that Robinson had been defending her honour.

With Police sirens growing closer, our boy, Smith, decides he does not like either idea. He leaps out a handy window and hotfoots it. The Police are now swarming the estate looking for Smith. He ducks into one of the guest suites. There he finds the pretty, Miss Fong enjoying a bubble bath. He gives her the quick version of what has happened and asks for help. Fong agrees. She does not want to be accused of steeping out with her boss, Robinson.

The Police are looking through all the rooms and are now at Fong's. They take a quick look around and find nothing. Smith had been hiding at the bottom of the bathtub under the bubbles. Smith now calls his partner, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, and fills him in.

Anyways, between Smith, Zimbalist and the pretty Miss Fong, they find out some interesting details. Castle and Webb are not brother and sister. They are actually husband and wife and had played Robinson over a 10 million dollar estate. Smith now decides to turn himself in to the Police. He spills all he knows about Castle and Webb and the two are soon looking at life behind bars.

This is a nifty episode with several nice twists and turns. Most will recall Peggy Castle from her bits in the big screen film noir, 99 RIVER STREET and THE LONG WAIT.

And We Went Through This Because...?

[DrGlitterhouse · 7/10 · 11 January 2017]

Spencer finds himself framed for the murder of his client's husband, who she claimed was trying to kill her.

I've seen two Spencer-centric episodes so far, and I'm left wondering if there was a conscious decision made with these old Warner Bros. shows with rotating stars that the main lead would get the better scripts. As a previous reviewer has noted Boris Sagal's directing is a lot more interesting than the story. The biggest surprise is how suddenly the frame-up begins. The music cues vary between action pieces that would be at home in a Secret Agent episode and silly (sometimes stereotypical) cues in the vein of post-Roy Huggins Maverick episodes.

I will, however, gives props for the band in the bar playing "Someone to Watch Over Me" as Mrs. Stacy pleads with Spencer to take her case, as well as, in another scene (as was the case in "Lovely Lady, Take Pity"), the use of "It Had to Be You" playing in the background.

The best scenes are the ones with Stu Bailey, particularly the phone call scene in the middle with both him and Kookie in the office and the phone in the foreground. The episode even ends with Bailey.

The inquest scene is flat (an earlier reviewer pointed out). What was the point? Was the audience really supposed to be on the edge of its seat wondering who shot Mr. Stacy? Outside of that, there's nothing revealed that we couldn't have learned without Spencer becoming a fugitive--or Spencer running a background check on his client before taking the case.

I hope Sagal's talents are put to use on more compelling material in the course of this series, as "The Well-Selected Frame" pretty much qualifies as filler.

Another strong episode

[shakspryn · 8/10 · 16 May 2023]

There are several good points about this episode. For one, the plot is good. Also, we have an Asian actress, young and beautiful, who has a major role. This was quite unusual, I think, in 1950's TV shows! Her character had a lot to do, and had plenty of good dialogue. It was a real pleasure to see someone out of the usual run on this episode.

I'm not familiar with other detective TV shows of the 1950's, but I suspect that many of them featured frequent shoot-outs. I know that Mannix, ten years later, for example, often had shootouts. In this series, sometimes you get those, but often you don't, and it's refreshing that the series didn't rely on them.

All of the supporting characters here are fine. Kookie is in a few scenes, being his usual bubbly self. We don't see Roscoe or Suzanne this time. It always feels more complete, more fun, when they are both in an episode. Stu has some good scenes, but this is Jeff's adventure. I noticed in the credits, Roger Smith was billed ahead of the much more experienced Efrem Zimbalist, which surprised me. Roger was only about 26 when this show began! (As was 'Suzanne').

One of the things that makes this show really stand out, is the witty banter between Jeff and Stu. That adds a nice and welcome touch of humor to the show.

The late and missed Peggy Castle at her peak

[searchanddestroy-1 · 20 October 2015]

Peggy Castle literally shines in this so gloomy atmospheric noir tale that - I will never insist enough about it - suits so well to that tremendous TV show. I am amazed by the directing more than the story. Let's face it, the scheme is never the most important for this series, only the music score and, of course, the symphony of characters. The sequence with the lathered bathtub is exquisite. The final courtroom sequence rather flat and not so surprising. The Castle's character gets rid of her husband to keep her hidden former husband who is shown here as her brother. Directed by Boris Sagal, the TV vet director who died in 1981.