Naked City (TV Series) A Very Cautious Boy (1961) User Reviews

A very interesting episode

[actionsub · 9/10 · 19 October 2019]

There are two aspects that make this particular episode unique in the Naked City canon.

The first is the absence of Adam Flint. He shows up in the beginning while Lt. Parker attempts to stall him out of his vacation by getting him to answer one phone call after another. This goes on for a couple of minutes before Flint hightails it out the door. This was a good call as the script didn't call for Adam's kneejerk instincts toward making the crime of the week a social justice matter. The interplay between the grouchy Lt. Parker and the easygoing veteran Det. Arcaro as they solve the crime add another layer to this episode that makes it even more appealing.

The second is the performance of Peter Falk as a quirky hitman who prefers to do his job without firearms and has a crush on a French singer who works at a restaurant whose owners hire him to take care of a mobster who is shaking them down for protection money. There is a scene where the hitman has a realtor take him to a property that overlooks his target's home. The dialogue between Falk and the realtor gives hints of his later signature role as Lt. Columbo.

Macha Magarin

[Piafredux · 8/10 · 17 August 2014]

'"A Very Cautious Boy' is one of the best of the hour-long 'Naked City' episodes. Tremendously powerful acting from Ruth White.

But the IMDb mystery of this mystery episode is that the lovely young woman who plays pianist-chanteuse Gaby Duclos is, in the episode's own closing credits, listed as Macha Magarin, yet from IMDb's episode cast list Miss Magarin is absent.

In her IMDb name page there's no data whatsoever - not a birth date, not a single line item as movie/TV cast member or of show biz employment. Just her name.

More substance about this episode I would type here. Instead I'm typing this filler you're reading because IMDb commenting rules require a minimum of ten lines of text. So: TAG! You're IT!

A Very Cautious Boy

[philter1949 · 8/10 · 2 April 2021]

Well done episode. Ruth White very devious. Peter Falk absolutely chilling as Lee Staunton.

Peter Falk the Mechanic

[searchanddestroy-1 · 10/10 · 21 March 2018]

I could not prevent myself from thinking about Chuck Bronson a decade later in Mike Winner's movie THE MECHANIC; although not entirely, because there is no rookie killer here, but only a very professional one, meticulous, rough, expert in many skills, karate, judo, scuba diving and hired by cabaret owners to get rid of a brutal extortionist. Falk has never been better in this anti hero character in love with French songs played by a cute French piano player. I LOVE this episode.

Peter Falk understated as villain

[Miles-10 · 6/10 · 15 December 2014]

Peter Falk plays Lee Staunton, a man who hires himself out as an assassin. His clients want him to murder a man they say is extorting them, although we never see any evidence that this is true. Falk plays Staunton like a man who has erased himself as a human being. He is only concerned with perfecting himself as a human weapon for hire and leading a comfortable life on the proceeds. In spite of that, Falk has a great presence, and I believe this is the first time he appears as a guest star even though he had been on "Naked City" before in minor roles.

The premise is that Staunton uses karate to kill, but what we mostly see in this episode is judo. A presumably real-life judo instructor does appear on camera to explain the difference, but the rest of the production ignores his explanation.

Staunton uses scuba gear to approach his intended victim's home on the beach. There is an old joke here about how to deal with a guard dog. I was expecting more of a surprise ending, but the story ends without even making it clear that the police know who all the criminals are, although there are enough clues that we can assume that they will sort it out afterward.

Ruth White and William Hansen as Staunton's clients, the Ganoulians, are good as the real villains of the piece. After all, they hire a man to commit murder and they perhaps have other motives than the ones they claim.

Jumps the shark

[lor_ · 3 May 2024]

I had an odd premonition at the beginning of this episode, when Paul Burke goes on vacation, after a comical scene with his boss Horace McMahon. How will "Naked City" hold up in his temporary absence? Answer: NSG.

The series, especially in its first season with James Franciscus and John McIntire, gave a gritty, realistic (on-location) approach to a NYC crime show. Perhaps hiring Gilbert Ralston as sceenwriter was the mistake for "A Very Cautious Boy". Ralston was a prolific TV writer, best known in movies for the horror classic "Willard" (and it sequel "Ben"), as well as an ultra-violent movie "The Hunting Party", one of the more striking movies made in the wake of Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch". His ludicrous script turns the show into a hokey, at times campy melodrama.

Peter Falk walks through this starring role as a cold-blooded (and wooden) hired killer who calls himself "an insurance man". He's hired by a cute old restaurateur couple (Ruth White and William Hansen) to get rid of a lawyer who is shaking them down. Falk shakes the couple down for $20,000 to kill him.

A tedious subplot involving the then novel Karate craze. Between some martial arts scenes and Falk's later rather silly footage as a frogman to commit the murder, it's mainly obvious stunt men who carry out much of the work.

Final twists in the story are absurd, as kindly old Ruth White turns out to be a violent villain, and Falk's woodeness becomes similar to the gait of the Frankenstein monster as he plays his final scene, severly wounded but still violent. Police work is laughable here, too, without brainy Burke on the scene.

Only bright spot is Macha Meril as Falk's "romantic" interest, after she had been showcased in a juicy role in the sister series "Route 66". After just one feature film here (starring Dean Martin), she went back to Europe, never to come back to American roles, apart from Cannon's 1986 feature "Duet for One", made in London.

Columbo: Karate Master Extaordinaire

[kapelusznik18 · 6/10 · 19 August 2014]

***SPOILERS*** Hired by the Ganoulian's Mama & Joe, Ruth White & William Hansen, to get mob boss Roy Baxter, Bert Sargent, off their back in shaking them down for protection money in keeping their Hungarian restaurant from being set on fire they hire goofy real estate agent Lee Staunton, Peter Falk, to do a job on him. Not by selling Baxter any real estate but by doing him in karate style. It so happens that harmless looking Staunton is a first class karate expert and putting away a hood like Baxter would be, despite his goons and attack dog protection, child's play for him. Staunton makes a big mistake when he in showing his prowess as a karate master takes out the Ganoulian restaurant bouncer Ziggy, Mike O'Dowd, who had his feelings hurt.

Attempting to get even Ziggy confronts Staunton in a dark alley and challenges him to a fist fight where this time he not only gets badly worked over by the much smaller Staunton but, with him getting his neck head & arms broken, killed by him! With a murder, it was really self-defense, on his hands before he can finish off Baxter this has the NYPD now on his tail making Staunton a fugitive from justice before he could have became one, and checked out of town, by knocking off mob boss Baxter!

***SPOILERS*** Finally after much work in getting to Baxter's mansion, by scuba diving, and finally murdering him Staunton gets his just reward by the person who hired him Mama Ganoulian blasting him away when he came, on her boat, to collect his reward money! Not a man that takes thing lightly, like being double-crossed and shot, Staunton makes it back to NYC, with two bullets in him, to pay Mama & Joe off for what they did to him. He also unknowingly brings the New York Police who by then figured out who he is and what he did, killed Ziggy, along with him!

Not really a complaint, but an Observation...

[lrrap · 6/10 · 6 March 2020]

..the fact that the Martial Arts element of this episode is not an essential part of the plot. Without the Karate/Judo scenes, this show could have easily played out as a HALF HOUR standard crime drama. But the karate element gives us a couple of good action scenes -- by Peter Falk and his stunt doubles.

The Karate/judo scenes take up quite a bit of screen time, including a couple of explanations of self-defense--in the opening narration, then later as an instructor explains the art and its philosophy to Parker and Arcaro. It's interesting, but totally incidental. ALSO-- James Rosin's book on "Naked City" DOESN'T EVEN MENTION the Martial Arts component in his plot summary!!

Falk is, as always, a superb, menacing presence--calm, collected, almost non-chalant, but ready to spring into action with deadly efficiency. However (once again) most of his action stuff is done with stand-ins.

Except for the Martial Arts element, the script is rather routine, and the ending is weak.. even more so because the Karate/Judo is revealed to be pointless. I expected it would somehow be used to tie things together at the end--but no. We certainly could have used a scene early on with the extortionist/lawyer or his henchmen threatening the Ganoulians; as it is, they only talk about the threats, which doesn't make for very compelling viewing. BY THE WAY--- there was ample time to have included such a scene, since the running time of this episode is short and, as a result, we are treated to the L-O-N-G-E-S-T final credit sequence imaginable, with Billy May's closing theme music played at the S-L-O-W-E-S-T- possible tempo.

A few other observations:

1.) The Japanese actors who have fairly prominent roles are not given screen credit.

2.) Both William Hansen (Mr. Ganoulian) and William Duell (the goofy desk clerk near the end) created roles in the very successful musical "1776" in 1969, in both the stage and film versions (Hansen was the cancer-stricken Delaware delegate Cesar Rodney, Duell the caretaker McNair).

3.) Highly amusing scene in Act 1 between the three series regulars (Burke, MacMahon, and Bellaver)-- with Adam Flint desperately trying to get out the door to start his vacation. Clever dialogue, blocking and timing, phones ringing, etc.... like a regular, old vaudeville routine. I think it might be my favorite part of this episode. LR