– THE HIRED MAN – Don Siegel TV This is a 1957 episode from the police drama "Code-3" The start and finish of each episode begins with Richard Travis giving a short blurb about the episode.
While driving down a dirt road just out of LA, a man nearly runs over a woman after she stumbles out of the brush and onto the road . She is screaming that a man with a gun is trying to kill her. The driver loads her in the car and heads for the nearest phone. The LA Sheriff's Department is called. Detectives Robert Osterloh and Dan Kennedy respond to the call. By the time they get to the woman, she has slipped into shock and is not forthcoming with any info. A stiff belt of brandy soon straightens that problem out. The woman, Sally Brophy, tells the detectives that a man has killed her husband, Dabbs Greer, and then tried to kill her. They had put an ad in the paper in-order to sell their car. A man called, asked them to bring the car and meet him at a spot up the road. A gun was pulled, and they were forced to drive him out of town. The man had then shot Greer. It was only with luck that Brophy had escaped into the woods. The police are not sure if they believe Brophy. They load her in a prowler and go looking for the murder site. They find the site and also find Greer with several un-needed holes in his torso. An all points goes out on the car. Back at the station, Kennedy and Osterloh have Brophy go through the mug shots. They also call in police sketch artist, William Schallert. The detectives are called in to talk with the boss, Ted de Corcia. He tells the pair that a lead was just called in about another car sale. The man, Richard Deacon, tells the police that a man had tried the same stunt several days earlier at his store. He had asked him to go for a drive but Deacon had declined. At the station, Schallert has finished his sketch of the suspect from Brophy's description. Deacon points to it and says that is the man. A closer look at the mug books come up with a suspect. The man, Tom Fadden, is a known gunman and the alert goes out. The detectives hunt down Fadden's rooms and go for a quick search. Inside the rooms they get a gun poked in their faces from Fadden's doll, Virginia Christine. They relieve Christine of the piece and give her the old third degree. Fadden has split town and headed for Denver. The Denver bulls are called. They stake out the general delivery window at the main post office. Christine had let slip that she had sent him a letter that day. Fadden shows and is quickly gobbled up and returned to L.A. on the murder beef. This is a quick and to the point police procedural that just zips along.
Siegel is known to us all as the helmsman of, THE VERDICT, THE BIG STEAL, COUNT THE HOURS, RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11, PRIVATE HELL 36, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, CRIME IN THE STREETS, BABY FACE NELSON, THE LINE UP, THE GUN RUNNERS, THE KILLERS, DIRTY HARRY and CHARLEY VARRICK. The d of p on this episode was Jack Mackenzie. He worked on ISLE OF THE DEAD and TWO O,CLOCK COURAGE. (b/w)
While driving down a dirt road just out of LA, a man nearly runs over a woman after she stumbles out of the brush and onto the road . She is screaming that a man with a gun is trying to kill her. The driver loads her in the car and heads for the nearest phone. The LA Sheriff's Department is called. Detectives Robert Osterloh and Dan Kennedy respond to the call. By the time they get to the woman, she has slipped into shock and is not forthcoming with any info. A stiff belt of brandy soon straightens that problem out. The woman, Sally Brophy, tells the detectives that a man has killed her husband, Dabbs Greer, and then tried to kill her. They had put an ad in the paper in-order to sell their car. A man called, asked them to bring the car and meet him at a spot up the road. A gun was pulled, and they were forced to drive him out of town. The man had then shot Greer. It was only with luck that Brophy had escaped into the woods. The police are not sure if they believe Brophy. They load her in a prowler and go looking for the murder site. They find the site and also find Greer with several un-needed holes in his torso. An all points goes out on the car. Back at the station, Kennedy and Osterloh have Brophy go through the mug shots. They also call in police sketch artist, William Schallert. The detectives are called in to talk with the boss, Ted de Corcia. He tells the pair that a lead was just called in about another car sale. The man, Richard Deacon, tells the police that a man had tried the same stunt several days earlier at his store. He had asked him to go for a drive but Deacon had declined. At the station, Schallert has finished his sketch of the suspect from Brophy's description. Deacon points to it and says that is the man. A closer look at the mug books come up with a suspect. The man, Tom Fadden, is a known gunman and the alert goes out. The detectives hunt down Fadden's rooms and go for a quick search. Inside the rooms they get a gun poked in their faces from Fadden's doll, Virginia Christine. They relieve Christine of the piece and give her the old third degree. Fadden has split town and headed for Denver. The Denver bulls are called. They stake out the general delivery window at the main post office. Christine had let slip that she had sent him a letter that day. Fadden shows and is quickly gobbled up and returned to L.A. on the murder beef. This is a quick and to the point police procedural that just zips along.
Siegel is known to us all as the helmsman of, THE VERDICT, THE BIG STEAL, COUNT THE HOURS, RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11, PRIVATE HELL 36, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, CRIME IN THE STREETS, BABY FACE NELSON, THE LINE UP, THE GUN RUNNERS, THE KILLERS, DIRTY HARRY and CHARLEY VARRICK. The d of p on this episode was Jack Mackenzie. He worked on ISLE OF THE DEAD and TWO O,CLOCK COURAGE. (b/w)