This was a different angle for a crime. A young punk, "Harry Slaughter" (Ray Foster), is fingered for a jewelry robbery. He gets sent to jail but says he doesn't have the jewels, that the night watchman caught him before the cops arrived and he took the gems. The night watchman says that is not true and wonders why the cops are even thinking of believing the crook.
The watchman, a former big-league ballplayer named "Lightning Joe Adams," played by Howard Negley) winds up losing his job and begins to hit the bottle. At his age, he won't have much of a future drinking it away. Series star "Lt.Ballinger" (Lee Marvin) and his boss feel sorry for him.
Frank (Lee Marvin) has a plan: go undercover in jail and try to find out from Slaughter where the jewels really are. In his quest to do that, Ballinger has some really tense moments. At one point, I figured he was a goner, for sure.
I've noticed the tempo of this show picking up a bit in recent episodes, and this is another good one. A large part of that, of course, is the great acting and the great voice of Marvin, who makes his character a legit tough guy who gets your attention. He's always great to watch.
One of the guards in this story is an actor you've seen in a lot of George Matthews. He plays "Bricker" in here, a sadistic and corrupt guard. Matthews had a tough face, a tough New York City accent, and was especially good at playing villains. Here's a bit of odd trivia on him: reportedly, he is one of the small minority of Hollywood actors who has an unmarked grave.
The watchman, a former big-league ballplayer named "Lightning Joe Adams," played by Howard Negley) winds up losing his job and begins to hit the bottle. At his age, he won't have much of a future drinking it away. Series star "Lt.Ballinger" (Lee Marvin) and his boss feel sorry for him.
Frank (Lee Marvin) has a plan: go undercover in jail and try to find out from Slaughter where the jewels really are. In his quest to do that, Ballinger has some really tense moments. At one point, I figured he was a goner, for sure.
I've noticed the tempo of this show picking up a bit in recent episodes, and this is another good one. A large part of that, of course, is the great acting and the great voice of Marvin, who makes his character a legit tough guy who gets your attention. He's always great to watch.
One of the guards in this story is an actor you've seen in a lot of George Matthews. He plays "Bricker" in here, a sadistic and corrupt guard. Matthews had a tough face, a tough New York City accent, and was especially good at playing villains. Here's a bit of odd trivia on him: reportedly, he is one of the small minority of Hollywood actors who has an unmarked grave.
