Show76
Observation:
Bunny Lee does the Marilyn Monroe type act in this episode (Nov.1959) in the police station. It's interesting that the movie "Some Like It Hot" was released earlier that year. Submitted by HamBurger, 07/19/2014
+IMHO, Bunny Lee does more of a Jayne Mansfield "The Girl Can't Help It" (1956) and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" (1957) -type act. jfh 21Oct2016
++ I see Bunny Lee as more of a Mamie Van Doren type -- more animated than the cerebral Jayne Mansfield. JohnK, 15 November 2021
Parking meters must have been far more forgiving then. Can't imagine a modern meter would accept such a coin.
An odd courtroom - the main entrance, in a side wall instead of the usual center wall, appears to open onto thin air over the street. DOD 08/02/18
Bad decision: Richard Vanaman, an investment broker, seemed to know nothing about numismatics. He took a rare coin and had a hole drilled in it. Submitted by H. Mason 10/25/14
+ And he carried it around in his pocket as so much loose change! Kilo 11/9/2019.
++ A Henry VI quarter noble currently auctions for around $3000. However a Henry VIII quarter noble auctions for up to $90k - the premium for a Henry that is much more popular (and infamous). Rick P 9/16/21
Bunny says Henry VI was on the coin: He was King of England from 1422-61 & 1470-71; Shakespeare wrote a 3-part play about him [britannica.com]. Mike Bedard 7.15.16 MeTV viewing.
+ Henry The Sixth, Part 2 includes the line "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."! Somewhere I've heard this called "the most memorable line from Shakespeare's least memorable play". Is the Henry VI coin (a gold "quarter noble") a sophisticated attempt at a Lawyer Joke? Perhaps . . . but Bunny Lee also alludes to a different Henry in her description of the coin: "there's a picture of the shield of Henry The Sixth on one side - the man with the chicken leg" (DVD 12:39). I think it's likely, however, that this chicken leg bit was just intended to add to the comedy of Bunny's scene at the Hollywood Police Station. Added by Gary Woloski, 7/15/16.
DA Burger knew about using DE-magnetized shears to Splice tapes, but the Electronics "Expert" did Not! Mike B.
Good point.Perhaps, because he was told it was to be a joke,he didn't think he needed to be too cautious...having your mind on fast money will do that! Submitted by MikeReese, 11/13/2021.
Good Citizen or Prescient ?? Paul asks Vanaman to wait in the car, but then proceeds to put money in the meter: most of us, I think, wouldn't bother to do that w/ a passenger present (hence prescience that he thinks the latter will disregard his instructions and go inside.) Pondered by Notcom, 102216.
+ I believe that the parking meter's presence is a play on Vanaman's gold coin being used in one. And from Paul's facial expression, I suspect that they may have thought about having him ask Vanaman for a coin for the meter! TerryS, 12/11/2018.
There's a meme floating around the web contrasting dogs and cats, and pointedly says that "Dogs may be loyal, but a cat won't tell the cops where your drugs are', but in this case, the cat informed on the conspiratorial victim... Submitted by MikeReese, 3/14/2021.
Why does the murderer look so surprised to "discover" the body? He doesn't know he has a witness, Vanaman, in the room. Or does he? He may have actually seen him return before the newspapers are delivered. On the other hand, after Vanaman runs out, he still looks like he wasn't aware that the body was there. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 6/16/13.
+ That is the? key failing of this episode. The only possible explanation, and I don’t give it much credence, is that Hale had such remorse that when he saw his victim he freaked out. Submitted by Wick 1/26/2022.
When did the murderer kill the victim? If he had heard the edited tape and thought it was real, then he would have thought Vanaman was still in the room, and would have waited for him to leave. Since the edited tape was being played, Vanaman couldn't have still been there. On the other hand, Connors must have been there. Did the murderer miss seeing him enter the building and leave? Since Vanaman wasn't still there, the murderer would have thought he WAS still there and wouldn't have entered to commit the murder. Submitted by Wiseguy70005, 6/16/13.
Yeah, doesn’t make much sense. Supposedly Vanaman runs out after discovering the mike (but, oddly, makes no effort to find the recording), Sylvia calls Conners who edits the tape, he leaves, Sylvia plays the edited tape which is overheard by our killer, then Vanaman returns - all in under an hour? Hmmmm. DOD 09/28/22
Wondered why Vanaman didn't take his wife with him? I'm not being facetious .. seems that after the 9/11 terror attacks, some firefighters went, alone, to visit the widows of their comrades. And some romances sprung up. Of course, there'd be no story, now would there? And the wife of his rival in the firm? Hubby'd better sleep with one eye open, living with that Jezebel! Submitted by MikeReese, 9/20/2013.
Questions: Did anything happen to Doris Petrie for the lies she told on the witness stand? Mr. Nobel was at the hearing and would he want the husband of that woman to get the promotion? Submitted by H. Mason 10/25/14
Plot Points Repeated: For the second episode in a row (versus TCO Paul Drake's Dilemma), the apartment building desk clerk plays an important part (as well as being off the desk to get magazines etc.). Also, for the second time, the murderer is the admirer-from-afar. JohnK, 18 December 2015
A surprising solution,
Though we thought we knew it.
Alan Hewitt
Didn't do it.
Submitted by BobH, 15 September 2016
My husband and i noticed long ago that people who come to Perry's office for any reason, and who then courteously say, "Goodbye, Miss Street," or "Good day, Miss Street," as they exit are never the murderer. They may NOT acknowledge her upon departing and still not be the murderer, but courtesy to Della implies a non-murderous personality. This episode is the one exception we have found to the "Miss Street Rule," but it fits the temperament of the murderer perfectly. Submitted by catyron, January 23rd, 2021.
Syndication Chop: I watched this yesterday on MeTV. They completely took out the usual final scene in PM's office! I assume Dick V. got his job back, since that is suggested in the plot summary. Also I don't know how Della knew to wear a gardenia to get the tape. Was the explanation cut out too? Good grief. Rick P. 9/15/21
+ When Conners talks to Mrs. Petrie, they arrange to meet at the record shop. She tells him she'll be wearing a gardenia. In the next scene Paul tells Perry he saw Mrs. Petrie buying gardenias. Petrie later stops his wife from keeping that appointment, and the scene ends with him calling someone, presumably Perry -- who his wife was on the phone with when he walked in. The assumption is that Petrie told Perry about the appointment and that his wife was wearing a gardenia.
As for the final scene, it was back on the MeTV broadcast of 1/25/22. As I have stated elsewhere on this wiki, some time late in 2021 MeTV extended PM's timeslot by a few minutes, allowing most, if not all, of the syndication cuts to be restored. Oh, and, by the way, Noble states in that last scene that Vanaman did indeed get his job back, but he's making Vanaman and Petrie compete all over again for the vice-presidency. OLEF641 2/25/22