.....would this series have originated it? A factory worker even walks into a scene inquiring where he can get a mild tobacco - "oh, you want "Dill's Best", it's etc etc"!!! The tobacconist is even mentioned first in the credits!!
There was also a big turnover of stars in the leading role - William Gargan (1949-1951) brought some Irish charm to the role, Lloyd Nolan (1951-1952) was suitably world weary and noirish, Lee Tracy (1952-1953) was fast talking and peppery and Mark Stevens (1953-1954) more conventional. Gargan was even brought back by ZIV to star in "The Return of Martin Kane" which was filmed at European locations.
Yet another show which started life as a radio series, there are several episodes in the "Best of TV Detectives" DVD and they never stop plugging tobacco whether it's "Old Briar", "Tweed" or "Model" - there is a smoke for every occasion.
Episodes are "The District Attorney Killer" in which the D.A. is shot while cross examining a witness and all evidence points to a famous criminal lawyer. "I'll ask you to permit me to return to the welcome privacy of my cell" is some of the fruity dialogue and the warden should have thrown away the key!! William Gargan was in this as well as in "Altered Will" - a businessman is killed and Kane has to wade through all the beneficiaries to find one who has the means and the motive. Lloyd Nolan adds a touch of Humphrey Bogart to both "A Jockey is Murdered" and "A Crooner is Murdered". The first is about a jockey bothered by loan sharks who is killed before he can clear his name and the second concerns the death of a popular singer who is taking credit for the writing of his songs, leaving the real writer out in the cold and nursing a grudge.
The show seemed to improve with the years and Lee Tracy's old pep and personality make "The Comic Strip Killer", in my opinion, the best of the group. A cartoonist is convinced he knows the killer of an unsolved murder, so day by day he introduces characters into his strips who can easily be recognized by the killer. When he is murdered Kane, who has been employed by the disgruntled Mr. Ainsley, finds himself drawn into the world of phoney mysticism.
Recommended.
There was also a big turnover of stars in the leading role - William Gargan (1949-1951) brought some Irish charm to the role, Lloyd Nolan (1951-1952) was suitably world weary and noirish, Lee Tracy (1952-1953) was fast talking and peppery and Mark Stevens (1953-1954) more conventional. Gargan was even brought back by ZIV to star in "The Return of Martin Kane" which was filmed at European locations.
Yet another show which started life as a radio series, there are several episodes in the "Best of TV Detectives" DVD and they never stop plugging tobacco whether it's "Old Briar", "Tweed" or "Model" - there is a smoke for every occasion.
Episodes are "The District Attorney Killer" in which the D.A. is shot while cross examining a witness and all evidence points to a famous criminal lawyer. "I'll ask you to permit me to return to the welcome privacy of my cell" is some of the fruity dialogue and the warden should have thrown away the key!! William Gargan was in this as well as in "Altered Will" - a businessman is killed and Kane has to wade through all the beneficiaries to find one who has the means and the motive. Lloyd Nolan adds a touch of Humphrey Bogart to both "A Jockey is Murdered" and "A Crooner is Murdered". The first is about a jockey bothered by loan sharks who is killed before he can clear his name and the second concerns the death of a popular singer who is taking credit for the writing of his songs, leaving the real writer out in the cold and nursing a grudge.
The show seemed to improve with the years and Lee Tracy's old pep and personality make "The Comic Strip Killer", in my opinion, the best of the group. A cartoonist is convinced he knows the killer of an unsolved murder, so day by day he introduces characters into his strips who can easily be recognized by the killer. When he is murdered Kane, who has been employed by the disgruntled Mr. Ainsley, finds himself drawn into the world of phoney mysticism.
Recommended.