HONG KONG "Murder by Proxy" 1961
Rod Taylor headlines this 1960-61 series as a newsman who is stationed in Hong Kong. Taylor is constantly in trouble with various shady types who are always involving him in their troubles. It usually takes several round of fisticuffs, a dead body or two and a gun battle before things get settled. This is the 22th episode.
This one begins with Taylor out for drinks with and old friend, Nancy Gates and her new husband, Gene Lyons. Also in the mix is another old pal, Hong Kong banker, Richard Anderson, and a not so friendly Paul Richards. Taylor and Richards are at odds over the affection of a woman.
Taylor is sure Richards is behind a series of close calls the reporter has had the last few weeks. Someone fiddled with the brakes on his car, then, the gas at his apartment sprung a leak. Now as the group leaves the club, a taxi nearly runs him down and then speeds off. Now a new problem pops up, Lyons, the hubby of Taylor's long-time friend, Miss Gates, seems to think that the two are having an affair.
Taylor's pal, Hong Kong Police Inspector, Lloyd Bochner wants to assign a detective to keep an eye on Taylor. Bochner is sure that Taylor has annoyed someone with one of his news stories and they are looking for some pay back.
Taylor is thinking the same thing, but believes it is Paul Richards behind the trouble. He pays Richards a visit for a "friendly" discussion. The talk leads to more than a few left hooks and right crosses being exchanged between the two, with Richards ending up on the losing end of the conversation.
That evening there is a large dinner party thrown by Nancy Gates and husband Lyons. While most of the group are out on the balcony enjoying drinks, someone shots Lyons dead from an upstairs window. The deal here is that Lyons was standing beside Taylor when killed. The Police suspect that it was a hit that was meant for reporter, Taylor.
Inspector Bochner quickly puts the grab on the most likely suspect, Paul Richards. Both Bochner and Taylor are sure that Richards was smarting from the beating Taylor had given him, and wanted revenge. Richards swears he is innocent of the murder, and with no evidence, he is released.
The Police and Taylor now go looking for the cab driver who had nearly creamed Taylor. There is a whole plethora of red herrings tossed out for the viewer to chew over. But the suspects are soon thinned out and it turns out that it is the dear wife, Miss Gates. Gates was involved in an affair all right, but it was with Hong Kong banker, Richard Anderson. The two wanted Lyon's millions. All the close calls on Taylor had been to make the Police think it was a messed up hit against Taylor.
Taylor finally tumbles to the ploy when the cab driver is found with a large knife in his ribs. There is a showdown at Taylor's apartment with Anderson blasting away with a revolver. Unfortunately for Nancy Gates, her paramour, Anderson's aim is off and she collects a fatal dose of lead. Anderson gets a sound thrashing from Taylor and is handed over to the local constabulary.
This is a decently entertaining episode, with lots of nice work from both the cast, and crew. The story is from veteran big-screen writer, Jonathan Latimer. His work includes the screenplays for the noir, THE GLASS KEY, THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME, NOCTURNE, ALIAS NICK BEAL and THE BIG CLOCK.
The look of the episode is really top rate with twice Oscar nominated cinematographer, Philip Lathrop at the controls. He also handled the lensing duties for 61 episodes of the popular series, PETER GUNN.
Rod Taylor headlines this 1960-61 series as a newsman who is stationed in Hong Kong. Taylor is constantly in trouble with various shady types who are always involving him in their troubles. It usually takes several round of fisticuffs, a dead body or two and a gun battle before things get settled. This is the 22th episode.
This one begins with Taylor out for drinks with and old friend, Nancy Gates and her new husband, Gene Lyons. Also in the mix is another old pal, Hong Kong banker, Richard Anderson, and a not so friendly Paul Richards. Taylor and Richards are at odds over the affection of a woman.
Taylor is sure Richards is behind a series of close calls the reporter has had the last few weeks. Someone fiddled with the brakes on his car, then, the gas at his apartment sprung a leak. Now as the group leaves the club, a taxi nearly runs him down and then speeds off. Now a new problem pops up, Lyons, the hubby of Taylor's long-time friend, Miss Gates, seems to think that the two are having an affair.
Taylor's pal, Hong Kong Police Inspector, Lloyd Bochner wants to assign a detective to keep an eye on Taylor. Bochner is sure that Taylor has annoyed someone with one of his news stories and they are looking for some pay back.
Taylor is thinking the same thing, but believes it is Paul Richards behind the trouble. He pays Richards a visit for a "friendly" discussion. The talk leads to more than a few left hooks and right crosses being exchanged between the two, with Richards ending up on the losing end of the conversation.
That evening there is a large dinner party thrown by Nancy Gates and husband Lyons. While most of the group are out on the balcony enjoying drinks, someone shots Lyons dead from an upstairs window. The deal here is that Lyons was standing beside Taylor when killed. The Police suspect that it was a hit that was meant for reporter, Taylor.
Inspector Bochner quickly puts the grab on the most likely suspect, Paul Richards. Both Bochner and Taylor are sure that Richards was smarting from the beating Taylor had given him, and wanted revenge. Richards swears he is innocent of the murder, and with no evidence, he is released.
The Police and Taylor now go looking for the cab driver who had nearly creamed Taylor. There is a whole plethora of red herrings tossed out for the viewer to chew over. But the suspects are soon thinned out and it turns out that it is the dear wife, Miss Gates. Gates was involved in an affair all right, but it was with Hong Kong banker, Richard Anderson. The two wanted Lyon's millions. All the close calls on Taylor had been to make the Police think it was a messed up hit against Taylor.
Taylor finally tumbles to the ploy when the cab driver is found with a large knife in his ribs. There is a showdown at Taylor's apartment with Anderson blasting away with a revolver. Unfortunately for Nancy Gates, her paramour, Anderson's aim is off and she collects a fatal dose of lead. Anderson gets a sound thrashing from Taylor and is handed over to the local constabulary.
This is a decently entertaining episode, with lots of nice work from both the cast, and crew. The story is from veteran big-screen writer, Jonathan Latimer. His work includes the screenplays for the noir, THE GLASS KEY, THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME, NOCTURNE, ALIAS NICK BEAL and THE BIG CLOCK.
The look of the episode is really top rate with twice Oscar nominated cinematographer, Philip Lathrop at the controls. He also handled the lensing duties for 61 episodes of the popular series, PETER GUNN.
