King Calder – Through the Shattered Lens

This episode, which originally aired on December 12^th, 1958, opens in Rome, where Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) is about to catch a plane back to the United States. While there he bumps into a beautiful young lady named Betty (Audrey Dalton) with whom he had a brief love affair five years earlier. But now she’s going by the name Sharon Rodgers, and she’s with her uncle Jonathan (King Calder) and her sister Mona (Elaine Edwards). What’s worse, she pretends that she doesn’t know who Mike is at all. This doesn’t set well with our ace photographer, whose offended voiceover states “I don’t mind girls popping up out of my past, but I don’t like them changing their names and pretending they don’t know me anymore.” As Mike investigates the situation more closely, he comes to realize that good ole Uncle Jonathan is using the girls to pull a con on a jewelry dealer named Bartolo (Alberto Morin). While Mike still has feelings for Betty / Sharon, he can’t abide a thief, a cheat, or a con artist, so he’ll do whatever he has to do to bring them down.

“Two Strings of Pearls” is a love episode. There are scenes where Mike and Betty discuss their relationship all those years ago, including the wonderful times they shared on that Transatlantic Crossing, and then the heartbreak they both felt when Betty decided not to show up for their planned meeting at the Savoy Hotel in London. Mike, who has had a hard time getting over her, just wants to know why she chose not to meet him. Betty, who we now know really is named Sharon, can’t put her reasons into words other than she just seemed to know their lifestyles weren’t compatible. I have to admit that she’s correct since Kovac is a boy scout, and she’s a working cog in a con artist operation. Just look at how this operation plays out… once Mike learns that they’ve targeted the jeweler Bartolo, he gives Betty a quick chance to get out, and when she hesitates, he sets out to make sure they all go to prison. Score one for female intuition!

“Two Strings of Pearls” is a solid episode, but I must admit that I enjoy it more when the series focuses on solving crimes and battling bad guys than when it focuses on the regrets of lost love. While Bronson and Audrey Dalton work fine together as the former sweethearts, both of my favorite scenes involve Kovac’s interactions with Barnes, Uncle Jonathan’s henchman, played by veteran character actor Bert Remsen. First, Barnes pushes Kovac into a swimming pool at a lovely garden party they’re both attending. This doesn’t set well at all with our hero who gets really pissed. Later, during the episode’s exciting conclusion, Kovac squares the ledger when he chases Barnes across the airport runway and executes a perfect form tackle before he can get away with the money. Sadly, Kovac has to face Sharon one last time as she’s arrested and going to jail. Oh well, she made her choices!

Like many good crime films, this 1956 film noir opens on a train.

A passenger has suddenly been taken ill and his wife, Linda (Felecia Farr), wants to know if there’s a doctor on board! Fortunately, there is! Dr. Paul Bucker (Wesley Addy) just happens to be on the train and it only takes him a few minutes to figure out that the man is suffering from polio. Paul arranges for the train to make an unscheduled stop in the next town so that the man can be taken to the hospital. Paul also asks to be allowed to go to the baggage car, so that he can retrieve his doctor’s bag. Of course, he can! Who is going to say no to doctor, especially in a situation this serious?

Paul goes back to the baggage area to claim his little black bag and that’s when something unexpected happens. He opens up his bag and pulls out a gun. It turns out that Paul is not only a doctor but he’s a thief as well. After tying up everyone in the car and knocking them out with a sleeping drug, Paul proceeds to blow open a safe and steal all the money within.

When the train makes it unscheduled stop, Paul, the man, and Linda (who is actually Paul’s wife), disembark. They get into an ambulance driven by the shady Frankie Page (Jack Klugman) and they head off. It’s only after Paul’s escaped that the robbery is discovered.

With authorities baffled by the crime, insurance investigator Charlie Norman (Mark Stevens) is assigned to investigate the robbery with railroad policeman, Joe Armstrong (King Calder). Despite the fact that Charlie has been promising to take a vacation with his wife (Marianne Stewart), Charlie takes the case. Everyone knows that Charlie is one of the best in the business. If anyone’s going to catch these criminals, it’s going to be Charlie!

Of course, Charlie has another reason for taking the case. It turns out that Charlie’s the one who masterminded the entire robbery! He’s the one who first met Paul while the alcoholic doctor was attempting to file a false claim. It also turns out that Charlie has been having an affair with Linda and that Charlie’s planning on running off with her as soon as they take care of Paul.

Mark Stevens both directed and starred in Time Table and the end result is a well-made and genuinely exciting film noir, one that features all of the hard-boiled dialogue, shadowy interiors, and twisty complications that one could hope for from a good heist film. Stevens not only keeps the action moving at a steady pace but he also keeps you guessing about whether our band of criminals are going to make it to Mexico or if they’re going to all fall victim to one betrayal too many. The film is full of nice character turns, though the strongest performance comes from Wesley Addy, who brings a wounded dignity to his duplicitous character.

For fans of film noir, this is definitely one to watch.