#blackandwhite #TV NOIR BLACK-AND-WHITE TV #MysteryTheater #HomicideSquad #FrontPageDetective #DumontNetwork #DangerMan #Code3 #HollywoodOffbeat #RichardDiamond #Coronado9 #HerculePoirot #MikeHammer
tom-gillispie.blogspot.com/2025/09/blac...
#SteveRandall TV 1.01 cont'd.
There's only 5-6 of the 13 eps that publicly exist. It's hard to get a handle on Steve Randall. At least David Chase in #FrontPageDetective is a up himself and has wandering hands with the ladies. I've no idea from this ep what they are going for with the lead dick.
#SteveRandall TV 1.01 cont'd.
This reminds me of the formulaic #FrontPageDetective another pre-filmed in LA TV series that underwhelmed. Such TV shows just can't compete with live from New York TV drama like #MartinKane, #ThePlainclothesman and #RockyKing no matter how shiny they are.
#blackandwhite #TV NOIR BLACK-AND-WHITE TV #MysteryTheater #HomicideSquad #FrontPageDetective #DumontNetwork #DangerMan #Code3 #HollywoodOffbeat #RichardDiamond #Coronado9 #HerculePoirot #MikeHammer
tom-gillispie.blogspot.com/2025/09/blac...
#FrontPageDetective End of walkthru'.
Do I recommend?
No.
I'd happily watch the 12 other eps in UCLA hidden away however I didn't get much from this TV show.
The LA film studio made it so 1940s B-movie and generic. It lacked flair and missed much low hanging TV fruit like continuity and regulars.
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.37 cont'd
There are 2 more eps in this S1 and possibly 8 more eps shown in 1953. Nobody really knows as this show was made for syndication first and even the dates I've shown are for the DuMont nNetwork so aren't even the original airdates. So a messy show has a messy end.
#FrontPageDetective TV ep 1.37 "Penthouse Jungle" (21-Dec-51).
A nice pristine ep but again it's pretty weak stuff. The plot is involving enough but it's just not getting over the line in terms of excitement. So I'm sort of glad this is the last available ep.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kznp...
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.35 cont'd.
Having been introduced to Chase's long standing secretary Doorabelle in ep #1.30 we now get introduced to Chase' long standing secretary Eve. The continuity is truly shocking.
Eve recognises David disguised as his brother as he touches her up just like David🤮!
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.35 "You Kill Me" (07-Dec-51).
Chase is "dead" so goes undercover as his brother. I probably need to rewatch to make sure it all makes sense as there's a lot of telling not showing in these early TV eps.
One of best eps and a pristine file.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV3V...
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.34 "Galahad" (30-Nov-51).
The file is low res and missing 4 minutes. Yes there's a good plot in there but darned if I can work it out. Even that pinball machine I was like "why is that even there?".
A right dog's dinner of flat storytelling.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy7S...
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.30 cont'd.
Another McGuffin hunt, here for a little black book.
I liked Chase's hotel worker. Again he's only in 1 ep which is so silly as Joe Besser will be a famous actor.
So all the building blocks for a great show were there but ignored.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsyS...
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.30 cont'd.
Chase's secretary is an early career role for Pamela Duncan who'll have a long career. I know her from #TheWhistler but she was active 1950-1964. Didn't recognise her as a blonde! The 1958 interview is fascinating, I wonder if that phone call refers to this ep?
#FrontPageDetective TV #1.30 "The Little Black Book" (02-Nov-51).
As this is 1951 TV so the decisions with a series can be all over the place. So after 30 eps we finally see Chase's secretary and she is a fantastic character who would be perfect for this show but she's only in this one ep. Insane.
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.29 cont'd.
So Donna Martell is still alive age 98!!!! So joining my other 1940s and early 1950s TV actresses who are still with us:
#ManAgainstCrime Eva Marie Saint 101
#Suspense Marilyn Erskine 99,
#FrontPageDetective Donna Martell 98
#ManAgainstCrime Nita Talbot 95
#FrontPageDetective TV ep #1.29 "The Lonely One" (26-Oct-51).
Ok a lonely Valentine going on a killing spree. Don't be giving me ideas 1951!!
Great ep. I was sure Donna Martell's character was the killer. but no.
The surviving file is a pristine film copy!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSf_...
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.25 cont'd.
In a few eps a person dies but we get no close up of the corpse so you nearly have to work out who just died. This was particularly annoying here as the corpse's jacket was the main clue yet the director wouldn't show it.
Was this a TV rule in 1951 or from films?
#FrontPageDetective TV ep #1.25 "The Murderer is Anonymous" (28-Sep-51).
TBF this is good TV for 1951 even it the LA production company making this think they're making a B-movie.
A Whodunit with 3 very different suspects. It's pretty good, I liked the final clue.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijwX...
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.22 cont'd.
Brooke Hathaway returns for her 2nd ep. Boy she is Goddess but this is her last ever TV ep! Darn!
Danni Sue Nolan guests but her name is given as her character's name so it seemed at first this was her sole TV ep but not so as I recognise her from #TheWhistler.
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.22 cont'd.
Not good. The long scene where Gloria and Chase stand over the corpse, about 3 minutes into it we learn the horse was also shot!
At the end Chase is trying to snog the girl but like you have a fiancé motherf***er. It's like the show has concept of continuity.
#FrontPageDetective TV ep #1.22 "Murder Can't Win" (07-Sep-51).
Why is this set in LA as NY where the show is normally set has plenty of horse racing? Maybe the only library footage available to the studio in LA was from LA horse racing so they had to set it there?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM38...
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.19 cont'd.
A Maguffin hunt ep has lots of twists. The acting is very strong.
Mr Saxon is played by Lucien Prival who had been in lots of oriental yellow peril movies but not #FuManchu which Chase mentions so a great in-joke didn't quite land!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQIU...
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.19 cont'd.
We meet an ex-GF of Chase's played by a fantastic actress Virginia Christine. Her character Shelly is perfect for Chase. So were this #ManAgainstCrime Shelly would be a recurring love interest like Nita Talbot's Gloria. But no Chase as has a super dull fiancé.
#FrontPageDetective TV ep #1.19 "The Deadly Curio" (13-Jul-51).
A giant problem this show has is that David Chase has a nice homely fiancé in Sharon Richards yet he is a total philander. And because he's a TV detective so he gets the girl of the week after many an ep. It's just so messed up.
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.14 cont'd.
I still don't know if the girl Vicki was a journo or not? I can't even find that actresses' IMDB.
Is the head train conductor legally empowered and can arrest folk and use a gun?
The main twist was crazy fun and yeah the M-word got used. It's 1951 so I get it.
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.14 cont'd.
The directing this ep was basic and this ep was meandering along until we got that incredible flashback scene. I thought we doing the whole entering Tegan's mind's eye in "Kinda" zoom shot. That woke me up. I've never seen a commitment to a shot like that before!
#FrontPageDetective TV #1.14 "Murder Rides the Night Train" (01-Jun-51).
Some bad actors here but the guy playing Rocco Valenti OMG! Honestly had the actor's name came up in the credits as Wilbur Trench I wouldn't have been surprised (yes that is a #Dragnet in joke!).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvg1...
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.13 cont'd.
I can't be hypocritical as pre-filmed TV dramas move at a faster pace than live TV dramas so plots get fleshed out relatively well which live TV drama often can't manage. But this show is not as vibrant as equivalent live TV shows.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5e7...
#FrontPageDetective TV ep #1.13 "Echo from the Dead" (25-May-51).
First what I liked: David Chase's voiceover work well, the noir flashback at the start and the whodunnit scenario was engaging.
However filmed in some LA film studio this just resembles a Hollywood B-movie and lacks authenticity.
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.11 cont'd.
George Pembroke is a terrible actor yet somehow he's in 17 eps of this as that cop Lt Andrews. This is one of his earliest eps. I checked him IMDB and he just does Westerns after this. And even ends up doing uncredited roles later. But maybe he'll grow on me.
#FrontPageDetective TV 1.11 cont'd.
This has that whole creepy older man and younger woman thing that LA TV will inflict on the world for the next 75 years.
Lead Edmund Lowe is 61 here and his fiancee played by Paula Drew is 25.
1950s USA is for pervs. Plus ca change.
