David 'Richard Diamond' Janssen is asked by newspaper editor Russ Conway to protect Frances Mercer. She's running for mayor of the newspaper's hometown, her only competition being Larry Thor, a criminal who owns the town. Mercer doesn't like the idea of a bodyguard, and neither does Janssen, but once he's had a run-in with Thor's muscle, the knife-wielding Jack Elam, he decides to keep a low profile and keep an eye on Mercer from a distance. Unfortunately he can't prevent her from being kidnapped by Elam, and he has to roam the seedier side of town to find a lead.
A good and fast-moving episode that has a nice twist at the end. It is also aided by the lensing of expert noir cinematographer George Diskant ('On Dangerous Ground', 'The Narrow Margin'), and of course Janssen is a treat a watch. It's always nice to see Elam, even if the hazy print I saw of this episode, the second Elam steps into the frame you know it's him. Conway must've impressed the producers here, as he became a regular on the last 2 seasons of this show (playing a police lieutenant). Mercer is decent, but is sadly underused a bit. Still, overall another solid episode.
A good and fast-moving episode that has a nice twist at the end. It is also aided by the lensing of expert noir cinematographer George Diskant ('On Dangerous Ground', 'The Narrow Margin'), and of course Janssen is a treat a watch. It's always nice to see Elam, even if the hazy print I saw of this episode, the second Elam steps into the frame you know it's him. Conway must've impressed the producers here, as he became a regular on the last 2 seasons of this show (playing a police lieutenant). Mercer is decent, but is sadly underused a bit. Still, overall another solid episode.