User Reviews

What a cool, eclectic cast of characters - James Gregory, Norman Fell, Chris Robinson, and the lovely Katharine Ross! The story is an unusual one, the three cental characters are all ex-cons planning a major payroll heist, and their plan actually worked, but with a huge unintended consequence. The safe they stole not only contained one hundred twelve thousand dollars, but a dangerously radioactive isotope of cobalt that began to make its effect known almost immediately. Now on the surface, even though the robbery, while executed almost exactly to Fred Kruger's (James Gregory) plan, was almost certainly doomed to failure notwithstanding the cobalt fiasco. The van they used to steal the safe with the money was boldly emblazoned with the name of 'Herbie's Delicatessen' on both sides. The security guards that were subdued weren't knocked out, so they would have easily been able to identify the getaway truck! Somebody slipped up there, how hard would it have been to get a plain old van for the heist?

There was another minor goof in the script later on in the story when Terry (Chris Robinson) listened to the radio broadcast of the robbery, stating that a man connected to the theft exhibiting radiation burns was shot at the entrance of the Long Island Emergency Hospital. It went on to say that the man's two accomplices were still being sought, but how would the radio announcer know that? Al Norman (Norman Fell) died of his wounds, so he couldn't have spilled the beans on his partners.

What I do like about these old-time programs are the reminders of the way things were back in the day. Checking the prices at Brandt's ice cream parlor, you have root beer floats for forty cents, ice cream sodas for forty-five cents, ice cream sundaes for twenty-nine cents, and the oddly priced banana split at forty-one cents. Considering the prices prevalent in the early Sixties when this program aired, that hundred twelve grand would have gone a long way!

On a closing note, I'm kind of glad that the budding romance between Carol Brandt (Katharine Ross) and the young thief Larry (Chris Robinson) got derailed when all was said and done. Just six years later Katharine Ross would wind up with a much better catch as Robert Redford's gal in "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid".

** SPOILERS ** Okay, maybe not so much spoilers as an unanswered question. As in "where did Katherine Ross go? Very talented, looks Miss America would kill for (kinda like in "Stepford Wives"); how could you NOT love her? If you want to see a great one, buy "Conagher" from Amazon. One of those westerns with so much talent in all areas that it's hard to remember that she and her husband, Sam Eliot are actually acting. I'm gonna say this right now: it is without a doubt one of the best westerns ever made, and if you love westerns, get it and enjoy the absolute excellence.

Problem with the radioactive threat is the movie "Kiss Me Deadly" (Amazon, of course). It hits this subject like a brickbat, and it spoiled me. Like Hitchcock, one of the pinnacles of noir entertainment. Again, as in so many cases, the actors just wallow in this bubblebath of scripted opportunity. This is a gem that you can see the high polish beneath the dust.