I found this episode yesterday, among the thousands of ones I have in my library. I loved it. Because of the topic, simple but efficient, but also thanks of the Walter Matthau character, very unpredictable, surprising at the most.
Two hoods - Matthau and an accomplice - pull a petty robbery in the street; they steal a big wallet full of money and carried by a bank employee. They shot him. And afterwards, they discover through the headlines that the poor bank employee is dead. So, they decide to do something about it. Especially Matthau who intend to find the witness and eliminate him. Or, may I say, her. He goes to a shop, where a guy he knows - a sort of hood too - sells him a police uniform. And then , impersonating a street cop, Matthau goes to the witness apartment, just in front of the place where the robbery was pulled, and where two real cops are already standing to protect the witness. Matthau tells them that he has to investigate about the heist and ask some questions to the girl who saw the the bank employee murder. The two cops let Matthau get into the flat and our character begins to be polite with the young woman, who believes that he his a real cop. And two minutes later, Matthau shows his real state. The girl is frightened and tries to escape. But Matthau kills her with his gun. In cold blood. AND THAT'S EXQUISITE. Matthau with his good face, NOT A GANGSTER ONE - as could have been Lee Marvin's or Lee Van Cleef's one - playing here a cold blooded killer; and not a sadistic one, that should have been not credible at all, but a man who has to kill to protect himself against a poor woman who could testify against him. He kills her with no expression on his face, as easily as if he had to close a door because the place he stands in is cold...
I LOVED THIS SEQUENCE. And, I repeat, because it was Matthau. If it was Jack Lemon or Clint Eastwood, I would have told the same. But not Jack Elam or Neville brand.
Know what I mean?
I won't tell you more about this episode. Especially the ending...
It's very interesting too. And you can guess it. A gangster impersonating a cop, in the AH PRESENTS manner, with always very ironical results, you can guess it.
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