Dick Powell stars in this very unusual installment of "Four Star Playhouse". It's unusual in that the same characters appear in later episodes, "High Stakes" and "Stacked Deck" (and perhaps others as well)! My guess is that they were trying to create a series and the shows were like pilot episodes.
This story was written by Blake Edwards and it's about the adventures of a guy named Willie Dante (Powell). Dante operates a restaurant but hidden is a back room where illegal gambling occurs. However, Dante isn't a complete rogue--he has a strong personal moral code but it just doesn't apply to gambling.
When the show begins, an incredibly immature and obnoxious young man (Richard Jaekel) informs Dante that he knows about the back room and he'll tell his daddy, the District Attorney, unless Dante lets him go there to gamble. Seeing as he had little choice, Dante lets the punk in--but soon learns the guy has a long string of debts and has been gambling with money he hasn't got. What's Dante to do? Plus, he likes the guy's sister...so he reluctantly agrees to give back the incriminating checks. But, in the meantime, a creepy mobster learns about the checks and takes them at gunpoint. What is the gallant Mr. Dante going to do next?
This story has many elements from the follow-ups--that Dante is amazingly honest for a crook, that he and his friend resort to breaking and entering to solve their problems and that the guy is pretty likable. All in all, I WOULD have liked to have seen a series like this one--it's well written and well acted...and rather unique.
This story was written by Blake Edwards and it's about the adventures of a guy named Willie Dante (Powell). Dante operates a restaurant but hidden is a back room where illegal gambling occurs. However, Dante isn't a complete rogue--he has a strong personal moral code but it just doesn't apply to gambling.
When the show begins, an incredibly immature and obnoxious young man (Richard Jaekel) informs Dante that he knows about the back room and he'll tell his daddy, the District Attorney, unless Dante lets him go there to gamble. Seeing as he had little choice, Dante lets the punk in--but soon learns the guy has a long string of debts and has been gambling with money he hasn't got. What's Dante to do? Plus, he likes the guy's sister...so he reluctantly agrees to give back the incriminating checks. But, in the meantime, a creepy mobster learns about the checks and takes them at gunpoint. What is the gallant Mr. Dante going to do next?
This story has many elements from the follow-ups--that Dante is amazingly honest for a crook, that he and his friend resort to breaking and entering to solve their problems and that the guy is pretty likable. All in all, I WOULD have liked to have seen a series like this one--it's well written and well acted...and rather unique.