NAKED CITY "The Other Face of Goodness" 1958
This is the 10th episode of the superb Police Detective series, NAKED CITY. The series ran for 138 episodes between 1958 and 1963. This one starts with the narrator telling the viewer that NYC is being terrorized by a serial killer. The man is killing disabled women, strangling them with a coat hanger.
Arnold Merritt, is one of those people that just blends into the background. He is a student taking a medical course. It bothers him that everyone just seems to take him for granted. He has no girl, he has no friends, he has nothing. The news reports make the killer sound like somebody, a killer, yes, but people talk about him.
Merritt, decides to confess to the crime even though he never did the deeds. He is given a round of third degree by Detectives, Harry Bellaver, John McIntire and James Franciscus. The Detectives soon see that the lad is not the man they are seeking and toss him.
Merritt returns to his basement apartment. There, he finds one of the upstairs tenants, Loretta Leversee doing laundry. He offers to carry her laundry basket up to the apartment. Of course Miss Leversee happens to have a crippled leg. Merritt decides to kill the woman, but can't go through with the actual act. After he flees, the Police are called and soon corner the man up in a church tower.
Chief Detective, McIntire, talks the lad out of throwing himself off the tower. Merritt just wants somebody to notice him. McIntire promises to help him and brings the lad down. It looks like a long stay in a mental hospital for Merritt.
This episode, which features plenty of location shooting, was directed by Stuart Rosenberg. Rosenberg would hit the big time with the feature films, COOL HAND Luke, THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN, THE DROWNING POOL and BRUBAKER.
The writer, Stirling Silliphant, would go on to win an Oscar for IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT.
This is the 10th episode of the superb Police Detective series, NAKED CITY. The series ran for 138 episodes between 1958 and 1963. This one starts with the narrator telling the viewer that NYC is being terrorized by a serial killer. The man is killing disabled women, strangling them with a coat hanger.
Arnold Merritt, is one of those people that just blends into the background. He is a student taking a medical course. It bothers him that everyone just seems to take him for granted. He has no girl, he has no friends, he has nothing. The news reports make the killer sound like somebody, a killer, yes, but people talk about him.
Merritt, decides to confess to the crime even though he never did the deeds. He is given a round of third degree by Detectives, Harry Bellaver, John McIntire and James Franciscus. The Detectives soon see that the lad is not the man they are seeking and toss him.
Merritt returns to his basement apartment. There, he finds one of the upstairs tenants, Loretta Leversee doing laundry. He offers to carry her laundry basket up to the apartment. Of course Miss Leversee happens to have a crippled leg. Merritt decides to kill the woman, but can't go through with the actual act. After he flees, the Police are called and soon corner the man up in a church tower.
Chief Detective, McIntire, talks the lad out of throwing himself off the tower. Merritt just wants somebody to notice him. McIntire promises to help him and brings the lad down. It looks like a long stay in a mental hospital for Merritt.
This episode, which features plenty of location shooting, was directed by Stuart Rosenberg. Rosenberg would hit the big time with the feature films, COOL HAND Luke, THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN, THE DROWNING POOL and BRUBAKER.
The writer, Stirling Silliphant, would go on to win an Oscar for IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT.