Doug has a field day in this little short story, set entirely in a hair salon in Mayfair, run by a French hair stylist (played by Fairbanks).
The lady customers gossip, and the subject turns to the recent death of one of them, who was found strangled in her bedroom, with her valuable jewels stolen. There's also a cutesy subplot of a neighbor searching on the fire escape and heading up to the roof, trying to find his lost cat named Majesty.
A brand-new customer is the heroine, nicely played by Josephine Griffin, who stumbles upon some clues as to the identity of the murderer. But the show belongs to Fairbanks, who grandstands so entertainingly as the obsequious hairdresser who insists on flattering his customers to a fare-thee-well. It's a performance that reminded me at times of the style of Peter Lorre in his prime, quite a stretch for Doug Junior.
The lady customers gossip, and the subject turns to the recent death of one of them, who was found strangled in her bedroom, with her valuable jewels stolen. There's also a cutesy subplot of a neighbor searching on the fire escape and heading up to the roof, trying to find his lost cat named Majesty.
A brand-new customer is the heroine, nicely played by Josephine Griffin, who stumbles upon some clues as to the identity of the murderer. But the show belongs to Fairbanks, who grandstands so entertainingly as the obsequious hairdresser who insists on flattering his customers to a fare-thee-well. It's a performance that reminded me at times of the style of Peter Lorre in his prime, quite a stretch for Doug Junior.