Thu 15 Aug 2013
A TV Review by Mike Tooney: IRONSIDE “Puzzlelock” (1969).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[6] Comments
“Puzzlelock.” From Ironside: Season 2, Episode 23 (52nd of 196 installments). First aired: 13 March 1969. Regular cast: Raymond Burr (Ironside), Don Galloway (Det. Sgt. Ed Brown), Barbara Anderson (Officer Eve Whitfield), and Don Mitchell (Mark Sanger). Guest cast: Simon Oakland (Mel Grayson), Dennis Cooney (Paul Dekes), Ned Glass (Benjie), Jocelyn Brando (Etta Gibbs), Gene Lyons (Commissioner Dennis Randall), Dabbs Greer (Thomas Gibbs), Alvin Hammer (Mush Shelby), Jennifer Gan (Chickie), Barry Cahill (Sgt. Miller). Writer: B. W. Sandefur. Director: Allen Reisner.
It was a dark and stormy night when Mel Grayson murdered his wife. Sure, they’d had their disagreements, but for Mel it was time to leave their relationship — or more precisely, it was time for the wealthy woman to depart this vale of tears and leave all her worldly goods behind for him to enjoy.
It’s no secret that he kills her. The first act shows how Mel meticulously executes his plan, cleverly establishing his alibis (yes, more than one) with sticky tape and by being punctual with a dinner date (which will prove his ultimate undoing, for his dining companion is an old friend from Mel’s time with the police department, none other than Ironside himself).
No, this isn’t a whodunnit type mystery; it plays more like a highly compressed Columbo episode, in which the murderer’s cover story is slowly but surely worn away to nothing.
Mel does deserve some credit for ingenuity, though. He uses the sticky tape to convince the servants that his wife is still alive before — and even after — he leaves the house for dinner, although she’s been dead for some time. (Watch the episode here.)
He drags his wife’s body from the bed, but only after having changed her clothes to a nightgown, over to the French doors, pockets all of her expensive jewelry, leaves the house in the rain storm, furtively doubles back to their second story bedroom, and breaks the glass, with rain pouring over her prostrate form, making it look as if a burglar did it.
So far, so good (for Mel, anyway) — but as the show progresses, we learn that he seems to have made two rookie mistakes. When he murdered his wife, Mel strangled her with her necklace, but most of the time women don’t wear heavy, expensive jewelry to bed; and then there’s that dry spot under the body. If a burglar had broken the window panes and killed her in the struggle, the floor beneath her should have been covered with glass fragments and rain water, which it isn’t.
But were these really mistakes, or did Mel incorporate them into an even more ingenious plan to make a burglar coming from the outside look like a murderer coming from the inside? And is it more than just a coincidence that dwelling with the unhappy couple is the ideal patsy, someone who is always broke and always arguing with Mel’s wife, someone who can’t alibi himself on the night of the murder? All Mel has to do is feign sympathy for the poor sap while pointing Ironside & Co. in his direction.
It looks as if Mel has pulled off the perfect murder — and so he has . . . almost.
August 16th, 2013 at 10:13 am
Nit-picking time …
Etta wasn’t the wife.
Etta was the white-haired housekeeper, who, with her husband the chauffeur, comprised the audience for the pre-recorded speaker alibi.
The wife was never clearly shown on-camera; only her voice was heard on the tape.
Her name was mentioned, but I can’t call it to mind just now (and I just saw it the other day on MeTV *darndarndarndarndarn*).
Anyway, look at the cast list:
Etta Gibbs and her husband Thomas Gibbs, played by Jocelyn Brando and Dabbs Greer – each unmistakeable.
Apologies from the man who always straightens out the crooked picture on the wall, even as I knock over every stick of furniture in the room to do it.
August 16th, 2013 at 10:22 am
Thanks, Mike. Nit-picking always welcome.
Quoting further: “…, played by Jocelyn Brando and Dabbs Greer – each unmistakeable.”
I should say so!
Steve
August 16th, 2013 at 11:01 am
Mike – You’re absolutely right. Thanks for seeing the mistake. The victim apparently never got a screen credit, even though she appeared bodily and vocally (unless she was dubbed).
If Steve wishes, for accuracy’s sake, he can change each “Etta” to “his wife” or its equivalent.
August 16th, 2013 at 11:25 am
Done. But see how it reads to you, Mike, and if you’d like to make any changes, let me know.
August 16th, 2013 at 11:41 am
Steve – Your emendations are superb. It goes to show how we can all benefit from an editor.
November 12th, 2018 at 9:36 am
There are three episodes of Columbo that come to mind.
Exercise in Fatality, in which the murderer uses a tape of a voice to make it appear that the murder victim is alive.
A Friend in Deed, in which the murderer suggests that finding the missing jewels means finding the murderer.
And, Mind Over Mayhem, in which Columbo pretends to suspect the murderer’s son as a way to put pressure on the murderer.
Maybe there are even more Columbos that this borrows from…but, those three are obvious.
A Friend in Deed has some flaws, but it’s still really great. It’s my favorite episode.
Possibly, my favorite moment of any Columbo is in By Dawn’s Early Light, when Rumford tells Columbo, “you better hand that over to the police”, and Columbo says, “I’m gonna do that”. Then, when Columbo is called over to meet Rumford for the first time, the way he shakes his hand then quietly backs away and goes back to what he is doing is great. I love the way he does only about the minimum a normal adult is supposed to do. His childlike way is such a contrast to the adult manner of everyone around him…especially Rumford, of course.