Sun 17 Sep 2023
A TV PI Episode Review: THE ROCKFORD FILES “The Countess†(1974).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[7] Comments
THE ROCKFORD FILES. “The Countess.†NBC. 27 September 1974 (Season 1, Episode 4). James Garner, Gretchen Corbett, Joe Santos, Tom Atkins. Guest stars: Susan Strasberg, Art Lund, Dick Gautier, Harold J. Stone, Gloria Dixon. Teleplay by Stephen J. Cannell, based on a story by Roy Huggins (credited as John Thomas James). Director: Russ Mayberry. Currently streaming on the Roku Channel.
Rockford is hired by a young woman (Susan Strasberg) who is being blackmailed by a man from her past (Dick Gautier, in a perfect role for him, just oozing oily sleaze) who knows a secret about her earlier life so destructive to her marriage to her second husband she won’t even tell Rockford what it is.
Of course she does, eventually. And so I assume I can tell you, too. (If I’m wrong, please close your eyes now.) She grew up in a small town in Illinois, and life happened. After skipping bail in Chicago, she ended up in Europe and marrying a count she met there, thus referring to herself as a countess ever since. Now back in the US and happily married again, she wants to stay that way. Blackmailers being who there are, when this fellow is killed, Rockford’s client is high on the list of suspects.
As well as a couple of syndicate hoodlums whom Rockford soon discovers following his every move. But of course the primary suspect is Rockford himself. He was there on the scene when the fellow was killed, with eyewitnesses, a fact that strains his usually friendly relations with Detective Becker (Joe Santos). Luckily Rockford has a good lawyer at hand, namely Beth Davenport (Gretchen Corbett), who does more lawyer work in this one than she has previously in the series (which largely consisted of wheedling Rockford to work for her pro bono).
Although I have not reported on any of the earlier episodes, I have been watching the series in order, and this is the first time I can definitively say the people in charge have gotten their acts together. The case is simple but coherent, there are a lot fewer scenes of cars driving endlessly around in this one, and much less padding of the running time with the camera following people along as they’re quietly strolling from one place to another.
But the big thing I noticed in this one is the comfortable feeling the regular players have reached in interacting with each other. Garner’s natural good-looking charm and his occasional sheepish grin are also in full force in this one.
September 18th, 2023 at 1:11 am
I’ve seen this episode. It’s the one where that scurvy blackmailer has a sucker punch disguised as a friendly handshake. He’ll grin, grip your hand, then hold you in place while he stomps your kneecap. A real ‘cheap shot’ artist!
It happens in that beach scene pictured above. But Jim has been tipped off in advance and turns the tables on him.
Never knew that actor’s name ’til now; but his smarmy-ness is certainly menacing when cast as a heavy.
However, I also believe he was in some ABC comedy way-back-when, some kind of spoof of Robin Hood (?) I’ve seen a photo of him in green tights.
Anyway Garner is certainly still dashing and handsome in this classic series. One of the best PI series ever, in my book.
Roy Huggins –I know I’ve seen that name many, many times as credits scroll. I looked him up once. P-r-o-l-i-f-i-c.
Always glad to recall good ‘ole Jim Rockford. But how exactly he arranged with the post office, to get mail delivered to a trailer parked on a fishing pier –I sure wish I knew!
September 18th, 2023 at 11:04 am
Re Dick Gautier, you nailed him. For more, quoting from Wikipedia: “He was known for his television roles as Hymie the Robot in the television series Get Smart, and Robin Hood in the TV comedy series When Things Were Rotten, as well as for originating the role of Conrad Birdie in the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie.”
September 18th, 2023 at 4:57 am
It’s the thing that always enraged me about US detective series – the number of “scenes of cars driving endlessly around… and… camera following people along as they’re quietly strolling from one place to another.”
I always assumed it was so they could fit in more adverts without damaging the narrative too badly.
September 18th, 2023 at 10:19 am
Apparently James Garner was proud of his driving prowess and insisted on taking any opportunity of showing off his skills. He even invented ‘The Rockford Turn’:
“A J-turn is a driving maneuver in which a reversing vehicle is spun 180 degrees and continues, facing forward, without changing direction of travel. The J-turn is also called a “moonshiner’s turn” (from the evasive driving tactics used by bootleggers), a “reverse 180”, a reverse flick, a “Rockford Turn”, a “Rockford Spin”, or simply a “Rockford” popularized by the 1970s TV show The Rockford Files”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-turn
September 18th, 2023 at 11:07 am
A “J-turn” is a term new to me, although I’m sure I’ve seen them 100s of times, without any objections from me. But an earlier episode featured a case that took Rockford to Arizona, and I think we had to watch him driving all the way there, from all angles, and nary a J-turn in sight.
September 18th, 2023 at 4:00 pm
When I hear “j-turn” I see Roger Moore behind the wheel of an orange, 2-door, front-wheel drive, AMC Hornet stolen from a showroom in …Bangkok(?) TMWTGG.
Didn’t know those showroom model vehicles were kept fueled up.
September 19th, 2023 at 9:16 pm
As reported a good episode with more plot and less driving than usual. Much as I loved the series I would happily have shot Stuart Margolin so they wouldn’t do so damn many Angel episodes.