"Naked City" takes time out from chases and shootouts involving hardened criminals to become comedic with this silly but highly entertaining episode. It instantly reminded me of the British comedy film tradition, specifically the then-current 1960 classic "Make Mine Mink" starring Terry-Thomas.
Veteran acting talent spark the show as Mildred Natwick is delightful as the heartwarmingly nefarious maid to a dead-broke, formerly wealthy family, the Hackers, headed up by Roland Winters and Nancy Carroll. Adding to the fun are the clueless adult kids William Hinnant and Joyce Bulifant.
The crimes of stealing jewelry from well-heeled guests at parties thrown by the Hackers is the excuse for Horace MacMahon to memorably make faces and get exasperated in top comic form. He was always amusing on the show, but here lets loose brilliantly.
Technically, this silly segment represents "jumping the shark" a couple of decades before Henry Winkler did on "Happy Days". But like a series digressing into a Christmas show or a Thanksgiving episode, this is merely a respite from the downbeat cases of crime essayed week after week.
When I looked up the career of early Talkies superstar Nancy Carroll, (so fine here in such an amusing late-career role), I was surprised to see her 1929 credit co-starring in "The Wolf of Wall Street", a lost Paramount film (literally lost) from which Martin Scorsese ended up reusing the title (from the 2007 book of that name) for his famous Paramount movie released 85 years later.
Veteran acting talent spark the show as Mildred Natwick is delightful as the heartwarmingly nefarious maid to a dead-broke, formerly wealthy family, the Hackers, headed up by Roland Winters and Nancy Carroll. Adding to the fun are the clueless adult kids William Hinnant and Joyce Bulifant.
The crimes of stealing jewelry from well-heeled guests at parties thrown by the Hackers is the excuse for Horace MacMahon to memorably make faces and get exasperated in top comic form. He was always amusing on the show, but here lets loose brilliantly.
Technically, this silly segment represents "jumping the shark" a couple of decades before Henry Winkler did on "Happy Days". But like a series digressing into a Christmas show or a Thanksgiving episode, this is merely a respite from the downbeat cases of crime essayed week after week.
When I looked up the career of early Talkies superstar Nancy Carroll, (so fine here in such an amusing late-career role), I was surprised to see her 1929 credit co-starring in "The Wolf of Wall Street", a lost Paramount film (literally lost) from which Martin Scorsese ended up reusing the title (from the 2007 book of that name) for his famous Paramount movie released 85 years later.
