Thanks to this digital age in which we live, we can indulge ourselves in some things that were previously impossible. When I was very young, back in 1962, a wonderful device came into our home that was like a small home cinema: the television. And it provided us with many hours of entertainment. One of the idols I remembered from that time was Doug McClure. Obviously for his role as Trampas in The Virginian. In the early 1970s, these idols from the series of the previous decade were trying out the new format of TV Movies. A story with a duration of more than 70 minutes that went directly to the home tube. Some of them were transformed into the pilot episode of a new series. In the case of "The Judge and Jake Wyler" this transition did not occur. And it is a shame. Judge Meredith was played by that legend of classic Hollywood, Bette Davis. A role that suited her very well, since she was a retired judge who suffered from agarophobia and hypochondria and was confined to her house from where she acted as the organizational brain of a detective agency. If she did not leave her house, the work outside was done through a man who had been released on parole and who depended on the evaluation of the former judge to remain free. This man was the complaining Jake Wyler, Doug McClure, who felt as if he was being blackmailed by his boss who led him into trouble in order to solve the case of the moment and who, to top it off, could not carry weapons, since that was an inexcusable condition for someone on parole.
In this excellent detective story, there are many acquaintances. The victim, millionaire Robert Dodd, is played by Kent Smith, who I always remember as the untalented architect with powerful connections in the 1948 film Fountainhead. One of the suspects, the lover of the deceased's wife, was Frank Morrison, played by Gary Conway, the young and meticulous detective who collaborated with Gene Barry in the Burke's Law series. The victim's daughter is Alice Dodd, played by Joan Van Ark, a very popular actress in the 1970s, and even has a small role as an elevator operator, Eddie Quillan. I will always remember Eddie for his role in The Bounty Mutiny in its 1935 version.
In short, a solid detective story, but especially if you have a weakness for nostalgia, you will greatly enjoy the performances of Bette Davis and Doug McClure.
