The Case of the Devious Delinquent
- Episode aired Dec 5, 1963
- 52m
Young Tim Balfour has returned to live with his grandfather after his parents were killed in Italy. Tim Sr. has high hopes for grandson but Tim seems to have fallen in with a hoodlum who bla... Read allYoung Tim Balfour has returned to live with his grandfather after his parents were killed in Italy. Tim Sr. has high hopes for grandson but Tim seems to have fallen in with a hoodlum who blackmails him. In a fight, Tim's gun goes off.Young Tim Balfour has returned to live with his grandfather after his parents were killed in Italy. Tim Sr. has high hopes for grandson but Tim seems to have fallen in with a hoodlum who blackmails him. In a fight, Tim's gun goes off.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Lt. Tragg
- (credit only)
- Tim Balfour
- (as John Washbrook)
- Old Man
- (as William Benedict)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
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As for "Timmy", I think this is what shows in the 50's to 60's thought young adults (he's out of high school, right?) sound like. That weird little kid talk.
Washbrook lives with his grandfather, his parents having been killed in Italy. His father had been long alienated from Kruger and Washbrook is also not on good terms with uncle and presumed heir David Lewis. The only one who shows him any kindness is housekeeper Virginia Christine.
Washbrook is something of a delinquent hanging around with a pair of cheap young hoodlums in David Winters and David Clegg. Some incidents have mushroomed into a possible hit and run, but later it's Lewis found shot in the back with a weapon from Kruger's gun collection that was left at the scene. Of course with Washbrook's fingerprints all over the weapon.
This Mason story had an interesting plot. I will say that the murderer did not have just framing Washbrook. Indeed this is a plot that started years ago and has as long range goals as Richard III had.
The first half reminds me of the older 60's soap operas, all overwrought dialog and acting. The kind that Carol Burnett used to parody in their Canoga Falls potboiler.
Then there is the suspect/victim du jour, who does just about everything wrong that he can.
The episode does pick up once Parry and Paul are on the scene, with Perry tricking a confession out of the real killer, outside the courtroom, even. It is worth adding a star to the rating of an otherwise poor outing.
Perry has a street kid for a client, an orphan, now being raised by his grandfather (Otto Kruger), who isn't his biggest fan. Sure enough, Tim (Johnny Washbrook) hooks up with the wrong crowd, forced to drive the getaway car in a robbery. His "pal" Chick (David Winters) needs some cash -- knowing that Mr. Balfour (Kruger) is well healed -- threatening blackmail. Yes, there's a fight, Chick is shot and Tim is in deep.
Interestingly, Robb White added a very slick angle, a favorite among mystery writers. Works like a charm. The question of where the fatal bullet entered. It's discovered Chick was shot twice, the second bullet fired into his back, while Tim shot Chick face to face. You have to admit, it cut down the list of suspects due to the fact there's only one correct answer, also most any "reputable" killer would proudly admit they shot their victim while facing them.
***Without giving too much away, only a fink would shoot someone in the back. Who would ever want to admit that? Crossing the proverbial line of criminal conduct. Up to Perry to find the rat fink. Yes, Robb White had to add that wee touch of dark humor, he was so famous for.
Great to see veteran actor Otto Kruger again, a favorite of producers, also Barton MacLane, famous for so many gangster flicks. Washbrook is best known for MY FRIEND FLICKA. Virginia Christine returns to the series, always a choice actress to appear on the witness stand. TV buffs will recognize Frances Rafferty, who co-starred on DECEMBER BRIDE. Billy Benedict, from the BOWERY BOYS, plays an old man, although he was much younger with pre-mature gray hair. All us kids loved him.
SEASON 7 EPISODE 10 remastered CBS dvd box set. For ultimate fans, all nine seasons are in one impressive box set. Thanks METV for running these whodunits twice daily.
Up to the present, the sum total of Tim's offences consists of him having a couple of moving violations and being chronically absentee from his skate job at the family business. But one night his delinquent buddies decide to rob a store and Tim, although he protests, winds up being the driver of the getaway car. He is told by one of his two associates that he'll need to get money so that "Chick" and his friend can hide out or else they'll say he was the ringleader in the robbery. The price rises to two thousand dollars. Tim can't go to a relative, so he asks the Balfour housekeeper for the money, lies about the severity of the trouble he is in, and even lets her steal the money from his grandfather for him. But Tim and Chick get into an argument when he goes to give the money to Chick, and Tim shoots at Chick and drives away leaving behind his gun. Later, Chick is found dead, shot to death as Tim feared, but shot in the back, while Tim shot when Chick was facing him. Tim is arrested for murder and Balfour company attorney Perry Mason is on the case.
Complicating factors include Tim's grandfather wanting to give TIm a piece of his company in his will and TIm's uncle vowing he'll do anything to stop it. Also, where did that pesky accomplice of Chick's go to? He seems to disappear in thin air after he robs the store.
Lots of people seem to really hate hate hate the defendant in this case. I admit it's hard to feel sorry for him when he is so sorry for himself, and that Johnny Washbrook's performance as Tim Balfour is hardly subtle, but then it's not hammy either. I looked up Mr. Washbrook's acting credits, and it looks like he was primarily a child actor who aged out of such parts by age 20, the year after this episode.
Also note that Billy Benedict is playing a drunk old man who may or may not have been run over by Tim. Benedict has acting credits that go back to the 1930s and was in the Monogram Bowery Boys films. He is only 46 when he made this, but looks much older.
Did you know
- TriviaLast of three appearances by Virginia Christine in the series. In 1965 she would begin a 21-year stint in the iconic, and much-parodied, role of "Mrs. Olson," the spokesperson for Folgers Coffee. She became so well known in the role that her hometown of Stanton, Iowa honored her by transforming its water tower into the shape of a coffee pot.
- GoofsAfter Tim shoots Chick, he jumps into the car, puts it in gear and drives off. But he never turns on the engine. He had just finished putting the injured guy into the front passenger's seat of the car when Chick came out, so he hadn't yet turned on the engine. The crew obviously had started the engine for the convenience of the production.
- Quotes
Paul Drake: Well, the boy Tim supposedly killed, Chick Montana, was a fast talker but a slow thinker. He wasn't smart.
Details
- Runtime
- 52m
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1