The Case of the Crying Comedian

This one didn't do much for me. First of all, that comedian was about as tiresome as one can be. He couldn't take anything seriously. Then we have the woman he loves who married a jerk but who definitely was an alcoholic. When she tells Charlie that's why she's in the sanitarium, he says, "Is that all?" Then there's Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan) who has some idiot job for the guy, who way oversteps his bounds. Oh well, as usually, the big jerky guy ends up dead.

I believe the drive-in restaurant that Paul Drake and Anne Gilrain (Gloria Talbot) have a short scene at was Hody's Drive-In on Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. Good pictures can be found on Google.

This is a nice mystery than tends to avoid the normal suspense and takes the viewer into a world of long lost loves. When a stand-up comedian, Charley Hatch (Tommy Noonan) hears that his lost love Ann Gilrain (Gloria Talbott) has been placed in a sanatorium, he immediately makes plan to see the women and to help anyway that he is able.

The problem is that his lost-love, Ms Gilrain, is now married and his actions may be less than admirable. However, we the viewer know, that the husband is a cad with more dollar signs than love in the relationship.

When the husband, Mr Gilrain, hears that comedian Charley Hatch had a meeting with his wife he confronts Mr Hatch where an argument breaks out and words of 'I'll kill you' are heard coming from Mr Hatch's mouth. And that evening Mr Gilrain is murdered and Mr Hatch becomes the main suspect. With little evidence the DA's office goes ahead with murder warrants on Mr Hatch and Perry agrees to defend him in court even though he is not the most true talking client. Seems Mr Hatch believes that the wife, Ann Gilrain, killed her husband and he will do or say anything to protect her.

Not only do we get an interesting adventure with the dead husband, but during the trial we get introduce to a new nugget of information that includes the dead man, Mr Gilrain and the body-guard of Mr Hatch. Seems that both parties are under investigation for money theft some years ago.

Perry will tie the murder and the theft together and finally get to the bottom of the mystery. But not until the viewer is rewarded with a surprising twist and enjoyable entertainment. A very different show, with pleasant results.

Charlie, the accused, much too over-done emotionally. Too hammy for my taste, not very believable for adult behavior.

Plot is interesting, but Rowena as the "dumb blond" persona is so stereo-typical that it's hard to listen to her dialogue. Surely the creative writers could have come up with a better character.

I think my title sums up my opinion pretty well. The cast was fine, good actors, but the story and direction were just average. I tried, but it just couldn't hold my attention. Perhaps it's because club comedy is just not my thing. Therefore, I couldn't really get behind Tommy Noonan's character. Again, no fault of the cast, but a yawner for me.