1- VIEWERS CHECK THIS OUT...............
* A SLAP RESPONSE FOR THE AGES.......
At 2:30 into the first act, one of the greatest reactions to a staged slap I've ever seen happens. Usually when men take each other on in combat at a party or gathering such as this one, a slap is not the device used to show you are itching for a fight. Most of the time it's a punch or a shove or something "manly" like that to assert your manhood. A slap is usually what women do to men or to each other. But one man slapping another man across the face is rather unusual. The man doing the slapping is Roger Maxwell (played by actor Frank Martin. Martin was a familiar presence in just about every major American prime time show in the 1960's and 1970's. He died in 2014 at the age of 91). The man getting slapped was Terence Aubrey (acted by Welshman Lester Fletcher. He was a well known character actor in the UK and USA until his death in 1989 at 67 years of age). The woman between the two guys is Louise Maxwell (played by Judy Lewis. Lewis was the love child of actors Loretta Young and Clark Gable. Young was born in 1935 and died in 2011 at the age of 76). The slap leads to the fairly intoxicated Aubrey, a publisher of a ridiculous high society paper, to leave the party assisted into a taxi by Joseph (the butler of the house played by Harold Gould). When Aubrey arrives at his place at approximately 2:30 AM he is confronted by a gunman who was already in Aubrey's place. Aubrey is shot and killed by the gunman (who is not revealed to viewers). This is the setting for the entrance of Inspectors Stone and Keller.
*DOUGLAS GETS BUMPED WHILE GAWKING......
While gathering information and doing interviews of potential suspects, Stone and Keller enter the palatial mansion of Etta Morris Randolph - a blue-blood socialite in San Francisco upper society. Joseph (the man who assisted Aubrey into the taxi the night before) is leading them to her area in the mansion. As the inspectors are following Joseph, Michael Douglas is staring at the real (not a sound stage) mansion and not paying attention to where he is walking. Douglas inadvertently bumps his leg into a huge chair (9:45) and the actor reacts in a very non-acting way.
2- Final Thoughts and Reflective Analysis and Final Grade........
*This was an interesting episode with Rosemary Murphy (playing Etta Morris Randolph) turning in the character of the episode. She moved us from the early scenes, along with Stone, to feel like she was just a rich witch of a person and only used her power and influence to further her own personal gain. As the episode rambled on toward a conclusion we, along with Stone again, began to formulate a completely different opinion of this strong willed woman. She loved her heroin addicted daughter. She loved her granddaughter. She really loved her butler, Joseph. She was everything a powerful matriarch can and should be.
This last episode of season 2 ends with solid performances, good writing and good direction. Michael Douglas bumps his leg into a chair, gets bonked on the back of the head, crashes his police car in pursuit of a suspect and ends up in the emergency room. This was a tough episode for him. Lol.
Karl Malden, who taught us to actually like Etta Randolph, is as steady of an actor as there is in the Hollywood business. He brings a gravitas and experience to TSOSF which allows the show to thrive and grow.
I'm looking forward to watching and reflecting on season 3!
Final Grade For Episode: B
Final Grade For Season Two: B.
