77 Sunset Strip Vicious Circle (1958–1964) Online

This episode starts out with good citizen Gerald Lloyd Kookson, III doing his duty as a citizen to report a crime. A kidnapping he witnessed while on the way to work. But the police don't take it seriously. And neither at first does Roger Smith.

But it's a real kidnapping all right. The victim snatched is Bert Convy young lawyer son of former mobster Harold J. Stone. Stone went legitimate years ago, but snatch his son and he can revert to the old ways without any problem. That means no cops on general principles.

This 77 Sunset Strip story features a pair of great performances from Stone and from George Tobias, one of the old mob who went legitimate and stuck with Stone. The two of them have some really good scenes together.

Chance and circumstance bring Roger Smith and Edd Byrnes, the kidnappers, the cops, and Stone and Tobias all together for the showdown. Very cleverly written to bring that about.

You may ask yourself why such a summary line? Well, I can't blame you. But please, watch this episode, it is very rewarding if you can get it. For once, it's not entirely an urban flick, but rather a country side one. A young man is abducted and it appears that he is a gangland boss' son, and his old man has to pay one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ransom to get his son back. But Kooki, the leads' friend, was witness of the kidnapping. Once the son released, his dad - Harold J Stone - will do his best to purchase the men who kidnapped his son, without going to the police. And so our heroes will have to interfere in this case, because the abducted asks them to handle it, to prove a crime was committed and prevent his father to get into trouble. Frank de Kova is at his right place as a gangster, of course, one of the ones who abducted the mobster's son. But the police force will finally have to interfere and the final sequence, where Harold J Stone - a gangster - has to be allied to the cops to get revenge for his son's abduction, this sequence is worth watching, believe me.

**SPOILERS** I've said I was done reviewing this show, but I WAS awake last night, and I'd seen it before, and besides, there is one niggling issue that needs to be settled (at least thought about). That is: Kookie is as smart, if not smarter than either Stu or Jeff. It would not, admittedly, take a lot, but they're supposed to be the big shots, and it's always their mistakes that foul the waters in the first place. Here, Kookie even TELLS Jeff what's up, and he is yet too dumb to put 2+2 together until it's almost too late. And the victim even TELLS Jeff about it...? Good Grief !

As far as the ex-gangster dad goes, anything he and his friend/associate have done in the past is probably covered under statutes of limitations, and anything else that the kidnappers could possibly say is fruit of the poisoned tree. They're in the clear.

Yeah, I liked Kookie's part, even if the producers and studio didn't like Edd Byrnes. I think he's one of the most underrated actors ever to be screwed around by the Hollywood establishment. As far as Kookie's part goes, the writers (I think) did their best to make him a relevant member of the cast, and far better than he was billed as. He was the definition of COOL compared to Stu and Jeff who were always trying to clean up their own messes to fit that billing.