Naked City - Portrait of a Painter (1958) Review

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(More customer reviews)They sure don't make them like this anymore. NAKED CITY ran on television from 1958-1963, and it's unlike any cop show of the last ten years. Its continuing stars were Horace McMahon, Harry Bellaver and Paul Burke (Burke joined the series in 1960), detectives working out of the 65th Precinct in New York City.
It's difficult to judge a series on only four episodes, but if the shows on this disk are representative some conclusions are warranted. First, these are very well written. It's tough to fit a compelling story into the fifty minutes allowed an hour broadcast, but all the episodes on the disk are very strong. The NAKED CITY used veteran guest stars and focused as much on the guests as on the continuing stars. There aren't any of the currently popular sub-plots. The cops are there to track and book the bad guys, and not to distract us with a drinking problem or a messy divorce. Each episode is complete and self-contained. The forensic guys are buried deep in the background. McMahon's character, Lt. Mike Parker, might have something sent "to the boys in the lab," but that's about it. New York and environs are very much a part of the series; there are a number of location shots in each episode.
The first episode, "Portrait of a Painter," stars a pre-girdle-and-scalp-rug William Shatner as a painter who discovers his wife is dead and goes to his psychiatrist (Theodore Bikel) with a nagging dread that he may have murdered her. The young Shatner was already a-bursting with energy and his peculiar brand of Method Acting. The second episode, "Don't Knock It Til You've Tried It," stars Walter Matthau as a psychiatrist who is kidnapped by a Vegas chorus girl (Sally Gracie) and a girlfriend. This one is a quirky little morality tale about the relationships between men and women. Fun and a little strange. The third, "Alive and Still a Second Lieutenant," stars Robert Sterling as a WWII vet who, after accidentally killing a man, has to deal with moral cowardice and 'misplaced aggression.' It co-stars a very young Jon Voight, which is probably why it's included in the first place. Jack Klugman stars with Jan Sterling in the final offering, "The Tragic Success of Alfred Tiloff," about a chronic loser and his wife who hatches a nefarious scheme to bring them success and fortune.
There aren't any extras on this disk. Still, NAKED CITY: PORTRAIT OF A PAINTER was fun to watch and I certainly didn't feel cheated.


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