S01/E12: THE TORCH

Gregory Harrington and a hired professional arsonist known as The Torch enter a warehouse owned by Harrington and his partner Stanley Glidden late at night. Business at the warehouse has been bad, therefore Harrington and Glidden had apparently agreed to burn down the warehouse and collect on the insurance. Harrington and Torch scatter cloth materials throughout the floor and then Harrington begins pouring an accelerant (probably gasoline) as Torch runs a rope from the accelerant to the exit. Suddenly, out of nowhere a man known as Giant appears. Giant is a hood working for Torch. Giant knocks out Harrington, who now lay on the ground with accelerant all around him. Giant then locks a metal screen gate to prevent Harrington from escaping the fire (even though he is obviously knocked out cold). Torch then lights one end of the rope and when it reaches the other end the warehouse goes up in flames, killing Harrington.

As it turns out, Harrington was double-crossed by his partner Stanley Glidden, who happens to be conveniently out of town with the perfect alibi during the incident. Glidden had hired Torch to let Harrington die with the fire to make it look as though Harrington had schemed all by himself to burn down the warehouse, but accidentally got himself killed while doing so. Their undoing, however, had been locking the metal gate which did not burn down in the fire and alerted investigators that others were involved and Harrington was therefore murdered.

Gunn arrives at Mother’s Jazz Club where Edie is on stage singing. (Edie’s hair color, which had appeared a bit darker the previous time she was shown, is even darker now; it’s almost all a dark brown color). Gunn meets at a table with Martha Harrington, now the widow of Gregory Harrington. Martha is a very attractive woman with dark hair and amazingly beautiful eyes and appears wealthy while wearing a fur coat. She tells Gunn that she doesn’t believe her husband’s death was an accident and gives him $2000 to investigate. Furthermore, because Martha is the beneficiary of a $200,000 life insurance policy, she fears being a suspect in the arson and killing. 

Gunn then heads out to the rear deck to meet with Edie who is taking a break. Edie displays obvious signs of jealousy when she asks, “Who is she?” Gunn replies, “Martha Harrington.” Edie repeats, "Who is she?" Gunn: "A client." Edie isn't happy. Understandably. That woman was drop dead gorgeous.

Peter Gunn meets with Lt. Jacoby at Jacoby’s office where they discuss the arson and murder. Jacoby confirms that Gregory Harrington’s partner, Stanley Glidden, was in Philadelphia at the time of the warehouse fire. Gunn wants to speak to Glidden and obtains an address from Jacoby.

Gunn arrives at a property in “the country” where Glidden is seated on a chair outside his home relaxing and shooting at rabbits with a shotgun. (Was this a hobby back then? It’s not the first time in this series that a character is outside his home shooting at rabbits). Gunn takes a seat beside Glidden and doesn’t hesitate in accusing him of being involved in the arson and killing of his partner, Harrington. Gunn tells him since investigators have determined the fire was no accident, the insurance company won’t pay and he killed his partner for nothing. Glidden laughs off Gunn’s "theory" about the crime and is confident Gunn won’t be able to prove it. As Gunn leaves, Glidden holds his shotgun up at Gunn and says, “Mr. Gunn, it’s quite dark out there. It would be unfortunate if I mistook you for a prowler.” Gunn replies, “Yes it would. I’ve known prowlers to shoot back.” 

Peter Gunn then meets with a pyromaniac goofball character named Ditto who has an Irish accent and happens to be a convicted professional arsonist that has served time in prison. Ditto is now in the business of creating fireworks. When Gunn lights a cigarette for the former convict, Ditto stares at the flame from the lighter as if wanting to make love to it. When Gunn holds up some cash and asks Ditto where he would go if he wanted a building burned down, Ditto gladly accepts the money and sends him to the “Penny Arcade on Post Street” on the other side of the river. (This person who runs the Penny Arcade happens to be the only professional arsonist in the region—not realistic, unless Ditto just so happens to know who set off the Harrington Warehouse fire). Ditto then hands Gunn a coin and says, “You better have your fortune told.” Apparently, the fortune telling amusement machine is how one establishes contact with the arsonist once at the arcade.

Gunn arrives at the Penny Arcade which is very active with patrons and continuously annoying and loud amusement park piano music is heard inside. He approaches the fortune teller machine and writes on a paper, “Whom do I see about getting a building burned down?” and then inserts it into the machine’s slot. He rings a bell on the machine and then inserts a coin to get it started. A voice over an intercom on the machine asks Gunn how he can be helped. Gunn says, “Ditto sent me.” The voice then directs Gunn to a door. Once in the room, Gunn is met by Giant, last seen during the opening sequence of this episode. Giant directs Gunn up a flight of stairs to an office where The Torch is seated behind a desk. Gunn pretends to be a client, but Torch is on to him and was expecting him. Stanley Glidden had already warned Torch that a man named Peter Gunn might be around asking questions. Gunn pulls out his gun, but he is quickly knocked out by Giant. Torch then tells Giant to get all the customers out of the arcade and lock the door. He calls Stanley Glidden and tells him he needs to get over to the Penny Arcade right away. Torch ties up Gunn with rope.

Glidden leaves from his home in a car. Lt. Jacoby, in his car nearby, had Glidden under surveillance and follows.

Glidden arrives at the Penny Arcade and Giant opens the door to let him in as Torch spews newspapers throughout the floor, preparing to set the building on fire. Lt. Jacoby stays in his car outside, appearing to be wondering what is going on inside the arcade.

Torch tells Glidden that police are closing in, therefore he must also be killed so that police will think Glidden started the Harrington Warehouse fire. (This doesn’t make sense unless Torch is really stupid. He should know that Glidden was out of town and already had a "perfect alibi" for when the crime occurred.) Giant then knocks out Glidden. Gunn finally awakes and finds himself on the floor all tied up. Jacoby gets tired of waiting outside and sneaks in through the front door using one of his police issued master keys. (Did police back then really have a set of keys that will unlock any door? Or is this just fantasy?) Jacoby is spotted by Torch who takes out a gun and shoots, but misses. Giant also shoots and Jacoby shoots back killing him. Giant falls onto a piano and he must have triggered a button on the piano because it started playing that loud and annoying amusement park music again. Gunfire continues between Torch and Jacoby. Torch goes through a door where Stanley Glidden comes to and attacks Torch, but Torch shoots, killing him. Torch then goes to the top of the stairs outside his office where Gunn is laying on the landing. Torch lights a match and tosses it onto the floor below to set the building on fire. (And then how does he get out? Escape through a window in his office?). But Gunn uses his legs to kick Torch to the floor below and onto the fire he just started. Torch is set ablaze. Jacoby, making his way through smoke and fire, rushes to the top of the stairs, lifts Peter Gunn’s tied up body onto his shoulder (fireman’s carry) and takes Gunn down the stairs and out of the building.

Back at Gunn’s apartment, Edie was asleep on the couch with a fire going in the fireplace. She awakes and tells Gunn she made coffee and sandwiches. That he should just curl up and relax on the couch and…“enjoy the fire”.

QUOTES:

At Mothers…
Martha Harrington: “I happen to be under suspicion…I am the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy.”
Gunn: “In what amount?”
Martha: “$200,000.”
Gunn: “No offense Mrs. Harrington, but under the circumstances I’d be inclined to suspect you myself.”

At Lt. Jacoby’s police station office where he tells Gunn about Stanley Glidden being out of town during the crime…
Gunn: “Was it Gladstone that said beware of the suspect with the perfect alibi?”
Note: It’s possible that Gunn was referring to British Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898).

NOTES:

The part of Martha Harrington was played by the beautiful Paula Raymond who was 34 years old when this episode first aired. Aside from acting, Paula Raymond also worked professionally as a model. In the picture below she is seen with Cary Grant. They starred together in a movie called “CRISIS” (1950).

Lola Albright sings “It Could Happen To You” from 1943; music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. Bing Crosby's recording of the song had remained two weeks on the Billboard charts in September 1944.

Listen to Lola Albright sing “It Could Happen To You”

The Torch was played by Robert Carricart who was born on January 18, 1917 in Bordeaux, France. He was known for The Time Tunnel (1966), T.H.E. Cat (1966) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). He also appeared in Kojak, Columbo, and The Streets of San Francisco. He was married to Susan Jane E. Hathorn and they had one child. Robert Carricart died on March 3, 1993 in Los Angeles, California.

It is interesting to note that in 1958 a man and woman are not allowed in television broadcasting to lay together on a bed and kiss, but it was okay on a couch, as shown with Gunn and Edie at the end of episode.

Possible film editing goof up: At Mother’s, bartender Barney places what appears to be a full glass of water on the bar for Peter Gunn, who takes the glass in his hand. There’s a breakaway back to Edie singing on stage and when the scene goes back to Gunn 11 seconds later, the glass of water is almost empty! Gunn would have had to quickly take some big gulps to get it like that. Possible, but not likely.

When Peter Gunn went to see Torch at the Penny Arcade, Torch referred to Gunn as "Mr. Gunn" during their conversation, but Peter Gunn had never introduced himself or said his name during the visit. Interesting that Gunn did not seem at all surprised as to how this man knew his name.

DECEASED: After being knocked out by Giant, Gregory Harrington perishes in fire set by Torch. At The Penny Arcade, Lt. Jacoby shoots Giant. Torch shoots Stanley Glidden. Peter Gunn shoves Torch into a fire.

Total Gunn Kills: 1 - Series Total: 6.

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NEXT BLOG: S01/E13: “THE JOCKEY"

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