DICK POWELL SHOW, THE: WHO KILLED JULIE GREER? {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)

Summary

The premiere of this dramatic anthology series. Julie Greer, a model and aspiring actress, is speaking on the phone when a mysterious assailant enters and strangles her. She manages to blurt out the name "George Townsend" before the assailant kills her. Meanwhile, Inspector Amos Burke of the Los Angeles Police Department homicide division visits police headquarters to say farewell before he goes on his vacation to Hawaii. Amos is unusual in that he was born a millionaire but chose to become a policeman, working his way up from a beat cop to homicide. As the other officers wish Amos bon voyage, they receive the call about Julie's death. Detective Phil Winslow is assigned to the case, and Amos decides to tag along. They arrive at the scene of the crime and investigate, with Amos searching the area, including Julie's phone. He and Phil question Ann Farmer, Julie's friend who discovered her body. She tells them that Julie had relationships with a large number of men, but never revealed any of their identities. Amos finds Julie's address book, containing the names of the men she was involved with. Amos decides to keep this information from the press and split the list between himself and Phil, questioning each one to determine if they had anything to do with Julie's death. Amos questions a number of men in Julie's address book, including country music singer Rex Kent, Judge Roy Hensen, professional boxer Joe Montana, and launderer Mike Zampini. In each case, the story is similar: they all had chance encounters with Julie and became enamored of her, carrying on a relationship for several months. However, Julie broke things off with each one of them. The only person on his section of the list that Amos cannot locate is George Townsend. He finds the house where he used to board and speaks to the landlady, Mrs. Pierce. She says George moved away a few months ago and she is unsure of what is profession is. She also reveals that she is blind, and therefore cannot give Amos a description of George's appearance. Back at the police station, Amos reconnects with Phil, who has had a similar experience with his half of Julie's address book, yielding little in the way of evidence. The police discover that Julie has a minor arrest record the previous summer for attempting to disrobe in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard while drunk. Amos decides to leave for Hawaii in the morning and leave the case in Phil's hands. That night Amos is struck with inspiration and visits Phil. He reveals that when he picked up Julie's phone when they were investigating the scene, he heard no dial tone, indicating that she was having a conversation and the other party hung up. They deduce that one of the people on Julie's list must have been listening in when the murder was committed, and Amos decides to forego his vacation to continue the investigation. They decide to speak to two of Phil's witnesses: Fairchild, a bartender in a jazz club, and Dr. Coombs, a veterinarian. Fairchild swears that he hasn't seen Julie in over a year, but they get Dr. Coombs to admit that he was the one Julie was speaking to on the night of her murder. He explains that she called him whenever she ended a relationship, and thus they spoke quite frequently. He reports on what he heard and tells them that he heard Julie say the name "George Townsend" before she died. The two of them then visit Mrs. Pierce again, who reports that while she did sometimes hear a woman's voice along with George in his room, there is a new tenant and the room has been repainted and redecorated, negating any possible evidence they might have obtained. Amos tells the newspapers about their search for George, and they print an article naming him as the killer. George, an employee at a hardware store, reads the article and gets drunk, placing a call to the police station and daring them to arrest him. Amos, Phil, and some other officers surround the hotel where George is staying and bring him into the station. After a time he sobers up and explains that he was making a misguided attempt to get attention. He stands in a lineup with several police officers as Amos calls in Mrs. Pierce, asking her to identify George by the sound of his voice. However, she identifies Phil as George Townsend, and Amos believes that she is confused after hearing Phil's voice when he was accompanying Amos. Amos orders that George be kept for medical observation and decides to fly off to Hawaii. While Amos is gone, Phil is approached by Dr. Coombs, who reports that he now remembers hearing Julie say the phrase "rose forever" just before she answered the door. Phil sends Dr. Coombs away; unbeknownst to Dr. Coombs, Phil has a tattoo reading "rose forever" on his back. That night, Phil approaches Dr. Coombs in his office and attempts to murder him, but Amos interrupts and handcuffs him. The captured Phil explains everything: he met Julie when she was arrested for her attempted nudity last year and instantly fell in love with her. He introduced himself to her as a salesman and selected the alias "George Townsend" out of a phone book. They had a relationship for a few months, but she broke it off. However, Phil couldn't accept that and thus murdered her. Amos reveals that he figured out that Phil was the culprit since Mrs. Pierce identified his voice even though he didn't say a word to her when they went together to question her. He also reveals that he asked Dr. Coombs to approach him about the "rose forever" phrase in the hopes of getting Phil to reveal himself. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: NBC
• DATE: September 26, 1961 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:50:00
• COLOR/B&W: B&W
• CATALOG ID: B:13366
• GENRE: Drama
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama
• SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1961-1963
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Dick Powell … Executive Producer
• Aaron Spelling … Producer
• Richard Newton … Associate Producer
• Robert Ellis Miller … Director
• Frank Gilroy … Writer
• Joseph Mullendore … Music by
• Dick Powell … Host, Cast, Inspector Amos Burke
• Nick Adams … Cast, George Townsend
• Ralph Bellamy … Cast, Judge Roy Hansen
• Edgar Bergen … Cast, Dr. Coombs
• Lloyd Bridges … Cast, Joe Montana
• Jack Carson … Cast, Fairchild
• Carolyn Jones … Cast, Julie Greer
• Ronald Reagan … Cast, Rex Kent
• Mickey Rooney … Cast, Mike Zampini
• Kay Thompson … Cast, Mrs. Pierce
• Dean Jones … Cast, Detective Phil Winslow
• Edward Platt … Cast, Joe Nolan
• Will J. White … Cast, Langsner
• John Damler … Cast, Lester Hart
• Elaine Devry … Cast, Miss Lawrence
• Joan Staley … Cast, Ann Farmer
• Leon Lontac … Cast, Henry
• Alvy Moore … Cast, Reporter