Go Fight City Hall… to the Death!

EPISODE QUOTE

“Something in me goes tilt, when I see a life end before its time and I wanna do something about it. I want to find out who made that terrible thing happen…”

~ QUINCY, Go Fight City Hall… To The Death!

EPISODE DETAILS

GUEST STARRING/STARRING

Henry Darrow as Dr. Rivera, Hari Rhodes as Deputy Mayor Collins (as Harry Rhodes), Denny Miller as Ben Chase, Woodrow Parfrey as Bower, Dimitra Arliss as Shirley, Rick Podell as Peter Gordon, George Wyner as Asst. City Controller Harold P. Marcus, Marjorie Battles as Marilyn, Fay DeWitt as Nurse Audrey, Lou Peralta as Carlos, John Furlong as 1st Reporter, Martha Smith as Dianne Johnson – Mayor’s Secretary, Jerry Daniels as 2nd Reporter, Richard Sarradet as Stone, Nancy Fox as Peggy Tolan

RE-OCCURING CAST

Jack Klugman as Quincy, M.E., Lynette Mettey as Lee (as Lee Potter), Garry Walberg as Lt. Frank Monahan, Val Bisoglio as Danny Tovo, John S. Ragin as Dr. Robert Astin, Robert Ito as Sam Fujiyama, Joseph Roman as Sgt. Brill, rest of cast listed alphabetically: Jerry Doggett as L.A. Dodgers Announcer (voice) (uncredited), Eddie Garrett as Ed – Crime Photographer (uncredited), Don Mantooth as Police Officer (uncredited), James Rosin as Police Officer (uncredited).

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS: LACC CASE #: 76.10.835 – NOTES

Jane Doe (Later identified as Dianne Johnson) – Los Angeles County Coroner’s case #: 76, 10 835. Jane Doe, 143. External findings: Contused cervical abrasion right of midline. Nails clean and well kept, no fractures present. No prominent defense wounds are present on hands and forearms. An old shin contusion is present. Note: material adhering to the soul of foot.

SUPPLEMENTAL L.A.C.C. CASE  NOTES – SUBSEQUENT VICTIMS

Peter Gordon, Harold P. Marcus, Mexican Hitman, Arnold Bower

ALLEDGED PERPETRATOR(S}

Denny Miller as Benjamin Chase

EPISODE SYNOPSIS

After finding evidence tampering, due to poor detective work, Quincy and Monahan, exchange viewpoints over how to conduct a proper investigation. Just then, Brill reports, another crime occurred with the victim/suspect still alive and believes there might be a connection. Quincy and Monahan race to the scene in hopes of finding a lead on the Jane Doe discovered on the beach. Upon arriving at the scene, Quincy investigates the perpetrator, Peter Gordon, who has two bullet wounds as a result of police fire and is losing a lot of blood. When the paramedics arrive and take him away for treatment, Quincy converses with Monahan as to the possible connection between the two crimes. Monahan informs Quincy, of a wallet with a picture of the victim found in a purse in possession of the perpetrator.

Back in the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, Sam and Quince try lifting a fingerprint off of Jane Doe’s neck only to discover that too many hours between the death of the victim in the lab test resulted in an inability to successfully obtain the prints. However, Sam points out they have an outline of the killer’s hands. Quincy brings his report to Monahan at police headquarters showing that the purse snatcher could have committed the homicide. Quincy still believes there’s room for interpretation, while Monahan believes it’s an open and shut case. Quincy supplies photo imprints to the killer’s hands on the victim’s neck and compares the size of the purse snatcher’s hand as comparative evidence to suggest he is not the killer.

The medical examiner report also provides evidence to suggest that the victim did not smoke. Yet she was found with a pack of cigarettes at the crime scene. Quincy has problems letting this go after he sees Monahan still believes it’s a crime of passion and heads to city hall to see the deputy mayor’s office as this is where the victim Diane Johnson used to work.

After speaking with Ms. Peggy Tobin, the receptionist, Quincy discovers that Johnson worked in her presence on the three months after transferring from a controller’s office. Next, Quincy had to see Comptroller Harold P. Marcus, who stonewalls the initial inquiry. Betting on a hunch, Quincy picks up the secretaries fall only to listen in to Marcus contacting someone else about being frightened as a result of his visit. Quincy heads Lee Porter’s, his girlfriend’s apartment to have dinner and discuss the events of the day. While staging dinner Quincy points out that Lee and he have a “no strings attached” arrangement and that she should not be fussing over something as simple as a meal between friends. Sam calls Quincy at Lee’s apartment on a hunch to let them know that Marcus has been found dead.

Quincy abruptly leaves in an effort to investigate. Initial findings at the crime scene appear to indicate that Marcus hung himself. However, Monahan and Quince informally discussed the findings on the scene, indicating that the cause of death will be listed as homicide made to look like a suicide due to vertebrae in the next, which were snapped as opposed to elongation. At the same time, Brill reports that investigating officers at Marcus’s office appeared to have found a suicide note in the locked office. All outward appearances would indicate a hanging. Neck vertebrae are stretched during a hanging. Marcus’ fifth and sixth vertebrae were snapped. Controller Marcus’ receptionist Peggy informs Quincy that before Diane Johnson and other City Hall worker was killed while traveling to Mexico with a fiancé. Surprisingly, the fiancé never came back to collecting things from the office.

Quincy insists on learning more information from the death of this person only to discover that the person who died of a broken neck was trapped in a car that went over a cliff. Fortunately, the fiancé survived.

Back in. LACC, Quincy meets with Asten who set up an appointment for him to meet with Deputy Mayor Collins at the City Hall. Upon a visit to Collins’ office, Quincy indicates that although the recent murders are in one common denominator or related to city hall in some way. Quincy believes that the policeman told him to back off. Quincy and Lee head to a Dodgers game and Quincy sees Collins at the game. At the concessions, Quincy and Collins exchange words. However, Collins gets tripped up in a lie indicating he came to see the game on short notice. Quincy states he doesn’t trust Collins and is told he is being abusive to a city employee.

Both parts are on shaky ground. Conspiracy theories ablaze when Quincy speaks with Astin and suspects that he might be in on the City Hall cover-up as well. Lee and Quincy head to Mexico under false pretenses of getting away for a few days while Quincy checks out his hunches on the case. After some convincing, Quincy manages to get the body of a deceased victim in Mexico exhumed. Quincy discovers that the victim in Mexico was dead before the accident took place and the boyfriend reported with a name and address which were phony. Quincy goes to the scene of the crime and discusses with Lee how it could be the man who committed the homicide on the beach back in LA.

When suddenly, an unknown Mexican hire driving a truck behind their rental car and pushes it off the cliff. Luckily, Quincy pushes Lee out of the vehicle and opens a door to jump out as well. When the truck’s front bumper hooks underneath the rental car’s rear bumper both vehicles lunge forward off the cliff before crashing at the bottom. Quince takes Lee to the hospital for treatment and is she appears okay. Quincy checks in with the local Mexican police department to discover a group of city hall numbers among the deceased’s things. Quincy races back to LA to inquire with district offices of the harbor commissioner Arnold Bower’s office to ask more questions. Bower’s vacation involves meeting the killer to discuss further business plans while Bower is concerned that his name is on the line for the bad checks cover-up that is ongoing. It turns bad and the killer kills Bower on his ship and leaves him adrift. He is discovered and the police are called in to investigate. Quincy conducts the partial findings to determine he is killed.

Again, Monahan and Quincy go at it over the initial findings. Quincy suspecting this homicide is connected to City Hall as well. Monahan warning Quincy to avoid the reporters when discharging from the Commissioner’s dockside boat. Off duty, Quincy checks in with Lee by phone in Mexico and finds out from newspapers that City Hall has been ripped off for three million dollars involving some 30 bad checks.

Upon remembering the x-rays taken by Dr. Rivera at the hospital in Mexico, Quincy gathers up copies of the x-rays of the supposed fiancé of the woman who died earlier as evidence of the police investigation back in LA. Lee and Quince start driving back to LA, and along the way discuss the case. Quincy starts second-guessing whether a vehicle following them is a problem in registers and overnight hotels under the last name Smith. However, the killer storms in, and Quincy lunges into the ground before yelling to Lee to call the cops.

The killer pursues Quincy and he has to use a nerve pinch to his heck to get him to let go is gripe. Mexican police arrive and arrest the killer for assault until other evidence was presented and he is turned over to international authorities.

FILMING LOCATIONS AND EXTERIOR FOOTAGE

Local filming locations in and around Los Angeles included the City Court House, LA Police Department, and LA Coroner’s office established for this television series…

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TRIVIA

• Principle photography from this episode was primarily used for the television series visual montage for series identification and casting credits through the entire seven year run on NBC-TV!

NIT PICKS

• more to come

PRODUCT PLACEMENTS AND KNOWN SPONSORSHIPS

Grundig Mini-Memo Voice Recorder, Mfg time frame: 1968 (source: link) Look for it in this episode…

SELECTED SCREEN CAPS

PROMOTIONAL ARTIFACTS

pending

EXTERNAL LINKS

• http://every70smovie.blogspot.com/2016/01/quincy-me-1978.html