AllMovie

Based on a radio episode first heard on February 8, 1951, this early Dragnet TV episode marks a turning point in the career of Lee Marvin, who with this one performance matriculated from bit player to star (though not as big a star as he'd be in later years). Marvin is cast as longshoreman Henry Ross, who is interrogated by sergeants Friday (Jack Webb) and Jacobs (Barney Phillips) as a suspect in a series of murders. Agreeing to talk only if the two cops buy him dinner, Ross reveals that he is an avid fan of pulp detective magazines--and that he finds it laughable that all murders must be motivated. By episode's end, however, no one is laughing...least of all Ross.