NAKED CITY: A CASE STUDY OF TWO SAVAGES (First broadcast on February 7, 1962)

 

When I was growing up in the Golden Age of TV back in the 1950's-60's, we were primarily a CBS family, with occasional visits to NBC. The ABC network was little more than a mysterious, snowy screen 90% of the time. That's because in those primitive days before cable, reception depended mainly on how close the transmitter was, and also which way the wind was blowing at any given time. As a result, we didn't get a chance to become familiar with most of the ABC lineup. It was only through the advent of home video that I began to catch up on some of the shows I had always heard about, but never saw. 

One of those shows was NAKED CITY, a serious crime drama that ran for four seasons: 1958-59 and 1960-63. It was based on the 1948 Film Noir by the same name. When I finally had the chance to see some of the episodes on DVD, they reminded me of the dramas I loved on CBS during my lost youth, such as ROUTE 66, THE DEFENDERS, and EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE. These programs didn't always offer happy endings but featured well-written topical stories and excellent acting by many big-name stars, as well as many up-and-coming talents. 

NAKED CITY was a 30-minute program during its first season. The stars were James Franciscus, John McIntire (later replaced by Horace McMahon), and Harry Bellaver. The show was cancelled but came back in 1960 as a 60-minute program. Horace McMahon and Harry Bellaver returned, joined by Paul Burke and Nancy Malone. The show was filmed using real New York locations.

One especially hard-hitting episode was A Case Study of Two Savages, first shown on February 7, 1962. It was written by Frank R. Pierson and directed by William Graham. The story was inspired by the infamous Charles Starkweather case. Starkweather, 19, murdered eleven people on a killing spree across Nebraska and Wyoming in 1959. He was accompanied by his girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, 14. Starkweather was executed, and Fugate spent seventeen years in prison. Their exploits also inspired the films THE SADIST (1963) and BADLANDS (1973), as well as other dramatic adaptations. This television episode starred Tuesday Weld as Ora Mae Youngham  and Rip Torn as Ansel Boake.

Ansel and Ora Mae hail from Arkansas. As they drive their old, beat-up car into New York City, the show begins with these words from the narrator:

Fifteen thousand years ago, Man came out of the caves. Today, whenever we encounter the violence and savagery of those times, all we can do is marvel at how far the human race has come in only fifteen thousand years. When Ansel Boake was four years old, he killed his first thing, one of his mother's chickens. After Ansel killed his mother's chicken, his father thrashed him. By the time he was sixteen, Ansel had thrashed his father. Ansel Boake had no friends, he never learned to read, he never held a job longer than three months. But he could wander in the woods without a compass and not get lost. He could live off the land, killing food with gun, knife, snare, fishhook, a rock, or his bare hands, equally well. Ansel Boake met Ora Mae Youngham eight days ago. Six days, fourteen hours, and nine minutes ago, they were married. In the last six days, fourteen hours, and nine minutes, Ansel Boake and his wife, Ora Mae, have shot and killed a filling station attendant in Frankfort, Kentucky during the course of a holdup, knifed a hotel manager in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and shot and killed a hitchhiker they picked up in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

As Ansel and Ora Mae make their way into Manhattan, Detective Adam Flint (Paul Burke) and Sgt. Frank Arcaro (Harry Bellaver) have parked on a busy street to perform an errand. While Adam goes to take care of the errand, Frank gets out of the car to stretch. When Ansel's car passes by and stops at a stoplight, Frank notices that the license plate is about to fall off. He walks over to the car to let the driver know.

Ansel and Ora Mae take offense at Frank's interference in their "affairs". Frank assures them he's just trying to be helpful, but Ansel gets angrier by the second.

Ansel gets out of his car and begins arguing with Frank and pushing him around. Ora Mae cheers him on. Meanwhile, the stoplight has turned green and the driver behind Ansel starts honking his horn. Ansel yells at the driver, becoming more agitated. He pulls out his gun and goes to the car's passenger side and confronts the driver, shooting him at close range and killing him. As he heads back to his own car, he shoots Frank twice, wounding him seriously. 

As Ansel drives away at high speed, we hear these words from the narrator:

And so, Ansel Boake and his bride came to New York to continue their honeymoon.

Frank is taken to a hospital. He is unable to remember very much about the incident or the people involved. Adam begins the investigation, determined to find out who shot his friend.

Ansel abandons the car and he and his wife set out on foot trying to figure out what to do next. Ora Mae asks Ansel why they just can't go back home. He reminds her of all the things they've done together in the last several days. Ora Mae claims she can't be held responsible as she is under eighteen. She tells Ansel she will swear he forced her into running away with him. While saying this, she's clutching a doll that she brought from home. Ansel tells her she can go back home to her mama anytime she wants to. But Ora Mae relents and takes Ansel's arm. She tells Ansel that she wants a wedding ring, and he promises to get her one.

 As the newlyweds continue walking, a carriage driver begins speaking to them and asks them where they would like to go. Ora Mae asks him to take them to a jewelry store. But she tells Ansel to do the driving. The carriage driver reluctantly agrees. 

When they arrive at a jewelry store, Ora Mae sees a beautiful ring in the window. She and Ansel go in to inquire but find out the ring costs $11,000. Ora Mae is deeply disappointed. Ansel promises her, "You're gonna have that ring, if I have to kill somebody for it."

Ansel begins his plan to get money for the ring. He and his wife go into a bar. While Ora Mae sips her drink, Ansel attacks and kills the bartender and then robs the cash register. Ora Mae looks on with excitement and then rewards her husband with a kiss.

 Adam Flint continues his investigation as the killings pile up. The random nature of the crimes is reminiscent of the case of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, and also the recent Starkweather killing spree. The police discover Ansel's abandoned car and find a gun inside. They try to trace the owner.

In the meantime, the newlyweds are relaxing in their cheap hotel room. Like any other loving husband, Ansel is cooking breakfast for his wife. When he starts getting romantic, Ora Mae once again brings the discussion back to the wedding ring, asking Ansel how he plans to get it for her. He tells her he can't just steal it, because in his peculiar logic, that would be like the whole marriage is "stolen".

The ownership of the car is traced back to Ora Mae's mother (Audra Lindley) in Arkansas. Detective Flint and Lieutenant Mike Parker (Horace McMahon) call the local sheriff and Mrs. Youngham to get a description of Ansel and Ora Mae. Mrs. Youngham doesn't seem deeply concerned with her daughter taking the car or getting married to a man she hardly knows. She describes Ansel as just another hillbilly. Mrs. Younger asks the police if she can come and get the car, but they tell her the car is junked and not worth the trip. She tells them that's too bad, because she always wanted to see New York.

Ansel decides that the best way to get money for a wedding ring is to rob a bank. The first step in his plan is to get another gun and plenty of ammunition. He goes into a gun shop while Ora Mae waits outside. While starting a friendly chat with the clerk, he asks to purchase some ammunition and also to take a look at one of the handguns locked up behind the counter. As the jovial conversation continues, Ansel is loading the gun. The clerk, laughing and enjoying the conversation, hardly notices what Ansel is doing. Suddenly, Ansel shoots the clerk at close range, killing him on the spot. 

Ansel leaves the gun shop, and he and Ora Mae steal a car from a man parked outside. The next step in Ansel's plan is to get some dynamite. He goes to a construction site, kills the man guarding the shack containing dynamite, and steals ten sticks. The police now have identified Ansel and Ora Mae as the killers thanks to their conversation with Mrs. Youngham and the sheriff in Arkansas. With all of the latest killings and thefts, Detective Flint believes the ultimate goal is a bank robbery in the same general area of the other crimes. Police patrols are dispatched to keep watch over the banks.

Ansel has chosen the bank he wants to rob. As he and Ora Mae are sitting in their stolen car preparing for the robbery, Ansel is humming a tune as he gets his gun loaded and ready. Sitting next to him with her gun, Ora Mae smiles and says to her husband, "Did I ever tell you I was having a good old honeymoon?" Getting a little more serious, she tells Ansel that she would just like to keep moving around for the rest of their lives, not owning anything, not having a home or children. Just thinking only about themselves. She makes Ansel promise her that things will always be that way. Then they get ready to enter the bank.

Ansel walks in with his gun and dynamite concealed in a sack. He goes to one of the tellers. Ora Mae comes in and sits down next to an older woman. Her gun is hidden in her purse. Ansel greets the teller and, pointing to Ora Mae, informs him that she has a gun aimed at the other woman. The teller is ordered to put all of his cash into the sack and not say or do anything else.

The teller starts to put cash into Ansel's bag, but another teller sees what's happening and manages to discreetly catch the eye of the security guard. Ansel senses something is wrong and orders the teller to hurry up. Ansel begins to light the dynamite with the cigarette he has in his mouth. The dynamite is meant to cause a distraction so he and Ora Mae can escape. The situation escalates quickly as the security guard is alerted. Ora Mae stands up with her gun and tells the other woman, "Listen, lady! Get up, or I'll give it to you good!"

After the dynamite has been lit, the security guard fires at Ansel. Ansel fires back and kills the guard.

Suddenly, police officers are rushing into the bank. Ansel and Ora Mae both fire their guns wildly. The bank teller and some of the policemen are shot. But Ansel is finally shot multiple times and killed. Ora Mae rushes to him.

As Detective Adam Flint and Lieutenant Mike Parker try to pull Ora Mae away and take her into custody, she clings to Ansel saying, "He was my husband, the sweetest, kindest man I ever knew!" When they finally get her away from Ansel's body, Parker and Flint ask her why her husband shot Detective Frank Arcaro. At first Ora Mae is confused and doesn't know who they're talking about. When Flint refreshes her memory, she says in a very puzzling tone, "I don't know. Just for the hell of it, I guess. You know". Not knowing how to respond, Flint and Parker just look at her and at each other.

We hear the narrator once again:

Fifteen thousand years ago, Man came out of the caves. Today, when we encounter the violence and savagery that belonged to those times, all we can do is marvel at how far the human race has come in only fifteen thousand years.

There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.

This powerful episode was very timely, considering the Starkweather-Fugate nightmare had occurred only three years before. Sadly, this story has even more meaning in our present time with all the seemingly random shootings and killings in schools, shopping malls, and other public spaces. How many of the individuals responsible for these crimes fit the description of Ansel Boake given by the narrator at the beginning of this show? How many have a history of family violence, isolation, poor social skills, lack of empathy, and limited education? As for Ora Mae, she was certainly underage and may not have been considered legally responsible for some of her actions. But she was hardly innocent. She constantly cheered Ansel on in his acts of violence and participated in some of them. Her only desire was to have a wedding ring, and she didn't care what her husband did to get it for her. And yet, we have to wonder about the family history of a teenaged girl who describes someone like Ansel as the sweetest, kindest man she ever knew. That statement tells us quite a bit about Ora Mae.

These two very complicated characters are perfectly brought to life by Tuesday Weld and Rip Torn. One might argue that Weld looked a little too glamorous for such a character, but that takes nothing away from her sensitive, multi-layered performance. Weld, only eighteen years old at the time, was a popular, sensational young actress who had won a Golden Globe in 1960 for Most Promising Newcomer. She had already proven her talent for comedy by her regular role in the television sitcom THE DOBIE GILLIS SHOW, but some of her film roles were less than stellar projects. (SEX KITTENS GO TO COLLEGE (1960) anyone?) However, she showed dramatic depth in BECAUSE THEY'RE YOUNG (1960) and several strong television roles like the one in NAKED CITY. Weld continued to have a long career, with standout roles in films like PRETTY POISON (1968), I WALK THE LINE (1970), and ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984). Weld was nominated for an Oscar for her excellent supporting performance in LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR (1977). She has been inactive since the early 2000's.

Rip Torn made his film debut in the controversial BABY DOLL (1956). He worked successfully in films, television, and on the stage. A member of The Actor's Studio, he appeared in the original Broadway production of SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH. He reprised his role for the 1962 film version and married its leading lady, Geraldine Page. Before his death in 2019, Torn was one of Hollywood's most prolific character actors. He won an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in CROSS CREEK (1983). He was nominated six times for an Emmy Award for his work on THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW, winning in 1996. And he appeared in the first two films in the popular MEN IN BLACK series.

This NAKED CITY episode, and, in fact, the entire series, can be found on Youtube: 

My blog post is part of The 9th Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon, hosted by A Shroud of Thoughts. You can find his blog here: A Shroud of Thoughts: The 9th Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon is Here (mercurie.blogspot.com)