User Reviews

LOCK UP was a syndicated TV series that lasted two seasons, from 1959-1961, starring veteran character actor Macdonald Carey in the role of real-life Philadelphia lawyer Herbert J. Maris, whose actual cases provided the story lines for each episode (the tagline was "innocent until proved guilty"). Making the actual arrests is Lt. Jim Weston, played by dependable John Doucette, a familiar face on television for four decades (mostly Westerns), in his one regular part in a continuing series. In "Poker Club," John Carradine is the accused, a down and out actor named James Carew, who had called upon the murder victim, producer Paul Ellinson (George Becwar), right at the moment he was being murdered by his own son-in-law, has-been tennis player Tony Alden (John Vivyan). Ellinson had never approved of his daughter's choice for a second husband, so Alden had sneaked in to rob him of the money he'd just won at poker, where a desperate James Carew had asked Ellinson for a job. Suspicion falls upon Carew because Ellinson's $2000 dollars were missing, and the actor was arrested with almost that same amount on his person. Carew's faithful valet George (Cyril Delevanti) confesses to giving the money to Carew, a fact that must be confirmed when Maris examines the purchase of a new suit, but things take a turn for the worse when a suicidal Carew suddenly decides to plead guilty. Everything gets wrapped up in a tidy half hour, rather fast for television, so things do tend to come off a bit rushed. Legendary scene stealer John Carradine earns sympathy in a believably restrained performance, and it was a nice personal touch to have Maris proclaim his admiration for Carew's Hamlet, since Carradine himself was such a devoted scholar of Shakespeare, even quoting the Bard in one scene. Icy blonde Carol Ohmart ("House on Haunted Hill") is her usual self, despite it being her father that was killed (by her own husband no less, as the audience is shown right away). Probably one of the better episodes, a total of 78 overall.