User Reviews

M-SQUAD –Chicago Bluebeard- 1958

This is episode 25 of the 1957 to 1960 Crime series, M-SQUAD. The series ran for 117 episodes and features Lee Marvin as the headliner. Marvin is a Lt with the elite M-Squad unit of the Chicago Police.

Someone is bumping off women and taking off with their cash. The only link between the cases is a Lonely Hearts Club they all belonged to. M-Squad is called in to look into the matter. Detective Lt Lee Marvin goes undercover and joins the club. He is somewhat surprised to find one of his high school teachers is a member.

There are plenty of twists and turns involved here with several red herrings thrown in to boot. Suspects abound and Marvin is run ragged before getting the right man in a set of cuffs.

The episode I caught seemed to run about a minute shorter than most of the episodes. Still, a pretty good episode, that keeps the viewer guessing on who the villain is.

***SPOILERS*** There's this lady killer on the lose in Chicago working out of a number of lonely hearts clubs where he targets lonely and desperate middle aged women not for their love but money. Getting hooked, or married, to them the killer has them put all their money and valuables in his name then knocks the poor ladies off and disappears into thin air. That until his next victim presents herself.

Though & hard nosed but no Cary Grant or Rock Hudson Lt. Frank Ballingr, Lee Marvin, goes undercover as a man looking for love at Jane Ramsell's, Betty Hanna, Lonely Hearts Club in order to track down what the newspapers dub the "Lonley Hearts Killer". Right away shy but smooth talking and puppy dog like Let. Ballinger becomes the talk of the party among the women at the club portraying himself as a lonely sensitive but very successful businessman who has loads of money and is willing to spend on the women, that he meets at the club, he loves. Ballinger's cover is blown the first day he's on the job in meeting his former school teacher widowed and lonely Mrs. Kate Larson, Amzie Strickland, who despite their age differences, something like 20 years, almost makes a play for him.

***SPOILERS*** Ballinger feeling that Kate's suitor at the club middle aged Steve Miller, Vaughn Taylor, in the "Lonely Heart Killer" he starts to stake the guy out finding out he's what he his not! Not a murderer but a man looking for love and nothing else. It's then that the real "Lonely Hearts Killer" pops up just in time for Let. Ballinger to catch him red handed. That after he poisoned Kate and came to her house to get his hands on her bank books and bond funds. The mistake the guy made is that he ran into Kate's daughter Mary, Mary Adams, and in a fit of insanity tried to strangle her. That with him not knowing that Let. Ballinger was on him and hiding the woman's closet for the killer to show up and put the cuffs on him.