Mar 23, 2023
Man in a Suitcase: Who's Mad Now? (1.27, ITC, 1968)
"I can get you stopped, you know that?"
"You can try."
"A foreigner, here under sufferance, so to speak... and, uh, you do have a past."
"And, uh, you do have a big mouth; and, uh, you do have some big friends - right?"
#man in a suitcase#who's mad now?#classic tv#itc#1968#freddie francis#roger parkes#richard bradford#robert hutton#audine leith#philip madoc#john harvey#harriette johns#hedger wallace#luanshya greer#pamela greer#a fairly modest‚ kind of minor episode; admittedly not one i remembered very much. Parkes was fairly new to scriptwriting and#by his own admission (in later interviews) considered his work on MiaS to be run of the mill rush work. this may also have been an episode#intended to save a little budget for some of the more expensive set pieces in the final few episodes; there's little location filming here#and just a couple of sets. not a bad episode‚ but not particularly a standout: the plot concerns an old flame of McGill's who worries#she's losing her mind. cue much 60s gaslighting and a few trippy scenes of apparent hallucination. Philip Madoc pops up as a psychologist#and honestly I'd have enjoyed more of his character. Bob Hutton is the rotten husband who may or may not be causing all the problems (but#let's be real‚ was it ever in doubt?). the scenes between McGill and Hutton do sparkle tho‚ full of restrained jealousy and indignation#i particularly enjoyed the quoted bit above (it's in the way Bradford really hits the 'uh's in a venomous mockery of Hutton's tone; quite#possibly an adlib??). as in the pilot‚ McGill ends up hiring another private detective to do some sleuthing on his behalf#Harvey is quite fun as the competent but heavy drinking private eye
