This film is basically a semi-documentary (or docudrama) on how a bill becomes law in the California Legislature. Throughout the film, several of the characters and the voice-over narration provide detailed exposition on the many steps of the process.
First there must be a public 'problem' that the legislature needs to solve. Here it is the abusive and unethical practices of collection agencies and their agents, mostly in the area of automobile repossession. California Senator Fred Baines (Ed Binns) introduces a bill to move the oversight of collection agencies from under the Secretary of State to the Department of Professional and Vocational Standards. This administrative reorg is presented as the 'fix' to ensure tighter control of the collection agencies and prevent the abuses, presumably since the government official responsible for their oversight (Leonard Lohman, played by Peter Brocco) is completely in the pocket of the collection agency professional association.
We are left in no doubt as to who to root for. All the politicians and their assistants are represented as earnest and competent public servants, especially the author of the bill, Senator Baines. We see him kissing his long-suffering and beautiful wife Phyllis (Jackie Loughery) goodbye at his office in Riverside, California. He commutes by helicopter to the state capital in Sacramento.
Meanwhile, the collection agency owners and associates (including Lohman and their sleazy lobbyist Hal Green, played by Judson Pratt) are, almost to a man, depicted as goons and low-lifes. We see one bad apple in particular, Marshall Thor (Lou Kane), beat up a man (and his wife!) as he repossesses the pickup truck the man uses to make a living. In another instance, Thor tells a housewife over the phone that her husband has been in an accident and is at a local hospital, just to trick her into giving out their personal credit information. In a third example, a couple who cannot pay their bill are told 'something will happen' to their children as they walk to school.
As Bill 93 wends its way through the legislative process, Sam Clavell (Myron McCormick) is appointed as the Senate coordinator of the committee responsible for the bill. Here the film takes on the flavor of a police procedural, much like a 1950s "Dragnet" episode. (The voice-over narration of Paul Frees helps in that regard.) Sam Clavell is a tough and street-smart investigator, and it is his job to find any weaknesses in the opposition and exploit them, using the same down-and-dirty tactics that he expects the opposition will use. He hires a couple of tough investigators who start looking at the criminal records of collection agents. Marshall Thor has a criminal record and is on parole, and even worse, he carries a gun. Sam uses that information to force Thor to hire one of his undercover operatives, a young policewoman named Tracey Phillips (Grace Lee Whitney). Meanwhile, the collection agencies are applying pressure to Senator Baines by funding a bogus recall effort in his home district.
After several attempts to defeat or water down the bill, it finally becomes law.
I originally bought the DVD from Sinister Cinema because it features one of my favorite actresses, Grace Lee Whitney. She does a good job in her small but significant role. It is good to see her in her prime.
First there must be a public 'problem' that the legislature needs to solve. Here it is the abusive and unethical practices of collection agencies and their agents, mostly in the area of automobile repossession. California Senator Fred Baines (Ed Binns) introduces a bill to move the oversight of collection agencies from under the Secretary of State to the Department of Professional and Vocational Standards. This administrative reorg is presented as the 'fix' to ensure tighter control of the collection agencies and prevent the abuses, presumably since the government official responsible for their oversight (Leonard Lohman, played by Peter Brocco) is completely in the pocket of the collection agency professional association.
We are left in no doubt as to who to root for. All the politicians and their assistants are represented as earnest and competent public servants, especially the author of the bill, Senator Baines. We see him kissing his long-suffering and beautiful wife Phyllis (Jackie Loughery) goodbye at his office in Riverside, California. He commutes by helicopter to the state capital in Sacramento.
Meanwhile, the collection agency owners and associates (including Lohman and their sleazy lobbyist Hal Green, played by Judson Pratt) are, almost to a man, depicted as goons and low-lifes. We see one bad apple in particular, Marshall Thor (Lou Kane), beat up a man (and his wife!) as he repossesses the pickup truck the man uses to make a living. In another instance, Thor tells a housewife over the phone that her husband has been in an accident and is at a local hospital, just to trick her into giving out their personal credit information. In a third example, a couple who cannot pay their bill are told 'something will happen' to their children as they walk to school.
As Bill 93 wends its way through the legislative process, Sam Clavell (Myron McCormick) is appointed as the Senate coordinator of the committee responsible for the bill. Here the film takes on the flavor of a police procedural, much like a 1950s "Dragnet" episode. (The voice-over narration of Paul Frees helps in that regard.) Sam Clavell is a tough and street-smart investigator, and it is his job to find any weaknesses in the opposition and exploit them, using the same down-and-dirty tactics that he expects the opposition will use. He hires a couple of tough investigators who start looking at the criminal records of collection agents. Marshall Thor has a criminal record and is on parole, and even worse, he carries a gun. Sam uses that information to force Thor to hire one of his undercover operatives, a young policewoman named Tracey Phillips (Grace Lee Whitney). Meanwhile, the collection agencies are applying pressure to Senator Baines by funding a bogus recall effort in his home district.
After several attempts to defeat or water down the bill, it finally becomes law.
I originally bought the DVD from Sinister Cinema because it features one of my favorite actresses, Grace Lee Whitney. She does a good job in her small but significant role. It is good to see her in her prime.
