Ironside (TV Series) Side Pocket (1968) User Reviews

Going with the odds

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 25 February 2017]

This Ironside story is a homage to the classic Paul Newman film The Hustler. Playing the Fast Eddie Felson role is Michael Christian who was juvenile delinquent heading down the wrong path, but now through Raymond Burr's guidance has developed his skill with billiards so that he now has a match with the Minnesota Fats of the profession played here by Jack Albertson.

If you notice the Chief's workplace does have a pool table there so you can see while he was still mobile he must have used it considerably.

Against all odds Christian beats Albertson, but that has some unforeseen consequences

Unfortunately the brother the Chief might have paid attention to is Carl Reindel who manages Christian, but at heart is no good degenerate gambler. Going with the odds Reindel placed his bets on Albertson and it's either pay up with Christian's earnings so far or get his legs broken.

What happens probably could never happen again, still it makes for some dramatic and interesting viewing.

Behind the 8th Ball

[sol-kay · 5/10 · 1 August 2013]

****SPOILERS**** With Robert T, Iroside, Raymond Burr, writing a letter of recommendation for his young friend reformed car thief and now local pool shark & hustler Tim Patterson, Michael Christian, to get into Carnegie Tex Engineering College the jerk ends up playing a game of pool with the legendary Money Howard, Jack Albertson instead . The games ends with Tim beating, in the biggest upset since Upset beat the great Man O' War in the 1919 Sandford Stakes, Money Howard at his own game. You would think that Tim with no more worlds to conquer in the pool hall hustler racket and now having a bright future in being an electrical engineer, starting pay $12,000.00 a year, for the San Francisco Water & Sewage Department would attend collage and get his degree? Wouldn't you? Nooooo he decides to stay full time in the pool hall and ends up working from his mob up manager Phil Vance, H. M Wynand, who's has his sick and degenerated gambling brother Bobby, Carl Reindel, under his thumb.

It was Bobby who went into debt, $15,0000.00 worth, by having Vance cover his bets against his own brother Tim in the big game against Money Howard whom Tim beat. That in order to get the cash to pay off Tim's previous debt, $2,000,00, to Vance! What a first class jerk! Now to keep big brother Bobby from getting his head arms & legs broken or even worse Tim is forced to have Vance manage him in his pool playing career, forget about collage, until he pays off Bobby new debt to him. Ironside smelling a rat in all this, Tim giving up his acceptance into engineering collage, soon finds out the truth and does everything he can to not only put Tim back on the straight & narrow road to get a collage education but keep Bobby from getting whacked by Vance's thugs!

****SPOILERS**** It's when Bobby screws up again in not leaving town and being put under police protection that Tim decides to give Money Horard a re-match or run for the money in a $25,0000.00 winner take all game which by losing, which he doesn't plan to do, and not being marketable can free him from Vance's control. The rub in all that is if Tim loses Vance's has these two bumbling out of town hit-men ready to whack Bobby as soon as he pops up from his hiding place with their contact and good friend of Bobby Sidney, Robert Ellenstein, putting the finger on him.

Really boring Ironside episode with Robert T. Ironside not all that interested in saving Bobby from his ultimate fate, two bullets between the eyes, but doing it for his brother Tim's sake. As for Vance and the two comical hit-men, who seemed to be in the Ironside episode just for comedy relief, they not Tim or Bobby ended up behind the 8th ball. With them getting arrested for both extortion as well as attempted murder by the time the Ironside episode finally and mercifully ended.