Naked City (TV Series) Spectre of the Rose Street Gang (1962) User Reviews

Life Of A Salesman

[telegonus · 9/10 · 27 September 2011]

Jack Warden's character of Sam Langan in the Naked City episode Spectre Of the Rose Street Gang is a sort of younger, childless Willy Loman (of Death Of a Salesman) in that he is a man who has not lived up to his own or his wife's expectations. Surprisingly, he's not so much bitter about his lot in life as frustrated, yet eternally optimistic, always looking for a way out; and when a story appears in the daily newspaper reporting the discovery of the skeleton of a teenager long dead and he realizes who it is, he responds to it as if he'd won the Powerball, or was about to, as he was a member of the same street gang as the dead boy, knows who killed him.

As things turn out, the three men who were responsible for the boy's death are now all highly respectable businessmen, belong to the best clubs, live the good life that Sam can only dream of and he decides that his knowledge of what they did might just earn him a place in the sun, not blackmail mind you (though it is), just a job in one of the companies the men own, a chance to prove himself. Well, Sam proves himself alright but not in the way he wanted. Basically a nice guy he perhaps lacked the aggression to succeed as he would have wished; or maybe he's just not bright enough.

Warden deserves special praise for his superb, unmannered performance of a man who has sunk so low that his dignity, such as he ever had any, is now just a distant memory. An above average entry of Naked City, Spectre Of the Rose Street Gang is an interesting character study, not just of its lead character but of his pals from the old gang; and it offers today's viewer a fascinating glimpse into American urban life of half a century ago, very different from today, outwardly anyway, for while it's a sad story it does inform the viewer that there's no such thing as the good old days. Things were just as tough then as they are today.

A grisly discovery..

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 25 January 2014]

This show begins with a creepy discovery--the skeleton of a person about 14 years-old and which had apparently been buried about 25 years. Who this was, no one is certain. However, an old woman thinks it might be her missing son--and Detective Arcaro's girlfriend meets the woman and begs for the police to re-open the case. But with little to go on, the police have little choice but keep the case closed.

In the meantime, this IS someone who knows about the body. Sam Langan (Jack Warden) is a bit of a loser--and he knows that three very successful businessmen (two of which are played by Roger Carmel and Carroll O'Connor) are responsible for the body and he plans on blackmailing them--but not for money. Considering how powerful they are, Sam is really taking a huge risk trying to shake down these guys. They could just have him killed. All in all, a fascinating episode of "Naked City". Not among the best but very unusual and interesting.

By the way, the story that Detective Arcaro's girlfriend told about the dog is the plot from the play/film "Come Back Little Sheba". Folks back in the day would have known this, as it was a huge hit--and garnered all sorts of praise and awards.

There's no case!!!

[jurydd · 9/10 · 8 May 2021]

It's a good episode, with some excellent acting by Jack Warden, Carroll O'Connor and Roger C. Carmel. The one problem is when it's all said and done, there is no case. The ME could not determine a cause of death, so no one can label this a homicide. Secord, when Jack Warden's character left the room, Nico was still alive, so he was not present when he died and cannot tell them what happen or how Nico died. All he has is the jacket, and it's his word against the other three after twenty-five years. Plus a good defense attorney can make it look like he tried to blackmail the other three. The DA would never have gone to trial with the evidence on hand, especially with no cause of death.

I just want to be a member that's all!

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 1 April 2013]

****SPOILERS*** Hard to figure out "Naked City" episode involving part-time taxi driver and full time door to door vacuum cleaner salesman Sam Langan, Jack Warden, who feels he's on his way to the big time like becoming a somebody and member of an exclusive country club. That's when Sam sees in the newspaper the discovery of the bones of a boy who was found buried under a city construction site for some 25 years. knowing who the boy was, 14 year old Nikos Doxaras, and the circumstances of his death, a hazing or gang ritual, gives Sam the bright idea to take advantage of the situation.

Sam like Nikos was back in 1937 a member of the Rose Street Gang and was at the scene when the ritual was to take place. The fact that Sam went out to get a six pack had him miss what happened with young Nikos no longer there when he came back. Feeling all these years that Nikos just got cold feet and checked out of going through with the ritual or hazing Sam now realizes that he was killed and decides to confront the three other members of the gang, now all very successful businessmen, about it. Not to get paid off to keep quit but to be excepted by them as an equal.

Even though Nikos has been missing all these years he mom Mrs. Doxaras, Ludmila Toretzka, wants closure to what happened to her son and it's Sam who can provide it for her. It's when Sam tries to get his former gang members Tony Corran Al Gurdine & Arthur Flake, Carroll O'Connor Roger C. Carmal & Joseph Sullivan, to give him a job not pay off so he can prove his worth that he realizes what they think of him. He's a nobody not worth their time of day but only a few buck to keep his mouth shut about what he knows they did!

***SPOILERS*** Knowing where he stands in the dog eat dog world of social recognition and seeing a chance to do the right thing in finally putting and end to the Nikos Doxaras missing person case Sam does the latter. And despite ending up with out a red cent, the three former gang members were willing to shell out as much as 20 G's for him to keep quite, Sam ended up a much better man because of it.