Much as I admire the writing of Stirling Silliphant, I still feel jerked around after watching his story for "Naked City": titled "The Shield". It's as maudlin and sentimental and, yes, gimmicky as you can get.
Vic Morrow's method acting is a drag in the central role, contrasting poorly with McIntire's straight-forward performance, as at daddy's behest he tries to talk sense into Vic, whose life revolves around dreams of becoming a cop like his old man (Jack Klugman), but he can't pass the civil service exam.
Silliphant poured on the fake sentiment and "fate's huge hand" in his voice-over b.s., as well as the phony coincidences upon which the story revolves. Climax on a snowy street in Manhattan where Vic fatefully meets his dad's assassin is poor, and even worse is the malarkey that follows as McIntire tries to sugarcoat what happened.
I can imagine what passes for a Writers Room at both of Silliphant's babies, "Naked City" and "Route 66". Instead of tossing around ideas, I bet the other writers just said "Yes, Boss", when Stirling disclosed some of his most harebrained scripts, like this one.