IRONSIDE: DEAR FRAN . . . (TV)
Summary
One in this series about Robert Ironside, a former police chief paralyzed from the waist down by a would-be assassin's bullet. Ironside informs Fran that apparently her cousin, Robert "Bobby" Adams, has committed suicide by jumping off of the Golden Gate Bridge. The police found his college blazer, along with a number of his identifications and a suicide note apparently addressed to Fran, implying that the cause of his death stemmed from his unrequited romantic attraction to her. Fran is confused and distraught at this news; she feels indirectly responsible for his death. She attends a memorial service in honor of Bobby, and afterwards at work she seems distracted. She grew up with Bobby and is aware that he had a crush on her, but believed that ultimately their feelings towards each other were only platonic. The police find a body near the Golden Gate Bridge and Ed drives Fran down to the bay to identify it. The body is not Bobby's, casting doubt on his death. Ed drives Fran home and suggests that she take some time off, as recent events are taking an emotional toll on her. Her new neighbor, a violinist, drops off a telegram for her mistakenly delivered to him. To Fran's surprise, the telegram is apparently from Bobby, who says he is visiting from out of town soon and will call her soon. Ironside oversees further investigation into the matter as he and company interview the clerk at the local telegraph office. He reveals that the note was dropped off and he was unable to identify the sender. Ed speaks with the sole eyewitness to Bobby's suicide, a taxi driver named Perrone. Perrone explains that he saw Bobby standing on the edge of the bridge and radioed the police; he did not actually see Bobby jump off the bridge, leaving some doubt as to whether he went through with it or not. Fran begins to suspect that Bobby may be alive, despite Ironside asking her not to get her hopes up. Fran reveals that she spoke to Bobby on the phone a month ago; he asked to borrow money for plane fare, mentioning that he was in some sort of trouble with a woman whom he identified only as "Mary." Ironside asks Fran to put a tape recorder on her phone on the off-chance that Bobby is alive and planning to call her. That night, Fran receives a telephone call, and the operator identifies Bobby as the caller. When Fran asks that Bobby be put on the line, the operator replies that the call cannot be completed. Fran, confused, notices a card from the memorial service under her door, and when she investigates finds only her new neighbor greeting her. The next day, she meets with Ironside and company over the occurrence, and they listen to Fran's recording of the call. She talks about the other attendees of the memorial, notably the Brodericks, a family friendly with Fran's, and a mysterious individual who appeared only for a few minutes before leaving; Fran didn't get a good look at him. They go to ask Sue Broderick, an artist, about the mysterious man and Ironside asks her to sketch the man's face from memory. Sue reminisces about her childhood with Fran and Bobby, mostly about their escapades at a rural lake house once owned by her family. Ed takes Sue's sketch and tries to identify the depicted individual. He asks Bobby's old landlady about it and she doesn't recognize the sketch. She reveals that Bobby often had a young woman in his apartment until he left a month ago to visit England. As Fran returns to her apartment, a boy emerges seemingly from nowhere and hands her a package with her name on it, delivering a cryptic message before disappearing. She also encounters her neighbor wearing a blazer from the same college that Bobby attended. He admits to attending the same college, but claims he did not know Bobby. Fran opens the package and finds a scrapbook containing photographs of her and Bobby as children, as well as a note in his handwriting asking her to meet him at the old lake house, claiming that there he will explain everything to her. Ironside receives a call from the morgue: they have found Bobby's real body and have positively identified it as such. Fran leaves before he can inform her of this discovery; Ironside, Ed, and Mark quickly figure out where she has gone and drive off in pursuit. Fran reaches the lake house only to be attacked by a pair of vicious attack dogs owned by the current tenant. She manages to escape just as Ironside and company arrive to bring her back to San Francisco. Ironside has a technician analyze sound waves from the call Fran recorded. The charts demonstrate that the voice of the phone operator was actually Sue attempting to disguise her voice. They confront Sue with these accusations and she denies everything. Ironside discovers a painting by Sue of Fran's new neighbor and deduces that Sue forged Bobby's handwriting to make it seem that he was writing notes to Fran. Furthermore, Sue mentioned the identity current occupant of the lake house earlier, but this is inconsistent with her other statements. Finally Sue admits the truth: she had romantic feelings towards Bobby that she feels went unnoticed by him due to his relationship with Fran. It appears that her scheme was designed to torment Fran, and she enlisted the aid of Fran's neighbor, actually Bobby's college roommate, to execute it. Fran is later visited by an English woman named Mary Francis Cousins, whom Bobby went to visit in England. She explains that Bobby proposed to her but they had a terrible fight which went unresolved. She is visiting the United States to apologize to him and accept his proposal. According to her, Bobby would often call her "Fran" due to her middle name. Fran realizes that Bobby's suicide note was actually addressed to Mary instead of her. To spare Mary from the same emotional trauma that she endured, Fran lies to her and tells her that Bobby was killed in an automobile accident. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: November 9, 1971 7:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:54:54
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:03349
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1967-1975
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV – Commercials – Anacin pain relief medication
- TV – Commercials – Feen-a-Mint laxative gum
- TV – Commercials – Michelob beer
- TV – Commercials – New York Life insurance
- TV – Commercials – Pratt & Whitney aircraft
- TV – Commercials – Spred paint
- TV – Commercials – Viva paper towels
CREDITS
- Cy Chermak … Executive Producer
- Douglas Benton … Producer
- Jay Benson … Associate Producer
- Don Weis … Director
- Collier Young … Created by
- Edward De Blasio … Writer
- David Wilson … Music by
- Billy Goldenberg … Music by
- Quincy Jones … Theme Music by
- Raymond Burr … Cast, Robert T. Ironside
- Don Galloway … Cast, Det. Sgt. Ed Brown
- Don Mitchell … Cast, Mark Sanger
- Elizabeth Baur … Cast, Officer Fran Belding
- Victor Holchak … Cast, Ralph Broderick
- Anthony James … Cast, The Neighbor
- Christine Belford … Cast, Sue Broderick
- M. Emmett Walsh … Cast, Telegraph Clerk
- Barbara Barnett … Cast, English Girl
- Tony Brande … Cast, Perrone
- Peggy Rea … Cast, Landlady
- James B. Sikking … Cast, Voice Print Officer
- Randy Lane … Cast, Delivery Boy
- Mona Tera … Cast, Little Girl
- Allan Ray … Cast, Gas Station Attendant