SUSIE {A.K.A. PRIVATE SECRETARY}: FINDERS KEEPERS (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series about dedicated, meddling private secretary Susie McNamara, her gregarious co-workers, and her boss, successful talent agent Peter Sands. In this episode, Susie, Vi and Sylvia share lunch at the drugstore and Susie finds a large, gaudy pendant necklace on the floor. She suspects that it is made of real diamonds, but the other ladies and the waiter dismiss it as “junk.” They take it to a jeweler, however, and are stunned to learn that it is in fact real and worth $3,000. Vi and Sylvia are all for keeping it and splitting the money between them, but Susie insists that they attempt to find its rightful owner. They calls Sands, and he advises them to check the lost and found column in the newspaper and print an ad of their own with a description, as well as informing the police. They divide the tasks between them and agree to wait two weeks before giving up and keeping the money themselves. However, Sylvia and Vi immediately begin to make plans for how they will each spend their thousand dollars, and Susie is displeased with the less-than-helpful ad that they put in the paper. A man, Devlin, soon comes to the office and claims that the pendant is his wife’s, and they interrogate him, suspecting fraud. Sands arrives and shows Devlin the pendant, and he admits it is the wrong one and leaves. Soon another man arrives, followed over the next two weeks by many more, but no one is proven to be the rightful owner, and Sylvia and Vi grow excited about their forthcoming fortunes.
On the last day of the two weeks, however, a woman named Shipley arrives at the office and talks with Susie for a long time, and Susie is convinced. But Sands tests the woman by asking about the engraving on the back, and when she explains it, he reveals that there is no engraving, and she leaves, defeated. Susie, Vi and Sylvia decide to “splurge” with the pendant money slightly ahead of schedule, and Violet buys an outrageous fur coat while Sylvia purchases airline tickets for California. When they return to the office, however, Sands informs them that another claimant has arrived. They quickly decide to rid themselves of the “imposter,” but she turns out to be a kindly elderly woman who gives them all the correct details about the pendant and says she is delighted that they have found it. They try the trick with the engraving again, and the woman sadly says that her husband died overseas before he could have it inscribed, and they are forced to admit that she is the true owner and hand it over. They mourn the loss of their new extravagances, but the woman soon returns with a reward for them—$3,000. After a moment’s delight, they decide to pursue a more sensible financial route, and they all troop off to the bank to deposit their new funds. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: June 12, 1955 7:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:30:00
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:42753
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Secretaries
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1953-1957
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ned Martin … Writer
- Ann Sothern … Cast, Susan Camille "Susie" McNamara
- Don Porter … Cast, Peter Sands
- Joan Banks … Cast, Sylvia Platt
- Ann Tyrrell … Cast, Vi Praskins