The Wine-Dark Sea

Roddy McDowell plays a VERY unusual character compared to what you'd expect. He is the Professor...a skid row bum who spends all his time drinking and wasting his life with his buddy, Blinky. However, when Blinky is killed during the commission of a crime, the Professor is determined to get the man justice. The police and newspapers are reporting that Blinky was involved in a murder and he was shot in the process--though he was just a harmless alcoholic and the crime just didn't make any sense.

The Professor's quest for justice takes him a place he hasn't been in a very long time--sobriety. He manages to pull himself together enough to investigate and try to clean up the image of his dead friend...as well as to warn a woman that the killing might have been a set-up to hide another murder. But in doing so, he might be setting himself up to be killed as well.

This is a very compelling episode of "Kraft Suspense Theatre"--well written and an interesting look at alcoholism. The only problem, and it's not a huge one, is that the ending doesn't wrap everything up perfectly--and I am sure many will balk at that. But, considering the show is striving for a realistic story, I was okay with this.