A Romance as 'Refreshing as the Rain' Infuses "The Rice Estate"

"The Rice Estate" was written by Montgomery Pittman; directed by Robert Douglas; produced by Howie Horwitz; William T. Orr, executive producer; Rusty Meek, assistant director; photographed under the direction of Robert Hoffman; art direction by Art Loel; Norman Suffern, film editor; music supervision by Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter; Joe Inge, music editor; the series song "77 Sunset Strip" by Mack David and Jerry Livingston; set decoration by Mowbray F. Berkeley; make-up supervision by Gordon Bau; Jean Burt Reilly, supervising hair stylist; sound by Ross Owen

The Cast [regulars]: Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as private investigator Stuart Bailey; Roger Smith as private investigator Jeff Spencer; Edward Byrnes as associate [formerly "77 Sunset Strip" parking lot attendant] Gerald Lloyd Kookson III alias "Kookie"; Louis Quinn as inveterate gambler and confidante Roscoe; Jacqueline Beer as "77 Sunset Strip" receptionist Suzanne Fabray;

[Guest Cast]: Peggy McCay as Eunice Rice; Gary Conway as Colton Rice; Montgomery Pittman as Russian; Cecile Rogers as Girl; Charles Hicks as Bobby; Jean Paul King as Will.

On a rain-soaked afternoon in Los Angeles, "77 Sunset Strip" private investigator Stuart Bailey (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) has been mysteriously summoned by one Eunice Rice (Peggy McCay), on a distress call to what Bailey later acknowledges to be the only imposing estate in greater Los Angeles. He acknowledges his arrival at the estate's gated entrance, replete with speaker phone. It is the voice of Eunice which responds, and after traveling the long length of driveway, Bailey is met by Eunice herself at the door. She appears unadorned, clearly distant and reclusive, and she greets him sincerely grateful for the inclement weather: "Beautiful day, isn't it? Rain is so refreshing." Her diffidence she explains by way of her recent widowhood: "I've been in mourning since two days ago." She then peremptorily relates the nature of her summons: "I sent for you. I'd like to engage you on credit. But the house and grounds belong to me. The estate might bring perhaps a half million dollars. I read about you in newspapers. You're quite cunning."

She elaborates upon her current situation: "My family was considered good, but they died when I was quite young. Three years ago in New York City I met a prominent industrialist named Carlton Rice, the image of my father. He was fifty-one and I was twenty-five. Then I became a slave; to speak when spoken to. I lived two years in this house without a visitor." Bailey inquires: "If you despised him so, why did you mourn?" Her terse reply is only to admit to the fact that "It was the proper thing to do."

Recently she has been receiving both threatening letters and phone calls. These eerie, disquieting threats have further enveloped both herself and the somber ambiance (Bailey observes that in the otherwise capacious drawing room, the only furniture are two end chairs alongside the burning fireplace) into a seemingly permanent sense of dread. The threatening phone calls she describes as sounding like a voice from beyond the grave, "Don't sell or you'll be sorry!," whereas the menacing letters are made out of cut-outs, yet it has been reported that the only fingerprints on the letters themselves are her own. Of any possible responsible parties behind the threats, she recollects that her late husband's brother had wanted the estate kept for the family, but the only other heir would be young Colton, her stepson, away in college, who "treated me as a sister; our fondness is at a distance," but that Colton was "taken care of in his father's will."

The mutual attraction between Eunice Rice and Stuart Bailey being most evident, he is grieved to discover that her inheritance being in abeyance, she is without heat, and is about to be cut off from other household utilities. Shocked to witness her breaking up the room's furniture to be utilized as firewood, he advises her to instead consider the wood to be gleaned from the many trees lining the property. "I love trees," she objects, whereas "I loathe Victorian furniture. That's why I keep it covered" He comments "The absence of furniture in this room means that you have burned it all?" She then punctuates her earlier objection: "Yes! I finally found a use for Victorian furniture!" Feeling oddly compelled, both by her neediness and quirkiness, he proffers to her a check in an amount sufficient to keep her utilities active.

As immediate remuneration he asks only, in turn, that she permit him to take her to dinner. When she demurs, noting that she has been far too long cloistered, he instead offers to bring her groceries, but that she'll "have to cook," which she gleefully agrees to. He entreats her to divest herself of her mourning attire, and she assents to this as well, though at best her "things are a year old." Once outside, he is suddenly accosted by a young man professing to be protecting the property on behalf of the "Civil Protection Agency." A brawl ensues, and the youth escapes by way of his motorcycle.

On his return, groceries in tow, Bailey discovers that the gate has been newly padlocked and that the wires to the speaker have been cut. Reconnecting the speaker, Eunice responds that she is unaware of these changes, and directs him to simply break the lock. Suddenly she comes running toward him with the news that "Someone's in the house--the landing on the stairs!" Quickly investigating, Bailey finds that the image of an apparent intruder was caused by a statue bust having been draped with one of her cloaks. She notes that the bust has been moved. Bailey assures her: "I have a friend who's a policeman; I'll have him over tomorrow." Eunice then begins to prepare dinner--by way of the fireplace. He has also rendered to her a jack-o-lantern, befitting a haunted house. "You delight me!," she intones.

"77 Sunset Strip" fellow investigator Jeff Spencer (Roger Smith) telephones Bailey to reveal that Eunice's late husband's brother "Avery Rice is loaded," and thus has no need to extend his holdings. As Spencer had been planning for that evening a masquerade ball to which Bailey was invited, Bailey solicits Spencer to bring his costume party entourage instead to the Rice Estate. To Eunice Bailey affirms "The time has come for you to start meeting people from the outside world!" On learning that the house has an attic, with many wardrobe chests, he remarks: "That's where we'll find the costumes!"

While the pair are rummaging among the wardrobes, Eunice observes the presence of cigarette butts strewn about: "Someone's been up here! I don't smoke!" She also observes a group of mutilated magazines, from which obviously the threatening letters were crafted. Helplessly drawn toward Bailey's self-assuredness in the face of imminent danger, she asks "May I give in to a strong impulse and kiss you?" But their romantic interlude is cut short, as she glances toward an attic window and screams "There's someone outside there!" Bailey pursues the intruder outside the window toward the roof and then downward through doors under a porch entrance. The intruder having locked him inside, Bailey resourcefully begins to tap an SOS on a series of pipes evidently leading through to the attic, and Eunice indeed comes to his rescue. Of her own qualities, Bailey remarks: "Beauty and intelligence!"

That evening, with Eunice, Bailey and guests all donning costumes for the Masquerade Ball, the festivities proceed in earnest, capped at one point by Jeff Spencer's rendition of the Cole Porter song "Just One of Those Things." "77 Sunset Strip" receptionist Suzanne Fabray (Jacqueline Beer) is attired as a witch, and Bailey assesses her comeliness, even in witch garb, with the comment, "Suzanne, you're a witch after my own heart" Witnessing this, Eunice is clearly envious, until learning from Bailey that Suzanne already has a steady boyfriend. Suddenly, a guest in clown costume enters the scene, deliberately spraying Eunice with his glass of champagne. In pursuit, Bailey tackles the apparent culprit, only to discover that this particular clown is "77 Sunset Strip" associate Gerald Lloyd Kookson III, alias "Kookie" (Edward Byrnes), who informs Bailey that his fleeing costumed clown has in fact just run up the stairs. In tandem Eunice and Bailey proceed to her bedroom, whose entrance has been marked with a skull and crossbones. Once inside, they discover the real culprit, hiding in a closet, has been in truth Eunice's own stepson Colton (Gary Conway), who, alongside his accomplice, the burly Bobby (Charles Hicks), freely confesses his "childhood pranks" of the past several days. "I never really liked you; I don't want the property sold," he acerbically explains to a consternated Eunice. In the ensuing scuffle, in which Kookie has come to Bailey's aid, the investigators find that they are no match for Bobby's brawn. Again, a resourceful Eunice saves the day, shattering a glass urn over Bobby's skull.

The final scene finds a much revitalized Eunice visiting with Bailey at the detective agency. She offers him to seek now after his promised remuneration. She has sold the Rice Estate, and happily forwards to him the draft: "I thought you might like to see a check for $500,000. I've never seen one before." Bailey responds: "My fee is the pleasure of having met you!" But Bailey is unprepared for her rejoinder. She is heading back East, "to a man that looks like you," and she needs time to sort things through. "Will you call me when you know for sure?" he plaintively suggests, and she retorts "Either way!" Now a lovelorn victim he assumes the role of a Lochinvar and, in their parting, kisses her hand. To Suzanne he muses: "What's the name of that television program Jeff always watches when he's nursing his broken hearts?" Suzanne answers: "Bronco." And Bailey then entreats her: "Find out what time it goes on, would you?"

While Montgomery Pittman's teleplay can be pedestrian, it is the skillful playing of Ms. McCay and Mr. Zimbalist Jr., both veterans of live dramaturgy, and both in real life clearly romantics at heart, which uplifts "The Rice Estate." Ms. McCay's exemplary acting range is such that she can effortlessly display emotions ranging from pathos to comic playfulness; from desolation and despair to resoluteness and optimism. As is true of most Warner Brothers series of the period, episodes shamelessly plugged their fellow series, such as the prescribed viewing of the western "Bronco" as an antidote for aborted romances. Still, in a less troubled period, despite the all too frequent infusion of Cold War rhetoric, "The Rice Estate" defines a romance truly as "refreshing as the rain."

Below: The extraordinarily prolific Peggy McCay, a Barnard College graduate whose acting career spans the decades from work at the Actors Studio, remarkable study under the helm of such giants as Harold Clurman and Margo Jones, years of live teleplays in the period of "The Golden Age of Television," and having the distinction of being among the first of television soap opera stars (she was the seminal figure "Vanessa Raven" in the CBS early entry "Love of Life"), appears as the wistfully mysterious Eunice Rice, opposite Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.'s private investigator Stuart Bailey in "The Rice Estate," an episode of ABC's "77 Sunset Strip" first airing on December 30, 1960. Zimbalist, Jr., the son and namesake of celebrated concert violinist Efrem Zimbalist, was well established before his role as the dapper Stu Bailey. He had earlier performed in 1955 in the CBS soap opera "Meet Miss Marlowe," and had performed in several anthologies of television's live drama era, as well as in the ABC "Conflict" episode "Anything for Money," airing on July 23, 1957, in which his character "77 Sunset Strip" character Stuart Bailey first appeared. Later, Zimbalist, Jr. would assume the role of Inspector Lewis Erskine for the decade-long (the fall of 1965 through the fall of 1974) ABC entry "The F.B.I.," and still later, he would appear in several episodes of NBC's "Remington Steele" as Daniel Chalmers, a roguish con artist and mentor to the assumed "Remington Steele" character (Pierce Brosnan in his television starring turn), the creation and love interest for the sleuth Laura Holt, portrayed by Zimbalist, Jr.'s real-life daughter Stephanie. But even prior to his career as a television matinee idol, Zimbalist, Jr. was an impresario; a sponsor of operas (Zimbalist Jr.'s mother was opera diva Alma Gluck) for the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian-Carlo Menotti. Recently the yet vibrant Zimbalist, Jr. was feted at Manhattan's celebrated The Players at #16 Gramercy Park, where he discussed his long and varied artistic career. In the following three photographs, the cloistered Eunice Rice comments to her visitor Stuart Bailey upon the inclement weather, "Beautiful day, isn't it? Rain is so refreshing"; later, observing that she is suddenly demolishing the furniture to be used as firewood, he notes: "The absence of furniture in this room means that you have burned it all?" He advises her to instead utilize for firewood the trees from the grounds. She answers: "I love trees; I loathe Victorian furniture. I have finally found a use for Victorian furniture." Still later, while perusing the attic wardrobes for costumes to be donned by themselves and guests attending the evening's masquerade ball, the couple is helplessly drawn toward a kiss.

Below: Among the guests at the evening's masquerade ball are "77 Sunset Strip" Stuart Bailey associates Kookie (in fact Gerald Lloyd Kookson III, who was a villain in the series pilot "Girl on the Run," but became a loyal and lovable parking attendant turned fellow sleuth in the series shortly afterwards) and piquant handsome ladies' man Jeff Spencer. Edward Byrnes portrayed Kookie, whose character was the subject of a Connie Stevens song rendition with the refrain "Kookie, lend me your comb," in reference to the character's constant fussing over his tresses. Roger Smith, whose earlier best known film characterization was as Mame Dennis' (Rosalind Russell) ward in the much celebrated 1958 cinematic transcription of Patrick Dennis' 1955 memoir "Auntie Mame," was not merely a co-star of "77 Sunset Strip," but often wrote and directed for the series as well as several times displaying his fine singing voice, sometimes from compositions of his own. Smith's two wives were both actresses; the first being Victoria Shaw, and from 1967 through the current day he has been wed to Ann-Margret, whose stage shows he often managed, while quietly recovering from myasthenia gravis, after a stint in the starring role of the ABC 1965 series "Mister Roberts," based on the Thomas Heggen play and 1955 film scenario. Earlier in 1963, Smith would need to depart from the series "77 Sunset Strip" before it concluded its run, having been diagnosed with a cerebral blood clot.

Below: Ultimately Stu Bailey pursues the villain, in clown costume, to Eunice Rice's bedroom. He is revealed to have been Eunice's stepson, Colton Rice (Gary Conway), the original sole heir to his father Carlton's estate, not willing to tolerate his stepmother's right to inheritance. Colton's accomplice has been the burly Bobby (Charles Hicks). Conway would co-star in two additional ABC series: "Burke's Law," from 1963-1965, and in "Land of the Giants," from 1968-1970.


Below: Stu Bailey, in a final romantic gesture, bids adieu to Eunice Rice. In an extensive interview the author conducted with Ms. McCay in 2001, she reveals that in real life, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. was indeed the consummate romantic: "I was very charmed by him. We had mutual friends. He played piano, perfectly. And composed music. He is an educated gentleman with a great sense of humor and taste; exceedingly handsome and a gentleman down to his fingertips."
Below: Ms. McCay, an OBIE winner for her work in a 1956 New York theatre production of Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," and an Emmy Award winner for her role as as the incarcerated homeless woman Irene Hayes in "State of Mind," a 1991 episode of the series "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill," which featured Sharon Gless in the title role, has been a twice-elected member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences." Besides her long-standing role as Caroline Brady in NBC's soap opera "Days of Our Lives," the actress never ceases to assume key vitalizing roles on stage and television. She portrayed James Dean's instrumentally influencing grandmother in a TNT telefeature "James Dean: An Invented Life," directed by fellow live drama acting veteran Mark Rydell, first airing on August 5, 2001. That telefeature turned out to be the star-making vehicle for James Franco, who received an Emmy for portraying the legendary James Dean; the real Dean having appeared with Ms. McCay at New York's celebrated Actors' Studio. A strong advocate of the live theatrical experience, Ms. McCay appeared as "The Swan" in a much-acclaimed opening play of science fiction master Ray Bradbury's dramatized trilogy of tales under the broader title "The Time of Going Away," debuting on March 14, 2003 at the Los Angeles Court Theatre," as the card advertisement below prominently displays.

Ms. McCay, also a crusader for animal rights, may well be a candidate for the Guinness Book of Records. With her several thousand television appearances, beginning very young in the early days of the medium, with roles ranging from live dramas in both primetime and matinee, to soap operas and telefeatures, she is likely the reigning most prolific actress on American television. Despite her dizzying schedule, she is ever steadfast in her support of theatrical initiative, anywhere and everywhere. Below, she is pictured, second from left with the author (posed at center with members of his family, brother-in-law Michael Gerard Smylie, at extreme left, and sisters Dr. Patricia Gianakos and Dr. Irene Gianakos (wed to Michael Smylie; at extreme right), in a debut gala in Warren, Ohio for the author's affiliated Curtain Calls Productions, Incorporated, at the Avalon Inn (formerly a golf course stopover on the LPGA tour), on April 1, 1995. Attending with Ms. McCay as fellow Advisory Board members were Ms. McCay's then fellow member of the ATAS Board of Governors and Los Angeles Chapter AFTRA President Marvin Kaplan, and the late Roy Stuart, a gifted actor, composer and lyricist, best known to television audiences for his role as Corporal Chuck Boyle in the CBS long-running "Gomer Pyle, USMC." Also attending as an Advisory Board member was Ms. McCay's fellow alumnus of NBC's "Days of our Lives" Joseph Mascolo (portraying the dapper but cunning Stefano DiMera), who is pictured in the final photo addressing the gala assembly, with the author standing just behind.