Trump was only a teenager (so was I) when this Naked city episode aired in 1961, but screenwriter Ellis Kadison somehow was prescient in this story of a psychotic 20-something NYC business magnate, played maniacally by the one and only Dennis Hopper during his TV sojourn between movie careers for the young rebel with a cause.
Watching it in 2024 I was shocked by the parallels between his character Vinnie WInford and the disgraced real estate mogul (Kadison's vision could not possibly include a future presidency -truth being infinitely stranger than fiction in this one of 8 million stories). Vinnie inherited his dad's business empire at age 21 and in the show's opening scene is shown to be thoroughly incompetent as he stupidly bluffs his way through a board meeting. One of the first images we see is the Winford Building name plate -proud emblem a la Trump Tower in Manhattan.
His crime story revolves around his fetish for the Tango Palace, a Manhattan dance hall that occupies most of his business interest, representing what Vinnie considers to be his personal project, not merely inherited. Burke enters the picture when the roommate (ably played by Hildy Brooks) of a dance hall girl is reported missing by her. There's no evidence confirming the girl's existence, but when interviewing her supposed employer (Hopper), Burke immediately takes note when Vinnie refers to his employees as "fillies" comparing them to a stable of horses. Burke's 100% accurate intuition begins dogged police work to get the goods on obvious liar Vinnie, despite McMahon's knee-jerk insistence that it's a wild goose chase.
The story details that follow are highly relevant regarding real-life Trump. Key issue here is that Vinnie is not to be treated like anyone else because he's a big shot in society, per his domineering mother (Meg Mundy), on whom Kadison's screenplay likes to blame all the troubled Vinnie's mental issues, along with his late father.
Salient details: Vinnie specializes in coverup and intimidation: he's got all his dance hostesses under his thumb, forced to be loyal by blackmailing them. His violent mistreatment of them is clear. His habit of exploding in rage and throwing things against the wall (sounds familiar?) is demonstrated in two early scenes, one in the boardroom after the board members have left and then in his office at the dance hall. His loyal bookkeeper who's in love with him (fine work by Nancy Stone, who has only a couple of acting credits in IMDb) greets him as "Daddy", which had me confused until I put two and two together and realized it was just hip lingo (in the same scene Hopper complains about jazz sidemen rehearsing in the daytime in his music hall) rather than implying Vinnie is a 40-year-old character rather than mid-20s).
Best acting is by Sylvia Miles, coincidentally like Hopper soon to become part of Andy Warhol's acting clan, especially in a confrontation with Hopper when she tries to quit her dance hall job and he cruelly dangles a reward (he calls it a "dowry") for her before blackmailing her to stay as a hired hand "or else", namely real threats of getting her in prison for parole violations.
Vinnie's legal problems ensue and escalate because of his big mouth (the hothead won't listen to the sound advice of his family lawyer) and climax in an inevitable police chase, after his chauffeur flips on him under serious questioning by Burke. Contrived finale high in the air above Manhattan has Hopper yelling "Mommy, mommy!" as his mother pleas for him not to jump, in a flipside of Cagney's famous "Made it Ma, Top of the World!" scene in the classic "White Heat".
Watching it in 2024 I was shocked by the parallels between his character Vinnie WInford and the disgraced real estate mogul (Kadison's vision could not possibly include a future presidency -truth being infinitely stranger than fiction in this one of 8 million stories). Vinnie inherited his dad's business empire at age 21 and in the show's opening scene is shown to be thoroughly incompetent as he stupidly bluffs his way through a board meeting. One of the first images we see is the Winford Building name plate -proud emblem a la Trump Tower in Manhattan.
His crime story revolves around his fetish for the Tango Palace, a Manhattan dance hall that occupies most of his business interest, representing what Vinnie considers to be his personal project, not merely inherited. Burke enters the picture when the roommate (ably played by Hildy Brooks) of a dance hall girl is reported missing by her. There's no evidence confirming the girl's existence, but when interviewing her supposed employer (Hopper), Burke immediately takes note when Vinnie refers to his employees as "fillies" comparing them to a stable of horses. Burke's 100% accurate intuition begins dogged police work to get the goods on obvious liar Vinnie, despite McMahon's knee-jerk insistence that it's a wild goose chase.
The story details that follow are highly relevant regarding real-life Trump. Key issue here is that Vinnie is not to be treated like anyone else because he's a big shot in society, per his domineering mother (Meg Mundy), on whom Kadison's screenplay likes to blame all the troubled Vinnie's mental issues, along with his late father.
Salient details: Vinnie specializes in coverup and intimidation: he's got all his dance hostesses under his thumb, forced to be loyal by blackmailing them. His violent mistreatment of them is clear. His habit of exploding in rage and throwing things against the wall (sounds familiar?) is demonstrated in two early scenes, one in the boardroom after the board members have left and then in his office at the dance hall. His loyal bookkeeper who's in love with him (fine work by Nancy Stone, who has only a couple of acting credits in IMDb) greets him as "Daddy", which had me confused until I put two and two together and realized it was just hip lingo (in the same scene Hopper complains about jazz sidemen rehearsing in the daytime in his music hall) rather than implying Vinnie is a 40-year-old character rather than mid-20s).
Best acting is by Sylvia Miles, coincidentally like Hopper soon to become part of Andy Warhol's acting clan, especially in a confrontation with Hopper when she tries to quit her dance hall job and he cruelly dangles a reward (he calls it a "dowry") for her before blackmailing her to stay as a hired hand "or else", namely real threats of getting her in prison for parole violations.
Vinnie's legal problems ensue and escalate because of his big mouth (the hothead won't listen to the sound advice of his family lawyer) and climax in an inevitable police chase, after his chauffeur flips on him under serious questioning by Burke. Contrived finale high in the air above Manhattan has Hopper yelling "Mommy, mommy!" as his mother pleas for him not to jump, in a flipside of Cagney's famous "Made it Ma, Top of the World!" scene in the classic "White Heat".
