At the outset of his television career, 33-year-old Tony Randall acquits himself well as a put-upon young math professor who -- because of some transposed numbers in a hotel room reservation -- finds his life turned upside-down for 24 hours. Suddenly, he is removed from the world of academia and, like a fish out-of-water, thrust into the company of gangsters and professional gamblers from right out of Damon Runyon's playbook (and portrayed by the likes of Iggie Wolfington -- later immortalized as Marcellus Washburn in the Broadway run of The Music Man -- and Vincent Barbi, an actor who -- after entering the United States without documentation -- started out in his adult life as a leg-breaker for Lucky Luciano, among other colorful players).
The script is reasonably clever and Randall -- who had not yet developed a lot of the distinctive mannerisms that would characterize his film and television work -- rises to the occasion with an understated but comically flustered performance. The rest of the cast, which includes Mercer McLeod and Joe Maross, gives him able support, but it's Iggie Wolfington who steals almost every scene and shot that he's in.
The script is reasonably clever and Randall -- who had not yet developed a lot of the distinctive mannerisms that would characterize his film and television work -- rises to the occasion with an understated but comically flustered performance. The rest of the cast, which includes Mercer McLeod and Joe Maross, gives him able support, but it's Iggie Wolfington who steals almost every scene and shot that he's in.