TV… Magnum P I (1981), Skin Deep, Se 1 Ep 6

 #1980s #AllPosts

 

A Magnum PI episode tells Laura (1944), it loves her…

 

A gorgeous and talented actress is believed to have killed herself by firing a shotgun at her face, but her ex-boyfriend believes she had a lover who killed her.

 

Selleck and Shiriff

Ron Masak

Magnum PI – Skin Deep (4K upscaled) 2022, Buck Greene AND PHOTOS © mca tv

 

What do the 1980s TV series, Moonlighting (1985-89), and Magnum PI (1980-88) have in common? On first impressions, you’ll note these TV show titles start with M and were made in the 1980s. But you might be surprised once you know the full story. Both were American series, with episodes featuring – in no particular order – Orson Welles, private eyes and homages to film noir in unforgettable episodes.

This proves that on first impressions, you don’t always get the full picture. This sentiment sums up this to-be-reviewed Magnum PI episode and the film that it tributed, Laura (1944). It is agreed in many online sources that the former’s creator and scriptwriter, Donald P Bellisario was influenced by the Laura screenplay when writing this episode

In both this film and the TV episode named Skin Deep, Se 1 Ep 6 the stories are narrated by the investigating detectives. The TV series has Private Detective, Thomas Magnum based in Hawaii and in the film, it’s a New York cop who investigates the woman’s suspicious death. In the TV Series, the authorities believe it’s suicide after a woman, Erin is found dead and it appears she was shot in the face with a shotgun. A similar start is seen in the 1944 noir movie as a woman, Laura is found after being shot in the face as she enters her home, and the weapon is also a shotgun.

Roger Ebert tells HERE in his review of Laura,

The movie basically consists of well-dressed rich people standing in luxury flats and talking to a cop…

This quote is also reminiscent of this TV episode, where Magnum takes centre stage and interrogates everyone after this actress’ untimely death. But these you will find, are not the only similarities…

The Magnum PI episode begins as a pretty actress, Erin Wolfe (Cathie Shirriff) makes a video of herself threatening suicide by shotgun, and taunting a man called Tony. David Norman (Ian McShane), her ex-boyfriend phones her. As she stops the video equipment, it’s seen she is rehearsing a script for a film. Erin calls David controlling, and it seems he left her for another woman. Then after she hangs up, she eerily rehearses this speech again and again, but now in her speech, she taunts David. A shotgun is rigged up with string in front of her and she pulls the string activating the trigger.

A shot rings out, and Higgins (John Hillerman), Magnum’s friend and an ex-British Army Regimental Sergeant Major (and condescending uncle figure) is pigeon shooting. Meanwhile, Magnum (Tom Selleck) gets flashbacks of the Vietnam War. These flashbacks are a recurring theme, as events in this investigation, remind him of his past. Later he meets Rick (Larry Minetti) – Magnum’s friend from the Vietnam War –  who tells him of Erin’s apparent suicide after “blowing her head off” and that the authorities believe it’s suicide.

Rick introduces Magnum to David Norman, and it’s hate at first sight. Close to tears David has been drinking heavily and is angry that Magnum didn’t take on this case when he told him of his concerns for Erin’s safety over a month ago. David is convinced Erin was murdered, and her killer was her lover before she died. David believes that he is the man who made Erin a star.. and now blames Magnum for her death.

Magnum meets Erin’s agent J J Stein (Ron Masak) and the medical examiner at the morgue, as they examine her corpse. Stein tells Magnum that David was obsessed with Erin and confirms that as a producer, David discovered her. He adds that Erin had been afraid of him after she took the lead in Stein’s film. He tells Magnum, that David had moved on with a girl who looked like Erin.  Stein finds it “sick” that she died in the same way as detailed in the film script.

This private eye investigates the scene of the crime. He gets suspicious as he finds a used and dirty-looking pistol amongst the more polished rifles and finds a recently framed photograph of her camping on a beach. He becomes captivated by the dead actress and watches all her movies and acting class videos for possible clues. He discovers the videotape showing Erin’s apparent last moments before she died.

He shows this video to David who finds it difficult to watch. Then after stopping the tape, Magnum discloses that the shotgun wasn’t loaded as she was rehearsing a scene and she then answered the phone. David confesses he called her but is worried his innocence in her murder won’t be believed. Magnum then challenges David about his new girlfriend and David adds that Erin left him and the new girlfriend was only there as a bedfellow.

These events rule out suicide, but who killed Erin…? After Magnum goes to the cove by helicopter with a Vietnam War friend,  TC  (Roger E Mosley) after he learns David has gone there already…  and Magnum then notices someone has been camping on the beach, and it’s revealed Erin is very much alive.. but who is the dead woman?

This TV mystery is similar to the 1944 film, as it led the viewer on a merry dance. After Laura and Erin were discovered to be alive this leads to more similarities in their plotlines. In both mysteries, those supporting characters are believed to be suspects. In Magnum PI these suspects include her one-time partner or possibly her mercenary agent. JJ is disappointed this film won’t be made and knows about the scene which his now dead client emulated before taking her life. In the film, there are also believed to be many more suspects who may have murdered Laura, and these include her money-grabbing fiance Shelby, a newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker and others.

Wikipedia HERE also compares the McShane character to Lydecker calling David “an insanely jealous film producer” and Lydecker’s envy of Laura’s partners is commented on in the film. Wikipedia’s article on the film Laura HERE describes Lydecker as an “effete older man who relates how he met Laura and became her mentor”. These traits are also similar to the equally charismatic David’s claims that he discovered Erin as an actress in B-movies and then became her producer in the TV series.

The detectives immerse themselves in her world to discover clues about this woman. In Magnum PI, he gets to know Erin as he spends the night watching films and acting class videos and talking to her agent and David… However, Magnum admits her beauty and talent and doesn’t fall in love with her. In Laura, McPerson reads her letters and diary and talks to those who know her and becomes obsessed with this dead woman.

Both the Lyndecker and David characters are obsessed and apparently love these women and were jealous of their future romantic partners when she lived. These women haunt the screen, as their presence after their “death” are remembered in their portraits. Magnum finds a clue-filled photograph of Erin and in the film, Laura is seen in a portrait.

But I will leave you to discover the twists and turns of both these after both our detectives discover that these women are still alive… and we find out more about the identity of this mystery dead woman. It seems now that Laura and Erin’s lives are also at risk when the killer knows she is alive, and he hunts her down…

But do remember that if you are going detective to find this episode, it’s called Skin Deep. This title makes more sense after knowing the full story after Magnum PI Wiki reminds us how Erin apparently killed herself after she taunted an ex-saying;

So, a woman can’t go out like a man, huh? She takes pills, or swims out to sea, or slits her wrists, but she ain’t got the guts to blood-up the old face? Isn’t that what you said David? Huh? Well, here’s one woman who’s gonna take it right between the baby blues just to show you how smart you really are.

But if you just search using the keywords, shotgun, Magnum PI, Laura and old Blue Eyes… You might just find a Magnum PI later episode coincidentally called Laura. This episode starred none other than Frank Sinatra and you’ll have to go with more than Skin Deep to find it…

Finally, in another real-life twist, this time connecting Sinatra with this TV show. Sinatra released a version of the film Laura’s romantic theme set to lyrics. Johnny Mercer’s lyrics may just correspond to how you feel after seeing this episode and after watching this film or the other way around…

You know the feeling of something half remembered.
Of something that never happened, yet you recall it well.
You know the feeling of recognizing someone.

And in another pop culture tribute, you might also recognise plot themes reminiscent of Laura, in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation titled Aquiel. This is if would gladly trade 1980s Hawaii for a take of this classic noir on the Star Ship Enterprise and with Captain Picard for a sci-fi noir tribute in space and thus “boldly go where no one has gone before.”

 

Weeper Rating:  0 /10

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