Der Chef

I have fond memories of watching this well crafted detective show during my growing up years. The series portrays the story of San Francisco Chief of Detectives, Robert Ironside, who has been hit by a sniper's bullet, paralyzing him from the waist down. Confined to a wheelchair, he must forego his previous detective position but stays on with the Police Department as sort of a consultant. Ironside ferrets out crime while working from a special Police Department office complete with exercise equipment and sleeping facilities. Assisting him is his own special unit, a diverse trio consisting of regular cop Detective Sargent Ed Brown, educated policewoman Eve Whitfield, and black ex con Mark Sanger. During the course of the series Sanger progresses from Ironside's bodyguard to a police officer and finally a lawyer.

In this series we see this formerly tough Chief of Detectives endeavouring to nail San Francisco's bad guys, all the while coping quite successfully with his recent disability. The program shows that this previously high profile crime fighter can still lead an equally productive life from his wheelchair. The show reveals his character development as well as his interactions with the trio of assistants, all providing viewer interest in addition to the crime solving elements.

Raymond Burr, alias Perry Mason, was born to solve TV crimes! The actor gives a masterful performance here as the wheelchair bound Ironside. This is generally quite an engaging detective series and frankly, I wish that there was more TV programming of its quality these days.

Hardly any actor so credibly reinvented himself as many times as Raymond Burr. In the late 40's into the mid 50's he often played the villain, usually in westerns and noirs, and once he even had a minor but crucial role as the villain in Hitchcock's "Rear Window". Then there were all those years playing unbeatable defense attorney Perry Mason that I figured he'd be typecast forever after that series ended. However, he did such a credible job playing the wheelchair-bound Ironside that the staff at restaurants were surprised when he would show up for reservations walking in on his own two legs. The show had camera-work that was ground-breaking without being annoying, there was a feeling of family and camaraderie among the cast that oddly enough reminds me of Joss Whedon's "Angel" in that regard, it had much better plots than the other ensemble cop shows of that era, and it even had lots of counter-culture material that worked out pretty well without being cheesy or preachy considering the age of its main star, Burr, who was 50 when the show premiered.

The premise of the show is that while vacationing in an isolated farmhouse, Robert Ironside is shot by an unseen assailant. The result of this wound is that he is paralyzed from the waist down. Accustomed to being Chief of Detectives, and not wanting to be put out to pasture, he turns to his old friend, the Commissioner of Police, who makes him his Special Consultant so that Ironside can go on working on cases rather than face living the life of a retiree on a disability pension. The supporting cast, and his team in solving crimes during the series, consists of rookie detective Ed Brown, policewoman Eve Whitfield, and somewhat reformed juvenile delinquent Mark Sanger. Up to this time, police detective shows had consisted of able-bodied young white men dressed in suits complete with hats, no matter what the occasion. This was one of the first TV shows of that genre - maybe the very first - to mix things up with an interracial cast, a policewoman who was an integral part of the team, a handicapped leader, and a member of "the establishment" in Ed Brown thrown in for good measure.

If this formula sounds a lot like Mod Squad, that's because it is, except Mod Squad came out the following year on the coattails of Ironside's initial success. Ironside had its share of guest stars that made it big in later years. In this first season keep a lookout for a young Harrison Ford in "The Past is Prologue", for Ed Asner in "The Fourteenth Runner", and Susan St. James in "Girl in the Night".

I mentioned this before on a review of a third series that Raymond Burr had after Perry Mason and Ironside, that most actors are lucky to have one successful series let alone two of them back to back. Burr did it with two very different kinds of characters.

Perry Mason was cool and calculating until he sprung a trap in court that nailed the real murderer and/or the helpless prosecutor be it Hamilton Burger or someone else. But Robert Ironside had already faced his life crisis when that bullet severed his spinal cord. With that kind of baptism of fire nothing ever fazed the Chief. He was hostage a couple of times during the course of the show and he faced some unusual life threatening situations that were more stressful because of his paralysis, but he always kept a cool head.

I loved the position he was in as the head of that special squad. He had a picked team in Don Galloway, Barbara Anderson, and Don Mitchell. He worked only the most important cases or something that interested him. I worked for NYS Crime Victims Board and believe me I always looked for interesting cases where people filed claims. So much is dull and routine. Burr had the dull and routine out of his life.

Barbara Anderson did not go the full run of the series, but Elizabeth Baur came in and moved seamlessly into the team Ironside.

Beneath all the gruffness and the demands on his people that work be finished yesterday, the Chief had a good heart and was an inspiration to all around him. I suspect to many viewers as well.

If Perry Mason was Raymond Burr's defining role, then this was his second most famous role. This show proved that you didn't need a lot of violence to be a great detective show. This was more cerebral than most of the shows that were around at the time. Also the supporting cast of Don Mitchell, Don Galloway, Barbara Anderson and, later Elizabeth Baur, were all great as Ed, Mark, Eve and Fran respectively. The most compelling character on the show though was Mark. We got to see him evolve from Ironside's body guard, to a police officer and, finally, becoming an attorney. Too bad they don't make shows like this anymore.

There have been three Halls of Justice buildings in San Francisco's history and the building that appears in every episode of Ironside, which ran from 1967 to 1975, was the 'second' Hall of Justice and it is often referred to as the 'Old' Hall of Justice. It contained the city's jail, police station, courtrooms, and District Attorneys Office. Its address was 750 Kearny Street, which placed it on the east side of Kearny between Washington and Merchant.

The 'original' and 'first' Hall of Justice stood on the same spot but was destroyed in the great San Francisco earthquake on 18th April 1906 during which it burnt to the ground. The original building bore a passing resemblance to its successor except for the addition of a tall clock tower that overlooked Kearny Street.

The Old Hall of Justice was first occupied in 1912 but by 1950 it had outgrown the purpose for which it was built. A 'third' larger Hall of Justice was built about 11/2 miles distant on a new site at 850 Bryant Street, between 7th and Harriet.

The Old Hall of Justice was finally abandoned in 1961 and was subsequently gutted of its luxurious fixtures and fittings, comprising wood and marble panelling, brass door knobs and hinges, carpets, furniture and other decorative features. It was finally demolished in 1967 after standing derelict.

Stock footage of the derelict building was used to highlight the ___location of Ironside's office, which was on the top floor, left hand side, as viewed from the front of the building. A row of semi-circular windows adorned the top floor offices. Ironside's office, which also doubled as his apartment complete with semi-circular window, was recreated in the studio for the filming of the series.

Also seen in the same stock footage is the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, which is located a short distance to the north of Portsmouth Square. Portsmouth Square, which is located on Kearny between Washington and Clay, was once the centre of 'old' San Francisco and is now part of the Chinatown district of the city.

Looking eastward from Portsmouth Square prior to 1967, the frontal view of the Old Hall of Justice would have been instantly familiar to Ironside fans. Its sides and rear aspects were never filmed, presumably because they were far less attractive.

Midway along the front of the Old Hall of Justice was a street-level entrance to an underground car park. It was through this narrow entrance that Ironside's personal transporter, a grey-painted, blue-striped, supercharged police van, originally painted black, was occasionally seen to use. His subsequent transport, a sand-coloured Ford van, which was introduced into the series after the police van was destroyed in one episode, is never seen near the Old Hall of Justice because the building had been demolished and a new building was in the course of erection.

Today, the site is occupied by the 27-floor, Hilton San Francisco Financial District Hotel and the Chinese Cultural Centre, which share the same address. Behind the Hilton Hotel on Montgomery Street stands the famous Transamerica Pyramid, another of San Francisco's noteworthy landmark buildings.

There are ongoing arguments concerning the wisdom of demolishing a building such as the Old Hall of Justice and replacing it with a modern skyscraper structure. Many of San Francisco's inhabitants regard the design and appearance of the Old Hall of Justice as having more character and beauty than the edifices that replaced it.