Thanks to Gene Nelson who directed this episode, without fail, bringing out some super performances from the cast, especially Pamela Franklin. Gene was behind the MOD SQUAD. This was his second episode.
There's a neat connection to this story. In addition to all the cop shows and westerns William Conrad directed at Warner Brothers for years, he also cranked out some eerie cult thrillers in the mid 60s, such MY BLOOD RUNS COLD, which he also produced. He may have contributed some ideas to this story, and it makes sense. When it came to chillers, Conrad's style was similar to director William Castle.
Here, Cannon finds himself in Beverly Hills where Pamela Franklin hires him to find her evil twin sister (who drowned five years ago??). This also sounds a bit like the classic Bette Davis mystery, A STOLEN LIFE, if not DEAD RINGER. What a tangled web.
Franklin was the right choice for this role, also appearing in some shocker films at the time. This could have been very bloody, but Nelson toned it down. It's a campy ride, very atmospheric, perfect for a late night. Look for Keye Luke (famous as Charlie Chan's Number One Son), and Christopher Stone as Franklin's boyfriend. Stone turned up regularly in dramatic tv roles.
Additionally there are three familiar faces in the cast; Ann Doran (long time actress who even appeared with the Three Stooges) as the housekeeper, Bill Quinn as her husband and Maxine Stuart playing an artistic welder? That's original. One observation. Its quite possible one of Bill Conrad's boats was being used in the party scene. It's sharp.
Cannon is also back to smoking his pipe. The ending is fairly effective, and not as violent as it could have been. SEASON 3 EPISODE 19 remastered color CBS dvd box set. 21 hrs. 2012.