User Reviews

"Harlequin's Gold" begins with Mannix undercover along the waterfront. He's looking for a sailor named Paul Gantry (Don Knight)--an Australian sailor who is, according to Mannix's client, an heir to a large fortune. However, as the story unfolds, Mannix begins to doubt that this is really why his client is looking for Gantry. When Joe Mannix finally catches up with Gantry, Gantry knows why they are looking for him--and it has nothing to do with an inheritance. Yet, oddly, Gantry won't go to the police. And, when Mannix takes Gantry to the cops, he refuses to say anything! However, when Peggy is kidnapped, Mannix is going to insist that Gantry speak up!

This is a good episode but it's made better by the cynical twist near the end. Overall, a good episode but you wonder why Peggy keeps working for Mannix considering all the times her life is on the line!

By the way, the harlequin mentioned in the title is the name of a ship.

Joe gets hired to track down the heir to a $1 million fortune, the only surviving sailor from a gold-laden cargo ship lost at sea months before who Joe has reason to believe is hiding out on the LA waterfront. Joe finds the man, and that's when things get really tricky.

Goff and Roberts hurl their usual narrative harpoons at the viewer, and we are never allowed to find our sea legs until the last five minutes.

The last TWO minutes, by the way, are uncharacteristically melancholy for this series, but not ineffective.

A good, solid MANNIX entry, and the talented Robert Reed is on hand as Joe's exasperated cop pal.

This one is about a guy who witnessed a mass murder aboard a ship and the thugs who committed the murders are now trying to find him since they know he witnessed the murders. I'll let you see for yourself what happens after that.

The performances by Don Knight as Gantry, Peter Whitney as Clegg, and Robert Reed as Lt. Tobias are all really good and the story is very interesting and unique and has a great twist at the end.

For a change, Joe actually doesn't get shot at in this one, but he does get clobbered over the head again, this time with a cane. I'm deducting a point for that as well as for the constant use of the word "sharks". It's repeated OVER and OVER. But beyond those two issues, this is a very good episode and is the best one so far in what has been a disappointing and embarrassing season comprised mostly of episodes filled with plot holes, stupidity, and contradictions.

Don't miss this one.

British actor Don Knight, best known for playing tough guys, somewhat in the style of Robert Shaw, plays a sailor who Mannix needs to reach.

Object: a cool one million dollars, due him, related to a lost ship with a cargo of gold. This guy has some luck on his shoulders, but he's also hiding out along the waterfront gin mills and flop houses. This is an original episode, requiring Joe to also dress up as a weather beaten sailor, and with the usual no good types following him around --and Knight's life hanging in the balance.

A solid entry, written by Don Brinkley, who did many stories for the FBI, also MEDICAL CENTER. The acting is very good, down to the supporting players. Its fun to watch the sets and trappings, and especially the wardrobe as this was more than likely shot on the Paramount lot, to save bucks. It was much the same case on MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.

To note; Brinkley may have been inspired by a classic PERRY MASON episode, called "The Case of the Dead Ringer" (1966). In that story, Perry (Raymond Burr) doubled as a grizzled seaman, and in an outstanding, campy role.

A late night coffee adventure. SEASON 3 EPISODE 18 remastered CBS dvd box set.