If producer Barry Crane directed this, it's good, but...
watch very carefully. This was also the last episode of the season. Sometimes writers at this stage do get carried away.
Minus 1. 9 STARS.
Interestingly, what caught my attention were storyline similarities to the Joan Crawford thriller BERSERK, made a few years earlier. No question, there's more fists involved with Mannix than chills. Taking the Joan Crawford role (in a way) is veteran actress Bethel Leslie (as Beverly) whose dreams of owning a carnival become a nightmare when everything goes wrong, including someone wanting to kill her. Nasty business.
Leslie is very good here, veteran of tv westerns and frequently on PERRY MASON. She later appeared in soap operas and began writing for tv, including BARNABY JONES and MCCLOUD. It makes you wonder how this story would have turned out had she wrote it? Hmmm?
Barry Crane gets some fine performances out of the cast. He was also producing and directing MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, one of the best directors in the business. Look for some future tv stars, such as big and tall Michael Conrad, Barbara Rhodes as a fortune teller(!) and Gordon Jump, playing Charlie. This was an early role for Jump, who soon after appeared on the PARTRIDGE FAMILY and BRADY BUNCH. He was also associated with church projects and often conferred with members of his church on whether he should accept certain roles, or how they should be played. A true professional.
This was filmed at the legendary Pike Amusement Park (Long Beach) home of the Queen Mary, long a favorite spot for movies and tv shows until its being demolished (real estate $$$) in the late 1970s.
Can you figure this one out by mid way?
SEASON 3 FINAL EPISODE 25 CBS remastered dvd box set.