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ROCKFORD FILES, THE: THE NO-CUT CONTRACT (TV)

Summary

One in this series of dramas about the cases of private detective Jim Rockford, an ex-convict who was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit and who gets involved in cases his self-protective instincts tell him to avoid.

While Angel tries to convince Jim to participate in one of his legally "gray" ventures, a pair of men enters Jim's trailer home and ask about someone named "King" Sturtevant and about some tapes, although Jim is clueless as to what they are talking about. They hold Jim at gunpoint and ransack his trailer, leaving only with several of his jazz cassette tapes. Jim and Angel leave to issue a complaint to Sergeant Becker before being chased down and arrested by federal officers. Jim is interrogated by Shore, a federal agent, who also believes that Jim possesses the mysterious tapes. He reveals that Larry "King" Sturtevant is the quarterback for the South Illinois Warriors, a minor-league football team. Jim professes his ignorance of the proceedings even as Shore implies he is part of some kind of conspiracy. However, Shore has no hard evidence against Jim and decides to release him, warning not to get involved with Sturtevant.

Ignoring Shore, Jim tracks down Sturtevant on the set of a local talk show. It is readily apparent to Jim that Sturtevant has a massive ego and vastly overestimates his level of fame and respect, insisting that he be treated like a star. Jim confronts him about the tapes and Sturtevant promises to tell him about it, only to have his chauffeur prevent Jim from speaking to him. Instead, Jim follows Sturtevant to a party at a hotel, where he observes Sturtevant being lured into a trap. Jim arrives and fights off Sturtevant's attackers before speaking to him in private in the hotel's utility room. Sturtevant reveals that a few days beforehand he was also approached about a series of tapes, which he also claims to have no knowledge of. His home was invaded similarly to Jim's, and Shore investigated him. Desperate, Sturtevant picked Jim's name out of a phonebook and claimed he had given the tapes to him, thus redirecting Shore's efforts. Jim demands that Sturtevant come down with him to see Shore and straighten everything out. When Sturtevant starts planning to make it seem like Jim is lying, Jim threatens Sturtevant into revealing that he believes that Dale Fontaine, his team manager, is behind the whole conspiracy, as there are rumors he is connected to the mob.

Jim and Sturtevant find Dale dead in the midst of his ransacked office. Jim believes he was clubbed over the head with one of his sports trophies. Sturtevant phones the police and tries to double-cross Jim by holding him at gunpoint, making it appear that Jim killed Dale. Becker arrives with the cops and arrests Jim. Jim calls Beth, who helps Becker establish Jim's whereabouts and gets the murder charge against him dropped in exchange for not seeking a warrant for Sturtevant's arrest. They indicate that Shore is interfering with the case for his own ends. Beth tells Jim what she discovered about Sturtevant: he is the owner of a nightclub in Illinois where underworld figures commonly meet that was burned to the ground the day before; the police suspect it was arson. She also has discovered that Dale was planning to replace Sturtevant with another player, but mysteriously changed his mind at the last minute; she believes that Sturtevant possessed some sort of "leverage" over Dale. Despite her warnings, Jim decides to investigate further, believing that Sturtevant still possesses the mysterious tapes.

Angel provides assistance despite being frightened that he could be in danger for helping Jim. He discovers that there are two contracts out on Jim's life; it is believed that Jim has the tapes, which are believed to contain information on the mob which Dale was planning to sell to the federal agents. He also discovers that Sturtevant owns a house in Hollywood, and Jim tracks him down there. He chases down Sturtevant on foot and gets him to reveal that he is being hunted by the same people trying to kill Jim. He reveals that he lent the tapes to a woman in the local area, and the two of them drive down to retrieve them. On the way, Sturtevant reveals the content of the tapes: recordings of discussions between mob figures which he secretly recorded in a conference room at his nightclub, revealing many of their secrets. He says he found out Dale was going to replace him and stopped him by threatening to hand over the tapes to the mob. Soon afterwards, Dale was murdered and the nightclub was burned down.

They arrive at the woman's house, where a party is in progress. They head in, secretly followed by several of the hitmen, who ready their guns. Sturtevant speaks with the woman, and is star-struck when he sees she is accompanied by professional football player Dick Butkus. They discover the location of the tapes and manage to obtain them just as the hitmen find them. Jim distracts them by playing one of the tapes over the loudspeaker, and he and Sturtevant try to escape. They are shot at until the police surround the place and arrest the attackers. Shore arrives and puts Jim and Sturtevant under arrest. While waiting at the federal office for their statement to be filed, Sturtevant tells Jim more about the content of the tapes. Jim thanks Sturtevant for testifying that Jim wasn't involved in the whole scheme, and is surprised to learn that Sturtevant was totally honest when he said that he picked Jim's name out of the phonebook. Commercials deleted.

Details

  • NETWORK: NBC
  • DATE: January 16, 1976 9:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:45:35
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: B:57000
  • GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective
  • SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1974-1980
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Meta Rosenberg … Executive Producer
  • Stephen J. Cannell … Supervising Producer, Created by, Writer
  • Lane Slate … Producer
  • Chas. Floyd Johnson … Associate Producer
  • Lou Antonio … Director
  • Roy Huggins … Created by
  • Mike Post … Music by
  • Pete Carpenter … Music by
  • James Garner … Cast, Jim Rockford
  • Noah Beery … Cast, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford
  • Joe Santos … Cast, Sergeant Dennis Becker
  • Stuart Margolin … Cast, Evelyn "Angel" Martin
  • Gretchen Corbett … Cast, Beth Davenport
  • Dick Butkus … Cast, Himself
  • Rob Reiner … Cast, Larry "King" Sturtevant
  • Wayne Tippit … Cast, Agent Shore
  • Milt Kogan … Cast, Norman
  • Sharon Cintron … Cast, Sharon
  • Gene Tyburn … Cast, Bill
  • Barbara Flicker … Cast, TV Coordinator
  • J. Jay Saunders … Cast, Agent Prizer
  • Mary Angela … Cast, Lisa