ROUTE 66: WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY {SERIES FINALE} {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
The finale of this series of dramas about the adventures of two young men who travel across the country in a Corvette.
In Moscow, a man named Otis Tiffin makes a living smuggling American cosmetics into the Soviet Union. He receives a telegram informing him that his brother Alexander has just died, and that funerary services will be held in Tampa, Florida. Meanwhile, Michael, another of Alexander’s brothers and a revolutionary against a corrupt government, is about to be executed by firing squad in an unspecified South American country before he too receives word of Alexander’s death. He is fired upon, but had previously bribed officials to empty the guns of ammunition, leaving him alive but penniless. He instructs his allies to transport his “body” to Tampa so that he can attend the funeral. Elsewhere, in a Parisian airport, Alexander’s daughter Samantha prepares to board a plane for Tampa; Alexander’s estate is worth several million dollars, and she hopes to collect her share of it. In Africa, Alexander’s other brother Leon is on a hunting expedition and is planning to scam his fellow hunters into a crooked real estate development project. He hears about Alexander’s death and immediately leaves for Tampa. At Tampa International Airport, Alexander’s niece Margo is greeted by Monty Musgrave, the executor of Alexander’s estate. During all this, Tod and Linc pull in to a hotel in Tampa.
The Tiffin family gathers to mourn Alexander, each one in their own particular way. Alexander was a notorious con artist in life who accumulated a vast fortune through various land development schemes. Monty reads portions of Alexander’s will to his family, in particular one unusual stipulation: each of the assembled five family members will receive a portion of his half-million dollars in savings, but only if Margo gets married to Tod within two weeks. The will explains that Alexander met Tod at some point and decided that he wanted Margo to marry him. The family members are perplexed by this development, particularly Margo, who becomes quite upset. Monty further explains that upon the completion of the marriage, Monty will choose one of them to receive the totality of Alexander’s five million-dollars in real estate holdings, and that Tod will be a potential recipient as well. Margo calls out her family members on their various criminal enterprises, from which they all learned various fake foreign accents and identities. She says that if she does marry Tod, it will be solely to honor her father’s last wishes; despite her recognition of his illicit dealings she still had great love and respect for him.
Tod and Linc get jobs as boat salesmen, although they find little success. Monty visits them and has Tod take himself and the Tiffin family out on a boat for a test drive. Margo seems disinterested in Tod, but the rest of her family coerces her into taking up his offer to take her out to dinner that night. The family soon plot to somehow secure Alexander’s fortune, involving a scheme wherein Michael disguises himself as a South American general, and Tod comes to visit them that night. They make awkward small talk with him before leaving him alone with Margo. Tod makes a romantic gesture which Margo initially enjoys, but she then suddenly warns him to leave and never return before she hurries off. Tod chases after her in his car but come up empty-handed, and returns to meet Linc at the hotel bar. Linc tells Tod that he is leaving to join the military; he explains that he feels he has not accomplished anything useful during their cross-country journeys, and that he feels that the only worthwhile endeavor is to go help people in need. He explains he has been hired to train the inhabitants of a poor South American country to defend themselves against criminal organizations. Tod, realizing he cannot convince Linc not to go, shares a drink with him to wish him good luck.
Tod drops Linc off at the airport and someone steals his car; it is actually Otis, who secretly sells it off to the captain of a Soviet tanker. Leon finds Tod the next morning at the local police station and invites him to breakfast, and Tod accepts. He brings roses for Margo, but she refuses to out and talk to him. Samantha tries to persuade her otherwise, and Margo goes out to speak with him. They start going out together, all while the other members of the Tiffin family spy on them. In spite of Margo’s initial resistance, she finds herself falling in love with Tod. Soon Tod and Margo are to be married, although Tod is unsure if he is making the right decision. Monty tells him about Alexander and hints at the particulars of his will, and how his marriage to Margo factors into it. The marriage ceremony begins; Linc finds out about the wedding in the local newspaper and rushes to stop it. Immediately upon completion of the ceremony, Margo takes off with Tod, hoping to conceal him from her relatives. Linc arrives at the church too late to stop the proceedings. Tod and Margo’s cab breaks down on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, and the driver asks for Tod’s help to repair the vehicle. The cab driver knocks Tod unconscious with a wrench and throws him off of the bridge, where he disappears into the water, apparently dead. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: March 6, 1964 8:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:50:07
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:06132
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1960-1964
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Herbert B. Leonard … Executive Producer, Created by
- Leo Davis … Producer
- Alvin Ganzer … Director
- Stirling Silliphant … Created by, Writer
- Nelson Riddle … Music by
- Martin Milner … Cast, Tod Stiles
- Glenn Corbett … Cast, Lincoln Case
- Roger C. Carmel … Cast, Otis
- Alex Viespi … Cast, Michael
- Nina Foch … Cast, Samantha
- Patrick O'Neal … Cast, Leon
- Chill Wills … Cast, Monty Musgrave
- Barbara Eden … Cast, Margo
- Louis Zorich … Cast, Russian Man
- Victor Gabriel Junquera … Cast, Lieutenant
- Hugh Hurd … Cast, Thomboli
- Rene Paul … Cast, European Man
- Richard Kuss … Cast, Driver