MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: OLD MAN OUT {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of adventure dramas about the exploits of the Impossible Missions Force. Elderly Catholic Cardinal Anton Vossek, a vital figure in the freedom movement within his unspecified Eastern European country, has been arrested by his government, pending a trial which is likely to convict him of crimes against the state. He is being held in a high-security prison facility famous for being considered impregnable and inescapable. The IMF is assigned the task of rescuing Cardinal Vossek, and Dan gathers his team, along with Rollin and trapeze artist Crystal Walker. However, Crystal is unwilling to work with Dan, owing to her past relationship with him and her unwillingness to abandon her current contract. However, he manages to persuade her otherwise and the entire team gathers to collect their equipment and review their plan to break out Vossek. Crystal trains Willy and Rollin on how to perform circus acts, the former weightlifting and the latter a high-wire routine. Their plans are accelerated when Cinnamon reports that Vossek has been ordered to be executed, and Dan orders that Crystal’s safety net for her trapeze act be removed in order to save time. The IMF, posing as a travelling circus, performs in a park adjacent to the prison. Rollin spots a man in the crowd and swipes his wallet. He soon realizes this and panics, getting the police to chase down Rollin, and they corner him and recover the wallet, sending Rollin into the prison. There he is forced to remove all items from his pockets, but manages to secretly hang on to a miniature lock pick. He sets off the metal detector and is strip-searched; during the search he manages to plant the lock pick on the uniform of one of the guards without alerting him. They find an object hidden in his shoe sole and believe that this set off the alarm; satisfied with this result they resume his processing into the prison. Once he is past the metal detector, Rollin secretly retrieves his lock pick. Meanwhile, outside the prison, Cinnamon distracts one of the guards by flirting with him. In the prison, Rollin sees Vossek, looking weak and infirm, being led down the hall by one of the guards. At precisely 6:00, the IMF puts on another show, and Rollin is able to hear calliope music played by Dan, thus signaling him to put his part of the plan into motion. He picks the lock of his cell and opens it, barely avoiding the notice of a guard patrol. He finds Vossek sleeping in his cell and convinces him that he is a friend, promising to get him out of the prison. Rollin again avoids the notice of guards, and they also do not notice that he accidentally dropped his lock pick on the floor. He breaks Vossek out of his cell and tries to guide him through the halls. They reach the roof, where they observe the outer defenses of the prison, including the sentries and fence. Rollin explains that they will actually be breaking out of prison the following day; he only brought Vossek up there to time how long it would take him to do it, using the music from the circus act as a means of timing without a watch or timepiece. Rollin slowly brings Vossek back through the halls to his cell, and gets him back before the guards can discover anything amiss. One of the guards outside the prison, who has been present at all of the IMF’s shows, talks to Dan about the troupe, which is unlisted in the local artist’s guild. He asks questions about the troupe’s origins and its personnel, but Dan manages to allay suspicion for the time being. Cinnamon visits Rollin in jail and holds a conversation with him, which is recorded by the prison staff. He manages to secretly convey to her that Vossek is infirm but willing to go along with the plan, and furthermore conveys what time they should put the plan into effect. The prison warden orders that Vossek’s interrogation be intensified, reasoning that he is going to be executed in 48 hours anyway and thus being unconcerned with his well-being. Cinnamon continues flirting with the guard from yesterday, and this time is joined by Crystal as well. Cinnamon walks off with him and pretends to have an argument with Crystal, splashing her with water. That evening, the circus starts up again and Rollin begins the real escape attempt, breaking out of his cell and roaming the halls as he did before. However, Rollin finds that Vossek has been moved from his cell, thus ruining the IMF’s entire plan. Commercials deleted. (The first of two programs on this asset. For synopsis and credits of the second, “Mission Impossible: Old Man Out Part 2 of 2,” see ACCNUM 115117).
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: October 8, 1966 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:50:18
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:12490
- GENRE: Drama, spy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, spy
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1966-1973
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bruce Geller … Executive Producer, Created by
- Joseph Gantman … Producer
- Barry Crane … Associate Producer
- Charles R. Rondeau … Director
- Ellis Marcus … Writer
- Walter Scharf … Music by
- Lalo Schifrin … Theme Music by
- Steven Hill … Cast, Dan Briggs
- Barbara Bain … Cast, Cinnamon Carter
- Greg Morris … Cast, Barney Collins
- Peter Lupus … Cast, Willy Armitage
- Martin Landau … Cast, Rollin Hand
- Mary Ann Mobley … Cast, Crystal Walker
- Cyril Delevanti … Cast, Cardinal Vossek
- Joseph Ruskin … Cast, Colonel Scutari
- Oscar Beregi … Cast, The Commandant
- William Wintersole … Cast, The Captain
- Monte Markham … Cast, Tosk