MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: NICOLE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of adventure dramas about the exploits of the Impossible Missions Force. The mission this time is to recover a list of names of allied agents who have defected to the service an enemy foreign power. The list is in the possession of the enemy’s highest-ranking intelligence minister, Anton Valdas, and is kept in a special safe hidden away in his chateau. Although there is already an agent in place at the chateau, Nicole Vedette, working as Valdas’s personal secretary, Jim decides that they will not involve her so as not to reveal her cover. He and Rollin receive assistance from an agent codenamed “Sparrow” on the particulars of infiltrating Valdas’s chateau. They arrive during a party disguised as a pair of military officers, Rollin as an aged general and Jim as a younger major. As part of their cover they mingle at the party, and Jim and Nicole soon spot each other, sharing an instant attraction. She pulls him aside and they flirt until Valdas himself cuts in. Jim and Nicole meet up again later on the veranda and share a quiet moment alone, including a kiss. Meanwhile, Rollin sneaks into Valdas’s study and opens his safe to get the list. However, he activates the safe’s pressurized floor and sets off an alarm throughout the chateau, alerting Valdas and all his guards. Jim and Rollin work together to try to extricate themselves from the predicament, including holding Valdas at gunpoint. However, while Rollin is getting the car, Jim is shot and Rollin is forced to drive away without him. Jim awakens later in a cell in Valdas’s basement. Nicole enters and takes out the guard, planning to help him escape. Valdas arrives with more guards and imprisons the both of them, revealing that he had been suspicious of Nicole for some time. She warns him that his superiors will kill him when they discover he no longer possesses the list, but he seems unconcerned. Nicole tells Jim that she’s seen the list and she and Jim come to the conclusion that the list Rollin stole is actually fake. She also reveals that Sparrow is a double-agent working for Valdas, and that he led them into a trap. Rollin drops off the list, but feels compelled to return and rescue Jim. Nicole and Jim work together to incapacitate their guard and escape out of a window, running into the woods near the chateau. Rollin comes upon the chateau as a search party is formed to track them down. Jim and Nicole hide in an abandoned farmhouse, Jim exhausted from the cold and his gunshot wound. Valdas’s men search the place and narrowly avoid finding the two of them. Jim finally falls unconscious and Nicole goes out to meet Valdas; she has been working for him the whole time. It turns out that she and Valdas are deliberately leading Jim to the border in order to further Valdas’s schemes, and that Valdas is blackmailing her since her name is on the list he possesses. Nicole warns Valdas against betraying her, since she has some kind of incriminating information on him in a packet in Switzerland. Valdas’s doctor revives Jim and Nicole returns to him to continue the ruse; Rollin spies on them from afar. Secretly Valdas plans to shoot Nicole when she and Jim reach the border. Jim awakens and talks with Nicole, whom Valdas is monitoring via a bug planted in her purse. While Nicole goes out to make sure the way is safe, Jim roots through her purse and discovers the bug. Valdas’s men comb the area but maintain their distance, and Rollin takes out a guard to gain access to his radio to track their movements. As Jim and Nicole continue running through the woods, Jim’s condition worsens and he stumbles and falls. Nicole expresses concern for him and reveals the truth about her status as a double-agent and about Valdas’s true plans. It turns out that the list stolen by Rollin was genuine, and she reveals that her name is on it. Jim reveals that he found the bug, which she was unaware of. They continue running and Valdas orders that they be hunted down and killed. Valdas’s men chase them until they are cornered, and Valdas confronts both of them. He reveals that he knows the location of Nicole’s information packet and thus she has no way of blackmailing him. He prepares to shoot them but suddenly Rollin reveals himself and holds Valdas at gunpoint. Valdas manages to shoot Nicole before Rollin can shoot him. Nicole dies in Jim’s arms, and he briefly grieves over her body before he and Rollin are forced to leave. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: March 30, 1969 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:50:25
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:65341
- GENRE: Drama, action/adventure
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, action/adventure; Drama, mystery/suspense; Drama, spy
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1966-1973
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bruce Geller … Executive Producer, Created by
- Stanley Kallis … Producer
- Barry Crane … Associate Producer
- Stuart Hagmann … Director
- Paul Playdon … Writer
- Lalo Schifrin … Theme Music by
- Peter Graves … Cast, James Phelps
- Martin Landau … Cast, Rollin Hand
- Barbara Bain … Cast, Cinnamon Carter
- Greg Morris … Cast, Barney Collier
- Peter Lupus … Cast, Willy Armitage
- Joan Collins … Cast, Nicole Vedette
- Logan Ramsey … Cast, Anton Valdas
- Ann Shoemaker … Cast, Madame Prokov
- Dal Jenkins … Cast, Razoff
- James McCallion … Cast, Sparrow
- Jon Lormer … Cast, Minister
- Anita Mann … Cast, Ilsa
- Rena Horton … Cast, Helga