MANNIX: THE OPEN WEB {SIXTH SEASON PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramas about the cases of hardboiled Los Angeles private detective Joe Mannix. Mannix is visited by his old friend Ken Gordon, a young man whose life he saved years ago while on the police force. Now Ken is about to be promoted to detective, a position which he has long strived for. However, Ken is shot and killed moments after he arrives by Victor Roarke, a criminal arrested years ago by Mannix. Mannix manages to subdue him; Roarke says that his bullet was meant for Mannix, not Ken. The police arrive and take Ken's body away, as well as arresting Roarke. Soon Mannix falls into a depression, feeling responsible for what happened to Ken. Art calls him, saying Roarke wants to talk with him. Art and Mannix visit Roarke at the hospital, where he asks that he be allowed to cut a deal with them: he hopes that in exchange for gaining the sympathy of the jury in his upcoming trial, he will reveal the location of the body of a prominent judge who disappeared a year ago. Despite their skepticism, Mannix and Joe take Roarke to the site where the judge is supposedly buried and start digging. A helicopter belonging to a local sheriff's office circles overhead and lands near them. However, it turns out to be an elaborate trap set up by Roarke: the men inside are his cronies, who hold Art and Mannix at gunpoint. A struggle breaks out and Mannix manages to escape before Roarke can shoot him, but Art is taken as a hostage. Mannix reports the situation and accompanies the police as they follow the helicopter. A police helicopter locates Roarke and his men outside an abandoned mountaintop radio transmission facility. With their escape cut off, Roarke and his men head inside and take the occupants hostage, consisting of Mr. Fogerty, the old caretaker, his daughter Sarah, and her young son Chuck. The police surround the facility and Roarke has Fogerty explain the situation to them. Roarke issues his demands: that the police pull back to outside the facility's fence, and that he be given half a million dollars and a jet plane fueled and ready to go. The police comply, but Mannix plans to ascend the mountain from a lower altitude, sneak into the facility, and take out Roarke himself. As Mannix climbs the mountain, Chuck manages to escape via the bathroom window, and sneaks around the facility, trying to avoid Roarke's men. Mannix intercepts Chuck and uses him to help lure Roarke into his clutches. He holds Roarke at gunpoint and tries to get him to tell his men to surrender, but instead Roarke orders them to shoot Art and Sarah. Mannix is thus forced to surrender himself to Roarke. Roarke demands that the police deliver his money and the jet plane within an hour or he'll start killing the hostages. In private, Roarke and Mr. Fogerty discuss the unexpected presence of Sarah and Chuck; Fogerty is secretly an accomplice in Roarke's plan, providing him with assistance in exchange for a cut of the ransom with which to help him support Sarah and Chuck. Meanwhile, Mannix and Art secretly formulate a plan to obtain Chuck's toy gun, constructed by Fogerty out of an actual gun, and load it with actual shotgun shells. Mannix asks Sarah to sneak into Fogerty's room, where Roarke is asleep, and swipe the shells. Roarke awakens as she tries to slip out and forcefully kisses her, but Mannix breaks them up and manages to get the shells from her. Roarke receives a call informing him that the money and his jet plane are ready. The money is delivered and Roarke orders that the helicopter be started up to take them to the airport. The hostages realize that Fogerty has been working with Roarke and Sarah is disgusted. As Mannix readies the gun to fire at Roarke, Roarke prepares to bring Sarah and Chuck to the airport with him. Chuck notices that his toy gun is missing and Roarke quickly figures out where it is, making Mannix give it back to Chuck. Roarke then tries to goad Chuck into shooting Mannix, but Chuck refuses. He takes the gun himself and prepares to fire, but Fogerty has a change of heart and leaps on Roarke, taking the bullet in the process. In the ensuing fight Roarke runs off and Mannix chases after him. The helicopter swings by and picks up Roarke, but he falls to his death while trying to climb in mid-flight. Mannix and Art return just in time to witness Fogerty's death, and Mannix attempts to comfort Chuck. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: September 17, 1972 9:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:42
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:65447
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1967-1975
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bruce Geller … Executive Producer, Developed by
- Ivan Goff … Producer
- Ben Roberts … Producer
- Arnold Laven … Director
- Richard Levinson … Created by
- William Link … Created by
- Donn Mullally … Writer
- Lalo Schifrin … Music by
- Mike Connors … Cast, Joe Mannix
- Gail Fisher … Cast, Peggy Fair
- Rip Torn … Cast, Victor Roarke
- Eddie Egan … Cast, Lt. Paul Haber
- John McLiam … Cast, Fogerty
- Maggie Johnson … Cast, Sarah
- Morgan Sterne … Cast, Roarke's Attorney
- Ward Wood … Cast, Lt. Art Malcolm
- Rod Arrants … Cast, Ken Gordon
- Jimmy Putman … Cast, Chuck
- Bruce Watson … Cast, Anderson
- Buddy Joe Hooker … Cast, Chase