IMF team leader Dan Briggs assembles his
team for the first time. The mission: to recover two nuclear warheads
belonging to General Rio Dominguez from a hotel vault in Santa Costa.
Jim and Willy sneak safecracker Terry Targo into the vault, who
figures out how to get out. The team then captures Dominguez but
Targo's fingers are broken in the attempt. With no other alternative,
Briggs has himself and Dominguez put into the vault, and Briggs
threatens to enter a random combination if Alicio doesn't tell him
the code. Dominguez breaks. With the bombs defused, Willy takes the
warheads out of the vault. Briggs remains behind and uses the
information Targo gathered earlier to get out during a fireworks
distraction set off by Barney. Briggs and the rest of the team make a
desperate race for safety and get onto a plane heading to safety
seconds before the military can catch up to them.
Director: Bernard L. Kowalski, Writer:
Bruce Geller
Guest starring: Wally Cox, Patrick
Campbell, Harry Davis, Paul Micale, Fred Villani, Joe Breen, Martin
Walker, Josh Adams, Victor Dunlap, David Renard, Sandra Kerr, Martin Landau
The Lear Jet model 24A used at the end of
the pilot, in which the team makes their escape from Santa Costa was
owned by Frank Sinatra. It wore the tail number N175FS. Between 1965
and 1967 he and his entourage logged over 1,500 hours in the aircraft.
2.
Memory
September 24, 1966
"I haven't met all of you until
today. Your reasons for doing this work may not be mine. It doesn't
matter; for whatever reason, I'll be Sparrow for you."
- Joseph Baresh
The IMF must undermine "the Butcher
of the Balkans", Janos Karq, by having his head of security
capture an agent, Sparrow, who will then incriminate Karq. To pull
off the ruse, they need a memory expert, Baresh, who can memorize the
necessary information in the short time allowed and pretend to be
Sparrow. Baresh will later be traded back. However, during a faked
rescue to make Sparrow look more convincing, Baresh gets a look at
Soska's master list of agents, and the team must rescue him from the
prison immediately to get the information.
Director: Charles Rondeau, Writer: Robert Lewin
Guest starring: Albert Paulsen, Leonard
Stone, Eddie Carroll, Gene Dynarski, William Keene, Heinz Brinkmann,
Donald Journeaux, John Magnusson, Paul Busch, Bill Foster, Forrest
Burns, Max Klevin
At the start of the episode, Briggs
receives his instructions not via a recording, but printed on the
back of a business card. Of the episodes which show some sort of
instructions being given to the IM Force leader, this is the only one
that doesn't involve a recording.
The "undisclosed" country is
supposed to be is Hungary. All the shop signs, the guard room door
sign and advertisement posters are in Hungarian. Also the traditional
Hungarian instrument, the "cimbalom" is used several times.
3.
Operation Rogosh
October 1, 1966
"But they tricked me. They tricked me."
- Imre Rogosh
Imry Rogosh is a mass murderer who kills
to forment political upheaval. He is targeting Los Angeles, so the
IMF knock him out in a car accident. When Rogosh wakes up he is in a
cell in a prison in his own country, three years later, and ready to
be executed as an American agent. To prove his loyalty to the cause,
Rogosh has to spill the information on his secret operation, but
during the mock trial a slip-up cues him in on the ruse. Briggs has
to act fast to get Rogosh to reveal the plan to kill the citizens of
Los Angeles.
Director: Leonard Horn, Writer: Jerome Ross
Guest starring: Fritz Weaver, Allan
Joseph, Charles Maxwell, James Lanphier, Svea Grunfeld, Dina Harmsen,
Howard Curtis, Dick Dial
The plot of this episode bears some
striking similarities to the 1964 motion picture "36 Hours,"
starring James Garner and Rod Taylor. In both the motion picture and
this episode, an elaborate "time-shifting" con is used to
convince someone that several years have passed, so that he will
believe it is safe to reveal secret information that, in reality, has
importance in the near future.
In the dossier scene, the last photograph
Briggs looks at - and rejects - is that of the show's creator, Bruce Geller.
4.
Old Man Out (Part 1)
October 8, 1966
5.
Old Man Out (Part 2)
October 15, 1966
"Good evening, Mr. Briggs. This is
Anton Cardinal Vossek who, despite being 80 years of age and
physically infirm, is nonetheless the acknowledged leader of his
country's freedom movement. The government torts whose overthrow
Cardinal Vossek is working has arrested him, preparatory to a trial
before a people's court which is certain to convict him. He's being
held for interrogation on the top floor of this building: Seravno
prison, which is located immediately adjacent to the city's main
park. Seravno prison is considered the most impregnable in Eastern
Europe. No escape has ever been made from it. Mr. Briggs, your
mission - should you decide to accept it - would be to rescue
Cardinal Vossek. As always, should you or any of your IM Force be
caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your
actions. In any event, please dispose of this tape recording as directed."
- voice on tape
The IMF team goes in as a circus team to
rescue Anton Cardinal Vossek, who is being held in the impregnable
Seravno Prison. Vossek is the leader of the country's freedom
movement, in rebellion against Colonel Scutari, and is awaiting a
fake trial before execution. With the aid of circus acrobat Crystal
Walker, the team must get Vossek out. To do so, Rollin fakes being a
pickpocket so as to be arrested. Once inside Servano, he has to sneak
through the prison and get Vossek out of his cell as a test run for
the next day... only for the guards to interrupt at an inopportune
moment. In part two, Rollin manages to avoid the guards and escape,
but Vossek is moved to a new cell in solitary confinement. Briggs
comes up with a new plan and manages to relay it to the imprisoned
Rollin and rescue Vossek from the prison. With Barney providoing
distraction as a clown, the team manages to get Vossek over the
border before Vossek's captors can catch up to them.
Director: Charles Rondeau, Writer: Ellis Marcus
Guest starring: Mary Ann Mobley, Joseph
Ruskin, Oscar Beregi Jr, Cyril Delevanti, William Wintersole, Monte
Markham, Eddie Durkin, Chris Anders, Norbert Siegfried, Jon Cedar,
George Margo, Jon Silo
In the same year as this Mission:
Impossible episode (1966) guest star Mary Ann Mobley appeared in an
episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Moonglow Affair, as April
Dancer. That episode served as the pilot for The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.
which would be recast with Stefanie Powers as April Dancer. The
scenes that feature Mary Ann Mobley performing on the trapeze were
actually performed by circus performer and occasional actress Sunny
Woods, who bore a striking resemblance to Mobley.
Dan is playing the calliope during
Crystals performance, at 9:36 there is a woman all dressed in red
playing the calliope, and 30 seconds later the shot shows Dan
playing. All of the people in both shots are in different positions.
There are also palm trees in the background. There are no palm trees
in Europe.
6.
Odds on Evil
October 22, 1966
"All women are dangerous, Your Highness."
- Cinnamon Carter
Prince Iben Kostas plans to use his money
to finance a war. Infiltrating his casino, the IMF team goes to work:
IMFer Andre (pretending to be Cinammon's husband) breaks the bank at
roulette thanks to a not-so-portable computer worn by Willie
underneath his tux. Andre then loses the money to Rollin as another
gambler. Kostas tries to get the money back by playing against Rollin
and cheating by using marked cards and tinted contact lens. However,
Rollin has a similar pair of lens and also deals bad hands to Kostas.
Finally Kostas antes up the 1.5 million in war funds, thinking he
can't lose. Rollins tricks him, and the team must make a desperate escape.
Director: Charles Rondeau, Writer: Allan
Balter / William Read Woodfield
Guest starring: Joe E. Tata, Lawrence
Montaigne, Vincent Van Lynn, Nico Minardos, Roger Til, Nehemiah
Persoff, Alex Bookston, Greg Benedict
Mission leader Dan Briggs (played by
Steven Hill), only appears in the opening and planning scenes of the
episode. He is absent for the rest of the show.
When Andre is playing roulette, Willy is
taken away by Kostas' aides. At that moment, Andre looks at his watch
and it is 1:10. Later, Willy returns, Andre looks at his watch, and
the time is around 12:00.
When Kostas is teaching Cinnamon how to
play Baccarat, he draws a card for her. As the card leaves the
holder, it flips up for a second and can clearly be seen to be a
seven of clubs. But, in closeup, when he flips the card over, it is a
seven of diamonds. In addition, Kostas says that he has a nine and a
four, making thirteen. However, in closeup, he has a queen and a
three, which would make thirteen in blackjack, but not in Baccarat
(face cards count for zero).
7.
Wheels
October 29, 1966
"Good afternoon, Mr. Briggs. A
critical election is about to take place in Valeria. Should the
police-controlled Nationalists win over the Liberty Party, the
country will become a terrorist dictatorship. We have information
that, to ensure their victory, the Nationalists have fixed the voting
machines in the key 12th District. Mr. Briggs, your mission, should
to decide to accept it, would be to unfix the election so that the
election will honestly reflect the vote of the people. The Secretary
instructs you that no citizen of Valeria may be employed. And as
always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, he
will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Please dispose of this
recording, as usual."
- voice on tape
In the country of Valeria, the IMF must
assure that the corrupt Nationalist party's rigged voting machine
doesn't give them the election.
Director: Tom Gries, Writer: Laurence Heath
Guest starring: Paul Bertoya, Mario
Badolati, George Sawaya, Tom Hernandez, Edmund Tontini, David Fresco,
Jonathan Kidd, Mark Lenard, Percy Rodriguez, Dianna Denning, Larry
Gelman, Roy Sickner, Jimmy Casino, Ernesto S. Cervera, Ray Martell
At the beginning of the episode, you see
Dan Briggs driving past the "Fehrle Lumber Co.". Philip D.
Fehrle was a production assistant / assistant to executive producer
on the series.
After Briggs has listened to the tape of
the mission briefing, he destroys the tape reel by throwing it into a
furnace as he passes in his car. As the camera pans to the furnace,
one can see the reel in the bottom of the frame as it misses its
target and bounces back off the floor.
8.
The Ransom
November 5, 1966
"Now we'll do it my way, Egan. You
wait for my call. And one last little thing. Anything happens to that
little girl - anything - and I'll finish you. No matter where you go,
no matter what you're doing, I'll find you and I'll kill you. And you
know I can do it."
- Daniel Briggs
Mobster Frank Egan kidnaps the daughter of
Dan's friend and uses her as a hostage to force Dan and the team to
break out a key witness, Augie Gorman, against him. After several
failed ploys, Barney manages to contaminate Gorman's water supply
inside the hotel safehouse where the police are keeping him. The team
has taken over the hospital room and use a rotating examination table
to switch Gorman for IMF member Steve (who resembles him). At the
exchange, Egan tries to double-cross Dan, but the IMF team leader has
a trick or two of his own to make sure things go smoothly and Gorman
gets what's coming to him.
Director: Harry Harris, Writer: Allan
Balter / William Read Woodfield
Guest starring: Don Marshall, Lin
McCarthy, William Smithers, Joe Mantell, Allan Joseph, Walter
Mathews, Cheryl Callaway, Michael Barrier, Vic Tayback, Jack Donner,
Eddie Paskey, Ted Jordan, Richard Mansfield, Chuck Courtney
This
episode marks the first use of the Craig Panorama Model 212 tape
recorder, which made many repeat appearances throughout the series.
It was cheap (retailing for under $25.00), durable and relatively
advanced for its time. It featured both built-in and remote
microphones and two tape speeds. Its use on Mission: Impossible made
it very popular, and it continues to be a collectors' item to this
day, largely fueled by M:I nostalgia.
9.
A Spool There Was
November 12, 1966
"This is the most beautiful mission
I've ever been on!"
- Cinnamon Carter
Rollin and Cinnamon go it alone to recover
a reel of recording wire containing information on a chemical warfare
project aimed at the U.S. The courier carrying it was killed by the
enemy, and the wire is missing. The two fake a lovers' reunion and
then Rollin slips out during a pre-recorded conversation. To
duplicate the circumstances of the courier's demise as closely as
possible, Rollin lets himself be discovered and then chased along the
same route. He finds the wire, hidden in plain sight as part of a
fence. He and Cinnamon plan to recover and smuggle out the wire the
same way, but it is taken by a young boy looking for fishing wire.
Rollin manages to recover it, and they send the wire out disguised as
the wire on a balloon.
Director: Bernard L. Kowalski, Writer:
Ellis Marcus
Guest starring: Richard Devon, Warren
Vanders, Curt Lowens, Michael Shea, Eric Lord, Lynn Wood, Todd
Martin, Horst Ebersberg, Ben Astar, Harry Basch, Gene LeBell
Near the end of the episode, Barbara Bain
drops a decoy camera on a bench in front of a building. It's the
courthouse from The Andy Griffith Show, which was also filmed on the
Desilu (formerly RKO) "forty acres" lot.
During the briefing segment, Cinnamon said
that the taped conversation is forty-five minutes long. The tape
recorder used is a Craig model 212, which had a maximum reel size of
five inches in diameter. It had two speeds, 1 7/8 inches per second
and 3 3/4 inches per second. The speed was changed by using a metal
sleeve that changed the diameter of the capstan. At the faster speed,
a full reel of tape lasted about fifteen minutes; at the slower speed
about thirty-five to forty minutes. In Cinnamon's hotel room, the
recorder can be clearly seen to be running with the larger, faster
capstan in place. At that speed, the tape would have run out with
half an hour left to fill.
10.
The Carriers
November 19, 1966
"We did get an agent in there once."
- Daniel Briggs
Enemy agent Janos Passik is preparing to
train 200 foreign agents to infiltrate the U.S. and engage in some
form of bacteriological warfare. The team figures out that Passik has
created a replica of a typical American town so as to train his
agents to learn how to blend into American society. Rollin, Cinnamon,
Barney, and bacteriologist Rogr Lee replace the new group of recruits
and must then find their way to the research lab. They soon realize
that the American-trained agents will be infected with a highly
contagious plague and then sent into American to kill millions. The
group must not only destroy the plague samples but make sure that
Passik and his superiors do not find out that the destruction was deliberate.
Director: Sherman Marks, Writer: Allan
Balter / William Read Woodfield
Guest starring: George Takei, Arthur Hill,
Phil Posner, Barry Cahill, Rick Traeger, Barry Russo, Rick Richards,
Josh Adams, Beatriz Monteil
11.
Zubrovnik's Ghost
November 26, 1966
"Rollin and Barney are sure that
you're as much of a fake as Poljac. For the sake of the mission, I
don't want them absolutely sure."
- Daniel Briggs
The wife of a deceased scientist, Kurt
Zubrovnik, is being pressured by Eastern forces to work for them.
They are using a phony psychic to convince the wife her dead husband
wants to defect! Accompanied by IMF ""psychic
consultant"" Ariana Domi, Rollin and Barney try to disrupt
the fraud and convince her to return to working for the U.S. The
psychic, Poljac, is torturing the husband for information to use to
convince his wife Poljac's powers are real. Ariana senses a real
ghost present. In the end, Rollin sets up a final seance and Barney
prepares to use a technological projection of Zubrovnik to decry
Poljac. However, a blackout causes his equipment to fail, and
Ariana's alleged powers, plus some ghostly phenomena, allow them to
complete their mission.
Director: Leonard Horn, Writer: Robert Lewin
Guest starring: Martine Bartlett, Donald
Davis, Beatrice Straight, Frank Obershall
In the opening shot, when Briggs steps off
the elevator, the display above the doors is the same one used in the
previous episode, "The Carriers".
Beatrice Straight, featured in this
episode, is also famous for playing a supernatural investigator in
the film Poltergeist.
When Dan places the disc into the audio
device in the opening scene you can see a brand name on the device.
Later in the scene there's a close-up of the device and the brand
name is taped over.
When the door opens after Rollin picks the
deadbolt into the lab, you see there is actually no deadbolt.
12.
Fakeout
December 3, 1966
"Let's just say it works."
- Daniel Briggs
Anastas Poltroni is the head of an
international narcotics syndicate, and has taken refuge in a country
with no extradition treaty. The IM Force is assigned to lure him out
without kidnapping him (to avoid the publicity). Cinnamon woos Carson
until Briggs, pretending to be her husband, interrupts. Carson
refuses to bribe Briggs, while Barney plants some of Carson's heroin
in his own hotel room and tip off the police. The IMF ambush Carson
and steal the heroin, and Carson later escapes. He grabs Cinnamon and
follows Briggs to a deserted lodge to retrieve his own heroin. The
police are hot on his trail, and he flees with Cinnamon still in his
grasp. Thanks to confusing road signs altered by Barney, Carson ends
up over the border where he is arrested and the heroin is taken into custody.
Director: Bernard L. Kowalski, Writer:
Leigh Chapman
Guest starring: Lloyd Bridges, Sid Haig,
Alberto Monte, Ken Renard, Richard Angarola, Kathleen O'Malley, Gary
Lasdun, Lee Delano, Dehl Berti, Mike Steele, Monte Mansfield, Eli
Behar, Dante Orgolini, Cal Brown
The three-way intersection that is
supposedly the international border area (where the IMF tricks
Anastas Poltroni into leaving the country) is actually one end of the
tunnel on Mt. Hollywood Drive just below Griffith Park Observatory in
Los Angeles.
After Anastas Poltroni avoids the spilled
milk churns in the final car chase, the road he is forced onto is the
same stretch of sandy road which was used in the chase sequence at
the end of the "Odds on Evil" episode.
When Briggs is on the roof for the
assignment message, he goes to a chimney flue to dispose of the tape.
There are flames coming out of the top. The only way this could
happen is if there was a dangerous fire in the flue, which would
cause the fire department to be called.
When Carson and Cinnamon are going to the
hideout, it's supposed to be at night. The headlights are on the cars
and when the scene goes to an obvious interior stage set, it's dark.
When Carson and Cinnamon escape from the hideout in a car, it's
daylight and there are blue skies. Yet back at the hideout when
Barney arouses Briggs, it's completely dark. Bob suggested that
perhaps this scene took place during an eclipse?
13.
Elena
December 10, 1966
"Señor Miller, how long have
you been selling laboratory equipment?"
- Elena Maria Del Barra
Double-agent Elena Del Barra is acting
bizarrely, sending a microfilm of defense secrets from her own
country. Rollin is sent into investigate, and return the microfilm
without its theft ever being detected. Complicating matters is that
an assassin, Callao, has been sent to kill her if Rollin can't figure
things out in two days. Rollin convinces her to meet with teammate
Dr. Enero, who hypnotizes her and learns she is suffering from a
post-hypnotic suggestion to denounce the President, her good friend.
With time running out, Rollin must return the microfilm, figure out
the traitor, and save Elena.
Director: Marc Daniels, Writer: Ellis Marcus
Guest starring: Barry Atwater, Barbara
Luna, Abraham Sofaer, Ben Hammer, Renzo Cesana, Ann Ayers, Valentin
de Vargas, Blaisdell Makee, Paul Kent
Technically, this is the only episode of
"Mission: Impossible" with no regular cast member involved
in the mission. Steven Hill appears at the beginning, but his
character, Daniel Briggs, excuses himself from participating because
the subject of investigation knows him. The only two agents directly
involved are Dr. Carlos Enero (Barry Atwater) and Rollin Hand (Martin
Landau). Atwater was not a regular player; and although Landau
appeared in nearly every episode of the first season, he was, for
contractual reasons, always billed as a guest star.
The dossier scene in this episode includes
close-ups of Briggs spliced from "Wheels". As a result, the
backboards of each dossier change color and pattern between shots.
When Briggs selects Rollin for the mission, the close-up of the
dossier has Rollin's headshot mounted on a yellow-orange backboard,
but in the next shot, Briggs is holding a magazine (it's Cinnamon's
dossier). Likewise, when Briggs selects Dr. Enero for the mission,
Enero's headshot is mounted on a blue backboard, but in the next
shot, the backboard is the yellow-orange of Rollin's dossier.
14.
The Short Tail Spy
December 17, 1966
"I assure you, young man, it gets
rather boring just to stand about waiting for someone to come to try
to assassinate you!"
- Professor Napolsky
A defector has been targeted by two rival
groups from the same foreign country. The team is to discredit the
younger group, so that the U.S. can more easily handle the old-line
group. The IMF sets it up so that the younger group's assassin,
Fetyukov, must seduce Cinnamon to get to the defector. The two play a
dangerous romantic game, while Dan convinces the older group's
assassin, Shtemenko, that Fetyukov betrayed him to the Americans.
They then get pictures of him trying to assassinate the defector, and
try to blackmail him to convince him further that Fetyukov is
responsible. Cinnamon saves Fetyukov and convinces him that she wants
to defect. As Fetyukov goes after the defector, it's up to Cinnamon
to stop him.
Director: Leonard Horn, Writer: Julian Barry
Guest starring: Albert Dekker, Eric
Braeden, Joseph Sirola, Edward Colmans, Joe Breen
This episode re-uses the movie theater
intro from "Old Man Out" for Briggs's briefing. The cutaway
shots reveal different pictures on the screen and the soundtrack
contains a different message on the tape recorder. In addition, the
dossier scene is taken from "Memory". This was done to
accommodate Steven Hill in a number of episodes,who refused to work
on certain religious holidays and the Sabbath.
The living room set from "Family
Affair" is utilized in this episode.
Untitled
15.
The Legacy
January 1, 1967
"Good morning, Mr. Briggs. Since late
1945, the Allied Command has been trying to track down Adolph
Hitler's personal fortune. Now it looks like we've finally gotten a
break. Four young men, sons of Hitler's most trusted officers, are
gathering in Zurich, Switzerland. We believe they have knowledge
which will lead them to the Hitler treasure. They plan to use it to
launch the Fourth Reich. We've been able to identify one of these
four heirs - Paul von Schneer. He'll be coming to Zurich from
Argentina. Dan, your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to
get that money, believed to be over $300,000,000, before they do. As
always, should you or any member of your IM Force be caught or
killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
Please dispose of this recording in the usual manner. Good luck, Dan."
- voice on tape
The IMF must get hold of a horde of Nazi
gold through four young men, sons of Hitler's top aides, who are sent
to Switzerland to meet for the first time and pool their parts of the
puzzle together. One of the men, the only one known to them, is
replaced by Rollin. Each has part of an account number, and the team
needs to hypnotize and trick the bank manager into giving them the
complete account number and then slip it to Rollin. The bank account
contains an envelope with a microdot, which when combined with a
slide in each man's pocket watch provides the location of the
treasure. After seeing the other men's slides, Rollin fakes the loss
of his watch, then he and the rest of the team head to the cemetary.
Two of the men figure out the puzzle from their pieces and follow. In
a gunfight Dan is wounded, but one of the men is killed and the other
runs off rather then face Rollin's wrath. The gold turns out to have
been made into a crypt, and is recovered.
Director: Michael O'Herlihy, Writer: Allan
Balter / William Read Woodfield
Guest starring: Donald Harron, Lee
Bergere, Bill Fletcher, Patrick Horgan, John Crawford, Claude
Woolman, Walter Friedel, Richard Peel
Most of the first four minutes of the
episode are spliced from earlier episodes. The mission briefing scene
is taken from "Wheels", down to the error of Dan missing
the furnace when he disposes of the recording. The team selection
scene, however, is taken from "Old Man Out." This was
frequently done in the first season to accommodate Steven Hill, who
was reluctant to work on the Sabbath.
Hitler's first name is misspelled as
"Adolph" on the "Mein Kampf" prop book used. The
correct spelling is "Adolf".
The astrological timetable the Nazis use -
Venus in Pisces, Sun in Gemini - is impossible. As one of the two
planets closer to the Sun than the Earth is, Venus is always within
two signs of the Sun; if the Sun is in Gemini, Venus must be in
Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, or Leo.
16.
The Reluctant Dragon
January 14, 1967
"In a pinch, Barney could order cold
cuts in Swahili."
- Rollin Hand
Dr. Cherlotov, a scientist of an enemy
power, failed to defect to the West when his wife did. Now that he
has developed a cheap, effective anti-ballistic system, the IMF are
ordered to get him out. Unfortunately, they find out that Cherlotov
doesn't wasn't to defect: he merely wants to convince his superiors
he is loyal and live out his life. The IMF smuggle in his wife Karen.
Meanwhile, Rollin convinces Cherlotov's watcher and the security
commissioner, Jankowski, to put Cherlotov under jail for suspicion.
When Cherlotov realizes what his country does to other dissidents he
agrees to defect, but Jankowski sees through Rollin's cover and tries
to arrest them all.
Director: Leonard Horn, Writer: Chester Krumholz
Guest starring: Joseph Campanella, John
Colicos, Michael Forest, Mala Powers, Elsa Ingram, Alex Rodine,
Norbert Schiller, Norbert Meisel, Allen Bleiweiss, Robert Boon, Felix
Locher, Howard Curtis, Chuck Couch, Fred Carson, Maria Schroeder
Although Cinnamon does not take part in
the mission, when Briggs is selecting the team, her dossier is
visible for a split-second before Briggs tosses Barney's dossier on top.
Just before a commercial break, the image
freezes on Martin Landau grabbing onto a chain-link fence. After the
break, Landau's stunt double is in his place. The image is still
frozen, giving us a clear view of the double's face.
17.
The Frame
January 21, 1967
"No, no, don't let her out, Vito.
It's a frame! Don't let her go."
- Jack Wellman
Gangster Jack Wellman is moving syndicated
crime into politics, killing off certain politicians and replacing
them with men more sympathetic to the Syndicate. The team goes in as
caterers. Cinnamon sneaks into Wellman's room, blows a hole in the
wall, and inserts a fake safe. Meanwhile, Barney and Willy break into
the real vault from the rear and steal the 4 million in profits that
Wellman has tucked away, and which he is to split with his fellow
mobsters at a dinner that night. They open the real vault and
discover the money missing. Going upstairs, they find Cinnamon who
claims to be Wellman's girlfriend, tells him she knew it wouldn't
work, and reveals the fake safe. As Cinnamon and the rest of the team
depart, the other mobsters tell Wellman to open the safe or they'll
kill him, and don't believe his desperate pleas that he's never seen
that safe before in his life.
Director: Allen H. Miner, Writer: Allan
Balter / William Read Woodfield
Guest starring: Simon Oakland, Arthur
Batanides, Joe Maross, Joe De Santis, Mort Mills
Before Briggs begins to look at the
agent's photos, the reflection of the boom mic can be seen in the
glass door when he is walking in living room.
18.
The Trial
January 28, 1967
"Good morning, Mr. Briggs. Joseph
Varsh, Public Prosecutor and head of his country's Secret Police, is
one of the most dangerous men in eastern Europe. He heads a political
faction which wants to heat up the Cold War. The opposition to him
who wants to co-exist is led by Anton Kudnov, a Deputy Premiere.
Varsh now plans to stir up feelings against the United States by
arresting and charging an innocent American with a crime and staging
a sham trial for the world. He plans to use this to gain absolute
power for himself. If Varsh succeeds, not only will the victim lose
his freedom, and possibly his life, but the international peace will
be threatened. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to
stop Varsh and so discredit him that he will never again be a
political threat. Should you or any of your IM Force be caught or
killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
This recording will decompose in five seconds. Good luck, Dan."
- voice on tape
Josef Varsh plans to put an American on
trial on false charges, discredit the West, and gain power. Rollin,
disguised as Dan, meets with a woman who sold out her
boyfriend/Western spy. Meanwhile, Briggs himself is with the Deputy
Minister, a rival of Varsh's and a reformer. Rollin-as-Briggs leaves
behind evidence implicating himself, and Varsh has the real Briggs
arrested. Kudnov, who knows Dan is innocent, insists that Varsh let
Briggs go, so Varsh orders him killed. The IMF team makes the Deputy
Minister vanish - now they have to get the Deputy Minister and the
girlfriend into court to testify and make Varsh look foolish. The
trial sequences were shot on the Perry Mason court set.
Director: Lewis Allen, Writer: Laurence Heath
Guest starring: Carroll O'Connor, David
Opatoshu, Michael Strong, Gail Kobe, Don Keefer, Ivan Triesault, Paul
Lukather, Chuck Couch
The trial sequences were shot on the Perry
Mason court set, marking the second time it appeared in colour.
19.
The Diamond
February 2, 1967
"Can't tell this one from the fake."
- Willy Armitage
Henrik Durvard has taken over the country
of Lombounda by military coup, and holds the natives in terror. He
has obtained a diamond from the native miners, and the IMF are
assigned to take it away from him. In London to auction the diamond,
Durvard is approached by the team who offer to top all bids if they
get exclusive rights to diamond production in Lombounda. Since
Lombounda is not known for its diamond production, Durvard is
suspicious. Eventually the team lets him figure out that they have a
plan to use his country as a blind to distribute artificial diamonds
that they claim they can manufacture. Durvard insists on being part
of the scam, and forces the team to make a diamond from him using a
piece off of the original stone. They do so, but when it comes time
to fake the real diamond, the machine apparently overloads from the
strain. The team slips the diamond out of the machine and leaves, as
Durvard and the machine blow up.
Director: Robert Douglas, Writer: Allan
Balter / William Read Woodfield
Guest starring: John van Dreelen, Harry
Davis, Woodrow Parfrey, Peter Bourne, Ivor Barry, Gil Stuard, Jason Johnson
As Cinnamon and Prime Minister Durvard
travel in the Rolls Royce, supposedly through the streets of London,
they are driving on the right side of the road. In England, they
drive on the left. The road markings are noticeably not found on UK
roads and, as they pass through a junction, there's a bright red
'Don't Walk' US pedestrian crossing sign clearly visible.
In the London hotel room as Barney and
Willy prepare to swap the real diamond for the fake, Barney unscrews
a US style power socket from the wall, totally unlike ones used in
the UK even in the 1960's!
20.
The Legend
February 11, 1967
"I heard nothing. No... It was nothing."
- Cinnamon Carter
An imprisoned member of the Nazi party,
Herbert Raynor, is released from prison and is being flown (along
with his daughter) to Puerto Huberra in South America, along with
other Nazis. All of them are being flown there by an unknown
benefactor. Briggs and Cinnamon take the Raynors' place.They and the
others are introduced to Martin Bormann, now a bedridden invalid.
Borman's secretary, Rudd, informs them that Bormann will lead the
Third Reich to new glories. Dan ducks a murder attempt, breaks into
Bormann's room, and finds that he is a mannequin with a voice
provided by Rudd. Rudd has recorded tapes duplicating Bormann's
voice, and the last tape will turn leadership of the party over to
him. To stymie Rudd, Rollin dresses up as Bormann and is suddenly not
so bedridden. Of course, Rudd knows Rollin is an imposter but can't
reveal it without exposing his own ploy. Bormann gives orders that
eliminate Rudd once and for all and end the threat posed by the Nazis.
Director: Richard Benedict, Writer: Mann Rubin
Guest starring: Gunnar Hellstrom, Gene
Roth, Ben Wright, Paul Genge, Larry Black, Lou Robb
When this episode first aired, the
ultimate fate of Martin Bormann was not known. Although he had been
tried in absentia and sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Trials in
1946, he was rumored to still be alive. It wasn't until 1972, over
five years after this episode aired, that German construction workers
found what was believed to be his body in West Berlin, where it was
thought he had been killed trying to escape Berlin in the closing
days of the war. It wasn't until 1998 that a conclusive DNA match was made.
Willy Armitage doesn't work on this
mission; however his picture is in Dan's stack of selected agents.
Look closely when Dan tosses down Barney Collier's page, Willy's is
clearly visible on the pile.
In the entrance hall, the Nazi Swastika on
the flag is backwards. It is a left facing symbol when it should be a
right facing symbol.
Despite giving the Nazis fairly credible
German Accents, pronunciation for the cities Berlin, Frankfurt,
Stutttgart, Hamburg and Munich are anglicized.
21.
Snowball in Hell
February 18, 1967
"Pick a direction, any direction."
- Daniel Briggs
A former prison guard, Sefra, has got hold
of a supply of cesium 138, which explodes at temperatures above 70
degrees. Sefra plans to sell the sample and the formula from the
closed-down prison base where he once worked. Rollin and Barney go in
as a photographer and model respectively, and Sefra learns that
Barney is a former prisoner returning for revenge. The team fakes a
generator break down while Sefra beats Barney, and the cesium starts
to heat up. Sefra has it taken to a nearby hospital refrigerator,
where the IMF makes the switch. When Sefra discovers the missing jar,
he forces Barney to show him the escape route which he supposedly
used to escape. As Sefra makes his own escape, the IMF send the
cesium sample toward him on a remote-controlled mini-tank, and it
blows up, killing Sefra and making sure no one gets the formula or
the sample.
Director: Lee H. Katzin, Writer: Judith
Barrows / Robert Guy Barrows
Guest starring: Ricardo Montalban, Warren
J. Kemmerling, Steven Marlo, Emile Genest, John Garwood
This was the first episode to use colour
head shots of Barney Collier and Willie Armitage in the I.M.F.
dossier. This episode also marks one of the few times where the MI
team directly kills someone. In most episodes they either manipulate
the bad guys into killing each other or have them arrested by the authorities.
22.
The Confession
February 25, 1967
"How are the ratings?"
- Rollin Hand
Andreas Solowiechek, a member of a
Communist trade delegation, is arrested after assassinating a U.S.
Senator, Townsend. Townsend's backer, McMillan, is rallying his
supporters for the U.S. to break off all trade talks with the
Russians. It is believed Solowiechek wasn't working on the orders of
his government, so the IMF team have to break him. Rollin becomes the
assassin's cellmate, and arranges to be handcuffed to him. Rollin
then fakes an escape, and threatens to kill Solowiechek. The assassin
promises that his backer can Rollin money. Meanwhile, Dan has
pretended to be an artist and got into McMillan's house, leaving a
camera behind hidden in his art box. Rollin and Solowiechek confront
McMillan, and the latter admits that he arranged for Townsend to be
killed so as to become a martyr to his cause, unaware that his words
are being transmitted on national TV.
Director: Herschel Daugherty, Writer:
Allan Balter / William Read Woodfield
Guest starring: Pat Hingle, David Sheiner,
Kent Smith, James Gavin, Biff Elliott, Robert B. Williams
Another one of the episodes where Briggs
pile of IM Force member photos changes. When tossing Rollin's photo
onto the "active" file, a photo of Joseph Baresh, memory
expert, is covered. Baresh was a character from episode 2, The
Butcher of the Balkans. Also, in the final long shot, Rollin's photo
was not on top of the pile and the discard pile was different.
23.
Action!
March 4, 1967
"Excellent! Excellent! You died beautifully!"
- Miklos Klaar
Miklos Klaar, an Iron Curtain filmmaker,
has film of American soldiers and plans to edit it into an atrocity
movie to discredit the U.S. He has recreated the jungle as a set from
the one print of the film he has. Disguised as a Ministry of
Propaganda officer, Rollin destroys the print and Barney floods the
negative vault, forcing Klaar to reshoot the American footage as
well. Cameraman and IMFer David Day is snuck in and films Klaar
recreating the American footage. On the day the press is assembled,
David and Willy manage to bypass Klaar's guards and air the footage
of Klaar rehearsing his cast and crew and congratulating themselves
on the phony massacre.
Director: Leonard Horn, Writer: Robert Lewin
Guest starring: Tom Troupe, J.D. Cannon,
Julian Burton, Eric Feldary, Arline Anderson, Alfred Shelly, Helen
Boll, Harold Dyrenforth, Fred Villani, Peter Tenen, Mark de Vries,
Jerry Sommers, Marilyn Moe
This episode is the only first season
episode in which Steven Hill does not appear as IMF leader Dan
Briggs. In real life, Hill had been temporarily suspended from the
series. As a result, Barbara Bain, as Cinnamon Carter, receives the
taped briefing at the beginning of this episode - the only occasion
in the entire series when someone other than team leader Dan Briggs
or the later Jim Phelps received the briefing. And, although Cinnamon
receives the assignment and Rollin leads the mission, both their
pictures are included among the chosen agents, indicating neither was
responsible for selecting who's needed for the mission.
When Barney reconnects the water line
feeding the sprinkler in the film vault, he hand-tightens the union
clockwise. Then he uses a pipe wrench to tighten it fully, but
counter-clockwise. This would loosen, not tighten, the union.
24.
The Train
March 18, 1967
"Doctor, I want you to tell me
honestly, what are his chances?"
- Deputy Premier Milos Pavel
Prime Minister Larya of Svardia is working
to establish democracy, but is unaware that his personal protege,
Deputy Premier Pavel, plans to set up a dictatorship. The team must
persuade Larya of Pavel's plans. The IMF fakes a train ride for
Larya, Pavel, and Pavel's aide Androv. They then fake a crash, put
Androv and Pavel in a fake hospital, and tell them that Larya is
dead. They immediately begin plans to eliminate anymemory of Larya
and start arresting dissidents. Then the hospital wall slides away to
reveal that Larya has heard the whole thing, and dismisses them both.
Director: Ralph Senensky, Writer: Allan
Balter / William Read Woodfield
Guest starring: Kris Tel, Ray Baxter,
Booth Colman, Richard Bull, Noah Keen, William Schallert, Rhys
Williams, William Windom, Paul Prokop, Don Sherman
The locomotives used are General Motors
SW-1500 diesel switcher units. The diesel locomotive coupled to the
passenger cars at the opening is likely an EMD E8 or E9 passenger
road locomotive. The locomotive and the cars bear the colors of the
Union pacific railroad.
Upon arriving at the train yard, Rollin
says that the overnight express will be leaving just before dark, at
5:32. Later, when the train actually does depart, the light is
clearly that of midday, and subsequent scenes (including those in the
projections) remain midday until the train has been moving for quite
some time. Also, Barney's wristwatch shows approximately 3:20 while
he works the fake train effects.
25.
Shock
March 25, 1967
"Good evening, Mr. Briggs. This is
Carl Wilson, a special U.S. Envoy, who is about to succeed in
effecting a vital exchange agreement between our country and a
neutral country important to the United States. Peter Kiri, a
notorious enemy agent, has kidnapped Wilson and replaced him with an
impostor. Kiri's purpose must be to discredit Wilson and prevent the
exchange agreement from being ratified. Wilson is still alive and
being held prisoner, so any move against the impostor would bring
about Wilson's immediate death. Your mission, should you decide to
accept it, is to save Wilson and put Kiri out of action. As always,
should you or any member of your IM Force be caught or killed, the
Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This recording
will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Dan."
- voice on tape
Enemy operative Kiri has kidnapped U.S.
envoy Carl Wilson and has an imposter, Gort, who is impersonating him
to discredit a U.S. trade agreement. The team have to rescue Wilson
and foil the impersonation before Kiri kills Wilson. Cinnamon
impersonates Wilson's niece while Willy kidnaps Gort and
Briggs-as-Wilson takes Gort's place, pretending to be Gort. The team
put Gort in an asylum and give him electro-shock to scramble his
memories, then claim he is is a delusional accountant. Under the
threat of more electro-shock, Gort tells them the full details of his
delusion: that he's to kill an American official and leave Wilson to
take the blame. Barney and Willy replace the unconscious Wilson at
the reception with a drugged Gort set to look like a suicide, then
Briggs-as-Gort-as-Wilson takes a shot at the official. Briggs returns
and reveals that Wilson is actually Gort, who was in Keri's employ.
Director: Lee H. Katzin, Writer: Laurence Heath
Guest starring: James Daly, Sorrell Booke,
Stanley Waxman, Vic Perrin, Patrick Michenaud, Gerald Michenaud, Mike
Kopcha, Donald Ein
When Cinnamon arrives at the gate for the
party, it's supposed to be at night. However over the guards shoulder
is light blue sky.
26.
A Cube of Sugar
April 1, 1967
"Good morning, Mr. Briggs. The man
you are looking at is Vincent Dean, a jazz musician who is also one
of our best agents. While on a concert tour behind the Iron Curtain,
Dean came into possession of a computer microcircuit and its code,
which will tell us their entire second strike potential. Dean has
memorized the code, but before he could reach his contact point, he
was caught. Senko Brobin, director of counterintelligence for all
Eastern Europe, so far has not been able to break Dean or find the
microcircuit. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to get
Dean and the microcircuit out before he breaks. As always, should you
or any member of your IM Force be caught or killed, the Secretary
will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will
self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Dan."
- voice on tape
Vincent Deane is a jazz musician and
undercover U.S. intelligence operative who has memorized the plans to
a microcircuit code but was then captured and imprisoned. The IMF
must get him out. Deane's interrogator, Brobin, has hooked Deane on
drugs to try and break him using the withdrawl symptoms, unaware that
the chip is concealed among some sugar cubes Deane had. Pretending to
be Deane's wife, Cinnamon implicates Rollin as the real enemy agent.
Brobin has Rollin captured and imprisoned,but Rollin manages to
escape and tamper with Deane's drugs so that he goes into a coma.
Briggs pretends to be a U.S. representative demanding Deane's body,
so Brobin has it cremated to prevent a revealing autopsy. Barney and
Willy switch out the dead Deane. Rollin then agrees to tell Brobin
where the microcircuit is, knocks out the interrogator, and with the
aid of two masks makes his escape.
Director: Joseph Pevney, Writer: Allan
Balter / William Read Woodfield
Guest starring: Francis Lederer, Jacques
Denbeaux, Lou Robb, Max Kleven, Joyce Easton, Kurt Kreuger, Eric
Forst, Ivan Ivarson, Rico Cattani, Jill Gordon, Sharon Garrett
27.
The Traitor
April 15, 1967
"No classified material is taken from
this room."
- Ambassador Brazneck
An American intelligence officer, Hughes,
has defected to the enemy with the only copy of an encoded top-secret
message. The IMF must get to him, get him out, discredit him, and
recover the message before the enemy can get a cryptographer, Belson,
to work on the message. Rollin takes Belson's place, and sets it up
so that Ambassador Brazneck, in charge of Hughes, believes that Dan
is going to buy the papers from someone in the embassy.
Rollin-as-Belson works with Hughes to decode the message, then drugs
him. Willy gets special agent Tina Mera, a contortionist and acrobat,
into the embassy through a fake air duct. She uses a fake bed
covering to make Hughes disappear, then break into the vault and get
the real message. With Hughes out, Briggs picks up the fake message
from someone pretending to be Hughes, who has disappeared from the
embassy. Tina returns, plants money on Hughes, and removes the fake
disappearing bed cover. Brazneck believes Hughes has betrayed him and
Hughes flees.
Director: Lee H. Katzin, Writer: Edward J. Lakso
Guest starring: Eartha Kitt, Malachi
Throne, Lonny Chapman, Frank Marth, Paul Sorenson, Socrates Ballis,
Ed McCready, Walter Alzmann, Buzz Henry, Michael Rye
28.
The Psychic
April 22, 1967
"Good morning, Mr. Briggs. The man
you are looking at is Alex Lowell, a promoter of several large
investment trusts. A few weeks ago, Lowell's trusts gained control of
a majority shares in Sud-Aero, a foreign company which manufactures
some of NATO's secret defense hardware. He transferred the stock into
his own name, then left for South America, out of our reach. We
believe he intends to put Sud-Aero's secret patents up for sale to
the highest bidder. An agent for an unfriendly country, Jan Vornitz,
is likely the most interested customer. Your mission, should you
decide to accept it, is to stop Lowell before he sells the patents
and make sure he doesn't remain in control of the company. As always,
should you or any member of your IM Force be caught or killed, the
Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This record
will self-destruct five seconds after the speaker has been replaced.
Good luck, Dan."
- voice on tape
An investment promoter, Alex Lowell,
gained control of manufacturer of NATO top-secret defense hardware
and absconded to South America to sell them to an enemy powers. The
IMF needs to recover the stock documents worth $80 mil. Cinnamon gets
close to Lowell as a psychic who manages to prove herself accurate
with her predictions thanks to IMF assistance. She then predicts that
Rollin (as a gangster) will play against him, try to cheat, and lose.
Lowell finds the fake cards that the IMF has planted. He goes through
with the game, intending on cheating Rollin. He succeeds, but as
Rollin is tossed out he secretly switches the stock documents with
phonies thanks to a automated feeder arm, leaving Lowell with nothing
but an unendorsed check for $80 milliion.
Director: Charles Rondeau, Writer: Allan
Balter / William Read Woodfield
Guest starring: Barry Sullivan, Milton
Selzer, Richard Anderson, Paul Mantee, Michael Pataki, Rita D'Amico,
Eric Mason, Shep Sanders, Jay Ose
The marquee of the drive-in movie theatre
that Briggs drives under in the opening shot says: Geller and Solow
"Spend the Money". A reference to the executive producers
of the show. This was Steven Hill's final appearance as Dan Briggs.
This
episode marks the first use of the Craig Panorama Model 212 tape
recorder, which made many repeat appearances throughout the series.
It was cheap (retailing for under $25.00), durable and relatively
advanced for its time. It featured both built-in and remote
microphones and two tape speeds. Its use on Mission: Impossible made
it very popular, and it continues to be a collectors' item to this
day, largely fueled by M:I nostalgia.
