User Reviews

Johnny is a 12 year-old boy. He notices an ambulance at an abandoned building and looks inside. Inside is a very sick man being held prisoner...and when his captors see the boy, they shoot at him. Johnny runs to his sister's job and tells her...and she immediately refuses to believe him. Cannon is there and is inclined to agree...but investigates the location and finds a bullet embedded in the wall. The kid was not lying....so Cannon goes to the police...who assume the boy is lying! What's next?

This is a decent episode. While I usually hate episodes involving kids, this one wasn't bad and the boy was not irritating. The plot also had a nice twist towards the end. Worth your time.

If you're thinking MANNIX here, you're in familiar territory. Cannon, like Joe Mannix, also had very young clients, this time a 12 year old boy called Johnny. He's played by Kirby Furlong, and he's quite good. Kirby gained fame as young Patrick in MAME, starring Lucille Ball, about a year earlier. Lucy had nothing but praise for him, and was a big boost to his career.

Johnny is fit to be tied, a witness to some strange doings (by Arabs?) in an abandoned building. When Cannon steps in, of course Johnny's story is "questionable".... leaving him to piece everything together, which is fun to watch. Cannon and Johnny make a good team, sort of like a father and son take-off, which adds an altogether different slant to this kidnapping story.

This was the only episode written by Albert Aley, long associated with tv westerns (CIMARRON STRIP, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, RAWHIDE), many that William Conrad directed at Warner Brothers/ABC TV. Aley was also story editor for IRONSIDE. One of the great tv writers.

The supporting cast is excellent; Fritz Weaver returning to the series (playing Piermont), rugged Charles Drake as a doctor and Norman Fell as the doubting cop. Ever since Fell appeared in BULLIT, starring Steve McQueen, he played lots of detectives, and had it not been for THREES COMPANY (as kooky Mr. Roper), he probably would have played even more cops. His career was quite similar to that of Leslie Neilson, who also made a successful transition to comedy. Only difference is Leslie played more villains than cops.

Pretty Tannis Montgomery has an early role as Furlong's sister, Ruth. She was in the famous serial killer movie THE TODD KILLINGS a few years earlier. Her sister is actress Belinda Montgomery.

Yes... Watch Cannon play HOPSCOTCH. It's so memorable. I don't think you'd ever see Mannix or Kojak do this, although Columbo possibly! This had to be a last minute gag thrown in for fun, and for Christmas. Definitely. Again thanks to series director William Wiard who just let the camera roll and see what happens.

I'll bet Kirby Furlong had a blast working on this show, and with all these fun people.

SEASON 5 EPISODE 16 remastered color CBS/Paramount dvd box set. Special 7 dvd set. Released 2016.