10 PLUS STARS.
"The Star" episode is not to be missed, if for old Hollywood sake. Producer Quinn Martin always had invitations out to some big names, also William Conrad, who worked with many stars in his days at Warner Brothers/ABC and Columbia Pictures. I am sure he tried to get Bette Davis on the show, although she did not do cop shows.
That all said, Oscar winner and nominee Joan Fontaine agreed to do an episode, and a two part story which is oustanding. She plays retired film legend Thelma Cain who hires Cannon to find her son who just returned home and then disappears again. As Cannon digs deeper into the case... he turns up some dirty stuff on the guy and Joan slaps him across the mug for doing too "thorough" a job.
This must have been a bizarre scene to prepare for. Suspicion switches to the "Star" herself and what her involvement is in this case. Like MANNIX, clients do not always tell the truth and Frank Cannon meets some nasty guys.
Best gag has Cannon driving into a moving van --then plows out in reverse. Menacing John Vernon returns, one of the most "requested" baddies in the biz, and with that distinctive Shakespearean voice. The supporting cast is filled with some familiar faces, such as David Hedison, who appeared earlier in this series in the famous episode with Jamie Smith Jackson. See how many popular movie and tv actors you can spot here. There's a bunch.
Joan Fontaine (who was not a tv regular) may have a been a fan of the series as it shows. In the final scene everybody is just having a good time, and Cannon (or Bill Conrad) gets an autograph, and he's blushing. I think director William Wiard just let the camera roll. For fans and collectors, there are many photos of this classic episode.
By the way, the movie star mansion is the old Max Busch house in Pasadena, once owned by the Anheiser-Busch beer family. A great trivia question?
Thank you for the memories. SEASON 5 EPISODE 14 CBS dvd box set.