"Mannix" Shadow of a Man (TV Episode 1969) Poster

(TV Series)

(1969)

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7/10
Odd.
planktonrules23 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers
"Shadow of a Man" is a good episode of "Mannix" but its plot is odd. Not dumb or bad....just odd. Really, really odd. It begins with a man (William Windom) attacking Mannix with a gun. When Mannix manages to catch the guy, the man convinces Mannix that he's having an episode of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (though the term had not yet been coined). Apparently, he had a bad case of it following a terrible war injury involving a metal plate! However, slowly Mannix starts to realize that the man MIGHT be faking--and there is a particular reason he is trying to kill a stranger, as he and Mannix had never met. Somehow, all this relates to some robbery and murder many years before--but the plot is too involved and strange to say more--especially as it would probably spoil the plot.

I liked the show. The plot was pretty creative and interesting. It was odd, however, how Mannix, for once, didn't suspect the woman or take precautions against her. Usually, Mannix has been very distrustful of 'dames' on this show.
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9/10
Enjoyable episode
Guad4217 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
As the first reviewer said, a bit odd but good. William Windom takes a shot at Mannix for no apparent reason. Mannix catches him and gets a story that the guy is a businessman and doesn't know why he shot at Mannix. Joe takes him home to his wife (Antoinette Bower) and does some investigating the next day. His almost assassin was in the Korea War and suffers from the experience. The guy goes crazy again and the police come to his very nice home. He dies after being shot in the back. (Short screen time for Windom) Joe ends up looking into an old crime and eventually, with the help of a Korean girl, he solves the case. Good performances all around. Larry Linville's character is much more likeable here than in two earlier appearances. The two villains are easy to figure out based on who is left more than anything else. One villain's repentance is a little unbelievable. The safecracker has a nice scene. Peggy uses the term "Dog in a manger". I never heard it before but it is a real saying. One thing I hate that all these shows do is put a silencer on a revolver. Silencers don't work on revolvers! In this show you don't see it but they refer to a police 38 with a silencer. The end has a very convenient wild shot that solves one of the problems. A little hard to believe. Joe should have remembered two police axioms. Look at the spouse first and Who benefits. Minor complaint - when Joe checks the wife's body, it is clearly not Antoinette lying there. I really like the young Korean woman. Joe should have teamed with her in other cases.
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8/10
Plot twist episode that nothing is as it seems!
blanbrn14 May 2022
"Shadow of a Man" episode 16 from season two of "Mannix" which first aired Jan. 25, 1969 is a good episode that slowly yet surely builds up with tense drama. The episode begins with Mannix getting shot at, and it appears to be by an ex wounded Korean war veteran. Soon things are revealed that this guy may have been killed many years ago, things come into play more when business dealings and a guy that Mannix knows resurfaces in the picture. Also a young Korean woman named Joy sheds light on the past, the episode is exciting with some action and thrills as Joy has a damsel in distress scene as she's kidnapped and tied up and gagged before Mannix saves the day. Overall well done early episode of the series that's drama filled and it twist with a revealing plot.
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9/10
LOOK OUT FOR THE BROKEN MIRRORS!
tcchelsey10 February 2023
The Korean War would surface many times on MANNIX, and Joe himself was a war vet, perhaps the most sane of the bunch. Here, an ex-wounded veteran (well played by William Windom) is out to kill Joe. Maybe, yes. Maybe, no? There's a strange connection to all this for Mannix, and again you have to watch carefully as other characters come into play. This episode shed some light on post traumatic syndrome suffered by vets, and good for the writers. For years, especially in movies, PTS was referred to as "shell shock", and it was a small umbrella to cover so many different cases.

Steven Kandel wrote this one, and many others for the series, later writing for CANNON and HARRY O. Hats off to William Windom, who was everywhere on tv back in the day, and could play a kindly father or a villain with ease, also good with dialects.

Antoinette Bower plays Barbara, a terrific actress and quite popular on cop shows. Look for veterans George Chandler as Hotchkiss and Myron Healey

Note the warehouse chase scene, part of Paramount's prop and furniture warehouse, a familar spot for Mannix versus goons with guns. And can you spot some of the old furniture pieces from classic films? Some even have tags to note which films they were in.

I agree with the notes. Director Sutton Roley, who did 16 episodes for the show, uses the same mirror a few times in the shooting scene. Lots of broken glass! Watch carefully, which again shows how tight the budget was at Paramount. If you're an old movie buff, this had to be inspired by Orson Welles LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1948). Watch for it.

Great late night adventure. SEASON 2 EPISODE 16 remastered CBS dvd box set.
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9/10
Finally, Peggy's Back!
miketypeeach27 March 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Some episodes leading up to this one seemed to be rewrites of Intertect scripts which were scrapped when Lucille Ball changed the format of the series. They're okay, but would've been better, in my opinion, if Peggy was put to work digging up clues at the office which Joe needed while in the field. Anyway, her intuition was correct, but ignored by Joe. When will he learn?

A bit of a spoiler here: if you're going to kidnap someone, be sure to puncture the tires of your enemy's car as well as cut the cord of his mobile radio phone. Perhaps the kidnapper didn't do it, but his partner did while riding along on the chase? Maybe, but whoever did what, the goal seemed to be getting Joe away from everyone in order to do him in, which would explain why Joe's car wasn't sufficiently disabled. After all, it's better to be involved enough to have a plausible story to tell the police.. you know, playing it up as though you're the victim. A bit chancy, that, but hey, criminal masterminds have a way of living on the edge. Also, where else to get a spare police uniform than where they ended up: perhaps where the diabolical scheme was hatched? This is an episode where the dots connect in the brain after the final credits have rolled. Good writing will do that.

At least Joe was right about who called the cops on the first victim. It would take awhile for Joe to find out why. Nevertheless, for guaranteed one-hour results, Joe never disappoints.
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