User Reviews

This is one of my favorite episodes just for the intricate plot and the great acting of Pernell Roberts. As others have written, why not just tunnel into the vault and get the gold? Too easy. This is a series that had complicated methods of mission accomplishment. One show depended on a trained cat! Timing is critical and the bad guys have to act as predicted. It works out, as always. Pernell Roberts makes a great banana republic commando who is smart but let's his greed do his thinking for him. The always watchable Skip Homier is there to administer justice at the end. I wonder what his character thought when he found out the gold was not being held at the sentry gate and had vanished. Martin Landau is a great actor who justly won an Oscar later in his career. I think he is underappreciated in this series and there was a drop off when he and then wife Barbara Bain departed. He does well here as a former soldier with a secret. Cinnamon is her usual seductive self. Phelps is the "offended husband" and, as always, Barney and Willie do the dirty work and heavy lifting. Since Cinnamon Carter is shown as the "model of the year" on magazine covers when she is selected for various missions at the beginning of the show, why is it nobody ever recognizes her when she is undercover? A good episode well worth the time.

Colonel Krim (Pernell Roberts) is not only a mercenary, but he's corrupt and evil...even compared to most mercenaries! So, the plan is to discredit him so that his own soldiers kill this butt-head. To do it, they have Barney create a machine to burrow into the mercenary treasury and melt their gold. They then take the liquefied gold out of the vault and make it into new gold bars. Why would they go to all this trouble? To create a treasure for Krim to steal and hide from his men. However, he doesn't realize he's stealing his army's funds--and when they find out about them, they sure WON'T be pleased and they'll think he knew what he was doing.

This one features a lot of gadgetry and an intricate plot. Fortunately, it also features few of the loose ends or conundrums that sometimes mar these episodes--well, aside from the impossible to construct gold-melting machine! Well done and worth seeing.

No question, the kind of over the top secret mission all us fans loved, and what made M. I. unforgettable. Definitely creative writing to the next level. 10 Stars.

Pernell Roberts, in a signature bad guy role, plays ruthless Colonel Krem, a commando headquarted in Central Africa who is undone by shear greed. Krem is one smart cookie, but his stealing and stashing of gold, both from friend and foe alike, neccessitates a visit from the equally clever M. I. team -- and what a fakeout this is. This will keep you entertained.

As the last reviewer noted, yes, timing is of the essence, and the force has to separate Krem from his treasured gold supply. You have to love this. According to production notes, the elaborate gold melting scene was done with ice cream bars! Amazing, and it does make sense to get a realistic effect in an artistic sort of way. True, there is a stretch of poetic license ALSO at work; the extreme temps in the vault would have surely melted the walls ... but whose keeping score? Another win for Barney and Willy behind the scenes.

An excellent supporting cast with two dependables, Skip Homeier as the major and Vic Tayback as Sergeant Gorte. Tayback played some memorable heavies for years before moving into comedy. Without fail, some great work by the team, especially Rolin, the master of characterizations. Martin Landau always fascinating to watch, and with a wry smile.

Applause for director Paul Krasny, who headed many classic episodes, also directing MANNIX at the same time. Krasny was one of the best with adventures like this.

Best of SEASON 3 EPISODE 4. Remastered CBS/Paramount color dvd box set. 7 dvds. Released 2007. Catch the classic picture of Peter Graves on the box cover.