User Reviews

"The Seal" is one of those Mission:Impossible episodes that I remembered for years afterward. Why? Because of the outrageous story involving a cat named Rusty who helps to retrieve the national treasure (a jade seal) of an Asian country. An arrogant rich American industrialist, superbly played by Darren McGavin, purchased the treasure and won't return it even though he knows that it's been stolen. The treasure is locked up in his penthouse secured with an electrified door, pressure sensitive floor, and sonic detector. That's where Rusty the cat comes in. Never mind that there must be easier ways to steal the jade seal, you'll laugh as the cat has an encounter with a tank of fish that almost spoils the whole operation. Old computers using punch cards also figure in the plot. Martin Landau plays an Asian with supposedly supernatural powers - of course he doesn't look Asian (I'm glad they didn't use much makeup in an effort to do so), but does a decent job as usual.

Whom ever trained Rusty the cat deserves some kind of an award - he does make it look like he understands verbal commands from Barney (Rusty even wears an earpiece!)

This is a very enjoyable episode. Martin Landau gives an elegant performance. He conveys a sense of zest and intelligence here, as he usually does. To me, when he would create a character to fool the bad guys, he did it with a light touch, while later on Leonard Nimoy in the same kind of role would have a much heavier touch. I think Landau was much more effective than Nimoy. Nimoy was adequate. But Landau was great.

Many of the plot elements here will be very familiar to MI fans, but they are handled well. The plot moves along quickly and it is exciting to watch the caper unfold.

The plot for this one is a bit odd and makes little sense. A jade seal was recently bought by a selfish industrialist (Darren McGavin) and he refuses to sell it to anyone. This is a problem because an embattled nation regards it as a national treasure and this American industrialist's purchase he majorly ticked off the folks from this fictional country. So, the IMF Force's job is to sneak in and steal the seal--a rather mundane task compared to the previous episodes. To do so, the team uses an elaborate plan--one that hinges on a cat! Now I like cats and have two (or, rather, they choose to live in my home) and the thought of requiring my cats to DO something I want is a bit ludicrous! Plus, everyone knows cats are, by nature, evil! This and the mundane nature of the plot make this one a less than wonderful show. It is fun to watch and well made in many ways but I don't know why the team didn't just shoot the guy and take the seal!!

A really fun episode and one of the most remembered to this day. It seems impossible that a cat, however well trained, was used but then, "impossible" is in the show's name. Besides, was Rusty on a catwalk? I have always contended M:I was a straight faced comedy and all the improbable gadgets and disguises were meant to smiled at and enjoyed on the level of pure fantasy. One of my all-time favorite series.

Animal actor Rusty the Ginger Tom Cat was uncredited although he was the main actor in the story in which it is he who retrieves the Seal from the glass case in a security vault. In the final scene the cast commends him and he meows twice his approval to his human actors and actress. Darren McGavin was at his best as the bad guy and the only person to be hurt is the security guard supervisor (Russ Bender)who gets fired by J. Richard Taggart for failing to account for a missing I.D. tag that turns up later.The two ambulance attendants are forced to go to the top of the elevator and it can only be guessed at if they were released without being charged as accomplices of the Impossible Mission Force?

Outstanding episode, and particularly for the acting of a very famous cat!

The M. I. team has an extremely difficult task of retrieving a 2000 year old jade figure, an imperial seal, that belongs to a small, vulnerable country bordering China. The figure is in the hands of a greedy collector called Taggert (marvelously played by Darren McGavin), who knows of its significance, but care less if the country it belongs to falls into Communist control.

Here's the neat catch; the team has to employ a trained cat, called Rusty, who can only retrieve the figure, due to the fact that it's under mega tight security. Rusty has to literally walk a narrow plank to the figure, enclosed in a glass case. He must latch onto a small rope with his teeth, and carry it back through a hole in the wall where Barney and Phelps are waiting. Easier said than done.

Even though it's all make believe, the sequence with the cat is fun, campy stuff. Rusty is played by famous cat actor Orangey, who won two Patsy Awards in his career, sort of like an Oscar for animals. Orangey appeared in many tv shows, foremost the BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, which used lots of animals, also BATMAN as the Catwoman's cat.

To note; Orangey was acting since the early 1950s, so he would have to be at least 17 years old in this episode, which is fairly old for a cat. There are no notes as to how long Orangey lived either, except he was trained by Frank Inn who handled many famous movie and tv animals.

I agree with the last reviewer, Martin Landau steals the show. He has an over the top scene, playing a mystic, who can boil a bowl of water in his hands! The goon watching him doesn't believe it, so Rollin asks him to put his hands in the SCORCHING water! Ah, refreshing!

Good support from popular character actress Joan Tompkins (MY THREE SONS) who plays the computer agency manager, Miss Putnam. Superbly written by William Read Woodfield, who wrote 24 episodes for the show.

Do not miss this one. SEASON 2 EPISODE 9 remastered Paramount dvd box set/7 discs total, 2007 release.