Lee Barrington, Marie Roska, Yanos Lobler: Espionage.
Original air date: 10 January 1971
Inspector Lewis Erskine goes undercover to stop enemy agents from obtaining a top-secret nuclear formula.
But the story goes beyond this. It boils down to a midlife crisis turned dangerous. Lee Barrington (Steve Forrest) falls for a lady who turns out to be a spy. And Barrington is married to the daughter of a company that Vincent Millard (Harold Gould) runs. Millard suspects espionage, and calls in the Feds for this.
Because the action is set in Dallas, does this episode rank as a precursor to the CBS soap opera that ran from 1978 to 1991? Maybe not, but it makes one think. Watch for a good end sequence involving a chase in a backyard.
- Note the “Control Data” computer. It was HUGE! and would not do as much as a modern-day PC. Progress is relentless.
- Interesting car at the beginning: A 1971 Ford Thunderbird. Inspector Erskine drives this as part of his undercover act.
- By this date, mustaches had come into vogue. Both Steve Forrest (Lee Barrington) and Harold Gould (Vincent Millard) sported them by this time. In real life, Harold Gould was only one year older than Steve Forrest.
- Steve Forrest (1925-2013) is the younger brother of actor Dana Andrews. He had starred in the British-American series The Baron, which had been part of ABC’s “Second Season” at the beginning of 1966. That show produced and aired new episodes for the UK in the following year as well. Mr. Forrest went on to star in the ABC crime series SWAT (1975-1976), and had a role in the movie version as well.
Credits:
Directed by: Nicholas Webster
Written by: Jack Turley
Performer | Role
- Steve Forrest | Lee Barrington
- Diana Hyland | Joanne Kinston, a.k.a. Marie Roska
- Reuben Singer | Yanos Lobler
- Harold Gould | Vincent Millard
- Lawrence Pressman | Dennis Carey
- Lyn Edgington | Carol Barrington
- Duncan McLeod | Colson
- Karl Lucas | Jenkins
- Jerry Taft | Executive
- Dallas Mitchell | SAC Vernon Taft
- Dan Barton | Agent Dawson
- Tom Stewart | Agent Carpenter
- Jim Driskill | Pete