User Reviews

"To Ride A Tiger" boasts an excellent cast and plays like a hunt the man down episode from the F. B. I. There's good reason, because the director was Virgil Vogel who directed most of the episodes of that classic show. Earlier in his career he was behind WAGON TRAIN.

The focus is Stewart Moss, playing a lawyer who knows too much about a murder and is subsequently kidnapped. Cannon gets into the mix and its a long, wild pursuit, including a helicopter ride.

Possibly inspired from Season 1, "No Pockets in a Shroud," episode, one of the best ever helicopter chases on 70s tv.

Throw in lots of ammo, and this has the feel of a MANNIX episode. Robert W. Lenski wrote for both series, and may have spruced up this script for Cannon instead. Not a rare thing, as we all have seen MISSION IMPOSSIBLE scripts go to MANNIX. Rather clever stuff.

Christine Belford, who at the time was co-starring on BANACEK, plays Anne, and is quite good.

John Larch, famous for DIRTY HARRY, is again playing a cop (Sgt. Nelson), but not necessarily a good one. Stay tuned. Larch was an old Warner Brothers/ABC tv alum with William Conrad, in many westerns he directed.

There's also Scott Marlow as Pappy and burly Ramon Biero as the chief. The most popular bit actor in Hollywood, Bob Harks, is seen this time as a fireman. He appeared 13 times on the series, 14 on IRONSIDE and 10 times on MANNIX. His very first acting credit was as a suspect in THE BOSTON STRANGLER (1968). Bob was originally a model. An inspiration to many young actors, to be sure.

Watch for a super chase scene, Classic Cannon on steroids. Run for cover. Guaranteed to keep the late night coffee brewing.

SEASON 2 EPISODE 19. Remastered CBS/Paramount dvd box set number 2. 3 dvds per box. 2010 release.

"To Ride a Tiger" begins with a lawyer, David Rackham, being kidnapped. Considering that he had indicated he knew who had killed Luke Stocker, it's a good bet this killer is also the kidnapper. Frank Cannon is brought into the case to locate the man but gets roughed up by an incredibly overzealous cop. Soon after, he gets gets knocked out and nearly gets killed himself in an attempt at a murder-arson. In fact, now that I think about it, this is an unusually violent episode for this series--with Cannon shooting a couple fellows in the action-packed conclusion. Overall, a decent episode for the series but not one that particularly stands out from the crowd aside from how violent it sometimes is. Plus there were a few preachy scenes about halfway houses and rehabilitation that didn't help.