User Reviews

A crook (Joe Mantell) breaks into a psychiatrist's office and steals client files. Using this information, he begins blackmailing patients NOT to divulge their secrets. When Mannix is hired to make one of these payoffs, he takes it on himself to not just make the delivery but to investigate and stop this creep. Things get really serious when it turns out that one of the patients whose records were stolen turns out to be a dangerous mobster--and then things get really interesting.

I loved the plot of this show. A similar but better version of the story was done on "Hawaii Five-O"--where instead of a guy stealing patient records, a sociopathic creep places listening devices all over a psychiatrist's office and learns all kinds of secrets. Both are very compelling but a minor quibble I have with "Mannix" is that in reality, most therapists (at least the competent ones) keep minimal notes and should not have any documentation of incriminating information--in case of burglary or court subpoena (which was definitely the case when I was a therapist). But, most folks wouldn't know that and it doesn't negatively impact this exciting episode.

By the way, in keeping with tradition, Mannix gets knocked out in this episode. In fact, it happens twice!! Considering he was knocked unconscious over fifty times in the series AND suffered countless other head injuries, his brain should have been the consistency of tapioca!!

This was the only episode veteran Lee H. Katzin directed, and its a shame because he was the top man in the field. He was concentrating more on MISSION IMPOSSIBLE at the time, which was also filmed at Paramount. Katzin was the master of tv movies in the 70s.

A crafty thief (played by noneother than Joe Mantell) lifts some secret files from a psychiatrist's office. Objective: Blackmail. Joe is hired to make a payoff, but everything goes haywire (a typical Mannix problem), including some files on a mob boss. Do mobsters see psychiatrists in their off time??

This is a fun watch and with an outstanding cast, including 50s cult stars Fay Spain (as Gladys) and Richard Bakalyan (as Frank).

Former model and accomplished actress Kim Hamilton makes her first appearance on the series, playing Alice. She is always the one to watch.

Likewise, Percy Rodriguez -- who has a killer left hook and decks Joe a couple times. Par for the course, right?

I agree with the last reviewer that the writing was exceptional for the first season, sort of laying the frame work for what to expect in the many seasons ahead. Walter Brough wrote this episode, who like Lee H. Katzin, was also associated with MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. To note, as the seasons continued, there was a cross-over, or ideas exchanged from M. I. The most obvious were the explosions (how the production crew loved blowing up cars in garages!), and the proverbial car sailing off a cliff. More over, depending on the budget, sometimes a newer car would be used as opposed to some junk mobile tumbling down the embankment. Not to forget the slow acting poisons and psychopaths yet to come! And if you are a true fan, you can spot the "re-worked" M. I. scripts in later seasons where Joe had to go to another country to assist a client or organization. We kids ate it all up back in the day.

Note the Paramount western backlot, which was put to good use by many tv series, especially in the 70s. Really great stuff. SEASON 1 EPISODE 11 remastered CBS dvd box set.