User Reviews

The Color Of Murder is a decent Mannix episode featuring an excellent guest starring cast, including Diane Keaton, John Lupton, Virginia Gregg and Johnny Haymer. The hook, which is a young woman being harassed by a mysterious female caller who claims that her late politician father, murdered several years earlier, was killed by some unknown person, and that there's a Big Reveal behind it all. The plot is convoluted, as was often the case with this series, with nearly the guest players suspects one degree or another.

This is far from the best Mannix I've seen but it's above average to very good in its parts more than as a whole. The big picture, which offers some tantalizing glimpses into how the Mob operates in L.A., the way political figures are often linked to unscrupulous people, feels about right. There's an almost laid back, unflashy knowingness to not only this episode but all the better Mannix entries that I've seen that contribute to it being, overall, not only a very good detective series but also a classy one.

The twists and turns of the plot of The Color Of Murder are mostly just that. They're there to keep the viewer watching and guessing. There must be an aesthetic (of sorts) behind all this that all good crime and mystery writers love, honor and obey, as if it were an marriage. If there's a downside to this particular episode it's that there's little in the way of empathy for or among its various characters. Mannix (and his secretary) are or appear to be the only two unambiguously decent, ethical human beings around, which ramps up the danger level a good deal, and holds the viewer's attention.

A reviewer in this space likens the plot of The Color of Murder to The Big Sleep in its complexity - and like The Big Sleep it is best just to hang on as best you can and go along for the ride. The episode is worth a look if only to catch Diane Keaton playing Annie Hall before she was famous. In a worthy aside, in her memoir Then Again, Keaton tells the story of the final scene in the warehouse, where she was supposed to break down. "Terrified, I burst into tears and asked to be let go," Keaton writes. "Connors ... asked everyone to leave the set and walked me through the scene as many times as I needed. I fell in love with him. Not every big star is kind enough to take the time with a frightened young actress."

But back to the show -- the plot circles back on itself numerous times and has enough characters to fill a two-hour movie. Not one murder but three. Not one PI but three (if you count the second PIs wife). Not one branch of the mob but two. Two females in need of protection, one an heiress who is a compulsive liar. Car chases. Gut punches. Get the idea? When the bad guy is finally revealed, which was before the actual end of the episode, there was so much going on in that scene that even Joe looked a bit confused. Peggy dazzles as usual - she should have gone into reference librarianship with her talent for finding answers - and we get to see Joe masquerading as a yacht salesman in a double-breasted navy blazer. What's not to like?

"The Color of Murder" is a great example of a mystery that simply has too many twists--so many that by the end, the story becomes completely ridiculous.

The show begins with Cindy Conrad (Diane Keaton...yes, THAT Diane Keaton) coming to Mannix with a story about someone trying to sell her information about her father's death. Why she then goes to Mannix about this is baffling--as are ALL of Conrad's behaviors throughout the show. While the phone calls to Ms. Conrad might have occurred, Mannix quickly determines that she is a habitual liar--and she does this throughout the show. There are MANY twists and turns until the final confrontation where they finally catch the father's murderer. And then, inexplicably, the show has another 9 minutes! At this time, a surprise (and utterly unbelievable) ending occurs-- one that frustrated the life out of me!! Overall, just too complicated and too unbelievable--one of the worst episodes of the series in fact--which is a shame since it is otherwise a nice chance to see Miss Keaton before she was a star.

By the way, for an interesting goof, may attention at 33 minutes into the show. There is a dead body--with eyes staring widely into space. Yet, when Mannix crouches down next to the body, the eyes are clearly shut! Ha!

Considering her relationship at the time with Woody Allen and subsequent appearances in his productions, Diane Keaton seemed the perfect fit for this episode.

Here she plays Cindy Conrad, a kook and the daughter of a deceased Los Angeles politician who may have had ties to the mob. Her problem is that a female (for a change of pace) will exchange some "info" about her father for cash. In steps Mannix, who gets himself into a mess.

Lots of twists and turns, a poor man's THE BIG SLEEP in a way, and Keaton is fun to watch as always. She was also appearing in deodorant commercials at the time and within a year would become a star in THE GODFATHER as Kay.

The supporting cast is also worth mentioning; veteran John Lupton as Thompson and Virginia Gregg ( DRAGNET) as Jenny. Bill Baldwin, a familiar voice, is on hand as an announcer, who made a career out of playing newsmen and reporters. Series regular John McLiam plays Frank.

Barry Crane, associate producer also for MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, directed. To note, his murder a decade later was something of a real life mystery. The case wasn't solved for over 30 years when DNA finally revealed the killer to be a drug addict who may have had a secret relationship with him. A tragic Hollywood story.

Harold Melford wrote this adventure, behind the first airplane disaster movie, FATE IS THE HUNTER (1964), also one of Joan Crawford's most prolific movies, THE DAMN DON'T CRY (1950).

Finally! Ward Wood returns as Malcolm, old stone face, fun to watch complain and second guess Joe --who you know is sooo right. Without giving a spoiler alert; the surprise ending that could have spelled Joe's death, was taken from a CHARLIE CHAN movie. It will remain unnamed!

9 Stars.

Super late nite episode. Keep the coffee on low brew. SEASON 4 EPISODE 22 remastered CBS/Paramount dvd box set.

Even for a show this good and with the length of its run, it had to have a few clunkers. This episode is one of them. Diane Keaton (just like Sally Kellerman in another episode) is so annoying that Mannix should have done the villains (and the viewers) a favor and shot his client for everyone's benefit. I only give it three stars for the appearance of the underrated John Lupton.

The story is non-sensical, and the acting is horrible. Everyone in this was bad, but Diane Keaton proved once again that she is the most over-rated actress on the face of the earth. She plays the exact same blonde, ditzy psychopath in every show she is in, and wears the same horrible, ugly clothes. I have come to the conclusion that she is wearing her own clothes and playing herself.

The story was so convoluted and I was so distracted by the obnoxious whining of Diane that I honestly have no idea what was going on in this episode. The people who liked it must have seen something I missed, because to me it was just a messy plot with a bunch of unlikable characters.

I made reference to this episode in the review for the previous episode and didn't remember that this particular episode would be the very next one. I was watching the show this morning and literally groaned aloud.

I said this about another episode of "Mannix". I'm not knocking Diane Keaton. It's the writing. However there's another episode that's probably coming up soon where I'll say it's a combo of the actress not being such a great actress for why I think it's a flop. Diane got handed a script that calls for playing a ditzy liar. She played it. I sincerely doubt there's any actress that could've pulled off this role and made the character or episode better. It's just rather unfortunate for all involved that thought "This episode is kind of a stinker and I wish the episode could be better." But that's also understandable. Don't think I've ever watched a series that didn't have "stinker" episodes. This is just one of them.

Don't have anything positive to say. I can't even bring up my favorites of Mannix touching a woman's face or hair, sniffing mail, talking hip or any of the other things that cracks me up about the show. The only way I could recommend watching this episode is if you're a fan of the show and want to watch every episode or you're a fan of somebody that's guest starring in the episode. Diane Keaton fans might want to take a sneak peek at something she did at the beginning of her career, etc.

Here's hoping the next episode isn't the one I was making a small reference to or there'll be two stinkers in a row.

Diane Keaton took this role and made an entire career out of it. If you like Annie Hall, then you'll like this episode. Her Cindy Conrad character is not just ditsy, but downright psychotic. I did not enjoy this episode because Diane's hyperactive whining made me too nervous. Plus, her outfits were awful. The pantsuit with giant purple stripes was the worst fashion that the 70s had to offer. Many dangling chains. Her hairdo was almost a shag, but not a good shag.

The blonde girl had a good hairdo, but a bad outfit featuring a skirt with the most giant windowpane plaid ever seen. She had a good car, though: a pale green VW Beetle.

Peggy had the best outfits, and she was so capable and level-headed you just gotta love her.

All in all, the plot was interesting, and all the other characters were excellent. Many twists. This would have been an 8, but Diane Keaton brought it down to a 4. The final scene where she tells everything to Mannix: her overacting was reminiscent of the scene she played in the Godfather Part 2, when Kay tells Michael she's done with "this thing... this Sicilian THING!" She played both scenes exactly the same.