Cannon (TV Series) Man in the Middle (1975) User Reviews

Cannon...and body retrieval duty.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 14 August 2018]

This episode begins in Mexico where you see some police official being murdered. The murderer is then chased and shot at....but dives into the sea. The scene then changes to the States. A sickly man is in the hospital and he's just been told that his son (the murderer in the opening scene) was dead. Cannon is an old friend and agrees to go to Mexico to retrieve the body. However, once he arrives he finds that the son's widow is very cagey--angry and evasive. In addition, a scumbag (Stuart Whitman) is very curious about Cannon and he assumes Cannon is involved in some sort of scheme...which he clearly isn't. What's next?

This is a pretty good episode...and boy does Cannon go through a LOT in this particular episode! Enjoyable and similar to an original "Hawaii Five-O" episode, "The Year of the Horse" (season 11) which came out well after this "Cannon" episode.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GET HIS BODY?

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 3 December 2022]

I think the fifth season had some of the most intriguing stories, and this is one of them.

10 Stars for writer Richard Landau, colleague of William Conrad at Warner Brothers/ABC TV. Richard wrote some classic episodes for HAWAIIN EYE, which METV shows on Sunday nights. Catch them if you can.

And kind of like something out of that famous cop show, this story has Cannon retrieving the body of a dead young man, and you know it ain't gonna' be easy. The scenery changes to Mexico (not Honolulu) where a good friend's son has been killed --and the mystery as to what exactly happened.

Some very interesting characters in play here, as you will see. This marked the only appearance of Stuart Whitman (CIMARRON STRIP) who gives it his all as Nelson, the villain. He is fantastic. Whitman, at the time, was one of the most popular actors on tv, getting his start on HIGHWAY PATROL.

Christina Aliva, who later became an acclaimed dramatic teacher, lends the female support in an early role. The last reviewer wrote this is similar to a HAWAII FIVE O episode. Yes, if you read the synopsis of "The Year of the Horse" (1979) it sounds vaguely familiar. Though, as I have noted, it may all have began with HAWAIIAN EYE.

Richard Landau, prior to this episode, wrote many episodes for IRONSIDE and the BOLD ONES.

By the way, we get to see Chris Robinson (playing Ernie), who actually directed the previous episode. That has to be a first. Robinson worked both as an actor and director, and is still appearing on tv today. I am sure he has a lot of fond memories of this show.

Partly filmed at beautiful Paradise Cove at Malibu, which is partially open to the public. The area is perhaps one of the finest beaches in southern California, and that's saying a lot.

SEASON 5 EPISODE 8 remastered color CBS dvd box set. 7 dvd special set. Released 2018 in a classic blue box.