Barbara Bain Movies
A former University of Illinois sociology major, ash-blonde leading lady Barbara Bain studied for a theatrical career at New York's Actors Studio and Neighborhood Playhouse. While attending an actor's workshop in 1956, Barbara made the acquaintance of an intense young performer named Martin Landau. It was love at first sight, and they married in 1957. Landau and Bain strove to maintain separate careers, and while her husband tended to work more often than she did, Barbara was well-represented with guest appearances on such series as Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Get Smart and The Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1964, the Landaus worked together for the first time on an episode of The Greatest Show on Earth. They didn't care much for the experience, and vowed not to co-star again -- at least, not until producer Bruce Geller made them an offer they couldn't refuse with the weekly TV suspenser Mission: Impossible. Cast as silken espionage agent Cinammon Carter, Bain won three consecutive Emmies for her work on the series (if you're wondering why Cinammon never adopted elaborate disguises, as did practically everyone else on the program, it is because Bain suffered from claustrophobia, and could not abide being hemmed in by heavy makeup). Then, after three seasons' worth of Mission: Impossible, the Landaus quit the series in 1969, citing poor scripts and insufficient creative challenges. In later years, Bain would comment ruefully that leaving the show ruined her career. The record doesn't quite bear this out: indeed, during the early 1970s she racked up an impressive list of TV movie appearances, and was offered a great deal of money to reteam with Landau in the syndicated sci-fi TV series Space: 1999 (1975-77). In 1989, Bain appeared in her very first theatrical feature, Trust Me (1989), playing a truculent, dishonest art collector. Though long-divorced from Martin Landau, Barbara Bain did not express an aversion to the possibility of playing a cameo alongside her ex-husband in the 1996 film version of Mission: Impossible, should either one of them be asked to do so (alas, they weren't). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1966
The IMF journeys to the Free World country of Valeria, where an election is about to be held. The police-controlled Nationalists intend to rig the votes so that they will emerge triumphant over the Liberty Party. The agents' mission is to "unfix" a crucial voting machine that has been tampered with by the Nationalists. Tension mounts as Cinnamon is targetted for surveillance by the police and Barney is shot in a skirmish. Written by Laurence Heath, "Wheels" was originally seen on October 29, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
Briggs is forced to play along with powerful mobster boss Frank Egan (William Smithers when the daughter of Briggs' friend Joe Mantell is kidnapped. In order to secure the girl's release, Briggs and the IMF must themselves kidnap the key witness against Egan in an upcoming Grand Jury investigation. This pulse-pounding Mission: Impossible episode was a radical--and effective--departure from the series' usual format. Originally telecast November 5 1966, "The Ransom" was written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
IMF agents Rollin and Cinnamon are assigned to an Iron Curtain nation, where they hope to retrieve a reel of recording wire containing details of an enemy chemical-warfare project. To avoid detective, Rollin poses as dockworker, while Cinnamon impersonates a news photographer. Finding the reel is the "easy" part: The problem now is to get the wire out of the country, which is festooned with agents from a variety of unfriendly countries. Written by Ellis Marcus, "A Spool There Was" first aired on November 12, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, "The Carriers" features George Takei as IMF agent Roger Lee and Arthur Hill as enemy agent Janos Passik. An expert on infiltration, Passik has set up a training school for spies in an Iron Curtain replica of a "typical" American town. It is all part of a master scheme to spread a deadly plague virus in the United States. Briggs must rely upon Lee's knowledge of chemicals, and the usual special talents of the IMF "regulars", to nip Passik's plan in the bud. "The Carriers" was first broadcast on November 19, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
Returning from a much-needed vacation, Briggs is asked to take his Impossible Missions Force to the South American dictatorship of Santa Costa. General Rio Dominguez has gotten hold of two nuclear warheads and locked them in the impenetrable vault of the Hotel Nacionale. Briggs' mission--should he decided to accept it--is to remove the warheads, and, hopefully, discredit Dominguez. Fortunately, IMF agent Rollin Hand bears a striking resemblance to Dominguez; equally fortunate is the fact that Briggs has enlisted the aid of master safecracker Terry Targo (Wally Cox). First telecast September 17 1966, the inaugural episode of Mission: Impossible was written by series producer Bruce Geller, who won an Emmy Award for his efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
The IMF agents arrive in the Iron Curtain country of Lubjanka. Their mission: to topple the regime of dictator Janos Karq (William Keene), "The Butcher of the Balkans." The success of their scheme depends upon the photographic memory of embittered ex-agent Barrish (Albert Paulsen). If all else fails, the IMF will be forced to rely upon "Alternate Plan X59"--which may mean certain death for all concerned. Written by Robert Lewin, "Memory" first aired September 24, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
In Part Two of "Old Man Out," the IMF is still posing as a carnival troupe: Briggs as a mind reader, Cinnamon as his assistant, Willy as a strongman, Barney as a clown, and freelance agent Crystal Walker (Mary Ann Mobley) as a high-wire artist and Rollin as a light-fingered roustabout. It is all part of a plan to rescue Iron Curtain freedom fighter Cardinal Vossek (Cyril Delevanti) from a high-security Balkan prison. The plan hits a snag when Vossek is moved to solitary confinement. The solution to this crisis may well rest in the curious calliope tune which is heard over and over throughout the episode. Written by Ellis Marcus, Part Two of "Old Man Out" was originally broadcast on October 15, 1966.
October 15 1966.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
October 15 1966.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
Nehemiah Persoff guest-stars as Prince Iben Kostas, absolute ruler of a tiny Middle Eastern country whose income derives solely from a famous gambling casino. In order to prevent Kostas from raising the money necessary to wage war upon a neighboring oil-rich country, the IMF must arrange to break the casino's bank. The amount needed to destroy Kostas was $1.5 million, which was real money when this episode first aired on October 22, 1966. "Odds on Evil" was written by frequent Mission: Impossible contributor. William Read Woodfield ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
Season one of Mission: Impossible finds Steven Hill heading the cast as Dan Briggs, head of the top-secret Impossible Missions Force. Issued instructions at the outset of each episode by that famous "self-destructing" tape recorder, Briggs proceeds to select the IMF operatives best suited to the covert assignment at hand. There are three "permanent" members of the team during season one: versatile femme fatale Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain), electronics expert Barney Collier (Greg Morris), and muscle man Willie Armitage (Peter Lupus). As originally conceived, the fourth member of the team, master of disguise Rollin Hand (played by Martin Landau, then the husband of Barbara Bain) was supposed to have been an infrequent guest star, but audience response was so positive to Rollin that Landau ended up a series regular. However, there are instances during season one in which a guest actor is recruited by Dan Briggs for a specific assignment, notably Wally Cox in the opening episode, Eartha Kitt in the episode "The Traitor," and Mary Ann Mobley in the two-parter "Odd Man Out." In the course of the IMF's first year on the air, the team steals a pair of nuclear warheads possessed by a Latin American despot; convinces an enemy agent (Fritz Weaver) on a deadly mission that he has been in a coma for two years; thwarts the development of a plague virus by posing as spy trainees in a replicated American town somewhere behind the Iron Curtain; foils the scheme of a Communist filmmaker to fake a documentary depicting American atrocities in Indochina; infiltrates a group of neo-Nazis bent on creating a Fourth Reich; creates a phony 27,000-carat diamond in order to oust a greedy African dictator; and rigs a high-stakes poker game to retrieve a cache of secret government documents. Although Mission: Impossible's ratings were good during its inaugural season, the series never cracked the Top 30, prompting CBS to move the show from Saturday evenings to Sundays in season two. However, the series managed to win three Emmy awards, for Outstanding Actress (Barbara Bain), Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama (Bruce Geller), and even for Outstanding Dramatic Series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1964
Scheming Harvey Scott (Tom Tully) has managed to regain control of his mining company while his nephew Rick (Henry Brandt) was in Acapulco, recuperating from an accident. To make certain that Rick doesn't return to the States to restake his claim on the company, Harvey orders his nephew's lovelorn niece Joanna (Anne Whitfield) to keep him occupied in Mexico. Eventually Rick tumbles to this scheme and heads to LA for a showdown. But when Harvey is killed, Rick is nowhere to be found--and Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) finds himself defending poor Joanna on a murder charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
A fascinating chapter in Rob's autobiography leads to another classic flashback sequence to the time that Rob (Dick Van Dyke) and Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) had just become engaged. Given a three-day pass by the Army for marital leave, Rob is faced with a choice: Should he tie the knot and begin the honeymoon, or should he head home to tell his former girlfriend Dorothy (described in the book as "40 percent sexier" than Laura) that he has fallen in love with someone else? Future Mission: Impossible co-star Barbara Bain delivers a superb comic performance as the fawning Dorothy ("Oh, Robbie-bobbie-boo!"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Oilman Charles Houston (Byron Palmer) might have gotten away with murdering his wife had he not be "captured" on film by cagey wildlife photographer Robert Byrd (Harry Jackson). Before long, Houston is being blackmailed, and to add to his problems his sister-in-law Paula (Lori March) has been depleting his oil profits. It could be that Paula is also mixed up with blackmail--but before anything else can be revealed, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must save Paula from the gas chamber after she is discovered in a locked room with Houston's corpse! Watch for a young, pre-Mission: Impossible Barbara Bain in a key supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
