Martin Landau Movies

In the second half of the two-part Mission: Impossible adventure "The Contenders", crooked sports promoter Charles Buckman (Ron Randell) still hopes to gain control of all professional and amateur athletics in the United States. Posing as an aspiring boxer, IMF agent Barney has managed to insuniate himself into Buckman's upper circle, the better to foil the villain's schemes with a "double fix." Former boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson appears in a surprising characterizations, while Robert Conrad of Wild Wild West fame shows up unbilled. Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, part two of "The Contenders" was originally telecast on October 13, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The IMF agents are assigned to recapture $1,000,000 in gold bullion, which was targetted for a pro-Democracy underground group but has been confiscated by the Communists. The money is being held under maximum-security conditions at a hotel where an important chess tournament is being held. Complications ensue when Nicholas Groat (Don Francks), an international thief posing as a chess master, draws up plans to steal the bullion himself. Originally broadcast on January 14, 1968, "A Game of Chess" was written by Richard M. Sakal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like the first-season Mission: Impossible episode "The Ransom," the second-season installment "The Condemned" is an unusual departure from the series' format. Racing against the clock, Jim Phelps hopes to save the life of his close friend Kevin Hagen, who has been convicted of murder and sentenced to die in a Spanish prison. Unbeknownst to anyone, the "murder victim" is actually alive and well and living under an assumed name. Other plot wrinkles include the disappearance of a diamond tiara and the curious behavior of Webster's ex-sweetheart Luisa Rojas (Mariana Hill). First telecast January 28 1968, "The Execution" was written by Laurence Heath. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season two of Mission: Impossible found a new man at the helm of the top-secret Impossible Missions Force: Peter Graves as Jim Phelps, replacing the first season's Steven Hill, who played Dan Briggs. At the time, there was much speculation in the industry over the reason for Hill's departure, with some sources citing creative differences between the actor and the production staff. The most widely accepted theory was that Hill, an Orthodox Jew, refused to work on the set between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday. (Over two decades later, Steven Hill became an audience favorite all over again in a role that never required him to work on weekends: District Attorney Adam Schiff on the long-running Law & Order. Otherwise, the rest of the familiar IMF crew remains the same as in season one: sultry Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain), master of disguise Rollin Hand (Martin Landau), electronics whiz Barney Collier (Greg Morris), and all-around athlete and muscleman Willie Armitage (Peter Lupus). Beginning with the season opener, "The Widow," wherein the IMF team pools its talents to force the customers of a vicious heroin dealer to do away with the man, this year's "impossible missions," like the previous year's quota, rely heavily upon labyrinthine schemes, elaborate facial makeup, state-of-the-art gadgetry, and an acute understanding of human nature ("bad" human nature, that is) to mete out just desserts to a dizzying array of international villains. Among the season's best episodes are the two-part "The Slave," in which the team utilizes kidnapping and subterfuge to destroy a vast Middle Eastern slavery ring; another two-parter, "The Council," wherein Rollin poses as a Mafia don to prevent the collapse of the American banking system; "The Photographer," featuring Anthony Zerbe as a madman bent on spreading bubonic plague throughout the world, who is thwarted when the IMFers convince him that a nuclear war has begun; "The Killing," in which Cinnamon tricks a band of assassins into "killing" Phelps as part of a scheme to get them to confess all their past misdeeds; "The Money Machine," comprised of a "sting" operation to hoist an African counterfeiter on his own petard; and "The Town," in which a vacationing Phelps must prevent a political assassination all by himself. Mission: Impossible's move from Saturday to Sunday evenings for its second season proved to be extremely beneficial to the series' ratings, though it would not be until season three that the show would finally crack the Top 10. In other developments, series regular Barbara Bain won her second Emmy award in a role for her ongoing portrayal of Cinnamon Carter, and the show once again won the award for Outstanding Dramatic Series. Additionally, the series' legendary theme song, written by Lalo Schifrin, enjoyed 14 weeks on Billboard magazine's Top 100 charts when it was released as a single. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second half of the two-part Mission: Impossible adventure "The Slave", the IMF force has kidnapped Amara (Antoinette Bower), the niece of corrupt Elkabaran King Ibn Borca (Joseph Ruskin), Fasar (David Mauro), and sold her into slavery. It is all part of a plan to end the slave trade in Elkabar, and to topple Borca from power. Crucial to the scheme is Cinnamon's masquerade as a potential slave and Phelp's pose as a trader. Originally telecast October 15, 1967, Part Two of "The Slave" was written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Promising to smuggle wealthy Eastern Europeans across the Iron Curtain, banker Alfred Belzig 9James Daly) lures the hapless escapees to their deaths, then deposits the victims' money in his own bank to finance a neo-Nazi party. The IMF hopes to put Belzig out of business permanently by stealing his $3 million nest egg from his safety deposit box. Assisting the agents this time out is Paul Lebarre (Pierre Jalbert, a convicted bank robber who may not be entirely trustworthy. Originally telecast October 1 1967, "The Bank" was written by Brad Radnitz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first season of Mission: Impossible came to a close with the April 22, 1967 episode "The Psychic." Some valuable NATO secrets have been appropriated in a hostile corporate takeover by ruthless industrialist Alex Lowell (Barry Sullivan). The IMF heads to South America, where Lowell has relocated in hopes of selling the documents to the highest bidder. With Cinammon posing as a psychic, the other IMF agents lure Lowell into a cleverly rigged high-stakes poker game. Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Baltar, "The Psychic" marked Steven Hill's final appearance as IMF head Dan Briggs.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Under the guise of an LSD addict, US secret agent Vincent Deane (Jacques Denbeaux) has managed to hide some top-secret information in one of his "doped" sugar cubes. Unfortunately, Deane is arrested and placed in a Communist-controlled rehabilitation clinic. Posing as Deane's wife, Cinnamon infiltrates the clinic, hoping to retrieve the cube, while Rollin, impersonating Deane's contact, has himself arrested and placed in the selfsame clinic. Veteran Czech character actor Francis Lederer appears as Brobin. Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, "A Cube of Sugar" first aired on April 1 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Powerful but gullible German industrialist Otto Kelmann (Wilfred Hyde-White) is on the verge of handing over his munitions empire to a "new Hitler" named Colonel Marcus Von Frank (Hans Gudegast), aka Eric Braeden). It is up to the IMF to smash Marcus' movement by forcing Kelmann to realign his thinking. This is the episode in which IMF agent Rollin Hand convincingly poses as the real Adolf Hitler. Written by Mann Rubin, the man responsible for the thematically similar first-season Mission: Impossible episode "The Legend", "Echo of Yesterday" first aired on December 10, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second half of the two-part Mission: Impossible adventure "The Council", the IMF's plan to topple a gangland syndicate is threatened when one of the mobsters apparently sees through Rollin's impersonation of crooked businessman Frank Wayne (Paul Stevens). Meanwhile, the real Stevens lies unconscious on the operating table of a master plastic surgeon. And in a startling development, Phelps is the victim of a mob "hit"--or is he? Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, Part Two of "The Council" originally aired on November 26, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Guest stars Fritz Weaver and Hazel Court are cast as Erik and Catherine Hagar, who operate a fraudulent charity organization from their lavish European estate. The IMF agents attempt to destroy the Hagars' racket by ruining the couple's "perfect" marriage. Essential to the success of this plan is the retrieval of a fortune in platinum, hidden in the Hagars' billiard table. First broadcast November 12, 1967, "Sweet Charity" was written by Barney Slater. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

African stockbroker Walter DuBruis (Brock Peters) is poised to destroy the economy of Ghalea by flooding the nation with counterfeit money. His partner in crime is master forger Raf Tagoor (Michael Shilo), who has come into possession of a shipment of genuine currency paper. Assigned to dispose of DuBruis and Tagoor before they can carry out their scheme, the IMF agents concoct an elaborate scam involving a bogus counterfeiting computor. Originally broadcast October 29 1967, "The Money Machine" was written by Richard M. Sakal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The scene is Zurich, Switzerland, where four young men, all sons of top-ranking Nazi officials, have gathered. Armed with information that will lead them to the long-hidden personal fortune of Adolf Hitler, the men hope to establish a Fourth Reich. The IMF's mission is to intercept the money (a daunting three million dollars) before it falls into the wrong hands--an assignment that requires Rollin to impersonate one of the four neo-Nazis. Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, "The Legacy" was originally telecast on January 7, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide