Mann Rubin Movies

The First Deadly Sin was Frank Sinatra's final starring movie vehicle. Based on a novel by Lawrence Sanders, it casts Sinatra as Edward Delaney, a big-city detective on the verge of retirement. Beset with profound personal problems--including a gravely ill wife (Faye Dunaway)--Delaney nonetheless tackles the case of an axe murderer who seemingly strikes at random. Be on the lookout for an unbilled Bruce Willis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It appears to be a clear-cut case of brain damage when young boxer Luke Stokes (Rodney Hoston) collapses and dies right after a championship bout. But the boxer's widow (Lynne Moody) insists that her husband was drugged just before the match. Medical examiner Quincy investigates, only to find that his own life is in jeopardy if he makes the "wrong" diagnosis. Legendary heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis appears as himself in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While on a fishing trip, Ironside (Raymond Burr) and Ed (Don Galloway) make a quick stopover at a roadside inn. It soon becomes obvious that the establish is the front for an illegal gambling house, run by a sinister professional speculator named Lou Hogan (Robert Webber), who may also have the local sheriff in his pocket. When a fatal shooting occurs, Ironside simultaneouly tries to solve the murder and save the lives of an innocent young couple (Suzanne Charney, Don Kanmer) by sitting down to a VERY high-stakes poker game with the gimlet-eyed Hogan. Featured in the cast is a pre-Charlie's Angels Cheryl Ladd, billed under her maiden name Cheryl Stopplemoor. This is the final episode of Ironside's sixth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert DoQui guest-stars as African liberation leader John Darcy, code name Kitara. The IMF must rescue Darcy from the clutches of white supremacist ruler Colonel Alex Kohler (Lawrence Kohler)--and also smash the Colonel's brutally rigid segregationist policies. To accomplish this, the agents utilize a pill that will intensify Kohler's neurotic paranoia. First networcast on February 20, 1971, "Kitara" was written by Mann Rubin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

LAPD detective Sgt. Tom Valens (David Janssen) is a ten-year veteran of the force who has had more than his share of hard luck lately -- his marriage is a wreck, and he hasn't fully recovered from a serious wound suffered in the line of duty a year ago. He and his partner, Sgt. Ed Musso (Keenan Wynn), are working a stakeout one night at the Seascape Apartments, in hope of catching a killer who has already claimed three victims in that part of the city, when he confronts a man seemingly trying to sneak off the premises. The man tries to run, stops when ordered but starts to pull a gun, and Valens shoots him dead. The deceased turns out to be Dr. James B. Ruston, a well-known humanitarian and pillar of the community -- worse yet, the police can't find any trace of the gun Valens says he saw Ruston pull. Valens' nightmare builds gradually, as he's first assigned to a desk, then hung out to dry by an indifferent coroner (Carroll O'Connor) at an inquest, suspended from the force, and then indicted for manslaughter by a crusading prosecutor (Sam Wanamaker) with a personal ax to grind. Villified in the press and by protesters in the street, Valens has few even slightly sympathetic ears around him -- his partner, his captain (Ed Begley Sr.), and his soon-to-be-ex-wife (Joan Collins) -- and even fewer allies. The one attorney (Walter Pidgeon) with enough juice to fight the case on an even footing with the DA says he would only plead him guilty and try for a deal, based on his understanding of the law and of juries; and the one public pundit (Steve Allen) who takes his part is doing so for the most cynical of reasons. Valens realizes that the only way to save himself is to first prove that the so-called victim wasn't quite the candidate for sainthood that he seemed -- why did he run? -- and to find the missing gun. To do all of that, he's got to confront the victim's aggrieved patients (Lillian Gish), his alcoholic widow (Eleanor Parker), and his employees (Stefanie Powers), all of whom have every reason to hate Valens. He starts to dig into the doctor's finances and finds some anomalies that no one can explain (or wants to look at -- they'd rather hang Valens), and as he puts together the pieces of the puzzle, helped by a sympathetic tenant at Seascape (George Grizzard), Valens finds himself pursued by the doctor's thug of son and his friends with mayhem on their minds -- and someone else with a deadlier agenda. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The IMF is assigned to infiltrate a South American stronghold, where a group of unregenerate Nazis have gathered in hopes of reestablishing the Third Reich. Much to the agents' amazement, the leader of the Nazis is the infamous Martin Bormann! Will the agents be able to convince the old but wily Bormann that Briggs and Rollin are former members of Hitler's inner circle? Written by Mann Rubin, "The Legend" first aired on February 11 1967, during the same week that the cast of Mission: Impossible appeared on the cover of TV Guide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An American Dream is adapted from the Norman Mailer novel of the same name. Stuart Whitman plays an acerbic TV talk show host who kills his wife Eleanor Parker during an argument. Whitman exerts his influence to cover up his crime, and the official verdict is suicide. But Whitman has not reckoned with the "Hell hath no fury" intensity of his cast-aside mistress Janet Leigh. When An American Dream bombed at the box office, the desperate distributors re-titled the film See You in Hell, Darling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Starlet Reggie Lansfield (Jean Hale) is hired as a stand-in for Victoria Dawn (Patrice Wymore), a once-popular actress and swimming star who plans to revitalize her career by staging a spectacular publicity stunt. Posing as Victoria, Reggie is to swim the entire length of the Catalina Channel--but the stunt is spoiled when the girl is rescued by boat captain Charlie Shaw (played by Bill Williams, the husband of Perry Mason costar Barbara Hale. Nor is this the end of Reggie's troubles: Victoria turns up murdered, and the hapless "double" is charged with the crime. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) dives into the case to prevent Reggie from going belly-up at San Quentin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this complex mystery, an American woman is married to a British businessman. The trouble begins when the woman suspects that she is being stalked. She tells this to her husband and his friend. They then go home. While the friend is upstairs making a phone call, the stalker sneaks in and kills her husband. The friend hears the commotion and rushes downstairs. He gets there just in time to hear the killer requesting payment from the wife for services rendered. Later the killer is arrested and makes a full confession. Though he claims the woman paid him to kill her husband, the court remains skeptical. The friend believes the killer, but says nothing. After the trial, he learns that the woman's ex-husband had been blackmailing her with the claim that they were never actually divorced. He pushed her into killing her new husband. When the friend learns the truth, he has no choice but to phone the police and tell them all he knows. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Show business agent Janice Brandt (Anne Baxter) all but abandons her client list to advance the career of young actor Larry Duke (George Segal), with whom she has fallen in love. Janice's alcoholic husband, Ed (Harry Townes), objects to this situation, expressing his displeasure by striking out at his wife -- who manages to knock Ed unconscious. In a panic, Janice tells Larry what she has done...whereupon Larry calmly suggests that she finish the job and murder Ed, and thus finally be rid of him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide