Mannix (TV Series) A Matter of Principle (1973) User Reviews

Ridiculous plot...neat characters.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 1 January 2016]

When the show begins, a hit-man kills some bloke. As he's making his escape, he accidentally backs into the car of Penelope and Portia (Ruth McDevitt and Elsa Lanchester). Now these are NOT normal old ladies--they're rich, very old fashioned and just plain weird! Instead of going to the police, they enlist the help of Mannix...even though it's just a cheap hit and run case. But in investigating this minor crime, Mannix accidentally walks into a mob hit--and soon the big mob boss (Abe Vigoda) is worried that Mannix will expose the killing. As for the ladies, they are weird and when the mob boss sends a 'fixer' to them to make good for the accident, they refuse...and soon are next on the hit parade! Can Mannix manage to sort all this out or will these old ladies soon be assuming room temperature?

This is an utterly ridiculous episode. Imagine hiring a private investigator to investigate such a petty crime! But, the old ladies (especially Lanchester) are quite funny and charming...and make the show well worth seeing despite the silliness.

Fun to See

[krains · 10/10 · 7 July 2020]

Elsa Lanchester, Ruth McDevitt and Abe Vigoda. Great character actors. Dana Elcar is good too. Mike Conners breezes through with some funny asides from Gail Fisher - always loved her.

Two back to back excellent episodes

[glitterrose · 10/10 · 3 July 2022]

The two actresses playing the sisters (Portia and Penelope) really shine here. I've seen both on Alfred Hitchcock shows and enjoyed them there as well.

Portia's quite a fireball. But I must say both sisters have their quirks. So the sisters are out and about and end up with a busted headlight. Portia's worked herself up into a frenzy and goes to Mannix for him to investigate. It turns out their headlight is connected to somebody involved with a murder. Anyway, Portia doesn't like cops and she explains that. She is rather fussy about cops. She doesn't want cops standing guard to protect them and when some plain clothes cops are watching out for them anyway, Portia lets it be known she knows their cops. She confronted them and one grunted at her. I love how that scene happened off screen but I can still picture it in my head.

Got a kick out of the one scene where Mannix says 'hell' in front of the sisters and they look as flustered/embarrassed as if he had pulled a Deb Morgan on 'Dexter' and dropped the f bomb in front of them.

Onto the quirks. Both ladies are on the old fashioned side. They don't really talk to Peggy since she's the secretary. Neither one of them answers the phone on their own or even call out on their own. That's the maid's job. But that tidbit is also what alerts Mannix that there's a problem in the house because Portia was the one doing all the talking instead of the maid starting the call and then getting one of the sisters to the phone.

Mannix gets paid 10 bucks for the job. Hey, at least you got something since so many jobs have Mannix not being paid at all.

Anyway, this is a very enjoyable episode with very delightful performances from our guest stars.

MANNIX, THE SPINSTERS & A SPOT OF TEA?

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 30 September 2022]

Love this. 10 Stars.

Just watching Elsa Lanchester and Ruth McDevitt drive up to a local supermarket in a classic Rolls Royce at the start of this mystery, should satisfy all us armchair detectives.

The good ladies play Portia and Penelope Penhaven, whose car is bumped into by another car which plays a part in a recent murder. Joe puts bits and pieces of the case together, but has to tread lightly? -- as his new found friends don't trust the LAPD. Quite clever, and may have inspired the short-lived mystery series, the SNOOP SISTERS, if you remember.

Howard Browne wrote this fine story, also a contributor to MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, though his claim to fame was the ST. VALENTINES DAY MASSACRE (1967), starring Jason Robards as a nasty Al Capone.

Execellent acting on everyone's part and some great on location work, set at the elaborate Frederick Hastings Rindge House on South Harvard Boulevard (West Adams District of Los Angeles), which at the time was NOT a historical landmark! Rindge was a wealthy businessman who came to LA to buy hundreds of acres of land, including parts of Malibu, which his wife developed for the rich and famous after his death. Good trivia question.

Look for crusty Abe Vigoda (as Anton), also Dana Elcar (as Skip) and Dorothy Neumann (as Gertrude). Dorothy was a staple in thrillers and campy films, such as THE TERROR with Jack Nicholson, and appeared many times on GUNSMOKE in spinster roles.

Note; Peggy has some nice wardrobe changes. Her clothes improved as the series continued, and probably due to viewer input (I'd put money on it!). And Joe definitely had a better stylist. That's Hollywood. Cars and clothes ruled on MANNIX, especially when it moved to Sunday nights.

SEASON 6 EPISODE 17 remastered color CBS/Paramount dvd box set. 6 dvds. 2012 release. The box set was basically very similar in design to CANNON dvd releases.

Good characters, Goofy premise

[Guad42 · 8/10 · 7 April 2021]

As other reviewers stated, the idea that two old ladies would hire a detective to investigate a broken headlight is preposterous but Elsa Lancaster sells it. Does anyone play a cultured, feisty oldster better than her? It is the principle of the thing. The two sisters want the man caught and, given what they pay Mannix in the end, this is an easy choice for them.

The ladies are hit by a killer running from his recent crime. They get the license number. Joe tracks the car to a car lot where Dana Elcar gives him to runaround. After the meeting, Elcar runs to Abe Vigoda, the crime boss who ordered the hit, and he tells Dana to get rid of the car. An attempt to buy off the ladies fails so now they and Joe are in the crosshairs. Eventually, hitmen take the ladies hostage and try to lure Joe to their place. Joe is too smart and gets the drop on them. Then Elsa helps out to get the final capture. As usual in Mannix, the police assigned to watch over the ladies are useless and easily pushed out of the way. Not sure what happened to them. None of the other seem to care so why should I. There is one rare occurrence. A cop actually shoots a bad guy in this episode. That happens about once a season.

Mannix doesn't get hit over the head and gets paid in the end - a whole ten dollars! Kind of a fun joke at the end. A great veteran cast make this an episode to see for the characters.

My favorite episode

[zombiemockingbird · 10/10 · 3 July 2023]

Season 6 has been absolutely horrible so far, so I was happy to see "A Matter of Principle". I loved this episode. It was an absolute treat to see Elsa Lanchester (Portia Penhaven), Ruth McDevitt (Penelope Penhaven), Dana Elcar (Skip Seldon), and Abe Vigoda (Anton Valine) doing what they do best. They are all accomplished actors that are always a pleasure to watch. Also enjoyed Dorothy Neumann (Gertrude); her faint in the fight scene was great. Some reviewers thought the story was silly, but I enjoyed it, and thought it made more sense than most of the season 6 episodes. The story doesn't always have to involve tons of bodies, violence and maniacal killers to be enjoyable. Worth the watch for the acting.