Mannix (TV Series) The Girl from Nowhere (1974) User Reviews

Another client, another BS story

[Guad42 · 7/10 · 12 May 2021]

The majority of Joe's clients fall into two categories. They are blatant liars with a cover story to get Joe to do something for them that has nothing to do with the cover story or, they are idiots who, during the investigation, Joe tells them to do something and they do the opposite to put everyone in danger. Liz is in the former category. Of course Joe gets to the truth, slowly but surely. Liz tells him about five renditions of her tale and never really gets to the whole truth. Joe eventually figures he is being played after she won't go to the DA with her story and runs away to a boat. Took him long enough (nearly the whole hour). Joe is definitely a sucker for a pretty face in this one.

The death of the main thug in a car wreck about halfway through the episode is seen as an accident despite him having a blood alcohol of 3.0. So the story is he beat up Joe, Joe got away, so he went out and got drunk. Okay.

This episode ends with a chase around the boat of the bad guy. Liz redeems herself and Joe gets off another well aimed shot with his pistol to get the bad guy. Joe really needs to carry a backup gun in an ankle holster. It would come in handy so many times. In the epilogue, Joe finally figures out the whole tale and Liz goes down for the count. Another lying client gets her comeuppance. They should quit hiring Joe!

There is one unusual aspect to the tale. Midway through, the police show up to save Joe's life. That happens about once a season.

The cast isn't the normal big guest names that usually appear on Mannix but they get the job done. Vaughn Taylor has an uncredited role as the pastor officiating the funeral. He usually has bigger parts than that. I like the newspaper owner. She was the most memorable character in this story.

Joe get beaten up and doesn't get paid. Par for the course. A good story that is worth your time. Just don't fall for the woman.

Liz the liar!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 3 April 2017]

When the episode begins, Joe Mannix learns that during a recent accident, three people died and, inexplicably, no one claimed the body of one of them...a small girl! Then, out of the blue, the police receive money from an anonymous donor for a funeral for the child. Joe attends and sees a blonde there and wonders if perhaps she knows about the child. When he later finds her and asks, she gives a story about reading about all this in the paper and gives him a lot of backstory about herself...none of which end up being true! In fact, throughout the entire episode this lady lies one time after another...and it all turns out to be related to a robbery long ago.

This episode, if you think about it, makes little sense. If the lady had nothing to do with Mannix instead of later hiring him, he would have gone about his merry way. Not exactly logical. But...entertaining like any episode of "Mannix". And, if was entertaining to see Mannix dispatch the guy who took his car keys...that alone makes it worth seeing!

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL JOE THE TRUTH!

[tcchelsey · 9/10 · 5 November 2022]

So many of Mannix's clients fabricated lots of stories --or were compulsive liars. That said, this could have also been a running gag in the series; Joe was dedicated to his craft --perhaps TOO dedicated to all the curious people who walked through the front door.

Case in point is a young woman called Liz, well played by Rosemary Forsyth, who seems to have a connection to a little girl killed in a car crash, and who no one seems to know? Joe meets the mysterious lady at the funeral and this is where the trouble starts, again largely because Liz can't tell the truth.

Nevertheless, a fairly entertaining adventure with a lot of surprises, including Liz being pursued by a killer, though for something else in her past. Now what?

Bad guy Robert Yuro plays the stalker, named Ryker, a familiar heavy in many movies and tv shows. He was married to Rosemary Forsyth for nearly 40 years. This was her second appearance on the show. Look for spry, old Lucille Bensen (as Myra), an actress who played scores of peppy grandmas and seniors. In 1974 alone she appeared in five movies, including MAME opposite Lucille Ball. Also watch for Vaughn Taylor, who like Lucille Bensen, was popular in senior roles, and at times played some crafty villains to his credit.

The beautiful fountain at the cemetary (scene) was filmed at Valhalla (Pierce Bros) in North Hollywood, which has not changed in 50 years. Many famous actors are buried there. In fact, out of camera range in that scene is the grave of Oliver Hardy (Laurel and Hardy) and his wife, Lucille, which always has fresh flowers.

Recommended, if you can take the smoke and mirrors. This cast will not disappoint you. A late night addiction. SEASON 7 EPISODE 19 remastered color CBS dvd box set. Feb 1974.

Too bad the episode didn't just focus on the little girl that had gotten killed

[glitterrose · 3/10 · 13 May 2021]

Because that snippet from the storyline was the most interesting part.

I get a kick out of reading reviews for certain episodes and enjoy a lot of what's being said if the episode is kinda "out there". There's one thing I want to defend. You can still enjoy a series and still have a beef with certain parts of the show. I LOVE "Little House on the Prairie" and I love to snark the show. Some of these reviewers for Mannix might fit in the same boat. I also enjoy Mannix but love to snark the series.

Here's my beef with the episode and any episode similar. Joe Mannix is a pretty smart guy, he does seem to be the no nonsense type. Not saying he walks around with a stick up his butt all the time. He knows how to have fun, just saying he takes his work seriously. Why isn't this no nonsense guy warning any client that constantly lies "I'm giving you one more shot. Stop lying or I'm walking." Let that warning be given out after the first lie he buss you in. And then walk if the client continues to lie. It irritated me the writing veered into Mannix falling for this liar. Talk about needing to get better taste*.

I realize times were different back then. You can turn on a tv show now and you wouldn't blink if you saw a black person and a white person dating or married. I realize things weren't like that back then. Mannix and Peggy have excellent chemistry together but I realize the two of them would never be able to have a romance or get married in that time frame. I kinda wish when Mike Connors reprised his role in Diagnosis Murder that he had mentioned Peggy being his wife. Peggy did get a passing mention with something along the lines of Peggy being all he needed. I can't really take marriage from a throw away line like that. I guess it's better to be single than settle down with some of the doozies Mannix has had the hots for!