Mission: Impossible (TV Series) Memory (1966) User Reviews

Decent...but an interesting and unusual role for Albert Paulsen.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 11 January 2014]

Albert Paulsen made a career out of playing evil folks--particularly on "Mission: Impossible". So, when I saw him playing a member of the IM Force, I was sure surprised! Yep, one of the perennial baddies plays a good guy in "Memory"! I sure wish Anthony Zerbe or John Calicos had gotten a similar opportunity--two of my other favorite baddies from the 1960s and 70s TV shows (and frequent "Mission: Impossible" guests).

In this episode, the plan is to pretend that Baresh (Paulsen) is a wanted man code named 'Sparrow'. He is to let himself be captured by an enemy nation and the evil Soska (Leonard Stone) will interrogate him. However, Baresh is really a memory expert and his mission is to eventually betray Soska--and do it so convincingly that Soska's days will be numbered. An unusual plot--and what is more unusual is that near the end, Willy and Barney machine gun some folks in order to get away. This show almost always avoided having the good guys do the actual killing but here they cheerfully mow down a few soldiers! All in all, an interesting but not especially outstanding episode. However, considering that it's only the second show in the series, it sure seemed to his its stride quickly.

Mr. Memory Saves the Day

[sylviajean · 8/10 · 11 August 2008]

Old pro Albert Paulsen, whom you may remember as the humorless Communist agent in the original "Manchurian Candidate," steals this one out from under the regulars. As an alcoholic whose memory somehow remains phenomenal, he is pretty much on his own as a prisoner trying to get the goods on his captors despite beatings and humiliation. Apparently the rather heartless Briggs is going to leave him to his fate until he finds out that his "Mr. Memory" has found and memorized an essential list of enemy agents. The final rescue makes up the climax. But the Brigss character had a couple of these rather nasty hard-boiled moments. I was just as happy when they replaced him with the upright Jim Phelps.

The Deadly DISCREDITING Affair

[profh-1 · 6/10 · 24 April 2024]

To take down a dangerous Eastern-European official-- without actually assassinating him-- a man with uncanny perfect memory recall impersonates a suspected double-agent, allows himself to be captured, then interrogated, so the information forced from him will IMPLICATE said official. Just explaining that is more complicated than it should be!

Albert Paulsen (THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE) is "Joseph Baresh", whose ability to remember anything serves him well while impersonating a dead spy that the bad guys don't realize has been dead for 6 months already. It also helps when he happens to glance over a complete list of the main baddie's spy network. What I can't believe is that IMF team leader Dan Briggs actually intended to leave Baresh behind in prison, something suggested at the start of the last act, but which I did not get at all when the mission was laid out. What the HELL kind of "good guy" is Briggs, anyway?

Leonard Stone is "Dimitri Soska", head of security at the prison, who takes far too much pleasure torturing people for information. I've seen Stone in many things over the years, but what always blows my mind the most was his 2 episodes of LOST IN SPACE, where he played galactic showman "Farnum B.", arguably the most exagerrated, ridiculous, over-the-top character in the entire run of that show. Watching him in anything else, it's hard to believe it's the same person. He really was some kind of actor!

Gene Dynarski is the "Sgt. Of Guard" at the prison. I've seen him in numerous things, including 2 episodes each of BATMAN, THE MONKEES, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA and STAR TREK. When it comes to big, tough, moustached bad guys, he was to 60s TV what Harry Cording was to 30s movies.

Martin Landau, as "Rollin Hand", is listed in the opening credits, so I began to wonder, WHERE the heck is he, when he didn't turn up until 30 minutes into the story! And then he winds up having only a 3-minute cameo. That's what I call "playing around" with the format. Similarly, this is apparently the ONLY episode out of all 171 where the mission isn't delivered to the team leader by some kind of recorded message.

Although Dan specifically mentions "no killing" at the beginning, by the time it's all over, their target, "Janos Kirk" (William Keene) is put before a firing squad by the baddies, and later, Barney & Willy casually machine-gun a couple of guards during the prison break. I guess it all depends on WHO's being shot, when and by whom.

Memory

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 28 February 2024]

The second episode is rather hard boiled. The series is still trying to find its feet and this one is more John Le Carre rather than James Bond.

Joseph Baresh (Albert Paulsen) is Mister Memory. He has a photographic memory and the power of total recall.

Daniel Briggs wants Baresh to be arrested in a Balkans country and be put behind bars as an enemy agent codenamed 'Sparrow.' He will be interrogated and tortured.

Briggs ia making sure Baresh can withstand torture and elicit the information that needs to be imparted in a convincing fashion.

The intent is to destabilise the bellicose Soska who is interrogating him. Soska is a man on the up and dangerous with it.

The rest of the IMF team need to make sure that Baresh can be rescued in time.

That is the second episode in a row where there was a guest IMF agent with unusual skills. Baresh would never show up again.