Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) Tiger by the Tail (1968) User Reviews

Not bad.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 30 September 2009]

This is a decent episode from early in the first season. It stars Sal Mineo as Bobby George, who, surprisingly looks pretty at home in Hawaii (even though he was apparently Sicilian by heritage). He plays a struggling singer who isn't talented enough for the big-time. So, he comes up with a stupid publicity stunt in order to get attention. After one of his concerts, he arranges to have some friends pretend to kidnap him out of the club in which he's been performing.

Well, this does bring him a lot of attention, but unfortunately the plan ends up going unexpectedly wrong. The problem is that it turns out George's father (familiar character actor Harold Stone) is a mega-millionaire...and Bobby's "friends" turn on him when they realize that they COULD kidnap him for real--and bleed the father dry.

While Mineo's role in the episode is pretty limited, Stone had a chance to shine as the brash and pig-headed father--the sort of role he and actors like Lee J. Cobb excelled in doing during this time period. Loud, pushy and bigger than life--Stone is the star--even though Mineo was the bigger name celebrity guest starring in episode #1.3.

Overall, a pretty interesting plot and it's better written than some of the early episodes--which, unfortunately, tended to have "brain lapses" in the characters to make the plots work. This one is tight, entertaining and rather believable.

By the way, you may see Jerry in the episode and wonder where you've seen him before (I know I did). He was played by Sam Melville--one of the stars of the 70s cop show "The Rookies".

An old chestnut, but still enjoyable...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 4 September 2023]

... with that old chestnut being a fake kidnapping that turns into a real one.

Lounge singer Bobby George (Sal Mineo) gets two of his acquaintances to fake his kidnapping, hoping to drum up publicity and thus popularity for his act. He has been estranged from his dad for years, so he is surprised when his wealthy father D. J. Gorgiade (Harold J. Stone) shows up and, unprompted gives a televised address saying that he'll pay anything to get his son back.

The two associates decide to hold George for ransom for real and extort 500 thousand dollars from his father. That would be about five million in 2023 dollars. But one is getting cold feet about the whole thing, especially when the more volatile of the two kidnappers says that for them to get away with this they'll need to kill George. McGarrett is on to the fake kidnapping from the start, but he realizes it has suddenly become real and is now racing against time to figure out where the kidnappers have their hideout.

Like I said, the tale of the fake kidnapping gone wrong is an old one, with 1934's Million Dollar Ransom being just one I can think of offhand. It for sure has been done several times since this episode aired. One interesting casting tidbit - Sal Mineo and Harold J. Stone both had supporting roles in Paul Newman's 1956 breakout hit "Somebody Up There Likes Me", although they don't share a single scene together.

Bobby George Is Kidnapped

[StrictlyConfidential · 6/10 · 20 June 2021]

"Tiger By The Tail" was first aired on television October 10, 1968.

Anyway - As the story goes - A publicity-hungry singer is kidnapped from the club where he performs. Is the abduction just a hoax, or is it murderously real? It's up to the Five-O squad to find out.

Sal Mineo's Guest appearance!

[Sylviastel · 9/10 · 27 August 2017]

Sal Mineo played a struggling singer Bobby George in Honolulu, Hawaii. He gets kidnapped one night. His father is a wealthy hotel owner in New York City. Bobby's kid napping gets coverage and publicity. Bobby and his kidnappers are in on the kidnapping to get publicity for his career. When it goes too far, Bobby is trapped by his greedy kidnappers who turn on him. The episode like all in this series was well crafted for the viewers. Sal Munro gives a worthy performance here.

See what happens when you get greedy

[geoffm-00748 · 25 March 2023]

Sal Mineo was once an up and coming movie star, but his career in films went no where. It was television where he made his name before his death at a young age. Here he plays singer Bobby George who just could not get the right breaks in the music business. Sounds a lot like Mineo with his movie career. George fakes a kidnapping of himself believing that associated publicity will uplift his music career. Of course everything goes wrong especially when one of his cohorts Jerry Parks gets greedy and wants to get more money out of George's hotel tycoon father. Parks is played by veteran TV star Sam Melville who went on a few years later to play one of the cops in the show the Rookies. Parks was the better character in this episode, but needed a stronger actor to play the role. One of my favourite character actors , Harold Stone appeared in this episode as George's rich father. Even though his role was minor he doesn't let viewers down. Of course, as with just about every episode of this show it is Steve McGarrett who dominates just about everything that happens. From being a cop solving the case to being a family councillor in bringing together George and his father.

A good fast paced episode.