The Limping Man

I read the reviews on Zerbes amazing performance in most all of his bad guy roles, which he did oh so well.. but FYI; he also played an amazing boss and good cop captain in Harry O after Harry moved from San Diego to Malibu.. where Zerbe showed a complete opposite of bad guy with no heart... he played an amazing Captain with such great compassion for the law, Harry and anyone of those victims in that story line.. shows what an amazing versatile actor he really was.

In this episode, The Limping Man, I see a lot of great actors that I've not seen in so many years.. Alas, I feel such sentimental memories of these shows when I see them like tonight:)

A police stakeout at the airport is observing a man who apparently has something to do with a counterfeiting ring. However, when they give chase, which shouldn't be THAT difficult since the guy has a pronounced limp, the cop with a chance to shoot him freezes...and the limping man gets away. Not surprisingly, the cop is in trouble and his co-workers think he's dirty. But Cannon knows otherwise...this is a good, dedicated man and he tries to figure out why he hesitated as well as where the limping man is now.

I liked this episode for several reasons. Any episode with Anthony Zerbe is good as he played great scummy villains in dozens of TV shows. Additionally, the plot was very unique--complex but well thought out and entertaining. Well worth your time.

Writer Shiryl Hendrix (who had a cool name) passed at age 100 in 2023. He wrote for many cop shows, and some classic episodes. This is one of them.

Producer Quinn Martin again used Anthony Zerbe as the slick bad guy, who seemed to be jumping back and forth between this series and MANNIX. The following season he would co-star on HARRY O as David Janssen's scowling former cop boss. In later years, Zerbe taught acting, and it must have been fascinating to be one of his students. There are interviews of him on YOUTUBE, talking about his distinguished career.

The mysterious "limping man" (called Max) is part of a counterfeit ring and the prime suspect who gets Cannon's old partner, Jim (played by Jason Evers) in really hot water. In fact, at the beginning of the story he claims it was the sun that blocked his vision from shooting Zerbe. Really?

Evers appeared four times on the series, an old friend of William Conrad; they worked together at Warner Brothers/ABC TV for years. Cannon goes it the hard way, including having his car rigged with dynamite, thanks to another goon, played by Vic Tayback. Best bad guy.

Only debit --considering it is dynamite -- in actuality a large chunk of the street would have been a crater and the Lincoln would have been toast. The dynamite angle had to have been inspired by Mannix. We kids loved this stuff.

Another WB alum, Barbara Stewart guest stars, who I recently saw on a 1964 episode of 77 SUNSET STRIP. Bill Conrad probably pulled some ideas from that final season (63-64) of the classic cop show for his own. He co-produced and directed it. Nice on location shots; San Pedro, a familar pit stop for many tv shows.

Master of dialects Ben Wright, sporting his famous moustache, plays a shoe salesman. Michael Caffey did a solid job directing, though you can spot on-lookers watching Cannon in his car --it's obvious and couldn't be helped. Caffey directed many episodes of BARNABY JONES, also the ROOKIES.

Terrific late night mystery. 10 Stars.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 11 remastered color CBS/Paramount dvd box set (2012). The blue and red dvd special set. A great gift.