Banacek (TV Series) The Greatest Collection of Them All (1973) User Reviews

Expensive art work disappears from a locked truck.

[nyandersons · 7/10 · 21 June 2006]

Artwork, valued at around $23 million, is placed in locked crates and loaded into a moving truck. When they arrive at their destination, all the artwork except for one $3 million dollar piece has vanished.

Banacek is called to investigate. The insurance company 'suits' don't like that Banacek has such a good recovery ratio. Banacek's going recovery rate is 10% of $23 million.

It's a good who-done-it, by not divulging anything before hand. Enjoyable to watch as the 'drama' unfolds.

This era of television is acceptable for the whole family to watch. There's no explicit language or revealing outfits.

The Missing Paintings

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 28 February 2016]

Thomas Banacek(George Peppard) is called in on a mysterious case involving a truck filled with a highly valuable collection of paintings that arrives at its destination, only for it to be discovered empty! Not a trace of them can be found, though Banacek must still look at the list of suspects, which includes the woman(played by Penny Fuller) in charge of the move, as well as the father and son team that owns the trucking business, the Trotters(played by Lloyd Gough and Mike Farrell). Will Thomas solve this mystery in time to collect his big reward? Intriguing premise at the core here, though plot does ramble on a bit before the typically clever solution.

Another impossible case explained by Banacek.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 31 December 2020]

A case of Impressionist paintings worth about $23,000,000 is being transported from a rich man's collection to a museum across the country. However, when the truck arrives, all but one of the paintings is missing and the people driving the truck deny having stopped nor anyone hijacking the paintings in the locked semi. Can Banacek sort all this out (as usual)?

This is an enjoyable installment of the series....and it's well worth seeing. Its solution seems a bit more plausible and possible than most in the previous episodes...which is a plus.

Intriguing theft and good humor here

[FlushingCaps · 10/10 · 3 November 2011]

Just watched this one last night, again. Seemed to me to be one of the best in the series because it not only had a particularly clever way in which the theft was pulled off, but it had more than a bit of humor.

The story begins with a semi-truck being loaded with the last of its cargo of valuable paintings being shipped from New York to Boston for a special charity art show. Each painting is locked and sealed in a separate crates. The doors on the semi are then locked tight. A police car led the truck to Boston, with another car with two officers plus the woman who arranged the show riding directly behind the truck. It is said that the woman, Gloria Hamilton, "never took her eyes off the truck" all the way to the museum in Boston, where it was unloaded.

After the crates were unloaded and opened, everyone was shocked to see they were all empty. The truck was stopped a couple of blocks away, as it had just started to leave when the boxes were opened. The driver and his partner were questioned, as well as the four officers in the escort cars, but nobody, including Hamilton, had any explanation for how it could have happened--there were no stops on the way and no way for the paintings to have disappeared.

To make it even more intriguing--one painting, in a special box frame was not taken, the only painting still in its carton. This seems to eliminate the notion of the truck being switched at any point.

Of course, Hamilton immediately loathes Banacek, but eventually learns that he is a good guy. Mike Farrell (B.J. on M*A*S*H), Garry Walberg (Speed on The Odd Couple and Lt. Monahan on Quincy), are featured. Smaller roles include another Odd Couple character more famous for Laverne & Shirley, as Penny Marshall had a small role. A bar maid had a nice small role and fans of Gomer Pyle will recognize her as Bunny, Sgt. Carter's girl friend.

We have the usual with Felix, and Jay has another of his wild notions of how the job was pulled. Banacek's story of "No-Nose Calvelli" is one I remembered from the first time I saw it.

What I liked about the series in general was guessing how the clever crimes are committed, the fact we're not just focusing on the usual murder, and the witty dialog's Banacek engaged in with others, especially people like Church, the company investigator who disliked Banacek, believing he was overrated and overpaid.

This episode had more than most, which is why I rank it as one of the very best. I said this had a spoiler, only in that I described part of the early action. I'm not about to reveal anything near the end that would ruin it for first-time viewers.