Smart Fell on Alabama (31 Oct. 1969)

Smart trains some convicts so they can break into a mansion and steal a codebook.

Director:

Alan Rafkin

Writers:

Lloyd Turner, Gordon Mitchell,

Stars:

Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, Edward Platt

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Don Adams	...	Maxwell Smart
Barbara Feldon	...	Agent 99
Edward Platt	...	Chief
Stanley Clements	...	Simmons
Don Megowan	...	Murphy
Larry Vincent	...	Farley
Diahn Williams	...	Bohrman
Victor Bozeman	...	Porter
Robert Karvelas	...	Larabee
John Dehner	...	Col. Kyle K. Kirby

Storyline

Smart trains some convicts so they can break into a mansion and steal a codebook.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1969 (USA)

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Talent Associates-Norton Simon, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title is a parody on the 1934 song "Stars Fell on Alabama."

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Quotes

Chief: Max, this is a suicide mission. Whoever goes, will probably never come back.
Maxwell Smart: Yes, well, whoever it is, Chief, lets with him good luck.
Chief: Good luck, Max.

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Connections

References The Dirty Dozen (1967)

User Reviews

The Dirty 1/4 Dozen

Funny script has 86 take on the Lee Marvin role from "The Dirty Dozen", leading a team of convicts sentenced to life in prison on a suicide mission to plant a fake code book in the safe of KAO's Colonel Kyle K. Kirby (John Dehner).

They have a funny training sequence in which the team pickpocket keeps stealing Max's watch (at one point, the Chief tells Max to synchronize their watches. Max calls out for Farley to synchronize his watch!) and the team tough guy Murphy (Don Megenzo) demonstrates his power. One of the best gags comes when 86 orders Farley (Larry Vinent) to lift the keys from a KAOS guard and he not only takes the keys but the guard dog as well! Again the powers that be returned to the idea of giving Smart a memorable adversary as they cast John Dehner as a Colonel Sanders like figure. He does a good job with the material he's given. The three convicts (who are given full pardons if they can survive this mission) are mostly forgettable.

The one running bit that kind of falls flat is a running joke where 99 keeps calling Max to tell him she's having labor pains. The problem is the gag is VERY out of character for 99, who as an experienced CONTROL agent, would know not to call Max while he's out on assignment. Instead, she's written as a giddy bride, and its just not her.

I also suspect a rhyming wordplay bit was cut, perhaps just out of the syndicated version of the show, only because there's an awful lot of "K's" and alliteration in Colonel Kyle K. Kirby and the KAOS courier to be accidental, but no verbal bit develops.