"Get Smart" The Secret of Sam Vittorio (1968)

Director:

Gary Nelson

Writers:

Allan Burns (written by) and
Chris Hayward (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Get Smart" (1965)

Original Air Date:

12 October 1968 (Season 4, Episode 4)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Plot:

Max and 99 portray look alike ex-cons Connie and Floyd (Bonnie and Clyde!) to find out where their mentor hid all his stolen loot. |

Plot Keywords:

Agent | Secret Agent | Secret Organization | Telephone Call | Super Villain

Cast

Don Adams	...	Maxwell Smart
Barbara Feldon	...	Agent 99
Edward Platt	...	Chief
Rico Cattani	...	Monk
Johnny Silver	...	Jojo
Juliet Foell	...	Waitress
Robert Karvelas	...	Larabee
J. Carrol Naish	...	Sam Vittorio

Runtime:

30 min

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Talent Associates

Trivia:

The title is a reference to the novel "The Secret of Santa Vittoria" by Robert Crichton.

Quotes:

Sam Vittorio: [on his deathbed] You know in my lifetime I must have robbed a 150 banks. Maybe 160... I guess it was closer to 200.
Maxwell Smart: [posing as Floyd Darrow] Eh, yeah, 200 banks, Sam.
Sam Vittorio: 192 to be exact!
Agent 99: [posing as Connie Barker] Where did you hide the money, Sam?
Sam Vittorio: What money? Most of the banks I robbed went bust in the depression.
Maxwell Smart: Well then what's your secret?
Sam Vittorio: [beckons them closer] Crime doesn't pay!

Movie Connections:

References "My Mother the Car" (1965)

Crime Doesn't Pay

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

A parody of the then current hit film "Bonnie and Clyde", Max and 99 turn out to be dead ringers for gangsters Connie and Floyd. A lengthy opening sequence shows them as their criminal dopplegangers in black and white footage and introduces J. Carol Naish as Sneaky Sam Vittorio (nicknamed Sneaky because of the sneakers he always wore).

Sam robbed over 194 banks in his time, but the loot was never recovered. He's now arranging to bust Connie and Floyd out of prison to tell them his secret. Max and 99 plans to replace the two and find out what Sam did with the money.

In a sloppily written and badly done sequence, Max and 99 are supposed to jump out of a moving police car, then drive away in a waiting getaway car. Of course Max messes it up, but the writers logic in the scene fails. Two prisoners jump out of a moving cop car and the cops don't bother to even stop??? Even worse is the incredibly bad special effect they try and pass off when Max accidentally blows up their getaway car. They superimpose a fire over a shot of the car. It is embarrassingly bad. Ditto is the fast motion they use when Max tries to give Sam their "secret" handshake and falls down. Adams has done so many good falls, its embarrassing to see this kind of cheat, taking any of the laughs that were in the scene. There is also a dated "My Mother the Car" reference in the show that must have younger viewers baffled.

The only inspired moments come when Larabee comes in the Chief's office to tell him the real Connie and Floyd have escaped (the Chief says "I know. You just told me that on the phone." Larabee replies: "That was you? I thought I called my wife.") and when Max and 99 get mixed up with the real Connie and Floyd in Sam's bedroom.

Veteran star J. Carol Naish makes one of his very last appearances as Sam Vittorio, but it isn't very memorable. He gets a couple of laughs, but doesn't really create a memorable character in Sam, despite the fact he was making movies during Bonnie and Clyde's heyday.