The Secret of Sam Vittorio (12 Oct. 1968)

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.

Director:

Gary Nelson

Writers:

Allan Burns, Chris Hayward,

Stars:

Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, Edward Platt

Cast

Episode cast overview:
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

Storyline

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.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 1968 (USA)

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Talent Associates

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Quotes

Larabee: Chief, the real Connie and Floyd just escaped.
Chief: [loading his gun] Well, I know that, you just told me on the phone!
Larabee: Was that you? I thought I dialed my wife.
Chief: Max and 99 are in danger, let's go.
[starts to leave]
Larabee: Chief, do I have time to call my wife?

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Connections

References My Mother the Car (1965)

User Reviews

Crime Doesn't Pay

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.