30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key (26 Feb. 1974)

Five-O matches wits with a brilliant thief who's a master of disguise and able to manufacture his own pass keys to Honolulu hotels. The thief has information on guests with valuables and ... See full summary »

Director:

Charles S. Dubin

Writers:

Leonard Freeman (creator), E. Arthur Kean

Stars:

Jack Lord, James MacArthur, Al Harrington

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Jack Lord	...	Det. Steve McGarrett
James MacArthur	...	Dan Williams
Al Harrington	...	Ben
Kam Fong	...	Chin Ho
David Wayne	...	Horus
Herman Wedemeyer	...	Duke
Harry Endo	...	Che Fong
John C. Hurd	...	Fairgate
Clarence Garcia	...	Darter
Johann Strasser	...	Chadway (as Johann H. Strasser)
James Severson	...	Police Artist (as James M. Severson)
Don 'Lance' Over	...	Atwood (as Donald H. Over)
James Hutchison	...	Courier (as James L. Hutchison)
Ethel Azama	...	Thelma

Storyline

Five-O matches wits with a brilliant thief who's a master of disguise and able to manufacture his own pass keys to Honolulu hotels. The thief has information on guests with valuables and how they try to hide them in their rooms. He even calls the police while disguised as a priest claiming to be robbed himself. The question is whether McGarrett & Co. can catch up to the thief.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 February 1974 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Leonard Freeman Production, CBS Television Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Zulu is advertised on a sign at the International Market Place 12:24 into this episode. Zulu played Kono in the first four seasons of Hawaii Five-O.

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Goofs

Johann Strasser's character is referred to as "Strasser" in the dialog, but listed as "Chadway" in the credits.

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Quotes

Det. Steve McGarrett: Wait a minute. I just thought of something. The French word for finger is "doight."
Chin Ho: Do you think we were just given -?
Det. Steve McGarrett: That's exactly what I think.

User Reviews

Déjà vu...of sorts.

In 1970 and 1971, "Hawaii Five-O" had their best guest appearances when Hume Cronyn played the masterful gentleman criminal Lewis Avery Filer. Not only was he brilliant and took great glee in messing with the minds of the police, but oddly, despite being a criminal, he was a darn nice one--and had a delightful sense of humor. Well, three years later, the writers tried to resurrect a similar character but with a different actor (David Wayne) and a few changes here and there. But, like Filer, Mr. Horus (one of many aliases) had the same humorous theme music, the same sense of panache and daring and really enjoyed messing with the police. He also never physically harmed anyone--as he had an odd sort of code about him. So, with all these similarities and two actors of roughly the same age who change appearances very often, it's easy to mix these episodes up--thinking they are all the same character.

Now I am NOT complaining, really, as "30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key" is still a wonderful episode--and was a great way to end season six. Sure, there were a few plot holes, but the fun and cleverness of the plot made these seem insignificant. For example, how did Horus already have the rope attached in the target room when the police were waiting for him? Why didn't McGarrett or Danno fire when Horus refused to stop? And, didn't McGarrett apprehending the guy at the end seem a bit too easy--like the writers just wrapped it all up because they were running out of time? But, I guess I am a perfectionist at times--most really wouldn't dwell on all this and would just focus on the fun.