Saturday Night in Venice (25 Sep. 1969)

In Venice, Al is poisoned by a beautiful Soviet agent, and she tells him he has less than 48 hours to return the item he stole or he won't get the antidote.

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writers:

Roland Kibbee (creator), Stephen Kandel

Stars:

Robert Wagner, Delia Boccardo, John Russell

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Robert Wagner	...	Alexander Mundy
Delia Boccardo	...	Lita
John Russell	...	William Dover
Severn Darden	...	Ambassador Nikolai Palenkin
John Stacy	...	Doctor
Jack Betts	...	Garrison (as Hunt Powers)
Carol Jean Larson	...	Nurse
Michael Strong	...	Col. Malkov

Storyline

In Venice, Al is poisoned by a beautiful Soviet agent, and she tells him he has less than 48 hours to return the item he stole or he won't get the antidote.

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 1969 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Third season changes radically from the first two seasons

This is the premiere episode of It Takes a Thief as it began the third season without the Noah Bain character (Malachi Throne). The series producers decided to go to Italy to film the third season and to relegate the Noah Bain character to cameo appearances back in the US. Malachi Throne objected to this change and left the show. The original premise of the Al Mundy character being monitored by the SIA in each episode of the first two seasons appear to have been discarded to change him into some kind of James Bond spy who goes on foreign ventures. The Italian episodes appear to be focused on the scenery and not on the plot. The series lost much of its humor and attraction by this shift in scenery and character change. Midway through the third season, it appears that the producers abandoned the foreign theme and returned Al Mundy back to the USA and added special guest stars to the cast (like Fred Astaire, Betty Davis, Elsa Lancaster), but by then it was too late and the series was canceled.

Bottom line, the producers killed the show by changing the locale of the episodes and Al Mundy's character. The humorous bits in the first two seasons are completely missing in the third season.

This particular episode dealt with Al in Venice where he steals a computer part from the Russians and they hire an agent to poison him. The female Russian agent appears to have been a good friend of Al's even though she poisons him. He is told to return the computer part or he will not get the antidote. Al comes up with a way to trick the Russians in the end and save his own life.