"The Rockford Files" Coulter City Wildcat (1976)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Russ Mayberry

Writers:

Don Carlos Dunaway (writer)
Roy Huggins (creator) ...

TV Series:

"The Rockford Files" (1974)

Original Air Date:

12 November 1976 (Season 3, Episode 6)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Rocky is forced to sign oil lease rights he owns away, leading Jim to investigate who and why someone wanted Rocky's seemingly worthless leases so badly. |

Plot Keywords:

Car Chase | Police | Detective | Answering Machine | Sting Operation

Cast

James Garner	...	Jim Rockford
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Joseph 'Rocky' Rockford #2
Joe Santos	...	Police Det. Dennis Becker (credit only)
John Anderson	...	Gerald A. O'Malley
Dennis Burkley	...	Howard
Gretchen Corbett	...	Beth Davenport
Patricia Stich	...	Phyliss
Noble Willingham	...	Claude Orzeck
Jerry Hardin	...	Walter Link
Sharon Compton	...	Beehive
Hal Bokar	...	2nd Bidder
John Clavin	...	1st Bidder
Gordon Hurst	...	Willie
Richard Kennedy	...	3rd Bidder
Ed Deemer	...	Detective

Series Cast

These people are regular cast members. Were they in this episode?

James Luisi

...

Lt. Doug Chapman

Quotes:

Jim Rockford: Dad, who turned you on to this scheme?
Joseph 'Rocky' Rockford #2: Harry Schreau down at the Gear Tavern. He's the one always buying drinks for the house.
Jim Rockford: Dad, isn't Harry also the one who lost five hundred bucks on an astrology chain letter?

A Rocky Road

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Rocky comes home and his stunt man gets a beating from a couple of goons who want him to sign over control of an oil lease. Jim and Rocky then drive up to Coulter City to investigate and discovers Rocky's land (parcel 334) is rich in oil and he's the victim of a massive oil scam.

This episode gives Noah Beery Jr. a chance to shine. He has a lot to do, beginning with the very opening scene where he passes on a fishing trip because he's disturbed about aging and doing nothing with his life. He shows his ability to think on his feet by doing a bad forgery of his own signature, and then has a nice moment when he preempts Jim telling him to hole up in a hotel out of danger by suggesting it himself. There are a lot of nice moments between father and son in this one.

John Anderson (who appeared in the "Maverick" episode "Benefit of the Doubt") puts in a good guest appearance as O'Malley, an old coot whose old bomb shelter (looking VERY MUCH like the hatch on "Lost") plays a key role in saving him from the same guys who are after Rocky. Unfortunately in a very sloppy continuity error, when Jim calls him to go in to his bomb shelter right away, it is night. In the next shot when we see O'Malley run for his bomb shelter, it is obviously mid-day.

Gretchen Corbett makes another strong appearance as the fetching Beth Davenport, and has a nice moment letting Jim and Rocky know their oil land should net them $42,000 a piece--a day!

Sharp eyed viewers might also notice the place Rocky dodges the goons, "Pete's Cafe", is the same diner used in the "Back to the Future" movies.