Mannix (TV Series) The Danford File (1973) User Reviews

File this one under excellent

[pkfloydmh · 9/10 · 23 November 2021]

In this one, Joe investigates why a woman is being blackmailed.

The producers certainly saved the best for last as this is a terrific episode with an intriguing plot, some nice twists and strong performances from the entire cast.

Joe gets clobbered in the head again and is once again used as a bird dog.

The total body count is three.

This is an excellent episode with a lot of tension and suspense, a compelling story, some great action scenes and stunts and great performances from the entire cast.

This is the best episode of the season.

Brady bunch house

[simpsonunderground · 6 July 2022]

Did you recognize the stairs and front door as the Brady house ? Also detective was Mike brady. I think Brady bunch was canceled that year. The show was great, most this show are.

MRS. DANFORD HAS SOMTHING TO HIDE!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 8 July 2023]

Stage and screen actor John Gavin (as Danford) and his wife (Jessica Walter) have a bit of a problem. Gavin has a blooming political career and his wife has a PAST.... Object: blackmail. Nasty stuff. Enter Mannix and it's every man or woman with skeleton's in their closet for themselves. Watch what happens next... and it gets rough.

True, this is not an original story, and by the 6th season there are precious few, but its well directed by Harry Harvey, Jr., and especially acted by some seasoned pro's. Veteran actress Elisabeth Fraser plays Belle and look for STAR TREK alumnus Arlene Martel, also a favorite on TWILIGHT ZONE. Harvey directed eleven episodes for the series, but had the most influence on the show, as script supervisor from the beginning of the series until the end. He was a Mannix encyclopedia. Good trivia question.

Partly filmed at Long Beach, one of the most popular spots for films and tv shows, largely due to the historical Queen Mary.

Yes, the studio uses the interior of the BRADY BUNCH house and Robert Reed is back as Tobias. Always the best is the ending in a warehouse. There's something about all those loose barrels and boxes that come tumbling down, although it looks like it was filmed in a real warehouse and NOT one of the Paramount furniture warehouses.

Solid final episode of SEASON 6. EPISODE 24 CBS remastered color dvd box set. 6 dvd set. 2012 release.

An ol' army buddy is involved so you know it will be bad.

[Guad42 · 6/10 · 16 April 2021]

As pointed out by MartinHafer, there are lots of problems here that detract from a good story. I think this is Joe's seventh interaction with ol' army buddies and, as always, it goes south in a hurry. Joe needs to stay away from anyone he knew in the military. The cast is good in this outing. The recently-passed Jessica Walter is making her third and final appearance on the show and here she is a wife with a problem. In her first appearance she was also a wife of an army buddy of Joe's who had a problem. She had a fine career and I wished we could have seen her headline a series that lasted more than five minutes. (Her excellent voice work in Archer doesn't count.) She would have been a great prosecutor on Law and Order after Michael Moriarty left. John Gavin is a handsome politician who shows guts and integrity in the end. I would vote for him. I bet he was a good ambassador to Mexico for Reagan.

A couple of comments not mentioned by the other reviewer. Elisabeth Fraser, as a crooked fortune teller, gets shot as she lurks in front of a window just as she is about to give some important information to Joe. Kind of an old and tired plot device. At least she didn't say, "The murderer is..." and then die.

What is with bad guys hiring Mannix and then thinking they are going to fool him. HIs ol' army buddy must have known his record and yet he invites him in on the case. Joe is undefeated so you might want to pass him by if you are pulling a fast one. Why don't you hire one of Joe's down-on-his-luck PI friends who occasionally pops up? Those guys aren't a threat to actually solve anything.

Another distraction is the bad guy's hair. Seriously. It looked like a bad wig. That alone should have sent him to jail. I also have to agree that was a very convenient cliff to have a fight by. You know when there is a fight near a cliff, the bad guy is going over.

At least, Joe gets paid so it's all good.

Pretty Good Overall

[zombiemockingbird · 6/10 · 4 July 2023]

The story was pretty good, but it loses stars for sloppy execution and poor acting.

Joe's old Army buddies are a really bad lot. Here we meet yet another one, Barney Edmonds, and he's using Joe to flush out people he wants to kill. Nice guy. He's played by Richard Bradford, who is not only a bad guy but a really bad actor. And what is up with that hair? That can't be his real hair; it looks like a bad fright wig. Jessica Walter and Robert Reed do a fine job as always. John Gavin looks good, but he does his usual job of wooden, one-dimensional acting. Arlene Martel was so-so, and Elisabeth Fraser as the fortune teller was pretty poor. In general, though flawed, it was entertaining.

Pretty good...but there are a few bone-headed scenes that spoil an otherwise excellent episode.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 11 January 2016]

"The Danford File" is a decent episode. However, it also often illustrates a problem I've noticed more and more with the later "Mannix" episodes. After six seasons, the show is getting a bit sloppy--like they are coasting and not even trying very hard to make the episodes tight and logical. It's a shame, as otherwise it's pretty good.

When the show begins, an old army buddy* of Mannix has invited him to a fancy cocktail party. During this party he introduces Joe to Mr. and Mrs. Danford (John Gavin and Jessica Walter)--a power couple and possibly the next governor of Hawaii. However, as soon as Joe sees Mrs. Danford, he realizes he'd seen her a dozen years earlier on another case. Soon Mrs. Danford finds an excuse to meet with Joe privately and tells him she's being blackmailed and wants his help. It seems that long ago, she was a prostitute and someone who knows this has been pushing her to pay them hush money. Joe takes the case but soon everyone associated with Mrs. Danford is killed or nearly killed. What's going on here?!

Late in the show, Joe's trail leads to a woman who is preparing for a birthday party at her home for her 8 year-old and a bunch of other kids. Soon a killer attacks the lady and Joe draws his gun on the guy and tells him to put his hands up...but then Joe stands right next to the guy and the guy hits Joe and they struggle for the gun. That's really dumb as Joe is supposed to be a professional. What's dumber? The backyard is a cliff and the killer falls to his death when he and Mannix are fighting. What family lives with a cliff in their backyard and holds a party for kids only about five feet away?!?! Later, when Joe sees the killer, he doesn't draw his gun...even though the killer is brandishing his. Joe instead jumps on him from atop some crates. Perhaps this was because the killer was holding the gun on a woman....so why didn't Joe use his gun AFTER the woman got away?! Why didn't she or the other man do anything to help Joe as the two fought? And why did Joe continue NOT to use his gun to stop the guy?!?! Illogic like this make for a lot of big plot holes...and the show could have easily earned an 8 but instead gets a 5. Just a few simple changes in the script or direction would have made all the difference.