Loophole 

Morton Halas is an aggressive and very successful defense attorney who will stop at nothing to get his clients off. Having successfully defended Big Mike Probich he finds himself working ... See full summary »

Director:

Paul Wendkos

Writers:

Oscar Fraley (novel), Harry Kronman

Stars:

Robert Stack, Jack Klugman, Martin Landau

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Stack	...	Eliot Ness
Jack Klugman	...	Morton Halas
Martin Landau	...	Larry Coombs
Gavin MacLeod	...	Whitey Metz
George Tobias	...	Mikhail Probich
Paul Picerni	...	Lee Hobson
Nicholas Georgiade	...	Enrico Rossi
Abel Fernandez	...	William Youngfellow
Steve London	...	Jack Rossman
Vaughn Taylor	...	District Attorney Wade
John Wengraf	...	Gus Kleeber
Lorna Thayer	...	Connie LaVerne
Wendell Holmes	...	The Judge
Joe Turkel	...	Gobo Karsh
Peter Brocco	...	Pete Lavery

Storyline

Morton Halas is an aggressive and very successful defense attorney who will stop at nothing to get his clients off. Having successfully defended Big Mike Probich he finds himself working for Larry Coombs, another small-time mobster who has ambition to rise to the top. Coombs and his top enforcer Whitey Metz decide to knock off Probich and take over his network. They succeed but things don't go as smoothly as planned and Eliot Ness soon has an eye witness who can identify both of them. Halas has a flair for the dramatic and just as the verdict in the case is about to be announced, he arranges for someone to stand up in open court and announce, with murder weapon in hand, that he is the killer. Ness and the District Attorney know that the fix is in and find they have to rely on their own trickery if Halas, Coombs and Metz are to face justice.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 1961 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions,Langford Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

52 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Ness tells Hobson what happened in the courtroom when Metz was trying to get Halas to work for Coombs while Hobson is surprised when Hobson himself was also in the courtroom with Ness at that moment.

User Reviews

The Odd Couple - Klugman & Stack

Before he made his fame on TV in "The Odd Couple" and "Quincy, M.E.," Jack Klugman played various roles on television shows such as this one....and sometimes as a villain.

Here he is not entirely a villain, but he's pretty close. He a defense attorney who has big-shot gangsters as his clients. He's also very good at what he does. Klugman, as "Morton Halas" gets in a little too deep, however, when his latest client is the hot-tempered "Larry Coombs" (Martin Landau, another famous actor). They knocked off Halas' last employer and are offering almost double for his services. He's reluctant but it's an offer he can't refuse.

"Elliot Ness" (Robert Stack) is on to all of them here and even has some friendly chats with Halas. The two seem to have a mutual respect for each other's talents, if not morals. The conversations between Klugman and Stack are fascinating, I thought.

Be ready for a big twist near the end which nearly throws Ness and his Untouchables for a loop.

Another solid episode with a great cast. Check out some of the supporting guest actors in here!