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Lalo SCHIFRIN on Mission: Impossible Season 5 (1970-1971)

 

 

 

Quote:

—Dr. Vazan from Act 1.

 

Prologue:

An Interoco tank truck stops at the gate of the Middle East chemical plant. Willy, carrying a military bag, and Barney are dressed in Arab uniforms and crack the top secret vault that leads to the computer room in order to destroy the formula of Dehominant-B: a germ that kills in eight seconds. They remove yellow barrels of the dangerous Dehominant-A (that kills when four hours had passed) when Willy, by accident, opens the bottom of a barrel that lets flow the dark green substance on the concrete floor. Barney walks on it and warns Willy who, later, carries a sick and limping Barney to the Security checkpoint. A doctor arrives and examines briefly Barney and declares his contamination by Dehominant-A. The guard triggers the alarm. Willy knocks unconscious both men. Barney orders Willy to escape alone and inform Jim. Willy moves out, quickly hides in a staircase because of the running Arab troopers and returns to the surface to take the leave. Barney is held tightly by two guards and questioned by Colonel Orlov about his computer assignment and frightens him about the painful symptoms of the death by Dehominant-A exposition.

Tape scene:
No scene.

Summary:
In order to complete the destruction of Dehominant-B left unfinished by Barney at Interoco Chemical, the IMF blackmails 26 years old dropout computer analyst Dr. Jerome Carlin: Carlin’s girlfriend is arrested and he is forced to accept Paris-as-an Arab agent’s deal to join in Dana’s illegal raid. Barney is offered a yellow antidote by Dr. Vazan if he talks. Four IMFers and Carlin enter the conduit tunnel of the plant and run to avoid the flood of sea water. Jim and Carlin stop at the autopsy room to study the assignment when Carlin refuses to help the team due to the intrusion of Paris and Doug. Watching suffering Barney, Carlin accepts to go on…

Cast and details:
• Soviet Colonel Leo Orlov played by Larry Linville (returning from the season 4 “Robot” but first seen in the season 3 “The Glass Cage”)
• Soviet General Skolpin played by Than Wyenn
• Arab Head scientist Dr. Vazan played by Robert Ellenstein (returning from the season 4 “The  Controllers” but first seen in the season 3 “The Exchange”)
• Vazan’s assistant computer technician Tirkin played by Gene Tyburn
• American computer engineer long-hair hippie-pacifist Dr. Jerome “Jerry” Carlin played by Christopher Connelly
• Carlin’s hippie fiancé Judy Moore played by Katherine Darc

The Heads of Interoco Chemical
Dr. Vazan is very sadistic and describes to agonizing Barney in the sickbay the various stages of pain: deterioration of the central nervous system, circulatory failure, respiratory failure. Dr. Vazan orders Tirkin to release sea water to cool storage tank #4 while the IMFers are in there. Much later, Colonel Orlov summons and interrogates the two computer technicians and orders to put them into the brig. Colonel Orlov asks Paris-as-Dr. Vazan to replace them  so he calls Jim to send Ivanov and Reshin. Colonel Orlov doesn’t know, suspects the new technicians and asks their dossiers and Paris-as-Dr. Vazan replies with an unintentionally ironic stock phrase: “They were processed before you arrived”.




Hippie Dr. Jerome Carlin
Carlin is suspicious about the IMF and read how he describes the little resumé given by Dana in the bar: “Uh, this is a readout for a computer. There’s only one computer I know of that can, uh, set up this type of garbage. That’s that monster under the Pentagon”. Once he is framed by Paris, he enters with Jim in the autopsy room, he removes a white sheet from a metal table and sees a dead dissected monkey and exclaims: “It’s for real”. Jim gives him a book so that he studies a Soviet computer that he compares to an American one (i.e., 366/919 model) used in the Pentagon. He refers to a computer language called “Kazan IV”. Suddenly, a door opens, he is shocked and furious to witness Paris and Doug and exclaims: “Oh, no, no. I’ve been had… I’ve been had, you…!” and presses the alarm. In a hurry, Colonel Orlov and three sentries step into the autopsy room and opens the door of the furnace room to watch a lost monkey playing. Later, After one refusal and the bad condition of Barney, he accepts to team up with Jim and asks Barney his instructions: the start track number (“Zero to 210”) and the erasing of the formula procedure (“Execute the clear disc and hit the volume label, STM dash one”). During the small journey from the plant to the school bus, Carlin admits his belief to the honesty and good will of the IMFers when Jim explains that Vazan deserves to be locked to prevent a Dehominant-C!

Dana Lambert
Dana poses as business woman Alix Wilson to convince Carlin in a bar and leaves him his phone number on a piece of paper (that he throws out). Later, he goes to Dana’s hotel room and lets her cut his hair and shave his beard; Dana asks him why does he accept? He replies: “I need the bread”. She drives Carlin by jeep in the desert, stops by a sealed up manhole with large screws that leads to the conduit tunnel, meets Jim and says those “affected” words: “Jim, this is Jerry. He’s had a sudden wave of patriotism”. She poses as a Stockholm operator to introduce Jim as Dr. Solhstrom to Dr. Vazan. She poses as Scandinavian journalist Nora Pederson (carrying austere little spectacles) coming from New Delhi, enters in a green Mustang at the plant, opens her powder-box to warn Jim of her arrival and meets Dr. Vazan (as Cinnamon in “The Test Case”) under the close surveillance of Colonel Orlov; Dr. Vazan asks diplomatically Orlov to let him alone with her to speed up the official interview. She moves to Dr. Vazan’s desk and shows him the written formula of pesticide Z-18, knocks him unconscious via her drug-laced ring (as Cinnamon in “Illusion”) and opens her powder-box to signal Jim again so that he sends Willy with the filling cabinet. She takes Dr. Vazan’s left ring with a red stone and tie off.

Paris
Paris poses first as a native Arab to take pictures of Carlin and Dana in the bar thanks to a walking stick, as an Arab Narcotics policeman/secret agent to manipulate Carlin and arrest his girlfriend for heroin’s possession and pretends to order him to spy and work for Dana: he gives him her phone number. He poses as a blue jacket technician, escorted by Doug, and enters the Service closet to send two ID’s (Jim and Carlin) via a pneumatic tube (to a military clerk) that he cuts with two fuses (see Barney’s method in “The Martyr”). Paris prepares his latex mask in the autopsy room under the critical eyes of Carlin who calls the IMFers “clowns”. Disguised as Dr. Vazan, he gets in the filling cabinet and is delivered at Vazan’s office to take his place. He sinks in one earphone plug into Barney's ear and examines his eyes with an electric torch that sends a signal to Jim. He orders two sentries to bring him to the autopsy room. He answers a first call by a production (chemical mixture) technician who complains, then a second one intercepted by Colonel Orlov who becomes angry and calms him down. He finally poses as an Arab bus driver in the outcome.

Jim Phelps
Jim poses as first Consulate clerk Gerald Corrigan over the phone who wishes to check Judy Moore’s passport to distract her from the table of Carlin and let Dana convince the young scientist. He poses as Swedish Dr. Solhstrom over the phone to introduce Dana and then he poses as computer technician Leonid Ivanov accompagnied by Carlin as Josef Reshin to enter the furnace room to end at the autopsy room. He asks Carlin to destroy the Dehominant-B in production and erase its formula. After the triggering of the alarm, to neutralize Carlin willing to talk to the enemy, Jim shuts his mouth by bare hands and holds him tight along with Paris and move him away. Inside the incinerator, Jim, Paris and Doug hide and shut Carlin up: the same hideout is used in a season 3 episode of “The Wild Wild West” entitled “The Night of the Circus of Death”. Later, Jim tells Barney specific instructions to fool Orlov in the sick bay. After getting a call from Paris-as-Vazan, he asks Carlin his collaboration but he rejects the offer. In the computer room, Jim quickly writes down a small note of departure (“Split”) to Paris-as-Vazan and says: “We have reached this stage”. Paris-as-Vazan gives Jim’s note to Orlov and concludes: “Examine this carefully, Colonel, and you’ll see what our next step is”. Jim knocks Orlov down from the rear. During the hotel room’s briefing at the start of Act 1, we learn Jim’s sense of duty: “Just talked to Washington. We’re going ahead with the mission… Barney knew the risks. We all know them. We’ll get him out if we can, but the mission comes first. (…)”

Doug Robert
Doug poses as a suntanned Arab Narcotics policeman along with Paris and adds a sachet of heroin in the contents of Judy Moore’s handbag and as an Arab sentinelle (an un-realistic part since Doug is a W.A.S.P.) to help Paris; he and Paris tie in the hands of Carlin to a pipe. Doug examines the body of Barney and makes a pessimistic diagnosis: “I don’t think he’s going to make it”. Nevertheless, he injects the antidote and Barney responds positively. First episode with this new semi-regular but his character vignette is not included in the opening credits and his name appears in the end credits with the guest casts.

Willy Armitage
Willy poses as an Arab sentinelle twice. As an Arab Corporal, he requires an olive drab van and stops next to the parking lot of the plant’s main lab to hide Dana’s car and opens the door to release a collapsible filling cabinet stored under the car and brings it back to the autopsy room. He makes a coming and going from the autopsy room to Dr. Vazan’s office and back to the autopsy room. He stores the real Dr. Vazan in the military van and also helps weak Barney to reach for the vehicle along with Doug. Willy goes searching Jim, Paris-as-Vazan and Carlin and they stop at the Security checkpoint when one of the sentries recognizes the face of Willy. They slug them and go fast into the military van in order to reach the rendez-vous point in the desert where Dana and Carlin’s girlfriend wait for them near an Arab school bus (painted in black).

Barney Collier
Barney poses as an Arab sentinelle. He is on the verge of dying and feels extreme pain due to the liquid germ; Dr. Vazan refuses to heal him to make him talk; Barney makes a false confession (accusing two computer technicians of treason: Vorek and Tirkin), grabs the jacket of Colonel Orlov and pretends to die. As in “The Town”, one IMFer communicates by blinking his eyes (twice): Barney confirms his understanding to Paris-as-Vazan. At the autopsy room, weak Barney is desperate to see Jim willing to do the impossible computer task and he collapses.

Comments:
While crossing the sewer of Interoco Chemical, the IMF and Carlin (dressed with sanitary yellow overalls that includes hoods, black rubber gloves and gas masks) are threatened by the release of the sea water (punctuated by some echo-laden music) but they finally activate an automatic hatch. The IMFers come out of the sewer: first, Doug and Paris, then Willy and Jim and Carlin. The destruction of the coumpound (Dehominant-B) by the IMF is writer Laurence Heath's reference to "The Test Case". The Middle East bar set reminds the season 4 “Terror”. Beyond the intrigue, the story underlines the historical military alliance between the Soviet Union and the Middle East military dictatorship: “Vazan’s government intends to use the Dehominant against their neighbors immediately. They’re already projecting 50,000 casualties”, says Jim during the hotel room’s briefing

First episode containing the new "hip" theme music by Lalo Schifrin.

Review:
Another great offering and an unusual departure combining the assignment in progress re-written by Laurence Heath—reminiscent of “The Test Case” and “The Controllers” (see the detail of germ names: from B-230/Voliticon to Dehominant-A & B and the same actor: Robert Ellenstein)—with a good cast and that involves the intrusion of a non-IMFer into the plot. It’s a germ warfare pamphlet that is highlit by the horrified reactions of Dr. Carlin (see the monkey guinea pig a la “Andromeda Strain”). The modus vivendi that concludes the episode is unexpected: Carlin accepts to help the IMF at the last minute because of the team’s awful situation (Barney’s unfortunate physical agony and Jim’s ignorance to customize the computer). Among the best season 5 because of the ethical question raised by the IMFers' methods: we are watching them as abusive and cynical! Apart from the germ warfare topic, Laurence Heath returns to the basic premise of the season 3 “The Exchange” in which one IMFer is caught up and interrogated by the enemy and it will become the template for many episodes. Still with an “Exchange” perspective in mind, the characters of Jerome Carlin, Colonel Leo Orlov  and Dr. Vazan are updated versions of convict East German agent Rudolph Kurtz, Colonel Josef Strom and torturer Dr. Emil Gorin. Further more, one IMFer (Barney) is contaminated as in the season 1 “The Carrier” with Rollin. The score by Harry Geller is lowkey and Arab-oriented and arranged as in the season 4 score of “The Wild Wild West”  entitled: “The Night of the Egyptian Queen”.