Cannon Season 5: Fall Guy (1975) Guest Starring Vera Miles

Source:IMDB- William Conrad as former LAPD detective & current Los Angeles private eye Frank Cannon.

"Cannon investigates on the behalf of an oil executive who claims he is being framed for fraud and embezzlement. But he runs into heavy resistance in his investigation from the corporation's domineering female president. 

I'm working my way through the entire series and am now, sadly, reaching the end! Most weekday afternoons I retire to my "Manshed" and watch an episode with a large cigar (I think William Conrad would have approved!) Wonderful trips down memory lane.

Anyway, I found this episode to be one of the best. I appreciated the bullish, no-nonsense nature of the client (played with great gusto by Alan Feinstein), the tough woman boss (excellent Vera Miles) so different from her performance as the damsel in distress in the pilot. And great to see former Tarzan, Denny Miller roll Cannon out of his office and give him a thrashing. I love that on his next visit to see him, Cannon held a ship-in-a-bottle for protection!

The plot has been covered by other reviewers but I thought it moved at a great pace and was extremely well directed.

Cannon is really up against it in this one and takes more lumps that usual. The conclusion may not be a great surprise but the whole show is well acted and stands up really well.

Don't be put off by the other very low ratings; this one is a corker!" 

From IMDB 

"CANNON, (from left): William Conrad, Vera Miles, Fall Guy , (Season 5, aired Nov. 5, 1975), 1971-76. Courtesy Everett Collection !ACHTUNG AUFNAHMEDATUM GESCHÄTZT! Y Copyright: xCourtesyxEverettxCollectionx TSDCANN EC009... 

Source:IMAGO- William Conrad & Vera Miles. Hopefully you can figure for yourself who is who.

From IMAGO 

"Cannon goes up against a tough female CEO when one of her executives hires the PI to clear his name." 

Source:TV Maze- Vera Miles & William Conrad. Hopefully you can figure out for yourself who is who.

From TV Maze

Just to give you a little personal background about me regarding this episode first: 

Late 2017 and early 2018, I was still an insomniac and I was flipping around one night and saw this episode of Cannon on MeTV. Actually, I saw several Cannon episodes from season 5 as well before the Fall Guy episode and most if not all of them were very good. 

I don't think Cannon was a great detective series, but some of the episodes, especially from the 1st half of the last season, are some of the best private eye TV episodes that I've ever seen, to the point I have a lot of them on DVD now and seen them all several times. But the Fall Guy episode, especially with Vera Miles, whose gorgeous and yet absolutely adorable and sexy in everything that she's ever done, is the episode in the entire 5 seasons of the Cannon TV series.

Before I saw Vera Miles on Cannon, I heard the name before, but I didn't have much of an idea who she was. After seeing her on Cannon several years ago, I developed a crush on her. She was also the pilot film of this series in 1971 and made another appearance on during season 1 as well. But didn't come back again until the last season, playing another difference character in late 1975. 

To give you an idea what the Fall Guy episode is like: if you are a fan of soap operas, especially soap operas that lets say involve criminal activity, or at the very least immoral, but not criminal behavior, I think you'll love the Fall Guy. Think about a great episode of The Young & The Restless. 

In Fall Guy, you have two competing corporate executives, the two highest ranking people in this Anacott Oil Company based in San Diego, California, the President of the company played by Vera Miles and essentially the Executive Vice President played by Alan Feinstein, the CEO and COO of the company. 

Vivian Cabe (the President of Anacott Oil) simply doesn't like Mike Marsh (played by Alan Feinstein the Executive Vice President of Anacott Oil) to the point she no longer wants to work with him and has come up with this plan to get rid of him, either by having him arrested or finding a way to fire him, without being in breach of his contract.

Vivian's plan to get Mike fired, is to accuse him of fraud, embezzlement, and even money laundering. Even though it's Viv that has the so-called clean slush fund, which is like having a clean dumpster. The only way that is even possible, is to have nothing in the slush fund or in the dumpster. 

Mike Marsh (played by Alan Feinstein) knows that Mrs. Cabe wants his neck (to be clean) and wants him out, but I guess is too much of a man (again, to be clean) and won't go down without a fight, especially when he's innocent. Well, innocent of what she's accusing him of and doesn't go down without a fight. And hire private eye Frank Cannon, to come down to San Diego from Los Angeles to clear him.

What I think this is really about is Vivian is jealous that Mike Marsh is dating her daughter and not her. Think about it, Mike Marsh is 6'2, well-built, handsome, 34 at this point and is already executive vice president of a major California oil company. And Vivian is left with a cuck (to be frank) or a wimp (if you prefer) whose basically living off his wife. 

There's a line in the show where Vivian is trying to talk her daughter out of seeing Mike and she basically offers to pimp her out. And tells her that she would be happy to underwrite another young, good looking man, who looks good in tight pants, but only if her daughter dumps Mike. 

Again, this looks like a great soap opera episode to me. You have the great storyline, the great directing, the episode flies by, because it has a great start to it with one of the people that Anacott does business with and get their oil from, being murdered and it just takes off with one big scene after another. Which is one reason why Mike Marsh hires Frank Cannon, because he doesn't wan't to be framed for that murder, to go on top of everything else that he's facing. 

In Fall Guy, you also has the great insults between Viv and Mike, with Mike calling her the witch of the world (1970s TV lingo) and Viv calling him a cheap-chaser.  

You also have a scene in the end when Vivian whose made up with Mike. to the point that she agrees to pick of the costs of Frank Cannon's (played by William Conrad) investigation and agrees to pay his bill for him, but then tries to get out of it by mentioning Cannon's extra legal tactics that were used in his investigation. And then he mentions about her so-called laundered clean slush fund (which is like having a clean dumpster or clean toilet that's currently in use) so, they both have something on the other, which is how he gets her to cover his expenses for this trip. 

Vera looks great in it and gives a great performance and Alan Feinstein showing some excellent comedic timing, especially when he's angry and frustrated. One of my favorite TV episodes.

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