A Question of Answers

This opening episode for Kojak's third season boasts a really strong cast with the Kojak regulars and such people as Eli Wallach, Jerry Orbach, F. Murray Abraham, Michael V. Gazzo and Jennifer Warren. The focus of the story is on Wallach who is an old friend from Astoria of Kojak.

Wallach got himself jammed up when he hid some stolen furs from a robbery in his place in the garment district. But Telly Savalas also got jammed a bit because he didn't wait for a warrant. Jennifer Warren as Wallach's lawyer is ready to pounce.

But it all might get worked out through the Feds as Jerry Orbach who is totally unrecognizable with black hair and one of the stupidest looking mustaches ever would like to use Wallach to make a case against loan shark Michael V. Gazzo. Savalas approaches Wallach and he's set up and has to go through some real terror at the hands of Gazzo's enforcer F. Murray Abraham.

In fact Wallach, Abraham, and Gazzo all give performances that could have been Emmy material. This was a really fine beginning for Kojak's third season.

This installment of "Kojak" stands out because of the cast, as you get to see some very good and familiar faces...such as Eli Wallach, F. Murray Abraham, Jerry Orbach, and Charles Kimbrough. Orbach and Kimbrough are particularly interesting to see as both were VERY different in the 1970s than they would be on 1980s-1990s TV. Kimbrough was famous for "Murphy Brown" and he sounds VERY different here...rather wimpy sounding. And, Orbach has a much higher and less New York sort of voice. For these character actors alone, it's worth seeing the show.

This originally was a double-length episode, though later, in syndication, it was shown as two separate episodes.

The story is about loan sharks and an old friend of Kojak's is in trouble with the law and agrees to help by working undercover to stop some violent loan sharks. However, there are problems with the case...most likely because the tendrils of these criminals extend to folks in power. Can Kojak manage to stop these organized criminals?

This is a very good extended episode...well written, tense and with some familiar faces as guest stars. Well worth seeing.

Reading a one-sentence description of this episode on the DVD box didn't make it sound too exciting.....but it is. It's a very good season-opener, a two-part story about nailing a brutal loan shark and the people he has in his back pocket.

What's really good about this episode is the film noir feeling of tension and the great guest cast. Michael V. Gazzo is not name a lot of people may know but film buffs know him well as "Frankie Pentangelli." in The Godfather series. He's the main villain and has a distinctive high voice.

Eli Wallach, who has the most interesting role ("Lee Curtin") is fascinating as always, and Murray Abramson, as "Solly," is terrifying as the thug who collects the payments and makes the physical threats.

Also contributing is mustached-Jerry Orbach who went on years later to be a big star in the TV show, "Law and Order." The dread in part one turns out to be real in the second part. There is a good mixture of talk and action in this 100-minute opening episode and it's well worth your time to watch. I've found the Kojak seasons to get better and better as they go on.