The Chinatown Murders: Part 1

A trio of Chinese-American mobsters led by Sammy Loo (Robert Ito) have a lot of nerve, as they begin attacking mafia businesses. After all, these sorts of attacks could cause a bloodbath...and it appears the Chinese-Americans WANT this...because the mafia believes they are inside jobs. So, as one branch of the Italian mob thinks the other is behind the attacks, the attacks get worse...prompting this Italian-American mob to destroy itself. Then, the Chinese mob can step in and take over...or so the plan goes. Investigating this is the glib Kojak and his men.

This is the first in a two-part episode. It's full of violence, snappy talk and the things you like about "Kojak". It ends with the kidnapping of a high ranking mafia member...and his wife refusing to pay ANY ransom! Well made and worth seeing.

This was a good opening to the second season of Kojak" a two-part series that keeps the viewer's interest, especially this first half.

The only problem I found was keeping track of everyone because this story has a lot of twists, almost right from the start. Without giving away anything, it involves gang syndicates and bosses against each other, for each other, not sure about either, a traitor among one of the gangs, and an outside group taking on - unbeknown to them and the cops - both of the mobs. You really have to be alert to figure out everything that is happening.

Perhaps the most dramatic figure in all of this is the ailing "Don Cheech Frank Scalesi," played by Michael Constantine.

The most memorable scene might be the one with Sheree North in her nightgown with breasts and nipples very evident. That bra-less look was in during this period on TV and Miss North had a lot of show.

Somebody wants to get a couple of Mafia families to go to war and they've got a well figured out plan to do it. Vincent Baggetta is a member of one of the families who is behind it and he recruits some Chinese gang kids to do the heavy lifting. But it gets way out of hand and the Chinese kids kill Baggetta and take over the instigation.

It's Baggetta's murder that brings Kojak into the fray with the Manhattan South Squad. As the two Mafia Dons keep trying to make peace incidents keep happening that might just trigger an all out war. The last on this show was the kidnapping of the nephew of one of the Dons. And the wife Sheree North isn't all that concerned because she has an agenda all her own.

This show was Kojak's first show of season two and it left you wondering about how this will all play out in the second part.