Barnaby Jones (TV Series) Death Leap (1973) User Reviews

Improbable...but enjoyable.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 6 July 2021]

At the same time that a robbery is occurring, nearby a man falls to his death from a highrise. Somehow these two events are connected and it's up to Barnaby Jones to use his brilliant intellect to figure out HOW. Additionally, his client is a woman who simply cannot believe her boyfriend jumped to his death, as he was happy and had every reason to live.

The story is awfully improbable...but enjoyable. I could say more, but it would provide spoilers about the man's death. Regardless, it's enjoyable and worth your time.

By the way, in one scene, Betty is talking about Lima, Ohio and pronounces it like the city in Peru. Well, it looks that way but it's pronounced like the bean...not the South American city. It's an easy mistake to make. Also, there is a BIG mistake in one scene. Watch at Tim O'Connor is pushing a shelf onto the floor next to the corpse of a man he just murdered...the dead man MOVES to avoid being hit by the shelf!

WOULD YOU RATHER JUMP --OR GET PUSHED???

[tcchelsey · 9/10 · 20 October 2023]

Another jumper off the roof tale, but it's an interesting mystery. Generally, most films and cop shows portray jumpers as suicidal types, and you know right off the bat Barnaby doesn't buy it. It's also a neat way to silence someone, especially with a jewelry store robbery very close by.

This is another classic fitting the pieces together case we all know and love, and the cast is what makes it run, especially the suspicious faces. Seymour Robbie directed, who handled 8 episodes for the series, others for CANNON and the FBI, also the old favorite, the NAME OF THE GAME. There's a show that should be rerun again.

What you have to admire about the series is how Barnaby gently eases his way into a suspects life, and there is one in particular; and all it really takes is a few words ... or that glance at precisely the wrong time, and you could tell he's got the right guy.

Excellent cast with classy Susan Howard, a standout as always, who co-starred as Maggie in PETROCELLI, later one of the famous ladies of DALLAS. Brooke Bundy, who we all watched grow up on tv, plays Miss Dorsey, and also series regulars Tim O'Connor (not a model citizen here) and big guy Ramon Bieri as the police.

Note Jonathan Goldsmith, who plays Ed. He appeared in five episodes of the series, and at the age of 85 today, is still at work, recently appearing this year on GREYS ANATOMY. Good for him. I wonder if he has any fond recollections of Buddy Ebsen so long ago.

Barnaby does some more lab work here, comparing fibers from O'Connor's briefcase. I always credited the old CHARLIE CHAN movies as an inspiration for this technique, and you have to admit writers borrowed many times from those classic films. They were ahead of their time.

Good late, late night entertainment if you could sleep in the next day. SEASON 2 EPISODE 2 remastered dvd box set.