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Kiss of the Sabre

Episode Screen Caps Episode Number: 95
Season Number: 5.11
Air Date: 12/13/1984
Writer: Jay Huguely
Director: John Patterson
Producer: Reuben Leder
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars
Cassie Yates (Betty Windom), David Spielberg (Dan Morgan), Paul Gleason (Ronnie Meeder), Soon-Tek Oh (Dr. Bill Su), Patrick Collins (Russell Smythe)
Episode Brief
Betty Windom, a writer friend of Robin's stays at the Estate and soon involves herself in Magnum's insurance investigation of a hit-and-run, leading to her incorporation of Magnum and the case into her story.
Rating
7.7(35 votes)Rate Episode
Notes
1 This is the second episode to feature elements of "fantasy" (the first being Season Three's "Flashback"). Here, events in Betty's novel Kiss of the Sabre are acted out onscreen in between real events of the present.

2 The cast of characters in Betty's novel: 3 The opening preview contains a scene that is not seen in the actual episode. Magnum says to Higgins (regarding Betty), "She has the run of the Estate. How long does she plan to take to finish her epic?" to which Higgins replies, "Sometimes it takes years...". In the episode itself, this is part of a longer exchange which we only hear off-camera. (Noted by Jay-Firestorm)

4 Cassie Yates (Betty Windom) will make another memorable guest star appearance in Season Six's "Photo Play" (6.21).

5 Leahi Hospital in Kaimuki is used as a filming location. The hospital parking lot was used for the rather infamous scene of Magnum almost being crushed to death by a backhoe as he's "trapped" inside a small car!

6 "Sabre Two" is a Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman Limousine. Only about 2700 600's were built between 1963 and 1981. Magnum's unfortunate rental car is a 4th generation Plymouth Champ, made between 1979 and 1981. (Noted by RamblerReb)

7 Higgins' typewriter is a Royal KMG (introduced in 1949).

8 Rick's fictional character is named "Swift". In Season Two's "Double Jeopardy", Rick wanted to read for the part of "Garson Swift", a short, debonair, well-dressed man in his middle thirties. Coincidence?

9 Although it is referred to as a Learjet in the episode, Sebastian's plane is actually a Lockheed JetStar (N207L). (ID'd by Paul Somerfeldt)

10 Stock footage of the typhoon shelter in Aberdeen, Hong Kong is used in this episode. (Noted by Tim)

11 Higgins's Webley Mk VI .455 service revolver makes a return appearance, as does Rick's Smith & Wesson. (Noted by RamblerReb)

12 At the "Burgers-n-Brew" restaurant scene, a Williams Firepower II pinball machine (1983) is clearly seen behind Magnum and Betty. A young lady comes up and plays it during the scene.

13 The scene at the very end where Sebastian and Collette kiss while lying on the sand is very reminiscent of the famous beach kissing scene in From Here to Eternity (1953) with Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr, but with regular clothes not bathing suits.
Quotes
1
Higgins: Ms. Windom, we've all experienced the frustration of the writer's block syndrome. Yes, I recall once sitting for days searching for just the right superlatives to describe one Major Reginald Weddington. You see, "Humpy" Weddington had overcome great adversity in his quest to be an officer. He was very short, very rotund, and he had lost his left ear in a freak rugby accident. Well...

2
Dr. Ling: Your lady has wandered too near the edge of the truth, Sabre. Dispense with him, but take the girl to my... operating room. (laughs)
Sebastian Sabre: (Holds up a calculator) Stop!... Or I'll punch in the square root of 18 and you'll all become targets for heat-seeking missles.
Dr. Ling: Drop your ingenious abacus, Mr. Sabre.

3
T.C.: How could Betty think of me as a womanizing, trigger-happy clothes hound?
Higgins: That's hardly as offensive as finding your dearest experiences parodied as "Boris' amusing stories", or finding yourself caricatured as the servant to... the "Master of Sabre's Scabbard". Good God.
Rick: Well, I don't know where she got the idea for this Swift guy, but he is terrific. I mean, I can understand why Robin is sold on her as a writer. This girl can really turn a phrase.
Higgins: Yes, in several illiterated directions simultaneously.
Flubs
1 In the opening shootout scene involving Sebastian and the gang, the last attacker to be taken down by Sebastian and Boris has a "magical gun". After he is shot, he attacks with his knife, but leaves his gun behind. When he falls down again, we suddenly see his gun close to his body. (Noted by Bernd-Christian Schulze)

2 The scene where Betty is daydreaming about the book characters having lunch in Paris begins with a view of the Eiffel Tower and then closes in on the characters in an outdoor setting. When the camera shoots between the two tall buildings, you can see a palm tree clearly visible in the background. There are no plam trees in Paris! (Noted by Wally)


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