Magnum Mania!

The Man From Marseilles

Episode ID: 104
Episode Number: 5.20
Air Date: 3/14/1985
Writer: Reuben Leder
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Producer: Reuben Leder
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Paul Verdier (Det. Jean Claude Fornier), Kathleen Lloyd (Carol Baldwin), Kwan Hi Lim (Lt. Tanaka)

Guest Stars

Elissa Dulce Hoopai (Tiffany), Edward B. Randolph (Marcel Dubray), Joe Moore (Reporter)

Plot Outline

When a famous French detective contacts Magnum about a missing heir, Magnum eagerly says "bonjour" to the high-profile case of multiple identities, drug possession, and fraud.

Rating

7.5 (12 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 This episode is memorable for Magnum being forced to sing "Misty" in a karaoke bar [audio]. Five other songs are heard being sung by patrons at the bar - "Sentimental Journey" by Ella Fitzgerald (sung by Jean Claude Fornier), "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley, "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" by Hank Williams, "Tracks of My Tears" by The Miracles and "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson.

2 The Region 1 DVD version of this episode is missing around three minutes of footage! There is a scene where Lt. Tanaka speaks to Jean Claude in french (and additional dialog with Magnum), which is totally gone from the Region 1 DVD version. The Region 2 DVD does have the french dialog, as do most syndication packages. The total running time of the Region 1 DVD version is 44:51. Most run in the 47: range.

3 Carol's office is seen again. The letters on her door state that she is a "Deputy Prosecuting Attorney".

4 Another Robin Masters novel is named and referenced - Die and Die Again. The main protagonist of the novel is based on the real Jean Claude Fornier, an acquaintance of Robin Masters. The novel is not the typical pulp paperback variety usually associated with RM. According to Magnum, the story is a "taut, sad story of a man obsessed with riding society of parasites and predators...".

5 Paul Verdier makes a brief cameo appearance as Det. Jean Claude Fornier in "A.A.P.I." (7.5).

6 Elissa Dulce Hoopai, usually seen playing the recurring waitress Rosine at the King Kamehameha Club, here plays Tiffany, a waitress at the Sing Sing Palace karaoke bar. Like Ms. Jones in the previous episode, she receives much more screen time than usual.

Quotes

1
Magnum: (To Jean Claude) So, all we gotta do is settle back, have a couple of cold ones, get with the flow and pretty soon we'll probably be talking with someone who could help us out.

2
Magnum: Far from being a typical Robin Masters book, with the exception of the title, 'Die and Die Again' was the taut, sad story of a man so obsessed with riding society of the parasites and predators that he let his own life, and specifically his own marriage, become his own personal tragedy. ..... [snip] ..... The real Jean Claude Fornier found his wife dead in a seedy waterfront hotel room. The cause of death was a heroin overdose. And even though he didn't personally hand her the syringe, the man ultimately responsible for that overdose was Marcel Dubray. Sometimes the truth is too painful for fiction. This wasn't your typical Robin Masters affair and maybe he wasn't going to sell a whole lot of copies, but I was glad as hell that he wrote it. (Narration)

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