All Thieves on Deck

Episode Number: 121
Season Number: 6.15
Air Date: 1/30/1986
Writer: Reuben Leder
Director: Jerry Jameson
Producer: Chris Abbott
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars

Alan Hale Jr. (Russell Tate), William Windom (Capt. James T. Lyle), Carole Cook (Sarah Tate), Paul Sand (Danny Frye), Sarah Douglas (Jacklyn Fabre Dumout), Thaao Penghlis (Phillipe Dumout), Shelley Smith (Peggy Armbruster), Bob Fimiani (Dr. Simms)

Episode Brief

Magnum is to spend a week aboard a luxury cruise ship guarding an Amakua, a valuable wooden Hawaiian statuette recently purchased by Robin Masters, to be displayed on the liner while en route to the Hilo Museum. But Magnum and Higgins find that Apollo has been shot and seriously wounded after thieves attempted to steal the artifact from the Estate. Expecting the would-be robbers to try again during the cruise, Magnum secures Rick and T.C.'s additional help in guarding the artifact, but they find themselves on-board with a shipload of suspects, all potential thieves of the Amakua.

Rating

7.7

(32 votes)

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Notes

¹ Much of this episode was shot on location aboard the ocean liner SS Constitution (commissioned in 1951) which operated out of Honolulu Harbor in the 1980s. The Magnum crew filmed on the ship for eight straight days. Many of the scenes were shot when the ship was docked on the leeward coast of Kauai in Nawiliwili Harbor. This is the only Magnum P.I. episode to be filmed at this Hawaiian island. On November 5th, 1997, the Constitution, while under tow to an Asian breakers yard about 700 miles north of Hawaii, began to take on water. She was cut loose and eventually sank on November 17th. Many years prior to this episode, the Constitution was featured in several episodes of I Love Lucy, the 1957 film An Affair to Remember and several Hawaii Five-0 episodes (including the Pilot).

² This episode contains the famous Magnum "I Got Him" denouement [see quote #3 below]. Magnum's sipping brandy and smoking a cigar in Higgins' study while reflecting on how he solved the complicated plot mystery, to which he ends with "I got him" and a smile. The camera then turns to reveal that he's been talking to the recently injured Apollo, whom he hugs and says, "Glad you made it pal". Great ending.

³ The "Hong Kong" street scene was filmed on Hotel Street in Chinatown. The first building shown after the stock aerial footage of Hong Kong is the historic Joseph P. Mendonca building (located on the corner of N. Hotel and Smith). The guy with the Aumakua who is being chased (then killed) is played by Tom Lupo (uncredited), Tom Selleck's longtime stunt double and stand-in. (Noted by IslandHopper & Tim)

⁴ Capt. James T. Lyle (William Windom) is working on a "nautical thriller" novel called All Thieves On Deck, the same name as this episode. Veteran character actor William Windom is perhaps best known as Commodore Matt Decker, commander of the doomed U.S.S. Constellation in the classic original Star Trek episode "The Doomsday Machine". This is William Windom's second appearance on a Hawaii crime show with a scene depicting Hong Kong; the Hawaii Five-O episode "Which Way Did They Go?" featured a scene filmed in Chinatown that also used grainy stock footage of Hong Kong Island for its "establishing shot".

⁵ This episode features future soap star (Days of Our Lives, Santa Barbara, General Hospital) Thaao Penghlis (Phillipe Dumout).

⁶ T.C. is apparently a big fan of novelist James Michener. He names eleven Michener books as "good", implying that he's read them: Hawaii, Tales of the South Pacific, The Fires of Spring, The Floating World, The Bridges at Toki-Ri, The Bridges at Andau, The Drifters, Sayonara, Space, Texas and The Covenant!

⁷ The classic 1941 Bogart film The Maltese Falcon is again referenced, as T.C. names several of the guest stars, including Mary Astor and Peter Lorre.

⁸ Apollo is shot and critically wounded, but survives.

⁹ The silver vintage car that is briefly seen in the opening "Hong Kong" scene is a late 1950's "Ponton" model Mercedes-Benz sedan with a Webasto sliding sunroof. It appears to be a W121 (1956+) model. The car was briefly seen two episodes earlier in "Summer School" (6.13) and will be seen again in Season Seven's "Little Girl Who" (7.7).

¹⁰ The gun that Russell Tate (Alan Hale Jr.) uses at the beginning of the episode (we don't know it's Russell Tate at this point) is a Heckler & Koch P7, a German 9mm semi-automatic. (Noted by timm525)

¹¹ The house where Magnum finds the dead body of Phillipe Dumout is located in Waimanalo. When Magnum goes around back, you can see Rabbit Island in the background. (Noted by rubber chicken)

¹² Rick mentions a Cubs/Pirates baseball game that he went to with his Dad. With Pirates closer Elroy Face on the mound in the ninth inning, and Mr. Cub Ernie Banks at the plate, his "old man" caught a fly ball, which he gave to Rick!

¹³ Sarah Douglas (Jacklyn Fabre Dumout) played Ursa in the first two Superman movies (1978 and 1980).

Quotes

¹
(Magnum's greeting to guests on the ship)
Magnum: This is a Aumakua. It is owned by the famous novelist Robin Masters. It was originally given by the High Priest Kalaniopu'u to his nephew King Kamehameha.

²
Higgins: My god man, the murky meanderings of an erstwhile novelist are totally irrelevent.

³
(Magnum is sipping brandy and talking to an injured, recovering Apollo in Higgins' study)
Magnum: ... like me for instance, figuring out the Aumakua is a fake. All that King Kamehameha stuff was nothing but an out-and-out fabrication, told to Robin by that pawn broker in Hong Kong. (lights cigar) I mean, come on ... come on, the guy who sold it to him, the one who was killed, was really working for Danny Frye, who was really working for a rival toy company. So, it was obvious that he photographed the toy design, put the film in the fake Aumakua, and was about to deliver it to Danny Frye, before he was shot ... by Russell, only his name wasn't "Russell", but he is the guy who broke in here ... that's another story, anyway .... (puffs cigar) I got him. (smiles) (Walks over to Apollo and pets him) Glad you made it pal.

Flubs

¹ Look at the objects on the table at the 30.28 mark. When Magnum comes to it seconds later, the position of the newspaper and the telephone has changed, the box with the pens is gone, and several new items have appeared! (Noted by Bernd-Christian Schulze)

² It is stated that Robin Masters has conducted research for his latest novel, yet in "The Case of the Red Faced Thespian" (S4) we learn that Robin "never does research" for his novels. (Noted by Timmer33)

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