MPI Al's Automotive cap.

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Magnum92 · #31 Post by **Magnum92** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:56 am

Great! Thanks N1095A!

IslandHopper · #32 Post by **IslandHopper** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 2:48 pm

It turns out that the origin of Magnum's red & white Al's Automotive/TIGERS hat is not from MPI, but from "The Chinese Typewriter" starring Tom Selleck and James Whitmore, Jr. "The Chinese Typewriter" is on this morining on Sleuth. Tom Selleck is the coach of a little league baseball team and they are sponsored by none other than "AL's Automotive and Muffler King." He and his team are wearing the same red and white Al's (TIGERS) hat that we see on MPI. They also wear the complete uniform with a very large Al's/Tigers logo on the back of their jersey. In part of his dialogue with Jame Whitmore, Jr., TS even says "I take my Al's Automotive and Muffler King hat off to you."

Several locations are used in this film, and I thought I caught a glimpse of the Eve Anderson Estate (Robin's Nest). This is a Universal production and was written by Stephen J. Cannell, so it wouldn't surprise me if the estate was used. This movie was released (1980) right around the same time they were filming MPI first season. I wonder how close in time these two projects are to each other?

#33 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 3:04 pm

Oh wow, how cool is that! The mystery is finally solved! Thanks IH!

So, is "Al" a character in the movie, or something?

IslandHopper · #34 Post by **IslandHopper** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 3:10 pm

James J. Walters wrote:Oh wow, how cool is that! The mystery is finally solved! Thanks IH!

So, is "Al" a character in the movie, or something?

Not that I've seen so far, but TS is seen wearing his Al's/Tigers baseball uniform for about 15 minutes, not only at his team's game, but at the airport and while meeting with Don Ameche's character.

Tralfaz · #35 Post by **Tralfaz** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 3:48 pm

Just saw the Mark's estate in that film.

IslandHopper · #36 Post by **IslandHopper** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:04 pm

Yeah I noticed the Mark's estate too. I believe the house belonging to William Daniels' character was the same house used in Novel Connection as Jason Bryan's house, where the party was held during that episode. I believe the baseball field shown in this movie is one of the fields used in MPI's "Squeeze Play" (season 4).

There were several MPI alumni in this movie in addition to TS and James Whitmore, Jr, such as Kathryn Leigh Scott (Christie DeBolt-The Black Orchid), the Agent from Beauty Knows No Pain (Agent without the gold teeth), one of the older character actors from MPI seen in several episodes (one of Higgins' Sandhurst mates from "Compulsion"), and possibly George Fisher (Boxer from Thank Heaven For Little Girls and Big Ones Too). It looked like him, but his IMDB profile didn't include this credit so it may not be him. Mike Post and Pete Carpenter also did the music for this movie, but it is very '70s style/TV music. It is not reminiscent of the energetic/lively Magnum, P.I., theme we all are accustomed to.

Although it was great to see the movie especially with all of the familiar locations and cast from MPI, the movie itself was not very good. There were a lot of voice overs, not to mention flubs. For example, there was a scene early on in the movie where TS and James Whitmore meet with Don Ameche's character in an RV to discuss the hiring of the two detectives. TS is wearing his Al's/Tigers baseball uniform with red shirt. At the end of the episode, the two meet again with Don Ameche in the same RV, and although TS is wearing his Al's/Tigers hat and baseball pants, he is not wearing his red Al's/Tigers shirt. Instead, he is wearing a white 3/4 sleeve shirt. However, they recycle the first shots of TS in the RV with his red Al's/Tigers shirt on. They did the same thing with the girl hired as the pilot, as well as the car driving out to the jet.

Much of the movie is supposed to take place in some South American country, but is actually shot in Hawaii. The license plates on the cars were made to look like a foreign country (not Hawaii plates), except you can still clearly see the State of Hawaii Inspection sticker on the rear bumper of TS's car.

We see several shots of TS driving what looks like a "Datsun B210 Honeybee" (

) around Hawaii in the same manner we see him drive the Ferrari 308 GTS. It was strange to see this. I can't quite put my finger on it, but somehow, the Datsun-Honeybee just doesn't compare with the Ferrari.

Despite the movie's flaws, it is well worth watching. I'm sure all MPI fans will enjoy seeing the familar locations and characters.

#37 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 6:01 pm

IslandHopper wrote:We see several shots of TS driving what looks like a "Datsun B210 Honeybee" ( ) around Hawaii in the same manner we see him drive the Ferrari 308 GTS. It was strange to see this. I can't quite put my finger on it, but somehow, the Datsun-Honeybee just doesn't compare with the Ferrari.

Tom drives a Datsun Honeybee around Oahu! That's hilarious!

Thanks for the review IH. It sounds like a great movie to watch if you are a MPI fan. Gosh dang it, I wish I had the Sleuth Channel!

Steve · #38 Post by **Steve** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:34 pm

Amazing scoop. I don't get the Sleuth Channel so I had to look the Movie up on IMDB. Looks like it was one of Tom's failed Pilots that was filmed and it does say the Eve Anderson estate was used. It also states the DVD/VHS can only be found in Europe. I sure would love to get my hands on that one or for that matter any of his failed piolots. I'm guessing that Concrete Cowboys is a failed Pilot as well..........

Steve
Chicago

golfmobile · #39 Post by **golfmobile** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 8:39 pm

I DVR'ed this movie and just this morning figured out how to burn a DVD, so I now have this movie on DVD (I was recording it for SelleckLover). However, I didn't realize the movie was only a 90-minute movie, so I recorded 2 hours -- so if one watches the movie, one will need to stop the DVD when the movie ends.

However, since there are several folks who don't get Sleuth so couldn't see the movie, just let me know, and I'll make a copy of the DVD for you and send you the DVD so you can see the movie (sorry, European folks, I think I can't do it in PAL format, only NTSC [but I'll reseach this with my programs and report later if I can do that]). I'll also be recording and DVD'ing the movie on Jan. 13 (the Gypsy Warriors), so if you want to wait for both, just let me know.

Basically, I would do this free, but things are a little tight right now, so a small contribution for the cost of the DVDs and postage would be appreciated. Would $5 be too much for both movies?

If you would like the movies on DVD, just PM me your mailing address and I'll PM back to you my mailing address so you can send me some chump change for supplies.

golf

golfmobile · #40 Post by **golfmobile** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:59 pm

Here are some screenshots from the intro to the movie. Will add more when I've watched more of the movie! (also when I get better at getting these screenshots -- I just found out how to do this, so I'm a little rough at doing it right now.) Looks as though Tom hasn't grown his MPI 'stache quite yet . . . . You'll notice The Hat!) (And, lordy, he looks SO YOUNG!)

What watch is THIS?

golf

golfmobile · #41 Post by **golfmobile** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:54 pm

More pix:

golf (once we get away from pictures of the Al's Automotive outfit, I'll start a new thread for "Selleck Pilot Shows" for other pictures from this movie and from Gypsy Warriors)

N1095A · #42 Post by **N1095A** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 1:17 am

golfmobile wrote:
golf (once we get away from pictures of the Al's Automotive outfit, I'll start a new thread for "Selleck Pilot Shows" for other pictures from this movie and from Gypsy Warriors)

Wow golf, what a find! You just solved an age old mystery as to the origins of the Al's cap. I've ALWAYS wondered where the Al's cap came from.

golfmobile · #43 Post by **golfmobile** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 2:48 am

N,

I can't take credit for the "find." IH found it first and mentions it a few posts above mine. I just added the pictures. I didn't watch the movie when it was actually playing on TV and I guess IH did. So he spotted it first and mentioned it first.

golf

N1095A · #44 Post by **N1095A** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:06 am

golfmobile wrote:N,

I can't take credit for the "find." IH found it first and mentions it a few posts above mine. I just added the pictures. I didn't watch the movie when it was actually playing on TV and I guess IH did. So he spotted it first and mentioned it first.

golf

Apologies to IH, I just didn't read back far enough. IH, Awsome find!!

IslandHopper · #45 Post by **IslandHopper** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:03 am

N1095A wrote:
golfmobile wrote:N,

I can't take credit for the "find." IH found it first and mentions it a few posts above mine. I just added the pictures. I didn't watch the movie when it was actually playing on TV and I guess IH did. So he spotted it first and mentioned it first.

golf
Apologies to IH, I just didn't read back far enough. IH, Awsome find!!

No worries guys. We're all in this together.

Thanks to Golf for posting those great pictures. It's funny, until I saw The Chinese Typewriter, I thought Magnum's Al's Tigers hat was related to TC's little league baseball team, because his team is also called the Tigers. So, I thought Al's was a sponser of his team. I guess that's why we never saw TC wearing an Al's Tigers hat. Well, at least we know now. However, I do wonder whose idea it was for TS to wear that particular hat on MPI?