Thomas Banacek(George Peppard) is called in on a case involving a large, state-of-the-art(for its time) computer affectionately named Max that somehow goes missing from a locked and alarmed room. It is owned by the wealthy Lyle Leslie(played by Anne Baxter) who is something of a hypochondriac, convinced that only super smart Max can help her live longer, since she fears she will die before turning 51 - and she's 50. Carlie Kirkland(Christine Belford) is also on the case, but of course Thomas is the one who will come up with the clever solution to the seemingly complex theft. Long title aside, this is a reasonably compact, entertaining mystery, and a time capsule of its time.
Banacek (TV Series)
If Max Is So Smart, Why Doesn't He Tell Us Where He Is? (1973)
User Reviews
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Where did Max go?
bkoganbing26 October 2015
Back in the day when computers were new and quite large, someone runs off with the computer that wealthy and self indulgent Anne Baxter has donated to a hospital. As the computer has some hefty insurance on it, both George Peppard and Christine Belford are vying for the recovery fee once again.
Anne Baxter as the shrewish widow who takes in hedonism by the truckload she dominates the program. She's got herself a boy toy in Richard Jordan who certainly is on the suspect list.
If you've ever seen the classic Tracy/Hepburn film Desk Set than you have some idea of how large Max is. One of those just doesn't walk off unnoticed.
In the end the answer is relatively simple and as Belford remarks Peppard is almost taking his fee under false pretenses.
Anne Baxter as the shrewish widow who takes in hedonism by the truckload she dominates the program. She's got herself a boy toy in Richard Jordan who certainly is on the suspect list.
If you've ever seen the classic Tracy/Hepburn film Desk Set than you have some idea of how large Max is. One of those just doesn't walk off unnoticed.
In the end the answer is relatively simple and as Belford remarks Peppard is almost taking his fee under false pretenses.
Screeching Anne Baxter
vintagegeek18 December 2019
Anne Baxter or the writers for her absolutely ruined this episode with her constant screeching. I'd like to call it rants. But they were soliloquies of shouting at everyone. It reached a point where we fast forwarded every time she started. Rest of the show not too bad. Typical, lost, found, etc. We enjoy reliving the early 70's through this show. The cars, clothes, scripts or lack there of it seems.
In the days before portables and laptops....
planktonrules22 January 2021
"If Max Is So Smart..." is a sub-par episode of "Banacek". Most of this is because of a character played by Anne Baxter. She comes off as very phony and I am not sure if it's Baxter's fault, the writer's, the director's or a combination of them. Regardless, her character is annoying and very unrealistic....and very bombastic.
The show begins with a fancy diagnostic computer disappearing from a hospital. This was long before the days of laptops and other portable computers, and like most computers of the 1970s, it needed a large room or separate building and plenty of air conditioning to keep it running. In this case, the computer is housed in a building that is separate from the hospital. Further, it's surrounded by barbed wire and has a fancy security system....which makes its theft seem impossible. Can Banacek figure all this out....like usual?
As I mentioned above, Baxter played a very hard to believe and annoying character. She's supposed to be a gullible and nasty rich woman but instead comes off poorly, often bellowing her lines and seeming more like an angry Simon Oakland than anyone else...and a bit like the Egyptian princess Baxter played in "The Ten Commandments". It also didn't help that this is a 'Carlie episode'...one featuring Banacek's nemesis who was introduced in the final episode of season one. As a result, the episode is poor...and I think telling those involved that SOME subtlety would have helped make this character less of a caricature. Not a completely terrible episode but one that simply should have been better.
The show begins with a fancy diagnostic computer disappearing from a hospital. This was long before the days of laptops and other portable computers, and like most computers of the 1970s, it needed a large room or separate building and plenty of air conditioning to keep it running. In this case, the computer is housed in a building that is separate from the hospital. Further, it's surrounded by barbed wire and has a fancy security system....which makes its theft seem impossible. Can Banacek figure all this out....like usual?
As I mentioned above, Baxter played a very hard to believe and annoying character. She's supposed to be a gullible and nasty rich woman but instead comes off poorly, often bellowing her lines and seeming more like an angry Simon Oakland than anyone else...and a bit like the Egyptian princess Baxter played in "The Ten Commandments". It also didn't help that this is a 'Carlie episode'...one featuring Banacek's nemesis who was introduced in the final episode of season one. As a result, the episode is poor...and I think telling those involved that SOME subtlety would have helped make this character less of a caricature. Not a completely terrible episode but one that simply should have been better.
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