SUMMARY: APPROX. RUNNING TIME: 47:00 Min.
First aired on CBS-TV on February 2, 1981, Lawrence Doheny directed this mid-season episode off co-series creator/producer Donald P. Bellisario’s script.
With an U.S. Supreme Court nomination at stake, Judge Robert Caine (José Ferrer) discreetly hires Magnum (Selleck) to help resolve a past Hawaiian love affair dating back forty years. Baited by a congratulatory telegram he has recently received; Caine comes back to Honolulu seeking answers.
Specifically, Caine intends to find the local prostitute (Anne Lockhart) he had briefly married under his real name (Miguel Ferrer). He confides to Magnum that he hasn’t seen his then-wife since just a few hours prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Given a single day to find the enigmatic ‘Diane Westmore,’ Magnum’s sleuthing indicates some close to Diane (June Lockhart) are evasively holding tight to sordid old secrets.
Seeking to deter Magnum, one reckless assailant even resorts to drive-by gunplay. Magnum ponders exactly what other details is his pensive client hiding from him. With Caine subsequently pressured by an extortionist, Magnum has to work fast to save a possibly still-timeless romance.
A desperate Higgins (Hillerman), meanwhile, ingratiates himself to Magnum, as he needs a substitute bridge partner on short notice. Given how even Higgins’ ‘lads,’ Zeus & Apollo (Brutus & Dominique), are on their absolutely best behavior, Magnum warily commits.
Cast:
Thomas Magnum: Tom Selleck
Jonathan Quayle Higgins: John Hillerman
Theodore “T.C.” Calvin: Roger E. Mosley
Orville “Rick” Wright: Larry Manetti
Judge Robert “Bobby” Caine (present-day): José Ferrer
U.S. Navy Ensign Robert “Bobby” Wickes/Caine (1941 flashbacks): Miguel Ferrer
Mrs. Diane Westmore Pauley (present-day): June Lockhart
Diane Westmore (1941 flashbacks): Anne Lockhart
Kiki: Elizabeth Lindsey
Tickler: Scatman Crothers
Mueller (Mrs. Pauley’s chauffeur): David Palmer
Sculley: Larry Shriver
Maku: Merlin “Sonny” Ching
Jessie (1941 flashback): Patricia Herman
Jessie’s Knife-Wielding Thug (1941 flashback): Uncredited
Moki: Remi Abellira
Moana (Diane’s maid): Judith Sykes
Zeus & Apollo (Higgins’ Doberman Pinschers): Brutus & Dominique
Club Hostess: Reri Tava Jobe
King Kamehameha Club Patrons (present-day): Uncredited.
Hotel Patrons (present-day): Uncredited.
Wiki Wiki Club Patrons (1941 flashback): Uncredited.
Mrs. Blackmore: Uncredited
Military Police: Uncredited
Honolulu Cops: Uncredited
U.S. Serviceman (1941 flashback?): Grady Bumpus.
Notes: 1. The episode cleverly casts José Ferrer’s son, Miguel Ferrer, and June Lockhart’s daughter, Anne Lockhart, to play their characters’ younger selves in the flashback sequences. 2. This episode predates Mike Post & Pete Carpenter’s iconic Magnum, P.I. TV theme. Instead, “Lest We Forget” was among the several early episodes utilizing Ian Fairbairn-Smith’s jazzy first-season generic instrumental as the show’s opening theme. One also gets an alternate version of the opening credits sequence that would be used for seven subsequent seasons.
REVIEW:
Donald P. Bellisario imbues his script with measures of poignancy, humor, and depth as possibly overcompensation for its few action scenes. The end result frankly resembles a cliché festival taken from a go-to playbook for melodramatic plot twists. Still, the overt romanticism motivating “Lest We Forget” makes this episode very watchable.
Overcoming an excessively contrived script, the appealing cast ensures that viewers get a classy Magnum, P.I. caper from its early days.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6 Stars
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