The Rockford Files : Irving the Explainer (1977)

Genres - Drama, Crime, Mystery, Thriller  |   Run Time - 60 min.  |   Countries - United States  |  
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Jim (James Garner) is hired by a woman identifying herself as Karen Hall (Barbara Babcock), who claims to be researching the career of Alva Korper, a German film director notorious for his Nazi sympathies during WW2, and for his mysterious death in a suspicious car crash. It soon develops that "Karen Hall" is actually Korper's daughter, and she is one of several shady characters searching for a priceless 18th century painting stolen years earlier by the Germans. With Jim being pursued by everyone from ex-Nazis to French police detectives, and with no idea of what is really going on, he must turn to a college coed (Irene Tsu) majoring in "logic" to straighten things out. The title of this episode (directed by film star James Coburn) refers to the last-act expositional dialogue heard in every mystery story, usually delivered by the hero or (as in this case) the villain.