AllMovie

Someone is trying to corner the market in illegal champagne before New Year's Eve of 1932--a last-ditch effort to turn a huge profit before the repeal of Prohibition goes into effect. The ensuing intrigues involve French champagne manufacturer Michel Vitton (Barry Morse), mob-connected restauranteur Barney Loomis (Robert Middleton) and Barney's covetous nephew Ed Wald (Michael Constantine). Cast as a deaf-mute assassin named Birdie is future Oscar winner George Kennedy), who during a confrontation scene with series star Robert Stack Ness applies so much physical force that Stack actually passes out on camera--an incident over which the two actors (good friends in real life) would invariably share a laugh in the years to come.