Forty Years From Sand Island

Episode Number: 58
Season Number: 3.18
Air Date: 2/24/1983
Writers: Rogers Turrentine, Rob Gilmer, Reuben Leder
Director: Mike Vejar
Producer: Chas. Floyd Johnson
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars

James Shigeta (Richard Enoka), Keye Luke (Saji Goto), Marilyn Tokuda (Nancy Nakamura), Danny Kamekona (Russell Nakamura), John Roselius (Golf Pro), David Palmer (Fred Sorenson), Michael Duffett (Victor Goertz), Francis Yoshida (Kirin Nakamura), Francesca Dodge (Nurse)

Episode Brief

As part of the research for an upcoming Robin Masters novel, Higgins contacts a witness in the 1942 murder of a WWII Japanese internment camp inmate by a civilian guard and soon after is badly injured in an accident when the Ferrari's brakes fail. When the mechanic confirms that someone has tampered with the car, Magnum sets out to find who wants to stop Higgins's research and uncovers blackmail and shady politics at the center of the case.

Rating

8.3

(47 votes)

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Notes

¹ Sand Island is a real location on Oahu. It is located at the entrance to Honolulu Harbor. During WWII, it was used as the main U.S. Army Internment Camp for Japanese-Americans and foreign nationals.

² Magnum and T.C. are seen wearing their MIA bracelets for the first time!

³ The opening scene at the 1942 Sand Island Internment Camp features a fairly large scale model diorama of the camp for a 7-second, panning nighttime shot. (Noted by Jay-Firestorm & N1095A)

⁴ Higgins hurts his right arm, head, neck, and back in the Ferrari crash (brake failure). Magnum is shot in the right shoulder.

⁵ Keye Luke (Saji Goto) is a famous Chinese-American actor who enjoyed a 50+ year career in film and television. He is perhaps best remembered as "No. 1 Son", Lee Chan, in Warner Oland's Charlie Chan films of the 1930s, Master Po in the Kung Fu TV series and as Mr. Wing in the two Gremlins movies. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (7000 Hollywood Blvd).

⁶ Higgins mentions that he is doing research for an unnamed Robin Masters novel, "a portion of which is set in Hawaii during WWII". Higgins also mentions that part of the novel deals with the experiences of Japanese-Americans who were interned in Hawaii (similar to the events that happen in the episode).

⁷ James Shigeta (Richard Enoka) and Tom Selleck both had small parts in the 1976 WWII movie Midway.

⁸ List of notable filming locations:

• Hawaii Pacific University (Hawaii Loa), Starr & Cooke Academic Center - "Higgins' runaway wheelchair!"
• Kahala (4409 Kilauea Ave) - "Nakamura's house"
• Kewalo Basin, next to Ala Moana Park - "Saichi Goto's boat home"
• Pali Golf Course, south Kaneohe - "Hanaloa Country Club"

(All filming locations ID'd by rubber chicken)

⁹ The guards in the opening flashback scene can be seen wearing a 25th Infantry Division (Tropic Lighting) patch. During WWII, the 25th Infantry Division was based in Oahu, at the Schofield Barracks. (Noted by IslandHopper)

¹⁰ Magnums wears his camouflage SEAL cap and his Al's Automotive cap. We also see him swing a golf club for the first and only time.

¹¹ Higgins mentions to Magnum that the cigars in his desk humidor are "imported handmade Canary Islands cigars"!

¹² The "Oppenheimer Regal Tribolt" lock that Magnum picks is fictional. There is no such lock.

¹³ In the denouement Magnum says, "Jay Rickley Schneider is letting his daughter marry an orchid grower?". The name "Jay Rickley Schneider" appears to be a reference to former Magnum P.I. producers J. Rickley Dumm and Andrew Schneider.

Quotes

¹
(Higgins is looking through books and old newspapers in the study)
Magnum: Re-living old campaigns, Higgins? (laughs)
Higgins: Actually, no. Mr. Masters asked me to do some research for his next novel, a portion of which is set in Hawaii during World War II.
Magnum: It's already been written, Higgins. It's called 'From Here to Eternity' and I think it just about covers it.

²
Higgins: I find it particularly offensive that you used them to wash down an order from something called "Macho Taco"!
Magnum: Higgins, don't do this terrible thing. I am on a case, now if you don't mind.
Higgins: But, I do mind very much. The very thought of a Chateau du Beaux anywhere near a "Macho Taco"! Really Magnum, civilized people must set some sort of standards. In the final analysis, it's all we got!

³
Higgins: My god Magnum, you sound like Perry Mason!

Flubs

¹ In the opening scene at the Sand Island Internment Camp, when the young Enoka and Goto come into the latrine after Nakamura's murder, you can see Nakamura's hand move when he's supposed to be dead! (Noted by The Birdman of Budapest)

² When Magnum visits Nakamura and begins to walk around back with Nancy, he is wearing his normal boat shoes, but when he gets to the back he is suddenly wearing dark brown shoes. When he returns to his car, he is wearing the boat shoes again. (Noted by Allen Heaps)

³ When Magnum, Enoka, and Goto are standing on the boat and Enoka says, "Goto, this man is the only thing standing between us and freedom. Use the gun", Goto points the gun at Magnum and you hear him cock it, but neither his hand, nor the gun, move at all. (Noted by Mark Seaman)

⁴ When Magnum "steals" the Ferrari keys from Higgins he's wearing his Tigers cap. He immediately drives off and is suddenly wearing his camo SEAL cap. (Noted by Timmer33)

⁵ In the ending credits, actor David Palmer is credited as "Hank Sorenso" and not the correct "Fred Sorenson" as he is referred to during the episode. (Noted by The Birdman of Budapest)

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