Forty Years From Sand Island (3.18)

[J.J. Walters]

I do believe you guys are correct! It certainly looks like a scale model. That's quite a bit of work for a 7-second shot!

[N1095A]

It's highly possible that model already existed somewhere, either in a museum or some display somewhere, and would have been shot for the show. From all the pictures if the real Sand Island camp that I've found online, there were no permanent structures, only tents. I'm thinking the shots were made using an existing prison camp model.

[wilko]

Anyone else notice that Magnum's closet under the steps has a light in it? When he runs into it to hide from Higgins and his scimitar you can see the inside is lit when he opens the door.

[robspace54]

A pretty good take I think for 1983 on real events from 1942. There are some who do try to bury or forget the past, and those work hard to keep it alive. I worked with a guy who was a concentration camp survivor from Poland. I once asked him if he ever thought about writing down, or taping, what he experienced. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said "Robby, somehow it would make in unreal to do that." So he clearly tried to forget.

One of my fellow engineers was once complaining about the air conditioning in the office not bing cold enough. Tad looked at him and said "I've got a cup of coffee and a cigarette. What are you complaining about?" Tad and his parents all survived WWII. He thought they were dead and was walking down a street in Israel in 1946 when his father walked past him.

[No need to know!]

One episode with an interesting story. But as usual it´s the dialog between Magnum and Higgins that does it for me. It´s so funny when Magnum calls Higgins at the hospital, and Higgins suspects something is wrong at the estate. And that scene with Higgins in the wheelchair

[No need to know!]

Anyone else notice that Magnum's closet under the steps has a light in it? When he runs into it to hide from Higgins and his scimitar you can see the inside is lit when he opens the door.

I did just now.

[J.J. Walters]

There are also some good guest performances, including Keye Luke, a Chinese actor with a varied film career, before becoming a regular 1980s American TV guest star (he was in ‘The A-Team’s second season episode ‘The Maltese Cow’ (1983) amongst others, and did a lot of animation voice work). These performers bring some gravitas to the episode.

Keye Luke had a great 50+ year career in film and television, going all the way back to the 1930s. It's a real treat to have him appear in a MPI episode!

Charlie Chan's "No. 1" Son



Master Po in Kung Fu



Mr. Wing in Gremlins



Saji Goto in Magnum P.I.

[rubber chicken]

I love the old Charile Chan movies, and it's great that Keye Luke was able to appear on Magnum. Here's a few lines of Keye Luke's dialog between his Lee Chan character and Lee's father Charlie Chan (from this page):

Lee Chan: [after being kicked in the seat from behind] "Oh, gee, Pop, how'd you know it was me?"
Charlie Chan: "Frequent spankings when young make rear view very familiar."

Lee Chan: "Gee, Pop, you sure missed a wonderful luncheon!"
Charlie Chan: [at the shiprail suffering from seasickness] "Contradiction, please. Not having eaten have missed nothing."
Lee Chan: "I had turtle soup, chicken a la king, and three cream puffs. Then I had some ice cream."
Charlie Chan: "Please stop! Mention of food more painful than surgeon's knife without anesthesia."
Lee Chan: "Shall I get you medicine, Pop?"
Charlie Chan: "Good dose of land only effective medicine."



On this page I read that he "entered the film industry as a billboard designer and caricaturist". The page has an interesting few paragraphs about him starting under his picture about 1/3 down the page.

[All About the Stache]

Great moments between Magnum & Higgins in this one, which made me laugh for most of the episode. The revelation at the end felt a bit hasty though, and I had a hard time of swallowing it.

[miltontheripper]

I really liked this episode. Am I incorrect or is Nancy Nakamura's father (the guy trimming the bonzai tree) also in another season 3 episode The Eighth Part of the Village as "Sato", in season 2 episode Texas Lightning as the guy who gets thrown off the boat to the sharks, and also in Karate Kid 2 as Sato? Maybe I'm wrong. Loved the back and forth between Magnum and Higgins about the Macho Taco and the wheelchair scene is priceless. Very well done episode.

[MaiTaiMan]

I really like this episode...excellent! I like the plot, that instead of Magnum it was supposedly Higgins that someone was trying to kill. Then it tied into WWII and how the Japanese were forced into prison-like camps.

I thought it really showed how the Japanese-Americans were treated after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the hardships they had to endure. The storyline of a particular suspicious death from 40 years before, then those suspected of being responsible getting murdered in present day, was awesome and action-packed!

This is one of my favorites from season 3, and love watching it everytime I go through the show!

[Doc Fred]

Great episode and lots of fun... AND Marilyn Tokuda!

I loved the interactions, but still don't understand why Enoka wanted to kill Higgy Baby.... Yeah, Enoka and Sorenson were "in business" together, but neither was going to inform on the other, and Higgy was concerned only with the conditions on Sand Island, not with anything beyond that.

[Seaver41]

Normally i'm pretty damn lenient on rating episodes, but i've got a beef with this one. What exactly was the link to Higgins being the target? Late in the episode comes word that it was a faulty brake line, so Magnum tying the accident to some plot to get Higgins was bad. None of the guest stars seemed particularly believable. How about the end when the politician can't convince Goto to shoot Magnum, he tosses gun in water (just about threw himself in) and casually sits down for some tea?

The humor in the episode hides the weak plot. Gotta love the irony of the granddaughter following Magnum undetected in a red car.

What was Nakamura doing in that building all dressed up when it was lights out and everyone in their skivvies?

[.45caliber]

I second everything Seaver41 said. Humor was great, but the plot was hard to believe and didn't make sense to me how it was tied together. And TM gets shot, but its like no big deal to anyone, that was weird.

[snp389]

A great show this one!!!
The quick wit and quibbles between TSM & JQH was excellent. And I know it has been stated before, but the wheelchair "OH MY GOD !!!..." scene has to be one of the most righteous MPI moments ever.
As a retired Australian Army Soldier I have spent a lot of time in Hawaii on military exchanges, RIMPAC Exercises, cross training and readiness deployments with the USMC at Kaneohe bay (K-Bay).
During such deployments, I never tired of visiting the U.S. Military historical sites & memorials that are present in Hawaii.
I have been to Sand Island, which is now mostly industrial but with a recreational area on the southern side. When being shown around the area, our guide informed us that not only Japanese were interred there, but Germans and Italians were held on the Island as well.