This episode, which originally aired on December 12th, 1958, opens in Rome, where Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) is about to catch a plane back to the United States. While there he bumps into a beautiful young lady named Betty (Audrey Dalton) with whom he had a brief love affair five years earlier. But now she’s going by the name Sharon Rodgers, and she’s with her uncle Jonathan (King Calder) and her sister Mona (Elaine Edwards). What’s worse, she pretends that she doesn’t know who Mike is at all. This doesn’t set well with our ace photographer, whose offended voiceover states “I don’t mind girls popping up out of my past, but I don’t like them changing their names and pretending they don’t know me anymore.” As Mike investigates the situation more closely, he comes to realize that good ole Uncle Jonathan is using the girls to pull a con on a jewelry dealer named Bartolo (Alberto Morin). While Mike still has feelings for Betty / Sharon, he can’t abide a thief, a cheat, or a con artist, so he’ll do whatever he has to do to bring them down.
“Two Strings of Pearls” is a love episode. There are scenes where Mike and Betty discuss their relationship all those years ago, including the wonderful times they shared on that Transatlantic Crossing, and then the heartbreak they both felt when Betty decided not to show up for their planned meeting at the Savoy Hotel in London. Mike, who has had a hard time getting over her, just wants to know why she chose not to meet him. Betty, who we now know really is named Sharon, can’t put her reasons into words other than she just seemed to know their lifestyles weren’t compatible. I have to admit that she’s correct since Kovac is a boy scout, and she’s a working cog in a con artist operation. Just look at how this operation plays out… once Mike learns that they’ve targeted the jeweler Bartolo, he gives Betty a quick chance to get out, and when she hesitates, he sets out to make sure they all go to prison. Score one for female intuition!
“Two Strings of Pearls” is a solid episode, but I must admit that I enjoy it more when the series focuses on solving crimes and battling bad guys than when it focuses on the regrets of lost love. While Bronson and Audrey Dalton work fine together as the former sweethearts, both of my favorite scenes involve Kovac’s interactions with Barnes, Uncle Jonathan’s henchman, played by veteran character actor Bert Remsen. First, Barnes pushes Kovac into a swimming pool at a lovely garden party they’re both attending. This doesn’t set well at all with our hero who gets really pissed. Later, during the episode’s exciting conclusion, Kovac squares the ledger when he chases Barnes across the airport runway and executes a perfect form tackle before he can get away with the money. Sadly, Kovac has to face Sharon one last time as she’s arrested and going to jail. Oh well, she made her choices!
