- Someone is trying to kill Max Pomeroy, Tony Blake's friend. The investigation leads Blake to an alcoholic lady gambler in distress and the plot thickens in a casino.
- While Tony accompanies Max on an interview for a story on shipping magnate Manning Hargrove, an accident occurs which almost kills Max, the accident which was no accident as an obvious attempt on his life. As death threats are par for the course for him, Max refuses to get the police involved if only for the disruption it would cause to his busy public schedule over the next few days. Dennis believes that this attempt may have to do with one of Max's current controversial stories. Based on the car the perpetrator used to get away, Tony believes that this attempt on Max's life indeed has to do with one of his stories, on illegal gambling, the head of the ring the only piece of the puzzle Max does not know, that person who probably ordered the hit. Tony enlists the help of Diane Thomson, a socialite, alcoholic and compulsive gambler, who probably knows more about what's going on based on the company she keeps than she realizes. As Tony investigates, Max's life may still be in danger as he refuses to deviate from his very public schedule.—Huggo
- The syndicate orders a hit on Max when he threatens to go to a grand jury exposing their crooked casino operations. Tony tries to thwart the hit man and expose the syndicate by ruining their casino operation, with the help of an alcoholic woman who owes the casino money.—Gislef
- On the docks, a man chloroforms a crane worker as he operates the crane, then take over the controls. Meanwhile, Tony and Max leave a nearby ship and Max thanks the owner, Manning Hargrove for giving him material for his column. Manning asks to talk to Max privately, and Anthony goes to his car, the Spirit. Once Tony leaves, Manning asks Max to get house tickets for Tony's sold-out performance that nigh. Max agrees and goes to the car. Tony sees the hit man swing a load of drums toward Max and yells a warning, and Max gets out of the way just in time as the drums drop down on where he was standing.
Tony chases after the hit man as he runs off while Manning runs to Max. The hit man jumps across a gap on a bridge parting to let a ship go by and makes good his escape. Tony gets the license plate of the hit man's car and calls it to Dennis, and says that Max won't let him call the police. Max takes the phone and assures his son that he's fine, and Manning reports that the crane driver has agreed not to call in the police in deference to Max. Max says that the police will insist on canceling his upcoming press conference and grand jury testimony if he calls them in.
As Tony drives Max home, Dennis calls to confirm that the hit man's car was a rental. He puts Jerry on the line, and Jerry suggests to Tony that he and Dennis fly down on the jet to help. Tony agrees, and once Jerry hangs up Dennis suggests that they take the files on Max's current stories, because one of his stories might be about the people who hired the hit man.
As he drives, Tony tells Max that he's going to check out who rented the car. Max doesn't want Tony involved,, and Tony points out that the hit man went after Max, not him. At the rental office, Tony claims he rented the car a week ago and left some equipment in it. He distracts the receptionist with a magic trick while stealing a glimpse at the computer with the information on the car's rental history.
Once Jerry gets the jet in the air and puts it on auto-pilot, he checks in with Dennis. Dennis has found plenty of possible suspects among Max's files on stories.
Tony drives to the apartment of Diane Thomson. Inside, Diane is drinking heavily. Casino owner Stanley Owens is watching and says that she's a loser and always has been. He tells her that Monday, she'll get the withdrawal slip so he can take $25,000 out of his bank and then call a phone number and the man who picks up will tell her what to do with the money. When Diane says that she only agreed to work in the casino as a cashier, Owens tells her that she belongs to them. He suggests that she pay him off personally, and Diane insults him.
Owens shoves Diane down and leaves, and Tony hears them arguing and "accidentally" brushes past him and lifts Owens' wallet. Once he checks Owens' ID for his name and address, Tony drops the wallet on the floor and calls to Owens. Owens assumes he dropped his wallet and recovers it. Meanwhile, Tony goes to Diane's apartment and convinces her to let him in. He claims that her car sideswiped his car and no one stopped, and she confirms she rents her car. Diane says that she doesn't drive it, and she tries to flirt with him. She finally admits that she's a compulsive gambler and a borderline alcoholic, and desperate.
Dennis takes a cab to the hotel where Max is staying, and the hit man from the docks also goes into the hotel carrying two suitcases. Tony arrives a short time later, meets with Dennis and Max in Max's suite, and gives Dennis the information he obtained on Owens. Dennis and Max confirm that Owen runs an illegal gambling casino that has corrupted the entire county it's in, and Max is testifying to the grand jury about the operation. Max says that Owens is a front man and Owens' unidentified boss would have put the contract on him. The columnist knows Diane as coming from a good family in LA, inherited a lot of money, and lost it gambling. All Diane told Tony is that Owens told her to rent the car, claiming it was a high roller who wanted to remain anonymous. Tony figures that Diane knows more but is afraid to talk, and he goes to change her mind.
The hit man gives the doorman a basket of fruit and asks him to have it delivered to Max. The doorman writes down the room number from the switchboard, and the hit man takes note of it. The hit man then checks into a room on Max's floor.
Tony goes back to Diane's apartment and, when she doesn't answer his knock, picks the lock and lets himself in. A dog comes down the hallway and walks into Diane's apartment, and the female owner comes down the hall looking for it. Tony quickly closes the door before he can go in, and claims the dog went down the hall. Once the owner goes to continue her search, Tony opens the apartment door, calls the dog out, and sends it after his owner.
Entering Diane's apartment, Tony finds Diane passed out on the couch. He says that it's time for her to go to work, saying he wants her to escort him to the casino so he can do some gambling, and tells her that she's going to win some money. When she says the house always wins, Tony produces a couple of cards. Diane figures that he's a mechanic and warns that if they spot him cheating, they'll work him over. Tony isn't deterred and Diane agrees. He puts her head in the sink and sprays water in her face to sober her up, and she asks if he's a cop. Tony assures her that he isn't and Diane kisses him.'
The doorman delivers the fruit basket to Max's room. He finishes dictating his column and goes to take a swim. Dennis warns against it, noting that someone is trying to kill, him, but Max refuses to disappoint his colleagues. He agrees to take a nap instead and goes to his bedroom.
In his room, the hit man prepares several silenced guns.
Diane gets Tony into the casino and has him wait for her at the bar. Owens asks who Tony is, recognizing him from the hallway earlier, and Diane claims that he's a nephew of one of her father's business associates and he's a high-roller. She goes back to the bar, where Tony is flirting with a woman, and orders a drink. Diane tells Tony that she lost $20,000 there and she lost money all over the world but couldn't quit.
Dennis answers the door and the hit man says through the door that he has a package for Max. When Dennis opens the door, the hit man tips his wheelchair over, knocks Dennis out, and draws his gun. He goes into the bedroom and discovers that Max has slipped out and is swimming in the hotel pool below. The hit man goes back to his room and gets a compact sniper rifle from his case.
Tony and Diane go to a blackjack table and Tony asks to bet the house limit. The dealer gets confirmation from Owens, Tony swaps one of his two kings with one of Diane's two aces, bets on both hands, and both hands win with blackjacks.
Dennis wakes up and pulls himself along the floor to the hallway door.
The hit man returns to the suite through the door in Max's bedroom. Dennis hears him come in and feigns unconsciousness, and the hit man puts him in his wheelchair and pushes it into Max's bedroom. Dennis yells a warning to his father, but Max doesn't hear him. The hit man gags Dennis and ties him to his wheelchair, and then draws a bead on Max.
Tony switches to craps, and the croupier swaps in rigged dice. Despite that, Tony rolls a 7 and wins repeatedly,
Mangrove visits Max, blocking the hit man's shot. They go into the hotel proper, and the hit and the hit man settles down to wait for Max to come back.
Tony cashes in his chips, and Diane puts the money in her purse. A bouncer comes over and tells Diane that Owens wants to see her in his office why Tony buys some more chips. In the office, Owens tells Diane to hand over her share of the winnings. The money isn't in her purse, and Diane insists that she didn't slip it to Tony. Owens sends the bouncer to bring Tony there, then tells Diane to sit down.
The bouncer escorts Tony to Owens' office, and Owens demands Tony's winnings. Tony claims that someone picks his pocket, but Owens doesn't believe him. When Owens and the bouncer search him, Tony handcuffs them together, back to back. Diane directs Tony to the alarm button, and Tony hits it. On the casino floor, the croupiers get everyone out, and Tony takes the money that he hid on the bouncer and leaves him a tip. They then leave with the patrons.
As they drive back, Tony tells Diane that the car she rented was driven by Max's attempted killer. Diane recognizes Max's name, and she figures that Tony put her on the spot with Owens so she'd have to turn to Tony and the police. Tony points out that she has enough money to get out of debt, but if she helps put Owens and the people behind him in jail, she'll be free.
Max gives a press conference by the pool, and the hit man prepares to take his shot.
Tony and Diane arrive at the hotel and go to Max's suite. When Tony notices that the door is ajar, he goes in and calls to Max. The hit man shoots and hits Max, knocking him into the pool. He runs out through the other door in Max's bedroom, and Tony chases him. The EMTs take the wounded Max up to his suite and then to the hospital. Diane tells the police detective in charge, Driscoll, about the phone number Owens gave her to call. Driscoll tells her to find a safe place to stay, and Tony says that he's going to fly her to San Francisco.
Manning accompanies Max and the EMTs to the ambulance, getting in with him.
As Diane and Tony leave, Diane admits that she feels free for the first time in a long time.
The hit man orders the EMTs out of the ambulance at gunpoint. Diane sees him get into the ambulance and recognizes the hit man as the man she rented the car for. Tony runs up a flight of outside stairs onto the hotel roof and jumps onto the top of the ambulance, while Diane drives after him in the Spirit. The hit man hears Tony on the roof and speeds up while driving through alleyways, trying to shake him. He finally brakes to avoid a truck and Tony shoots off the top.
When he tries to run down Tony, the hit man misses and Tony jumps back onto the ambulance. The hit man pulls over and Tony gets in the back. When the hit man comes around and opens the back doors, Tony jump him. Mangrove grabs the hit man's gun and tells Tony that he's the head of the gambling syndicate. Diane arrives, distracting Mangrove, and Tony disarms the man. Mangrove jumps into a nearby decorative spillway, trying to escape, and Tony jumps in after him yelling that there's nowhere for Manning to go. They struggle and Manning falls over the spillway into the catch basin below.
Later at the hospital, Max reads a newspaper that Manning has been put away for good. Diane thanks everyone for their help, particularly Tony, and they kiss.
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What is the broadcast (satellite or terrestrial TV) release date of The Manhunters (1973) in Australia?
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