They Call It Murder

It was like an episode of Columbo without already knowing the murderer and Columbo.

District Attorney Doug Selby (competently played by Jim Hutton) faces a unique murder case involving a dead body in a pool with two bullets in its heart. After some detailed examination and theory debunking as to which of those bullets might have gone in first, it becomes clear that the D. A. is not helped by the blundering Police Chief Otto Larkin, who keeps stupidly disrespecting the very law he is supposed to uphold - it could be a comic relief, but does not quite work - and in time comes under attack himself from a vehicle trying to bump him off a cliffy road.

Standout performance from Lloyd Bochner as lawyer A B Carr, self-effacing but effective in his legal assistance.

Well, all is not bad news: Selby is surrounded by pretty women: the elegant Jessica Walter, who in 1971 also played an evil part in PLAY MISTY FOR ME; Nita Talbot, absolutely gorgeous as a second rate movie star who keeps undergoing rejuvenating surgery; and Jo Ann Pflug, simply to die for.

The explanation as to how all the murders took place struck me as lengthier than necessary, but otherwise I enjoyed it all. 7/10.

Jim Hutton, the district attorney of a small county some place in southern California (with some exteriors shot in San Anselmo in Marin County) is confronted with a puzzling murder: a man shot in a pool by two guns -- so it's unclear which one killed the man -- with lots of suspects, no motive, an annoying defense attorney among them, played by Lloyd Bochner, and a growing pile of corpses.

Erle Stanley Gardner started out as a lawyer, but was bored by the practice of law. He started writing in 1921. When he became a full-time writer in 1933, he felt that any year in which he wrote fewer than 1,200,000 words was a bad year, and he used eight or so pen names to avoid flooding the market. That may seem like a lot of books, short stories, radio scripts, travel books, and articles on forensics. In the 1940s, he founded the Court of Last Resort, a forerunner of such organizations as the Innocence Project. He died in 1979, at the age of 80.

He's best remembered for creating Perry Mason, who appeared in more than 80 novels, a dozen movies, and hundreds of episodes of the TV series and succeeding TV movies. This TV movie is from a lesser known series. In an inversion of the Perry Mason formula. District Attorney Doug Selby, confronted with a puzzling mystery, faces off in court against defense attorney A. B. Carr. This is the only screen version of the characters; doubtless it was intended for a series, but after Raymond Burr, who could believe such a thing?

Nonetheless, it has a fine and confusing plot, Ed Asner as a brutish police chief, Leslie Nielson with an Irish accent, and Vic Tayback as an insurance investigator. Very watchable.

This made for TV movie predates the Jim Hutton version of the Ellery Queen TV series by a few years. However, Hutton obviously used this role as his model for playing Queen in the series. He has a lot of fun with his role as DA and it is contagious. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Hutton as he appeared in virtually every scene as the relentless DA, investigating a murder that soon expands to even more homicides. This film is based on an Erle Stanley Gardner work and contains all of the elements of fine mystery writing which we would expect from Mr. Gardner. A good cast of names and faces familiar to TV watchers serves to keep up the interest and suspense as this excellent mystery unfolds. I would have preferred another actor in the role of the defense attorney played by Lloyd Bochner. But, I admit that I am nit picking here. I simply don't like Mr. Bochner since he plays every single role in exactly the same manner, smug and arrogant. Just once I would like to see him exhibit some semblance of warmth or humor. For me his performance was the only negative in this most enjoyable movie.

Quite many of these obscure cable-television thrillers from the early 70s are really, really good. "They Call it Murder" is even better than good. As far as yours truly is concerned, this is a downright great thriller with a captivating & puzzling plot, a fantastic ensemble cast, and a mystery climax that would even cause Agatha Christie herself to nod her head with approval. I don't want to reveal too much about the plot, but it starts with a dead body in the pool of a wealthy but eccentric family, and it ends with the utmost twisted and convoluted insurance scams you'll ever witness. The cast this modest little TV-thriller managed to gather is truly impressive, and they are all giving away stellar performances in roles that seem very fitting. Jim Hutton as the persistent DA, Lloyd Bochner as the insufferable upper-class attorney, Ed Asner as the somewhat doofus Chief of Police, Leslie Nielsen as the arrogant patriarch (who talks with a bizarre Irish accent that makes him sound like a Leprechaun), Michael Pataki as the small-time crook, and the stunningly beautiful Jessica Walter as the quiet widow with a dark secret. The latter will always remain one of my favorite actresses thanks to her glorious roles as the psycho in "Play Misty For Me", and Lucille Bluth in "Arrested Development".