They Only Kill Their Masters

The film opens up with a view of the ocean and their is a woman floating in the water and a Doberman is biting her and trying to pull her on shore. Abel Marsh, (James Garner) is the Chief of Police and at first accepts the fact that this dog did the killing, until the CSI staff determine she was drowned in a bathtub and then placed in the ocean because she had fresh water in her lungs. There are cameo appearances by some veteran actors like: June Allyson, (Mrs. Watkins), Tom Ewell, (Cop), Peter Lawford, (Mr. Campbell). and Edmond O'Brien, (Liquor Store Owner) Abel Marsh and Kate Bingham, (Katherine Ross) meet and they both burn up the screen with some torrid love making. If you like James Garner, you will enjoy his great acting in this film. Enjoy

I agree wholeheartedly that this film is a screen writing mess, a rest home for aging once-great or near-great stars, and some of the sleaziest plot twists ever to come out of a pre-1975 MGM movie. Nonetheless, I also must confess being, at times, enamored with the film for brief periods of time. James Garner plays a sheriff in a small town out to find out what happened to a woman's body washed up to shore that had seemingly been attacked by her Doberman. the dog is assumed to be the culprit, but soon new evidence shows Garner that the woman led a secret life full of sex secrets with members of the town of both sexes. Anyway, we get lesbian overtones, three some references, love triangles, and so much more than you might expect in a film that was the last to be shot in MGM's Lot #2 with old friends like Arthur O' Connell, Ann Rutherford, Edmond O'Brien, Peter Lawford, June Allyson, and Tom Ewell showing up either in featured roles of cameos. Hal Holbrook plays a vet and adds some subtle subtext to the story despite the bizarre story he is involved with. Don't try to make too much sense out of what is going on and things will at least be adequate to get you through the film. Garner as always is a pleasure. Katherine Ross plays a lead role and the love interest(hard to believe she will be 70 in January!).

James Garner is the police chief of a small town. A woman turns up dead, and it's accepted that her own dog, a doberman, killed her. As he investigates the matter, however, new facts come into focus that exonerate the animal..... and makes his own loneliness apparent to him.

It's a pleasant little romance with Garner in modern dress, looking a little seedy as he and Katherine Ross fall in love with each other. It's a very minor effort, but it's eked out nicely with many small roles taken by familiar faces: Hal Holbrook, Harry Guardino, JUne Allyson, Peter Lawford, Edmond O'Brien, Ann Rutherford..... is this where old MGM stars retire to?

One has to wonder if David Lynch was inspired by this film when developing his cult-favorite TV series "Twin Peaks". Similarities abound (dead female washes ashore, sleepy town with ugly sexual underbelly, inept police force, quirky citizens, references to pie, to name a few....) Garner plays the police chief of a small coastal town called Eden Landing (mostly represented by the MGM backlot!) When a divorcée is found along the shore with her Doberman at attendance and bite marks all over her, it is presumed that the dog killed her. However, he soon realizes that someone else is involved. Through his investigation, he interacts with quirky locals who are portrayed by a plethora of old time movie stars (some of whom hadn't worked on screen in years.) O'Brien looks really unhealthy and only worked another year or two after this. Ewell (who once flirted on screen with Marilyn Monroe) is also looking really rough. (Trivia: Evelyn Keyes played his wife in "The Seven Year Itch" and Anne Rutherford does so here, so he played husband to both of Scarlett O'Hara's sisters from GWTW.) Lawford is rail thin and knee-deep in the "mod" look he would later take even further. The worst injustice is saved for Allyson. Her character is completely, totally unbelievable and underdeveloped. Things had definitely changed since she and Lawford filmed "Good News" on the same backlot! Garner is aided somewhat by veterinarian Ross (whose lab coat is longer than her mini-skirts) and to a lesser degree by bumbling Connelly and Guardino as a trigger happy state police captain. Holbrook gives another one of his wonderful performances in which it's impossible to tell if he's good or bad. The script is trashy and occasionally meandering. If anyone wants to hear Garner and Ross toss around words like "faggot" and "dyke", here's the chance. Or try a drinking game. Every time someone says "neat", do a shot. Most folks will be under the table by half time. Nearly everyone who doesn't live in Eden Landing is presented as either a troublemaker or a sex fiend. This gives the film a certain oddity value. Not only do the characters think of outsiders as freaks, but the filmmakers seem to feel that way too! (Witness Lawford's girlfriend and the bizarre barroom brawl started by two out of town punks, one of whom actually wears a huge measure of chain around his neck!) The film also serves as a time capsule for horrible '70's decor. Check out the beach house's kitchen and its foil wallpapered bathroom!

Like every normal horror fanatic, I love movies with killer animals, and dogs are my favorite species! Actually, dogs are my favorites after sharks, bears, spiders, and crocodiles. Usually, though, dogs in horror movies are straightforward killing machines because they have been genetically altered, heavily mistreated, contaminated with rabies, or trained to kill. "They Only Kill Their Masters" is quite unique because it's the sole murder mystery with a dog that I'm aware of!

In a quiet and picturesque Californian coastal town, the body of a beautiful woman is found in the water and her arms and legs carry severe biting marks from her own Doberman. You can probably guess it's just a mere footnote to establish the dog is innocent (and actually tried to save his master), and local police chief Abel Marsh must start his search for a human culprit.

Don't you hate it when a film's title and poster image are the best - and only - aspects to get excited about? Despite being an MGM-feature, "They Only Kill Their Masters" never surpasses the quality of an average made-for-television production. The script hints at a couple of taboo subjects, like lesbianism and unwanted pregnancies, but everything remains rather vague and covered with lame attempts at humor. The film has a magnificent cast, including the unearthly beautiful Katharine Ross and a whole bunch of silver screen veterans in minor cameos, and a few clever ideas in the script (like the bridge that can only take one car at the time), but is overall a big disappointment; - or at least to me it was.