Murder Case

Solid Hitchcock. Lee (Cassavetes) is such a smug, calculating young stage actor, he's obnoxious from the start. Once Lee starts plotting with old flame Diana (Rowlands) to bump off her rich older husband (Matheson), he becomes wicked, as well. Not a flattering role for fine actor Cassavetes, but he brings it off well. Suspense builds as the conniving couple plot against her inconvenient hubby (Matheson). Does he suspect something or not. After all, they're not exactly subtle with their relationship. The screenplay manages to fill out the hour without draggy padding, and builds to a climax I didn't see coming. Yet, all the bases are covered in good ironic fashion. Smooth direction from noir movie veteran John Brahm, though the speeding car process shots are really phony. Nonetheless, it's solid Hitch, with a fine cast. Fans should not be disappointed.

"Murder Case" stars real life husband and wife John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, who had already been married for a decade, remaining so until his death at age 59 in 1989. Diana Justin (Rowlands) is starring in a London play financed by her diamond merchant husband Charles (Murray Matheson). Stranded American actor Lee Griffin (Cassavetes) gets himself cast as her American love interest, quite insistent since the two had a thing going back in the States before she met the wealthy Charles and promptly dumped him without a second glance. Now that she's within his grasp again, quickly falling back into old habits, Lee decides to rig a fatal accident for her husband, who survives and quickly pulls his backing out of his rival's play. The climactic twist makes this one worth watching, featuring such familiar faces as Ben Wright, David Frankham, and John Banner (HOGAN'S HEROES).

It took the combined true talents of writers JAMES BRIDGES and LEVINSON & LINK to create a screenplay this padded and dull. How they all three managed to use not a tiny percentage of their considerable talents to make this episode other than overlong, is something more interesting to consider than this episode. The approach seems to be, we've got a good ending now let's fill up the first 38 minutes as boringly as possible. It's such a waste of talent this episode on all levels.

Like some of Bridges other poor episodes (he of course wrote some good ones too) this show has no shape no suspense and really no murder/crime/ or suspense until about ten minutes before it's over.

Cast, writers, director all made me think this was going to be good and none of them did much to help. It's style-free on a director level and that none of the actors can do much with their total cliché roles is only a surprise because of who they are. There is just nothing interesting to play here or portray as an actor.

Only surprise is that Shultz from Hogans Heroes shows up near the end. He's quite good in a decent little suspense scene. The end itself works well enough, but what's really good about it takes up the last 15 seconds. The rest of this show you'll see coming from a mile away.

There are pointless--other than to pad running time--scenes from the REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT knock-off play to pad time. The young lovers who are the leads, and real life man and wife John and Gena, as characters are not worth liking, actually he's a jerk and a brute and she's self centered--their scenes together do nothing to make you think they "must" have one another, or that their love could redeem them as people, or that their love is what corrupts otherwise good people.

There is no real villain of the piece either. Or from Hitchcock's point of view all villains as the story is about actors. Other episodes about actors in this series usually portray them in a bad light actually. And none of those are really very good episodes either. It's like an inside joke--or not so inside as Hitchcock's public views of actors were well known--but that's not a funny enough joke to support a serious hour show.

Only the episode SIGN OF Satan has an actor in sort of a hero role, though in that show an actor is a form Satanic cult member so.... What matters though is that these characters in this episode are total cliché and a bore.

Hitchcock's intro features the semi-famous image of him with his finger in a leaking Dyke and a kind of unusual Hitchcock slapstick type gag as well. It can't redeem the show however.

You can easily skip 20 minutes of this show and not miss a thing plot-wise. You can pretty much just skip this episode, it's not the worst of the series but it's not worth the time it takes.

This story stars real life married couple John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands as Lee and Diana. However, in "Murder Case" they are not married...though the had dated long ago...until she married a rich older man (Murray Matheson). Since then, the two haven't seen each other in some time...and he's rather bitter. They are both actors and they both are cast in the leads in a play funded by Diana's husband. Soon, sparks begin to fly between Lee and Diana, and they plan on killing the hubby in order to get his vast fortune. But he learns of their plot and ends up having the last laugh.

The story seems more normal and pedestrian than most from this show. Now this isn't saying it's bad, it isn't, but it's also not particularly special and isn't particularly memorable. An okay episode....nothing more.

An episode like this runs on impatience. The whole plot, life after all events play out, could have been put off for a more opportune moment. The old guy is suspicious from the outset. He knows that the young actress must be up to something or else why does she prefer to be with him. But money is what sets the tone. Cassavetes is a highly unpleasant character, smug and manipulative. He always acts on impulse and that's what proves to be his undoing. Throwing the old guy out a porthole is almost laughable. This is another one of those episodes about rich people never having enough. Quite ordinary.