Film Flam

John Astin makes his first "MSW" appearance as Hollywood studio staffer Ross Hayley in Season One, before appearing as Real Estate Agent Harry Pierce in three Cabot Cove episodes during Season Two. Some ten years later, he returns as Hollywood Director Fritz Randall in this episode.

Kim Darby makes her first series appearance also in Season One, and now returns as Joan Kemp, a former child star at Monolith Studio, who arrives on the lot for festivities surrounding a film premiere.

Mike Connors guest stars in the second of his three "MSW" roles, this time as Monolith Studio Producer Boyce Brown, who shows the ropes to his daughter, Elaine Brown (Stacy Edwards), aspiring to follow in her famous father's footsteps.

Kerrie Keane returns in her second "MSW" role, this as Audrey Young, Assistant Producer, who welcomes Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) to Monolith Studio, in Hollywood, at which production of an adaptation of her latest Mystery is scheduled to begin filming, but delayed by production of a different perceived blockbuster, which encounters one difficulty after another.

James Caviezel, in an early career role, marks his one "MSW" appearance here, as striving actor Darryl Harding, who stows away onto a vacant set to reside beneath tables and live off of ketchup soup and whatever refreshments he is able to discover, in his hopes of carving a niche in acting.

Darryl eventually befriends Elaine Brown, who stands beside him even though he has a knack for disappearing suddenly, after witnessing evidence of film piracy on the set.

Carson Robbins (Richard Libertini), Hank Duncan (William O'Leary) and his steady, Barbie Lippin (Cali Timmins), Manheim (Howard French) and Lloyd Nader (Justin Lord) seem to form the center of the film piracy conspiracy, putting Darryl into danger from more than one source.

Scotty the Security Guard (Rick Dano) launches on the trail after Darryl, while Elaine and Jessica are convinced of his innocence.

But the plot thickens and takes various turns after a victim is poisoned, leading Lieutenant Gabriel Caceras (Gregory Sierra, in his third appearance in the role, and his sixth of six overall "MSW" episodes) and Jessica on the trail of homicide suspects and "Film Flam" artists.

This episode marks the television debut performance for Paulo Andrés, as Delivery Boy, and the last appearance to date for Howard French.

Have always been quite fond of 'Murder She Wrote'. It is a fun and relaxing watch that makes you think as you try to unwind in the evening. If one wants more complex, twisty mysteries with lots of tension and suspense 'Murder She Wrote' may not be for you, but if you want something light-hearted and entertaining but still provide good mysteries 'Murder She Wrote' fits the bill just fine.

"Film Flam" is not just the best episode since "Murder By Twos" but it is also one of the best episodes of Season 11. Was starting to lose faith in the season and 'Murder She Wrote' in general, with "Murder in High C" and "Twice Dead" being such a let down, but "Film Flam" thankfully restored that faith. It's not quite a 'Murder She Wrote' high-point or one of the show's classics, not because there is anything specifically wrong with it but just like it's one of those episodes that lacks the extra something.

It is lovely seeing Kim Darby and John Astin making appearances since the first and second seasons respectively, and both are good, very good even. Their character screen time, especially Astin, is not particularly large though and one does wish they were in the episode more. The victim also could have been slightly more developed.

Angela Lansbury is terrific as always, and "Film Flam" is unusually uniformly well-cast for Season 11. Seeing Jim Caviezel so young in a very early role was interesting.

The mystery is clever and atmospheric, with a unusually, for Season 11, surprising identity for the person behind the goings on. This was also refreshing after the obvious denouements of the previous episodes. The energy is apparent throughout and is great and the past and present crimes were handled well.

Production values are slick and stylish with a very atmospheric foggy setting in places. The music has energy and has presence but also not making the mistake of over-scoring, while it is hard to forget or resist the theme tune. The writing is thoughtful and amiable, and it is one of not many latter season episodes to harken back to the spirit of the early seasons.

Overall, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Homicide plagues the release of a restored movie, and Jessica investigates the current crime and the 1960 murder that prevented the original release. Another of those film-set murders, and this isn't a bad one. Just a little mediocre in places, but gets better towards the end.

The plot here was intriguing, but a bit too scattered. We have an unfinished film from 30 years before suddenly finished. It had remained unfinished because the director died while it was being made.

We have his surprise adopted daughter show up to claim ownership of the film.

We have a mysterious young man who seems to appear and disappear from nowhere.

We have the possibility of a movie bootlegging operation getting access to finished reels and dubbing to bootlegged VHS tapes. Yes, that was THAT far back. LOL

We have a former child star trying to make a comeback.

And then we have the expert on the murdered director suddenly murdered himself ... at the screening of the completed film.

This is simply too many subplots for an hour-long screenplay to properly support, and it doesn't. Nothing much is really made of the appearing and disappearing man (Jim Caviezel). The bootlegging operation is never really tied to the murder, though it would have been easy to do so.

However, I watched the episode because of Mike Conners, as I was a big Mannix fan. He never disappoints, and his scenes with Angela Lansbury are a delight.

And my tried-and-true method of determining the killer worked yet again. Find the big-name guest start with no other good reason for appearing in the episode. LOL.

Thirty-five years ago, a famous director was working on a movie when he died. Now, recently, a copy of this unfinished movie has been discovered and the studio is planning on finishing it and releasing it. They anticipate they'll make many millions on this film. And, as you'd expect, Jessica Fletcher just happens to be there. And, as you'd ALSO expect, someone is killed. Can Jessica figure out this crime. And, what about the OTHER crime going on at the same time?

This is a generally good episode of "Murder, She Wrote". The ending, however, seemed weak, as the killer's identity seemed to come out of no where and they weren't a major character in the show. Worth seeing...but far from a great episode from the series.