I have always been a sucker for these hard boiled American Private eye shows set in the 1930s but made in the late 1970s.
They had the pulpish noir look but not always carried off by the actors. They always had the made for television aura lok about them.
The Dain Curse was different. It had James Coburn a bona fide film star, not yet affected by arthritis which would derail his career for some years.
Hamilton Nash (Coburn) has been hired to investigate a robbery of some diamonds by an insurance company. As he walks up a drive, he finds a loose diamond on the floor. The owner of the home Mr Leggett is a scientist who claims to have made fake diamonds. It all looks like a staged robbery.
There is a wild wayward daughter Gabrielle who is a real party girl. She is engaged to a square and is involved with a cult. When Gabrielle goes missing, Nash ends up investigating her disappearance.
Later Mr Leggett is found dead, who murdered him as Nash thinks it certainly was not suicide.
Based on a story by Dashiell Hammett. It all has an air of sleaziness and a convoluted back story. You think the story is over but there is more. This was a three part mini series.
Jason Miller makes an amusing appearance as camp writer Owen Fitzstephans.
