Jessica sets out to clear the name of a friend who is a prime suspect in a murder case.Jessica sets out to clear the name of a friend who is a prime suspect in a murder case.Jessica sets out to clear the name of a friend who is a prime suspect in a murder case.
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- A.D.A. Mel Comstock
- (as Pat Harrington)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe characters of "Helmsley Post" -an aggressively macho writer of war stories - and "Adrian Winslow" - a waspish, perhaps homosexual author of historical novels - may be intended as outrageous caricatures of the real-life writers Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal, whose long-standing literary feud had been very much in the news shortly before this was filmed. The name "Post" for the Mailer character is another clue.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Horace Lynchfield: Now, what I need is some cigarettes and a stiff drink. Let's get out of here, okay?
Jessica Fletcher: Oh! At the risk of sounding like a nag, Horace, you're gonna have to do something about your drinking.
Horace Lynchfield: Are you saying to cut back? That would be like depriving a race car of its gasoline.
Clerk: Oh. May I help you?
[Horace pulls out his gun-shaped lighter, the clerk sees it, screams and presses the alarm]
Jessica Fletcher: You might also consider giving up, uh, cigarettes.
- SoundtracksMurder She Wrote Theme
Written by John Addison
Jessica Fletcher arrives at a New York awards ceremony with poet Horace Lynchfield (Paul Sand) who likes to drink a lot. He is just few of the writers that Hemsley gets into an argument with that evening. The other is the celebrated writer Adrian Winslow (Robert Reed) who Hemsley basically described for being camp.
When Hemsley is found dead, the New York ADA Mel Comstock smells television cameras and a fast track to the mayor's office. When Horace is arrested for murder, Jessica needs to find the real murderer.
She horns in on Frank Lapinski (Vincent Baggetta) a warehouse worker who sent threatening letters to Helmsley. Jessica thinks that this ex soldier was the actual writer of the Vietnam war manuscript.
A bit too much comedy here, especially as there was a dark reason that led to murder. As Lapinski tells Jessica when describing her books, light but enjoyable.
Hemsley Post would be loosely based on Norman Mailer while Adrian Winslow on Gore Vidal. In real life both writers had an abrasive relationship. When Vidal was punched by Mailer at a party. Vidal responded 'Norman, once again words have failed you.'
- Prismark10
- Jun 27, 2023