Starting off like "Sunset Boulevard" with a dead body in a swimming pool, this quickly turns into a messy mix of two cases, the other involving insurance fraud, and becomes frustrating to try to keep up with the two plots. Will they somehow tie in together? Clues indicate that they just might, but then it switches gears once again. If you can't follow the story, then just find enjoyment in the huge cast of 70's favorites.
The future Ellery Queen, Jim Hutton, headlines the investigator who has far too many people to talk to, yet somehow they all get a decent amount of screen time. There's Leslie Nielsen as a wheelchair bound millionaire, complete with a silly Irish accident, Jessica Walter as his wife, daughter of the man in the pool, Carmen Matthews as his widow, Joanna Pflug as a hard-boiled reporter, Helen Kleeb as the housekeeper, sharing her secret (and it isn't a Hidden Valley Ranch dip recipe or papa's secret recipe) and most memorably Nita Talbot as an alcoholic actress with a secret.
In minor roles, there's also TVs future Mel, Vic Tayback, and Lou Grant, Ed Asner, unfortunately not appearing together. I did enjoy the wistful music score, some great southern California mountain road footage, particularly a chase over some very curvy roads, and the irreverent style of humor which guides the film's structure. But if this was meant to be a pilot, it needed a stronger introduction, so it's easy to see why this was red lighted.
The future Ellery Queen, Jim Hutton, headlines the investigator who has far too many people to talk to, yet somehow they all get a decent amount of screen time. There's Leslie Nielsen as a wheelchair bound millionaire, complete with a silly Irish accident, Jessica Walter as his wife, daughter of the man in the pool, Carmen Matthews as his widow, Joanna Pflug as a hard-boiled reporter, Helen Kleeb as the housekeeper, sharing her secret (and it isn't a Hidden Valley Ranch dip recipe or papa's secret recipe) and most memorably Nita Talbot as an alcoholic actress with a secret.
In minor roles, there's also TVs future Mel, Vic Tayback, and Lou Grant, Ed Asner, unfortunately not appearing together. I did enjoy the wistful music score, some great southern California mountain road footage, particularly a chase over some very curvy roads, and the irreverent style of humor which guides the film's structure. But if this was meant to be a pilot, it needed a stronger introduction, so it's easy to see why this was red lighted.