Roundabout

James Garner was really up against it in this Rockford Files Story. He gets hired by a hard nosed insurance executive to find the beneficiary of a &10,000.00 policy. I remember when I was the beneficiary of life insurance I didn't go through half the trouble Rockford did to give Jesse Welles her money. Then again the insurance companies didn't have to look for me.

He finds Welles who is performing in Las Vegas at one of the lesser nightspots. But some syndicate people who own the place and her resent his presence. It doesn't take Garner too long to figure out that her contract and the money she's supposed to be making are part of a syndicate money laundering scheme. Welles is so colossally dumb that she accepts a $200.00 living allowance a week while her manager Ron Rifkin who is all mobbed up controls the rest. That $10,000.00 all of a sudden showing up in her account is apparently bringing too much unwanted attention.

There are two fine performances here from guest stars. Mills Watson plays the insurance executive who hires Rockford and he's a tough customer to deal with. The second is Virginia Gregg as Welles's aunt who wheedles $100.00 out of Rockford for information. She's a tougher customer than Watson and Watson won't pay that tip money unless he has a signed receipt from Rockford.

The life of a PI ain't easy and Rockford's life is anything but.