UnowPriceless
hyped garbage
LouHomey
From my favorite movies..
Numerootno
A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
winner55
Back in the 1970s, some young directors really believed it was possible to make movies for television, rather than "TV movies" (one-episode 90 minute TV shows or the longer, even less cinematic soap opera 'miniseries'). The best known of these efforts was Spielberg's "Duel," but there were good films appearing now and again all the way up 'till about 1983, which saw the "Day After" phenomenon, following which Republicans put such pressure on TV producers, they never attempted anything risky on broadcast TV again.This movie may very well be Peter Hyam's best. It certainly boasts the best later performance by Richard Boone as a washed-out detective and a knock-down performance by Michael Dunne as his side-kick. The camera-work, the pacing, the dialog, are all low-key, but need to be - this is an homage to the noir films of the forties, not a "Chinatown" attempt to resurrect them. Consequently there's a great deal of gentle humor here, but it never gets campy, and doesn't get in the way of a tight little mystery that is doomed to end badly for everyone - the detectives succeed in the end only because they live to be able to tell the tale (and are smart enough to know not to waste their breath telling it). There's a general feeling of 'life happens" pervading the film - as was also the case for the noir films toward the end of that genre as it faded after WWII. Despite the low-key approach, the film is highly memorable for its atmosphere and characterizations. I haven't seen it for years and I still think of seeing it with pleasure. Probably a lost film (although I suppose you can find anything on the internet), this could be well worth the research to rediscover.
theowinthrop
We watch people boarding a bus, circa 1944/45/46. A man is seated in the back quietly, when a soldier sits down next to him. For what must represent at least an hour or two of traveling the soldier is just jabbering away, while the man next to him is...well trapped, hoping this clown will just move away, leave the bus, or shut up. Finally they are the last two on the bus when they reach a stop. The soldier says it's his stop, picks up his duffel bag, says good bye to the man, pulls out a gun with a silencer, and shoots him. He then pulls a large package out of the dead man's pocket, puts it into his duffel bag, and leaves the bus. And our movie of the week begins.GOODNIGHT, MY LOVE was a valentine to the film noir of the 1940s and 1950s. Barbara Bain is the woman who goes to the private eye offices of Richard Boone. She is looking for her brother, who is missing. Soon it turns out this missing man is the "soldier" in the opening of the film. But the identity of the dead man is learned too - it is a courier carrying papers concerning the nightclub run by Vicor Buono. Boone's job is to find the missing man, but also to find out why the courier was hit. And there some people who appear not to want Boone to find any of this out. But from the start the film is goofy. Boone's partner - one hesitates to call him his "Miles Archer" - is diminutive, but great actor Michael Dunn. Their firm is not doing so hot, which may explain Bain's hiring them. But soon Dunn's height shows it's usefulness. Somebody knocks at the firm's door, and Dunn goes to answer - and six bullets are pumped through the door's center (which would have killed a regular sized man answering, but happens to pass over a surprised Dunn's head). Unlike Bogart in MALTESE FALCON, Bain is no Mary Astor. In fact she remains consistently business-like regarding why she hired Boone (much to his dismay). The obvious villain, of course, is Victor Buono as "Julius Limeway", a definite part in homage to the great Sidney Greenstreet. Buono is always seen at his nightclub, usually dining. He wears white tuxedos all the time. Dunn, getting fed up with Buono's sinister airs, lectures him before leaving that if he is going to wear white, he should not eat dishes with tomato sauce. Dunn and Boone leave the scene to Buono, last seen dipping his napkin into a water glass and rubbing his suit's lapel very heavily.It was a different and welcome television movie, and one hopes it will show up again some time.
IRONCLADJUDGE
I saw this movie when it first aired back in 1972 on ABC movie of the week and I'm trying to get a copy of it as I write this. Just about everyone in the cast is dead except for Barbara Bain. I was hoping it was going to get picked up as a show but like so many good pilots from that time period it fell by the waste side. If you haven't seen it, try to check it out. It's a well above average detective TV movie With a great cast. Back in the 70's There was a lot of movies being made about that time period. Even Robert Mitchum Played a Philip Marlow in 1974 in Farewell My Lovely. Tony Curtis did Lepkie and so on. I think when Re-runs of the untouchables surfaced it started a wave on that subject matter. To bad there not making more films like that now.
Scott Burns
Made during the `Glory Days' of the ABC Movie of the Week, when they were putting out some real quality TV-Movies (The Night Stalker; Dr. Cook's Garden; A Brand New Life; Congratulations, It's a Boy; Five Desperate Women), this one ranks with the best of them.Chandler-esque detective yarn, great atmosphere, clever dialogue, and perfectly cast (particularly Michael Dunn, probably the greatest Little Person actor in Hollywood history). Catch it if you can. A true gem.
