The Outsider (1967) (TV)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Michael Ritchie

Writer:

Roy Huggins (writer)

Release Date:

21 November 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Pilot for the detective drama series has Darren McGavin playing David Ross, a hard-nosed, private eye/ex-con...

Plot Keywords:

Brassiere | Private Detective | Strangulation | Sergeant | Dead Woman On Bed

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Darren McGavin	...	David Ross
Sean Garrison	...	Collin Kenniston III
Shirley Knight	...	Peggy Leydon
Nancy Malone	...	Honora Dundas
Edmond O'Brien	...	Marvin Bishop
Ann Sothern	...	Mrs. Kozzek
Joseph Wiseman	...	Ernest Grimes
Ossie Davis	...	Lt. Wagner
Audrey Totter	...	Mrs. Bishop
Mario Alcalde	...	Sgt. Delgado
Anna Hagan	...	Carol Dorfman
Madame Spivy	...	Della
Kent McCord	...	Officer Dutton

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Universal TV

Movie Connections:

Followed by Anatomy of a Crime (1969) (TV)

Roy Huggins tried to reinvent the private eye show with this grittier first draft of "The Rockford Files"

The legendary Roy Huggins created "Cheyenne", "Maverick", "Colt 45", "77 Sunset Strip", "The Fugitive", "Run For Your Life", and "The Rockford Files". This pilot movie was Roy Huggins' attempt to reinvent the private eye show (with a hint of "The Fugitive").

Los Angeles private detective David Ross was a man on the edge. He was an ex-con who had been unjustly convicted of a crime. Ross wasn't a high school graduate. He drove a beat up old car. He had no partners or secretary. His office was the opposite of plush. He handled divorce cases. He could barely make a living. His "friend on the force" treated him like scum. David Ross wasn't even his real name. At the end of this terrific pilot movie, the police solve the case rather than Ross.

This was a brilliant conception for a private eye show. Huggins might have tried reversing still more traditional attributes of the private eye. Maybe David Ross wasn't attractive to women and could never get a date. Maybe he didn't drink. And maybe he was unfailingly polite and somewhat timid-a soft-boiled detective.

But "The Outsider" had a real shot at greatness just the way it was. Roy Huggins offered the role of David Ross to Jack Lord, who would have been superb, but Lord chose "Hawaii 5-0" instead.

Other actors who might have been interesting as David Ross are Jack Palance, Charles Aidman, Hershel Bernardi, Herb Edelman, Bruce Dern, Clint Walker, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Peter Falk, Telly Savalas, Stuart Whitman, Roy Thinnes, George Maharis, Vince Edwards or Bradford Dillman.

Darren McGavin had already brilliantly played private eye Mike Hammer, so he wasn't the freshest casting. But McGavin was one of the great TV actors, and he made a good David Ross. Director Michael Ritchie ("The Candidate", "Downhill Racer") did a stylish job with the pilot. The supporting cast was also first rate and included Edmond O'Brien, Shirley Knight, Ann Southern, and Ossie Davis.

This fine pilot movie lead to a very good series, but "Hawaii 5-0" killed "The Outsider" in the ratings.