House on Greenapple Road (TV 1970)

A detective investigates the disappearance of the promiscuous wife of a timid salesman, and finds that everything is not quite as it appears.

Director:

Robert Day

Writers:

Harold R. Daniels (novel), George Eckstein (teleplay)

Stars:

Christopher George, Janet Leigh, Julie Harris

Cast

Credited cast:
Christopher George	...	Lieutenant Dan August
Janet Leigh	...	Marian Ord
Julie Harris	...	Leona Miller
Tim O'Connor	...	George Ord
Walter Pidgeon	...	Mayor Jack Parker
Barry Sullivan	...	Chief Frank Untermyer
Keenan Wynn	...	Sergeant Charles Wilentz
Peter Mark Richman	...	Sal Gilman (as Mark Richman)
William Windom	...	Paul Durstine
Burr DeBenning	...	Bill Foley
Lynda Day George	...	Lillian Crane (as Lynda Day)
Joanne Linville	...	Connie Durstine
Edward Asner	...	Sheriff Muntz
Eve Plumb	...	Margaret Ord
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lawrence Dane	...	(as Laurence Dane)

Storyline

Told in flashbacks, L.A. detective Lieutenant Dan August investigates the disappearance of housewife, Marian Ord whose extramarital activities possibly provide clues to her absence. The police believe she has been murdered by her distraught husband George but they can't come up with a corpse and thereby hangs the mystery.

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Plot Keywords:

morley cigarettes | based on novel

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 1970 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quinn Martin Productions (QM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally made for cinemas, it was cut by nearly 30 minutes and went straight to ABC-TV on January 11, 1970 where it was a big ratings grabber.

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Goofs

The bloodstains shown on the refrigerator at the beginning of the movie are in a completely different location from where they appear when it is later shown whose blood it was and how it got there. In the opening sequence, the stains are on the front of the refrigerator, whereas when they are shown being put on, the streaks go above the top of the door.

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Quotes

Chief Frank Untermyer: [as August starts to leave the room] Where are you going?
Lieutenant Dan August: I'm a detective. I'm going out to detect.
[Leaves]
Sergeant Charles Wilentz: A detective. That's what I want to be when I grow up.
Chief Frank Untermyer: There's no money in it.

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Connections

Spin-off Dan August (1970)

User Reviews

Terrific set-up, routine mystery

TV-movies, especially those from the late-'60s and early-'70s, are an under-appreciated breed (probably the least-respected in the film industry). Leonard Maltin has all but dropped them from his annual review books and you never hear about anybody trying to preserve Barbara Eden in "Let's Switch!" or Kim Novak in "The Third Girl From The Left". Every once in awhile, a TV-movie gets mentioned with respect (such as "Brian's Song", "Sunshine", or "Queen of the Stardust Ballroom"). I've always thought "The House On Greenapple Road" could've been a theatrical film, it is produced with such style and has a great, scary set-up: a young girl gets dropped off from school, runs up the driveway to her house, opens the door and finds the entire place ransacked, with blood spattering the walls. This sequence terrified me as a little kid (I was amused to discover years later that the young actress was "Brady Bunch"'s Eve Plumb!). Onto the mystery, which surrounds a missing lady (Janet Leigh) and the investigator on the case (Christopher George playing Dan August). The character of August later got his own series (starring Burt Reynolds), but this flick is more than just a pilot, it has twists and turns and a sophisticated script. The ending doesn't cop-out, although I must say it followed a rather routine development. Overall, a neat little yarn, and Janet Leigh is just gorgeous.