The Crooked Hearts (1972) (TV)

Director:

Jay Sandrich

Writers:

A.J. Russell (writer)
Colin Watson (book)

Release Date:

8 November 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Con-artist stalks members of club of rich old women.

Plot Keywords:

Con Artist | Murder | Scam | Lonely Hearts | ABC Movie Of The Week

Cast

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Rex Willoughby
Rosalind Russell	...	Laurita Dorsey
Ross Martin	...	Sergeant Daniel Shine
Michael Murphy	...	Frank Adamic
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Lillian Stanton
Kent Smith	...	James Simpson
Dick Van Patten	...	Edward, the desk clerk
Patrick Campbell	...	Taxi driver
Liam Dunn	...	Writer
Penny Marshall	...	Waitress
Kenneth Tobey	...	Fisherman
Bill Zuckert	...	Security guard

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Company:

Lorimar Productions

Trivia:

Rosalind Russell's final performance.

Rosalind's Farewell, and a sad missed opportunity

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I remember seeing this in 1972 on television, little realizing as I watched that the reason I was watching had an ironic side. I always was a fan of Rosalind Russell, and here she was playing a rare television movie role opposite two other figures from the 1930s - 1940s "golden age of movies: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Maureen O'Sullivan. What I did not realize as I watched this brief television film was I was watching the last original production on film of any work by Ms Russell, who would drop all further work projects probably because of worsening health problems (she died in 1976 of breast cancer). Her comic abilities did not fail her here, and were abetted by her male co-star's classy charm.

Maureen O'Sullivan is the owner of a dating service, and Russell comes to sign up for it. We quickly realize that she is typically sharp witted, but we also realize that she is totally unscrupulous - she puts down vast resources and wealth on her application that she does not have. Obviously she is interested in meeting a wealthy man. Soon she gets word that a male member of the dating service, Fairbanks, wants to get to know her. She sees him, and senses charm, wit, charisma, and money...plenty of it. Soon they are a real item, and the two seem to fit well together. But gradually we are let into a second secret: Fairbanks too is a fortune hunter, and he is convinced that Russell is what she lied about - a wealthy woman seeking matrimony.

It becomes a tale of two liars who catch each other. As such it is not a bad television film, though a minor one for Russell (who one wishes had left on a higher note). The cast, which also had Ross Martin as a good natured but suspicious police officer, was a game one, and did not fail to entertain the audience. But the plot required that the two grifters end up trying to cheat each other and discover each other's falseness. Only a third switch in the plot makes the story a trifle more sour, as one of the grifters tries to silence the other one.

It would have been better, perhaps, if the script made them join forces - they fit so well together while dating. The final movie is not a bad one, but it might have been more charming if it had been better thought out.