The Golden Gate Murders (TV 1979)

An elderly, venerable priest, goes over the Golden Gate bridge and everyone except his nurse, Sister Benecia, believes that it was suicide. Sister Benecia finally convices the police ... See full summary »

Director:

Walter Grauman

Writer:

David J. Kinghorn

Stars:

David Janssen, Susannah York, Paul Coufos

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Janssen	...	Det. Sgt. Paul Silver
Susannah York	...	Sister Benecia
Paul Coufos	...	Johnny Butler
Tim O'Connor	...	Capt. Dan Bradley
Lloyd Bochner	...	Dr. Hamill
Kim Hunter	...	Sister Superior
Alan Fudge	...	Sgt. McNally
Kenneth Tigar	...	Father O'Brien
Regis Cordic	...	Father John Thomas (as Regis J. Cordic)
Sandy Ward	...	George Walker
Richard O'Brien	...	Bridge Foreman
Richard Bull	...	Deputy Coroner
Eric Server	...	Stacy
Lee Paul	...	Willie Petersen
Jon Lormer	...	Archbishop

Storyline

An elderly, venerable priest, goes over the Golden Gate bridge and everyone except his nurse, Sister Benecia, believes that it was suicide. Sister Benecia finally convices the police department to assign a dectective, the cynical, irascible Paul Silver, to investigate. The "Mad Nun" and the "Mad Cop" become a formidable investigative team -- and much, much more.

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Plot Keywords:

nun | priest | golden gate bridge | murder | bishop | 

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Specter on the Bridge

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Surprisingly watchable

David Janssen growls his way through this movie, playing an initially hard-assed cop who is ordered to investigate what seems like the obvious suicide of an internationally renowned priest. Susannah York plays a nun friend of the priest from South Africa who doesn't believe he'd commit suicide. Strangely, she always seems to appears in soft focus. The relationship between the two gradually becomes smoother and gentler, as he begins to believe that it may have been murder after all, and not suicide. There are some brief shots of Alcatraz, the Japanese Tea Garden, North Beach, Coit Tower and the Bridge itself appears briefly but the majority of the movie is set indoors. It's definitely a TV Movie story, but the decent performances make up for the lack of impetus in the investigation. The final scenes bring the action up to speed as the killer is confronted at night on a typically foggy Golden Gate Bridge. Janssen's fellow detective has to get past his fear of heights in order to save Susannah York from a drop of 200 feet or so. At the conclusion, the two protagonists say their farewells, and it's nice to see the affection they have for each other grow. Janssen appears to have mellowed in the last few days by getting to know someone decent, and not the usual cops and criminals he usually associates with. A surprisingly schmulzy ending aboard the plane could have been left out. Janssen's cat is named Dirty Harry after one of the city's better known hard-assed cops.