Rehearsal for Murder (1982) (TV)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

David Greene

Writers:

Richard Levinson (written by) and
William Link (written by)

Release Date:

26 May 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A year after his fiancée's death, a playwright schedules a rehearsal for his new play, which proves to be a trap for her killer.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Play Writing

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Preston	...	Alex Dennison
Lynn Redgrave	...	Monica Welles
Patrick Macnee	...	David Mathews
Lawrence Pressman	...	Lloyd Andrews
William Russ	...	Frank Heller
Madolyn Smith Osborne	...	Karen Daniels (as Madolyn Smith)
Jeff Goldblum	...	Leo Gibbs
William Daniels	...	Walter Lamb
John Finnegan	...	Damon
Nicholas Mele	...	The First Officer
Vahan Moosekian	...	The Moving Man
Charles Robinson	...	The Second Officer (as Charlie Robinson)
Wallace Rooney	...	Ernie
Buck Young	...	Lieutenant McElroy

Also Known As:

Cold Reading (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Not Rated | Iceland:12 | Australia:PG

Company:

CBS Entertainment Production

Quotes:

Lloyd: What are you going for? What's the point of the scene?
Alex: Well, the point, Lloyd, is that in a mystery, everyone must have a motive.

You Will Not Guess the Murderer!!

As soon as I saw "Written by Richard Levinson and William Link - I knew this was going to be a top mystery thriller. Together Levinson and Link created "Columbo", one of televisions most endearing detectives. You think it is all going along smoothly - "I know exactly what is going to happen" - then you are turned on your head, although everything you have seen makes perfect sense. I agree with a previous reviewer - Robert Preston spent almost his entire career as a character actor, until he became a national treasure with "The Music Man". He was now a huge star and alternated between stage and screen. He was working with some great talent in this film, which won an Edgar for Levinson and Link in 1983 as Best Television Feature or Miniseries.

The film begins in a deserted thearte, a year after the supposed suicide of Monica Welles (Lyn Redgrave), an aspiring actress and fiancée of Alex Dennison (Robert Preston). Of course, he is convinced that it was murder and has summoned all the actors together (who were the last people to see Monica alive). They think they are there to read for Alex's new play but he thinks one of them is the murderer and is determined to expose them by an ingenious way.

Who was it??? - was it David Matthews (Patrick MacNee) Monica's leading man, whose advances she laughs off, Walter Lamb (William Daniells) who stands to lose $600,000 of his own money if the play is a flop and has insured Monica - he will get his money back if she dies during the run. Then there is Karen Daniels (Madolyn Smith) a young understudy, who would do anything to play the lead. Jeff Goldblum plays her lover but his is the least interesting character in the movie. As they go through their parts (Alex has written a play about the murder of a young stage actress making her Broadway debut) everyone seems to have a definite motive for murder.

By the end of the film everything has been turned upside-down and You Will Never Guess the Murderer!!!!

Highly, Highly Recommended.