Final Notice (1989) (TV)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Steven Hilliard Stern

Writers (WGA):

Jonathan Valin (story)
John Gay (teleplay)

Release Date:

29 November 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Gil Gerard	...	Harry Stoner
Melody Anderson	...	Kate Davis
Jackie Burroughs
Kevin Hicks
Louise Fletcher	...	Mrs. Lord
David Ogden Stiers
Steve Landesberg	...	Lt. Al Frank
Howard Jerome	...	George Sachs
Malcolm Stewart	...	George Devries
Alan C. Peterson	...	Norris Cotts (as Alar Aedma)
Ted Dykstra	...	Gerald Arthur
Sam Malkin	...	Lou Aamons
Elizabeth Lennie	...	Jeanne Kilgor (as Libbie Lennie)
Larry Reynolds	...	Pop
Helen Hughes	...	Mrs. Gibson

Runtime:

Netherlands:94 min | USA:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Wilshire Court Productions

Only amusing if you're familiar with Cincinnati

Local author Jonathan Valin, who lives over in the Clifton section of Cincinnati, from 1980 to 1995 wrote eleven novels featuring Harry Stoner, private investigator in Cincinnati, Ohio. He won the Shamus Award for best mystery novel of 1989. His second novel, published in 1980, was FINAL NOTICE, and it was made into this movie in 1989.

The novel made rich use of local color, with particular attention to Eden Park where significant elements of the story took place. Lots of movies, before and after this one, have been filmed partially or totally in Cincinnati. This movie was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Now, Toronto is a beautiful place but it isn't Cincinnati. Had they changed Harry Stoner to a Toronto detective, instead of attempting to pass off Toronto as being Cincinnati, then anyone who did have a familiarity with this city wouldn't have been eye-stumbling and the movie wouldn't have been nearly as amusing to partially offset the fact that it was a pretty lame B-movie.

In the first scene to supposedly take place in Eden Park, which has no hedges, we're greeted with ubiquitous giant hedges so large I flashed on the topiary scene in THE SHINING.

The thing which got to me, though, was the Romulus and Remus statue. In Eden Park it's a little thing, not even chest high, dedicated to Cincinnati by a sister city in Italy, and unfortunately now marred by vandals. In Toronto, apparently, they too have a Romulus and Remus statue in one of their parks, but seeing it for the first time in this movie brought back memories of Fay Wray's character first laying eyes on King Kong. At that point I cracked up and had to stop the videotape while I cleaned coffee spew off the television screen.