Murder in a Small Town (1999) (TV)

Director:

Joyce Chopra

Writers (WGA):

Gilbert Pearlman (written by) &
Gene Wilder (written by)

Release Date:

10 January 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Mystery

Plot:

A widowed theatre director moves to a small Connecticut town where he gets involved in solving the murder of a millionaire, who was the most despised man in town.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Detective | Lingerie Slip | Flight Attendant | Theatrical Director

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Gene Wilder	...	Cash Carter
Mike Starr	...	Tony
Terry O'Quinn	...	Sidney Lassiter
Cherry Jones	...	Mimi
Frances Conroy	...	Martha Lassiter
Deirdre O'Connell	...	Kate Faxton
Ebon Moss-Bachrach	...	Billy
Elisabeth Rosen	...	Sophie Carter
Terri Hawkes	...	Esther
David Fox	...	Walter Godlin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Allodi	...	Man in Tuxedo
Ben Bass	...	Michael
Justine Campbell	...	Sexy Woman
Fulvio Cecere	...	Richard
Matthew Edison	...	Albert Lassiter
Sten Eirik	...	Thin Man / Kovacs
Craig Eldridge	...	Detective Eddy
Christian Hebert	...	Teddy, the Gardener
Kate Hennig	...	Mary, the Maid
Sam Malkin	...	Medical Examiner
Renee Murphy	...	Vickie
Roman Podhora	...	Detective Scalise
Carlo Rota	...	Charles

Directed by
Joyce Chopra

Writing credits (WGA)
Gilbert Pearlman		(written by) &
Gene Wilder		(written by)

Produced by
Fred Berner	....	producer
David Craig	....	supervising producer
Craig McNeil	....	producer
Steven Paul	....	producer
Antony Root	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Morris

Cinematography by
Bruce Surtees

Film Editing by
Peter C. Frank

Casting by
Todd M. Thaler		(as Todd Thaler)
Clare Walker

Production Design by
Harold Thrasher

Art Direction by
Mario Mercuri

Set Decoration by
Jerri Thrasher

Costume Design by
Martha Mann

Makeup Department
Katarina Chovanec	....	key hair stylist
Ava Stone	....	key makeup artist
Frederick London	....	assistant hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Julie Antonelli	....	post-production supervisor
Nowell Grossman	....	production supervisor
Mary Pantelidis	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jonnie Katz	....	third assistant director
Lorraine M. Kearsey	....	trainee assistant director
Randi Richmond	....	first assistant director
Samantha Snidal	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Ken Innes	....	lead dresser
Ron Lightfoot	....	construction manager
Geoff Murrin	....	assistant property master
Jim Murrin	....	property master
Michael Sackler-Berner	....	property assistant
Peter Waffle	....	lead dresser

Sound Department
Rick Ash	....	sound re-recording mixer
Benjamin Beardwood	....	dialogue editor (as Ben Beardwood)
Christopher Briles	....	sound effects editor
Tim Chilton	....	foley artist
Don Digirolamo	....	sound re-recording mixer
Scott Ganary	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dennis Gray	....	dialogue editor
Stephen Grubbs	....	supervising sound editor
Gary Krause	....	sound effects editor
Paul Longstaffe	....	dialogue editor
Ao Loo	....	production sound mixer
Stuart Martin	....	assistant sound editor
Alyson Dee Moore	....	foley artist (as Alyson Moore)
Brian Thomas Nist	....	sound effects editor
Ralph Osborn	....	dialogue editor
Nancy Parker	....	foley artist
Brian Ruberg	....	foley mixer
Christopher Ryan	....	assistant sound editor
Warren Smith	....	dialogue editor
Buz Watson	....	boom operator
Paul J. Zydel	....	adr mixer (as Paul Zydel)

Special Effects by
Michael Innanen	....	special effects foreman
John LaForet	....	special effects coordinator
Steve Stanford	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
O.T. Hight	....	visual effects artist

Stunts
Shelley Cook	....	stunt double
Rick Forsayeth	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Rocky Brown	....	crane grip
Thomas Care	....	dolly grip (as Tom Care)
John Colavecchia	....	first assistant camera (as Johnny Colavecchia)
Cylvan Desrouleaux	....	second assistant camera
Michael Fylyshtan	....	Steadicam operator
Tony Guerin	....	camera operator
Dianne L. Haggarty	....	best boy grip (as Dianne Haggarty)
Ben Mark Holzberg	....	still photographer
John Medland	....	still photographer
David Pamplin	....	key grip
Chris Stagg	....	best boy grip
Harry Stroud	....	gaffer
Brad Vos	....	first assistant camera: dailies
Christopher Watson	....	best boy electric (as Chris Watson)

Casting Department
Zameret Kleiman	....	extras casting
Joanna Polley	....	extras casting
Jonathan Strauss	....	casting associate (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sharon Purdy	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Rick Downey	....	negative cutter
Terry Haggar	....	negative timer
Irene Kassow	....	assistant editor
Marc Laub	....	assistant editor
Joe Parisella	....	color timer

Music Department
Thomas Bartke	....	assistant music editor
Mike Flicker	....	music editor
Mike Flicker	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Grant Wilkins	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Drazen Baric	....	assistant location manager
Heather Blurton	....	set supervisor
Teryn Douglas	....	production assistant
Ann Fitzgerald	....	production accountant
Cheryl Francis	....	assistant: Mr. Berner
Mark Logan	....	location manager
Oliver Olsen	....	script supervisor
Mary Robbie	....	assistant accountant
Carole Rosenberg	....	assistant production coordinator
Clare Saxby	....	script editor
Fran Solomon	....	production coordinator
Nick Veziris	....	gun wrangler
James Wiser	....	assistant: Mr. McNeil
Steven Zander	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• A&E Television Networks
• Crystal Sky Worldwide (as Crystal Sky Communications) (in association with)
• Fred Berner Films (in association with)
• Granada Media (as A Granada Entertainment Production)

Distributors

• A&E Television Networks
• Manga Films (Spain)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

Brazil:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG

Company:

A&E Television Networks

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Showbiz Today: Episode dated 8 January 1999" (1999)

Soundtrack:

You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me

Average film for the undemanding mystery daytime TV fan

Having lost his wife in a violent crime, theatre director Larry "Cash" Carter moves to a small town in Connecticut to get away from the stresses of bigger city life. Looking for funding for his latest play, Cash comes into contact with local millionaire Sidney Lassiter who immediately rubs him up the wrong way by being anti-Semitic and demanding. And so Cash finds himself just one of many people that have a reason to dislike Lassiter. So later that night when Cash's friend Lt Tony Rossini tells him that he is investigating Lassiter's murder, Cash helps out and gets involved in the case.

Having seen "The Lady in Question" and found it bland and undemanding fare, I still decided to give the other film in the stalled series a try. Like the second film this is very undemanding fare that will fit nicely with audiences that enjoy the basic mystery movies on Hallmark and the like (Mystery Woman, Jane Doe etc). The plot is interesting without ever getting going although the development of the case is reasonably engaging. Of course this means it lacks any depth which is rarely a problem when a film is slick and stylish, sadly this one tends to move sluggishly as if it has nowhere to go and nothing to do – an approach that rather flies in the face of face of the fact that a murder has occurred! The director does well if this was her aim but otherwise she plays it far too slowly and with a sense of urgency that was needed underneath.

The cast match this meandering approach and with a bit more help could have pulled it off. As it is they are just reasonably good in an average film. Wilder is a bit more interesting here than in the second film (where it did feel like he was just moments away from falling asleep at times). Here he is actually pretty good fun despite the material. Starr's character doesn't make a great deal of sense but he is a fun character. The two men have a bit of chemistry but it is difficult to believe they know one another that well because they don't merge that well – I assume this is part of the reason that the series didn't catch on. The support cast features turns from Lost's O'Quinn and Six Feet Under's Conroy and others like Edison and Rosen. None of them have much to do though and generally their characters are just quite thin.

Overall this is a mediocre or average film that might just be good enough to distract viewers who aren't looking for much more than that. The cast match the amiable and ambling mood which makes for some nice touches but generally just slows the film down further.