A Lovely Way to Die (1968)

A cop quits the force after too much disappointment in the system. He becomes a bodyguard of a rich recent widow. She is on trial for her husband's murder. He decides to help her clear her name... and get over her husband.

Director:

David Lowell Rich

Writer:

A.J. Russell

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Sylva Koscina, Eli Wallach

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirk Douglas	...	Jim Schuyler
Sylva Koscina	...	Rena Westabrook
Eli Wallach	...	Tennessee Fredericks
Kenneth Haigh	...	Jonathan Fleming
Martyn Green	...	Finchley
Sharon Farrell	...	Carol
Ruth White	...	Biddy, Cook
Philip Bosco	...	Fuller
Ralph Waite	...	Sean Magruder
Meg Myles	...	Mrs. Magruder
William Roerick	...	Loren Westabrook
Dana Elcar	...	Layton
Dolph Sweet	...	Captain Haver
Dee Victor	...	Mrs. Gordon
Lincoln Kilpatrick	...	Daley

Storyline

A womanizing policeman with a tendency for violent arrests quits the department rather than face an inquiry. He is recruited by a defense lawyer to assist with the murder trial of a young beautiful foreign widow whose older rich husband was killed. The wife and her playboy boyfriend are the defendants and the ex-cop is assigned to check out their alibi including a dubious witness. There is a larger criminal conspiracy underway and the relationship of the suspect and her husband and his murder get swept up in the cover up of the real crime.

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Plot Keywords:

bodyguard | red wine | horse racing | champagne | 

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Taglines:

He uses his badge like a bludgeon...She uses her body like a lure!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 1968 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

A Lovely Way to Go

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ali MacGraw's film debut.

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Goofs

The underlying crime is to embezzle the fortune a rich recluse by a gang including his employees and then stage his murder. This takes place over a lengthy time period with the rich victim dead and stored in a freezer. The gang has guys in the windows with rifles and scopes watching out for what exactly? It takes so long that several people interact with the fenced off estate, discover something is amiss and end up getting killed as well. The final plan is to defrost the victim and burn him up a house fire and one of the gang is worried about whether the body will be found with ice crystals? The missing funds and household goods are going to be suspicious regardless of the cause of death.

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Connections

Referenced in The Projectionist (1970)

User Reviews

Kirk's Smirk Still Works

Fans of Kirk Douglas will love this kitschy detective mystery. Douglas is in his early fifties and his best films (Spartacus in 1960 and Seven Days In May in 1964) are behind him. He still has the chops to be believable as a lothario law and order cop in the style of 'Dirty Harry'. (Although 'Dirty Harry' won't be released for another three years.) The problem is Douglas' character doesn't know if he's Matt Helm (Dean Martin) or Lew Harper (Paul Newman). The result is an unoriginal, contrived and disjointed story with little character development. Douglas swaggers through a myopic and distorted Hollywood version of the "Summer of Love" in a desperate attempt to appear relevant, cool and of the times. Kenyan Hopkins generic musical score of jazz idioms doesn't help matters. The bed hopping, free wheeling playboy with the cool car (1968 Ford Mustang) is just sad and dated up against more realistic and dour character studies like Steve McQueen's character in 'Bullitt' released in the same year. Sylva Koscina is enchanting as the supposed femme fatale and Eli Wallach is semi-ridiculous as a "southern" defense attorney. The "mystery" is tricky enough to keep your attention but just barely.