Crosscurrent

This gritty Made-for-TV film from 1971 boasts terrific on location photography in San Francisco; a mature, tight script; a well paced, pounding score by the awesome Jerry Goldsmith and good performances, especially by the lovely and likable character portrayed by Carol Lynley, no-nonsense SF police detectives Robert Hooks and Jeremy Slate, the always reliable Simon Oakland and a surprisingly good turn by Robert Wagner. Its a shame that the original title - The Cable-Car Murder - was dropped since the body found on the cable-car at the beginning of the film was the catalyst for setting the plot in motion. One of the better made-for-TV films from the early seventies. Tense and exciting, it deserves to be revisited and preserved on DVD.

Update: the terrific, sparse soundtrack by Mr. Goldsmith has been released and the liner notes say that 'Crosscurrent' was the original title. It was recut and renamed 'The Cable-Car Murder'.