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Sunday, September 12, 2010

A Lovely Way To Die (1968)

When an arrogant, womanizing cop (Kirk Douglas) quits the police force, an attorney (Eli Wallach) hires him to act as a bodyguard to his client, a wealthy widow (Sylva Koscina) who along with her lover stands accused of murdering her husband. It's a forgettable routine 60s "Is she or is she not guilty?" thriller. The role of the ex-cop plays to the worst of Douglas's excesses as an actor and he's particularly charmless (though that was never his appeal) here. The motivation behind the murder is farfetched and clumsily cobbled together. It plays like an extended episode of a television cop show like STARSKY AND HUTCH or MAGNUM P.I. with an annoying pop jazz score by Kenyon Hopkins (BABY DOLL). The supporting cast is filled with recognizable faces like Doris Roberts, Sharon Farrell, Philip Bosco, Ruth White, Marianne McAndrew, Ralph Waite, John P. Ryan, Richard Castellano, Conrad Bain and in her film debut, Ali MacGraw.

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