The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969)

After a mobster (Steve Peck) is killed in his nightclub, the owner (Adam West, who died this week) has a contract put out on him by a crime syndicate unless he can find out who was behind the killing. His only lead is the mobster's secretary (Nancy Kwan), who may or may not have been the mobster's mistress. Directed by Francis D. Lyon (CULT OF THE COBRA), this was an attempt to turn West (fresh off his BATMAN gig) into a movie leading man. It didn't work and not just because the movie tanked at the box office. West is one of those actors who work best on TV and simply didn't have what it takes to cross over to movie stardom. The film itself seems like an extended episode of some TV series. It's padded out with two full musical sequences of Buddy Greco (as a lounge piano player) singing and a full length striptease number performed by Diane Van Valin. With its communist paranoia, the film seems like one of those "red scare" movies from the 1950s except this time, it's the Chinese, not the Russians who are trying to topple capitalism. The "with it" score by Joe Greene screams out 1960s! With Nehemiah Persoff, Robert Alda, David Brian, Patricia Smith (who's actually very good) and Mark Roberts.