P.J. (aka New Face In Hell) (1968)

A down and out New York City private eye (George Peppard) takes a job as a bodyguard to the mistress (Gayle Hunnicutt) of a sadistic millionaire (Raymond Burr). She has been receiving death threats as well as an attempt on her life. The millionaire's greedy relatives would like nothing better than to have her eliminated and out of the millionaire's will. Directed by John Guillermin (THE BLUE MAX), this contemporary film noir (or is it neo-noir?) is quite well done with Peppard doing nicely as a tough gumshoe who's not especially bright (we're always just a step ahead of him) but has an ethical core that makes him see the case to the end, even after he's relieved of his duties. In his own way, he's the only good apple in a rotten barrel. The film moves fast, it's well acted (Hunnicutt was made for noir) and it looks good thanks to Oscar winning cinematographer Loyal Griggs (SHANE) who makes the Universal backlot look a lot better than it usually does although there was some location shooting in New York City and Santa Catalina subs for the Caribbean. Unfortunately, there's an unpleasant homophobic undercurrent in the movie that culminates in a ridiculous scene in a gay bar where some ominous bejeweled homosexuals with long fingernails all attack Peppard en masse that would be highly offensive if it weren't so silly. The film was renamed NEW FACE IN HELL for its British release. With Coleen Gray, Susan Saint James, Brock Peters, Wilfrid Hyde White, Jason Evers, Severn Darden, Barbara Dana and John Qualen.