The Movie Murderer

• Director: Boris Sagal
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Mystery
• Movie Type: Detective Film
• Themes: Filmmaking, Cons and Scams
• Release Year: 1970
• Country: US
• Run Time: 99 minutes

Plot

Nostalgia is selling angle of this made-for-TV suspenser. Someone is going around breaking into movie vaults and setting precious tins of rare film ablaze. An insurance investigator and a detective investigate this seemingly pointless crime. As it turns out, the "movie murderer" is an extortionist who was inadvertently filmed while committing a crime, thus he's anxiously burning every possible shred of evidence. It happens that the criminal is also an old-movie buff, which permits Universal Studios, producers of The Movie Murderer, to show off film clips from its MCA backlog--including snippets of W.C. Fields from International House, Gary Cooper from The Virginian, and Warner Oland from The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Elisha Cook, Jr.; Norma Crane; Severn Darden; Ned Glass - Hotel clerk; Warren Oates; Tom Selleck; Nita Talbot; Robert Webber; Arthur Kennedy

Credit

Henry Bumstead - Art Director, Boris Sagal - Director, Frank Morriss - Editor, Stanley Wilson - Composer (Music Score), Lionel Lindon - Cinematographer, Jack Laird - Producer, Bernard Taper - Screen Story, Stanford Whitmore - Screenwriter