Der Golden Gate Mörder

David Janssen overplays the grouchy bit, but it's still a wonderful and fitting sign off for one of TV's most memorable actors. (He died shortly after this film played. He was 48!)

He and the delightful Susannah York have great chemistry and this film is really all about them. Still perfectly watchable, even today.

David Janssen growls his way through this movie, playing an initially hard-assed cop who is ordered to investigate what seems like the obvious suicide of an internationally renowned priest. Susannah York plays a nun friend of the priest from South Africa who doesn't believe he'd commit suicide. Strangely, she always seems to appears in soft focus. The relationship between the two gradually becomes smoother and gentler, as he begins to believe that it may have been murder after all, and not suicide. There are some brief shots of Alcatraz, the Japanese Tea Garden, North Beach, Coit Tower and the Bridge itself appears briefly but the majority of the movie is set indoors. It's definitely a TV Movie story, but the decent performances make up for the lack of impetus in the investigation. The final scenes bring the action up to speed as the killer is confronted at night on a typically foggy Golden Gate Bridge. Janssen's fellow detective has to get past his fear of heights in order to save Susannah York from a drop of 200 feet or so. At the conclusion, the two protagonists say their farewells, and it's nice to see the affection they have for each other grow. Janssen appears to have mellowed in the last few days by getting to know someone decent, and not the usual cops and criminals he usually associates with. A surprisingly schmulzy ending aboard the plane could have been left out. Janssen's cat is named Dirty Harry after one of the city's better known hard-assed cops.

Good made-for-TV thriller involving the murder of a visiting priest Regis Cordic on the Golden Gate Bridge that everyone but his nurse Susannah York believes is a suicide. Nun York's resolve causes the San Francisco police to assign a defiant David Janssen to investigate. Janssen and York display wonderful chemistry working together to unravel the crime which eventually allows their characters to soften and let their hair down. There's a fair amount of overacting by Janssen and his boss Tim O'Conner but York is perfect in her role. The lack of run time doesn't allow any of the supporting cast to have their characters get developed. It's a good story though and there's great suspense as the movie builds to the climax. However, the saccharine ending was over the top and spoiled the realism of the rest of the movie. Nevertheless, it's still recommended especially for fans of Janssen and York.

A mysterious creeper in a long robe and mask is tossing folks off the Golden Gate bridge. Det. Paul Silver (David Janssen) gets the case after a visiting priest from South Africa is the latest victim. Everyone wants to dismiss it as suicide, but Silver isn't so sure and is even more convinced by Sister Benecia (Susannah York), a nun who was traveling with the priest. She refuses to return home and instead stays with Silver as the two try to figure out if someone really is chucking folks into the Bay. This TV movie is quite a lot better than it seems to have any right to be. Director Walter Grauman is a longtime television vet and he gets great use out of San Francisco. Even better, there is a real rapport between the two leads and David J. Kinghorn's teleplay is actually quite touching at times when it comes to their budding relationship. Janssen was a TV movie staple at this point after various series (THE FUGITIVE, O'HARA U.S. TREASURY, HARRY O). Sadly, in just the few years since HARRY O ended in 1976, he definitely aged quite a bit. This originally aired in October 1979 and he passed away just four months later.

This was David Janssen's last film, and he makes a very tired impression from the start. Susannah York on the other hand plays a young nun in an interesting condition. She is certain that father Martin couldn't have jumped the bridge by himself or committed suicide, wherefore she refuses to leave San Francisco before the matter has been cleared, by which decision she risks her Catholic future as a nun. David Janssen plays the officer in charge who most reluctantly takes on the case of trying to convince Susannah that it was suicide, but as usual the officer runs into doubts. The story is interesting, you see more of the Golden Gate than almost in any other film and almost only in the dark, as all the Golden Gate murders occur in the dark. The music by Sol Kaplan gives the film a golden frame and enhances the romantic element. It is fairly enjoyable, although in the end the intrigue appears as more constructed for the effect than credible, but it's a long way there, and you will enjoy the journey.