The Golden Gate Murders

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.

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.

I truly love this movie! I remember clearly watching it on TV in 1979 when it came out.....I was completely absorbed in it and it seemed completely believable! It is really a love story of two kind people who find joy in each other's company, even though they are an improbable pair, a nun and a gruff "cop." David Janssen and Susannah York are very real, and their story is almost a fairy tale in its simplicity. Its charm is in the dialogue. I can watch this movie repeatedly. It led me to research David Janssen. I was sorry to read that he died in 1980. The cat named "Dirty Harry" probably related to David's friendship with Clint Eastwood. Highly recommended movie for romantics.

Both Susannah York and David Jansen are underrated screet performers. York had a bit more success on the big screen, while Jansen did better on TV with the Fugitive. This tight little mystery comes out of nowhere and takes you for a decent ride through the streets of San Francisco. And the secondary plot of the romance between Jansen and York works very well; although there were a 100 ways it could have gone wrong. The dress scenes are particularly good. A good, old-fashioned cop movie. Check it out.

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.