Dead Before Dawn

This movie pretty much follows the sequence of events leading up to the arrest and conviction of Robert Edelman for hiring someone to murder his wife.

However there are some inaccuracies. The actor playing Edelman looked nothing like him, although the character of the man was in line with the way he was said to be - high strung, aggressive, easily angered and disrespectful toward others.

The background events leading up to the divorce are not mentioned in the movie. The couple had agreed to not have children when they married because they were of different religious beliefs. However, after a decade the wife converted to Edelman's religion, and then they had two children. But after three years, she returned to her parents Baptist faith, and this infuriated Edelman.

But much of the movie was accurate, especially the parts with the private investigator hired by Edelman. Young even looked a lot like the actor playing him.

I think this role gave us an insight to Jameson's acting ability. He was a calculating, deadly bad man, who wanted his wife disposed of. He was callous and uncaring....... I loved it! He has the ability to play most roles, but I did prefer him in Simon & Simon, and miss seeing him on TV in that role. This wife's role was also very well acted by Cheryl Ladd. She was terrified of her husband, and look so on screen. But Jameson drew me to this movie. I watch all his films and would like to see more this year, if he makes any, but we shall see. I enjoy watching all his TV and Film appearances and miss seeing him on our small and big screen. COME BACK, PLEASE!

The story took off straight from the beginning. No time wasted in character building. The story telling was exceptional and gave enough screen time for emotional buildup, especially the struggle the family goes through in the light of the shocking discovery. On the whole a well-made movie.

I cannot believe that no one caught that this is the exact same plot, I mean exact. The ending , the way they caught the husband, The exact same plot. And oddly, the same actor played in both feature films.

His name is GW Bailey. He was in both films.

I just saw Downpayment for Murder, with Connie Seleca and Ben Gazzara and I said to myself "wait a minute", this is the same plot as Dead Before Dawn. And sure enough it was.

Oh they changed the employment status of the husband but it was SAME PLOT.

Unbelievable.

I did watch the whole movie, but it was far from gripping. Mostly, I was incredulous how stupid either the main character Linda was or how stupid the story was presented. It really did strain credulity.