Meurtre ou suicide...

Robert Preston plays a Broadway playwright who is just about getting over the death of Lynn Redgrave almost a year earlier. She was an actress involved with Preston who wrote a play for her in which she opened to mixed reviews. That night she went off her building roof and her death was ruled a suicide. Preston's never believed it though.

So he's gathered several friends and acquaintances though which include Lawrence Pressman, David Greene, Jeff Goldblum, Madolyn Smith, and William Daniels to read scenes from a new play he's written. Seems as though Preston has the flotsam and jetsam of a plot of a murder mystery that everyone discovers rather quickly is the plot of the murder of Redgrave the year before. Her death was ruled a suicide, but Preston never believed it.

He's borrowed from no less than the greatest playwright of all Master William Shakespeare who had Hamlet use that device to confirm his suspicions about Uncle Claudius. Preston's suspicions are confirmed, but the murderer is the last one you'd suspect.

This is a pretty good cast of players and they're quite up to the dialog that a clever script provides. Nothing special here, but nicely served up.

REHEARSAL FOR MURDER

Aspect ratio: 1.33:1

Sound format: Mono

One year after his wife (Lynn Redgrave) died in mysterious circumstances, a grief-stricken playwright (Robert Preston) lures several prime suspects - all personal friends - to a lonely theatre where he proposes to unmask Redgrave's killer by reconstructing events on the night of her death...

Wonderful, old-fashioned murder mystery (written by Richard Levinson and William Link) which pulls an astonishing about-face during its final reel, though not before a number of talented thesps (including Patrick Macnee, William Daniels, Jeff Goldblum and Madolyn Smith) have acted up a storm as chief suspects in a tragic crime. Performances and dialogue are crisp and believable, plot-holes are neatly plugged, and the climactic 'reveal' will knock your socks off! Magical stuff, highly recommended, though viewers are advised to see it 'cold' for maximum effect. Directed by TV veteran David Greene (ROOTS, GUILTY CONSCIENCE, THE TRIAL OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD, etc.).

Dostoevsky is claimed to once have said that if a gun is seen in the first act of a play then it must be shot with by the third...

This was very true of "Rehearsal For Murder" a made for TV film back in the early 80's with a veteran and sterling cast - including a very angular and fresh-faced Jeff Goldblum, pre-Fly.

The man who carried the show was the late, great, inimitable Robert Preston - while known known to have been in some westerns in the 50s, he shone in the original film of "The Music Man," as he did in "The Last Starfighter" and still to my view Robert Preston earned the Oscar in Blake Edwards' version of "Victor, Victoria" with Alex Karras, Dame Julie Andrews and James Garner (perhaps Karras getting Best Actor In Supporting Role).

I digress, yet Robert carried the show as the aggrieved and lovelorn playwright Alex Dennison, who was convinced his fiancée - played by Lynn Redgrave - was in fact murdered and not a suicide as most folk thought in the movie.

In what appears to be a roleplaying manhunt of a whodunit by Preston/Dennison, you are given the impression he already knows who did the deed - or does he? William "St Elsewhere" Daniels, Patrick "The Avengers" MacNee and ex-Wiseguy alumni William Russ all executed their parts with intricate precision in this mystery that will have you turning every which way until the very last minute and even then you may not see where the plot is heading...

A very well-written script from Richard Levinson & William Link - with a long combined history of writing for hit series like "Murder She Wrote," "Columbo," and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" then it's no mystery why this show if done as a book would be a sure-fire page-turner! http://tinyurl.com/3464k/

The writers, Richard Levinson and William Link, openly declare their intentions within their own dialogue: "In a murder mystery, you take the audience by the hand....and you lead them in the wrong direction. They trust you, and you betray them". And that's what they set out to do as well. Clever script, fine ensemble acting (with a pre-stardom Jeff Goldblum making a strong impression). The direction is a little flat and cramped (except for the transitions in & out of the enacted play), but in this case it seems to fit the theme. Do NOT get spoiled on this. *** out of 4.

I was confused not to see lieutenant Columbo in this film, written by the Levinson Link piece of work, which, of course looks very lie a COLUMBO series episode, except the very short cop appearance. Besides, that's a real good time waster for perfect crime schemes lovers. And what a surprise to see Pat Mc Nee here. I have nothing more to tell about this feature.