À cause d'une chaussure

Robert Mitchum is a private eye who has given up on life. He's hired by casino owner Mell Ferrer, someone has been cooking his books and he thinks his wife might be in danger because of it. Mitchum finds her quickly enough, but minutes after he leaves her apartment he witnesses her fall from her balcony to a sudden death. Inspector Jose Perez thinks it's murder due to one of her slippers being nowhere near the balcony while she was wearing the other one, and isn't crazy about Mitchum acting like a clam. Ferrer re-hires Mitchum however, this time to find out what happened to his wife. He eventually discovers that ex-hooker and barfly Angie Dickinson, who's been throwing herself at him ever since he stepped into the casino, might be the key to unlock the mystery.

This is a decent but unremarkable made-for-TV movie, which stands out due to the presence of Mitchum ('Out Of The Past') and Dickinson ('The Killers'). Mitchum plays the type of role he was made for, as a broken man who's so jaded by his past (which includes a failed suicide attempt) that he cannot even get it up for the sexy and affectionate Dickinson. Dickinson is good and gives her character a genuinely warm side, but because of it, the impact of her character on the dead wife's past is never really felt. The 'kindred spirit' chemistry between Mitchum and Dickinson works really well however, it is there, but neither character really knows how to act on it, and fall back in their old ways. Their scenes together, as well as Mitchum's world-weary lines and voice-over narration which is used extensively throughout this movie, are what make this movie stand out.

The movie itself plays out at a very leisurely pace, and doesn't really 'thrill', even tho it's competently made. It's just not an edge-of-your-seat mystery/thriller. Pretty routine work from director William Hale and DoP Terry K. Meade, with only an occasional creative shot such as when Mitchum witness the fall. The plot, based on a novel, is also pretty straight-forward and not too surprising. Watch this one for Mitchum and Dickinson's scenes.

Harold Shillman had been a good reputable cop but who had then turned to drink. When the mystery opens he has become an unlicensed private investigator taking on a job to find somebody's wife. That job changes after he tracks down the wife and there is an investigation with a possibility of it being a murder one case. This mystery progresses at a leisurely pace where we continually learn of peoples' past lives. Gradually some of those lives merge with each other to form a baffling intrigue. Robert Mitchum with his weary-sounding baritone voice is Shillman who has lost a lot of his confidence. He befriends a nice easy going woman called Faye (Angie Dickinson) who tries to give him back his manly confidence. She has a couple of ex husbands who pimp their way through life. Mel Ferrer plays Charnock who employs Shillman and Jose Perez is a Cuban-born detective. So a good cast and there are number of characters whose motives we cannot be sure of. The turning point comes when Shillman becomes really interested in the case for himself which brings him alive to start thinking like a cop gain to go on and solve the mystery.

I decided to watch this film because I like Robert Mitchum--and he's very good here. Unfortunately, the story itself has issues...mostly because it looks as if the writer saw the film and then just decided to rearranged the plot here and there to make an all-new movie. So many plot elements are the same--such as it being set around San Francisco, the out of work and emotionally damaged cop who's inexplicably hired by a husband and the same witnessing the lady falling to her death!

When the film begins, you learn that ex-cop Harold Shillman (Mitchum) is a mess. He just was forced off the force after trying to kill himself and he tends to drink heavily. So why would anyone want to hire this mess of a person to do a private investigation-- particularly when he's NOT a private dick?! A tough mobster type (Mel Ferrer) wants him to find his runaway wife. Amazingly, he finds her with no trouble at all and she says her hubby knows EXACTLY where she is!! So why hire Shillman?! Perhaps it's because as he's leaving the apartment building where the wife is, he sees her falling to her death!

Along for the ride, inexplicably, is a lady played by Angie Dickenson. She really just seems to be there for titillation and she and Mitchum get nekkid together quite a bit through the course of the movie. You don't really see anything (in Mitchum's case, this isn't a bad thing considering his age).

So is it any good despite too many similarities to "Vertigo"? Well, I did enjoy seeing the world-weary performance by Mitchum. Also, the story differs from "Vertigo" in enough ways that there are plenty of surprises. A decent but certainly not outstanding made for TV film.

Harold Shillman was a police detective who tried to blow his brains out when he found his wife in bed with her lover. Harold is now a depressed, passive, cynical man who is sexually impotent. His detective skills have atrophied and his thought processes appear slow.

Harold Shillman is hired by Mel Ferrer to follow his wife. There is a murder. Angie Dickinson is a lovely, vulnerable suspect (and former hooker) who tries to bring Harold back to life.

William Hale's excellent direction makes the most of Felix Culver's literate screenplay of Eric Bercovici's novel. Mel Ferrer excels as both producer and actor.

Harold Shillman reminds me a lot of Harry Orwell, and it would be easy to imagine David Janssen in the role if he had still been alive.

Jose Perez is very funny as the exasperated cop-on-the-case who tells Harold to "start thinking like a detective again."

Angie Dickinson never gave a warmer, sexier, more human performance. She was irresistible, although she never brings Mitchum back to sexual life.

John Harkins was touching as a loyal friend and employee of Ferrer.

Mitchum may be slightly past his peak at this point, but that works for the character.(It had been 35 years since Mitchum played private detective Jeff Bailey in "Out of the Past".) Mitchum still makes a superb private eye.

Apparently few people think as highly of this film as I do, but to me it is a cruelly overlooked classic of the genre. At least the Mystery Writers of America gave the film an Edgar nomination. If you're partial to down-on-their-luck private eyes, give this film a try.

A tired Mitchum stars in this murder mystery about a Las Vegas casino owner who enlists the help of an out of practice private eye to find his missing wife. Lies, deception and murder follow in a routine fashion. For die hard mystery fans only.