Répétition pour un meurtre

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/

Whenever you see the names "Levinson" and "Link" in the writing credits, you can be assured of a well scripted, unique whodunit, with plot twists that would give Dame Agatha a run for her money.

" ... unusual form -- a mystery -- you take the audience by the hand and you lead them -- in the wrong direction." Those are the prophetic words of playwright Alex Dennison in this Levinson and Link play within a play, called "Rehearsal For Murder". Dennison (Robert Preston) reunites five show-biz friends, ostensibly to get feedback on his new mystery novel. The real reason for the reunion is to unmask the killer of Monica Welles, Dennison's fiancé, who was murdered a year earlier. Which of the five friends is the killer?

"Rehearsal For Murder" is a filmed stage play, which means that the emphasis is on the crafts of script and acting, both of which here are excellent, and production design which in this case is adequate. The multiple plot twists make the screenplay ingenious, if perhaps a little far-fetched. The entire cast gives a fine performance, though I must confess to a preference for Robert Preston, one of the most credible actors of all time.

There's no heavy duty "message" in this film, no special effects, no cinematic gimmicks. It's just an old-fashioned, entertaining murder mystery for viewers who like whodunits. I have long considered "Murder By Natural Causes" (1979) to be Levinson and Link's best work. But "Rehearsal For Murder" is not far behind.

Alex Dennison, Robert Preston, A top Broadway playwright returns to the theater where his fiancée Monica Wells, Lynn Redgrave, acted in her first and last performance on Broadway just a year ago in the comedy play that Alex wrote for her "Chamber Music". Reflecting back to what became a tragic night Monica, a movie star, was acting in a play on Broadway for the first time in her career and was very apprehensive and nervous about how her performance on stage would be taken by the public as well as the Broadway critics.

When the play ended to the standing ovation of the theater audience the critical reviews coming in on "Chamber Music" were anything but overwhelming and at a party with everyone involved in the play later that night Monica seemed hurt and depressed. Alex trying to make Monica feel good tells her that no matter what the critics say, which weren't all that bad, about the play that she's not to let it get to her, that bad reviews are a part of life on Broadway, and that she'll always be tops with him. With the party over and everyone gone Monica alone with Alex asks him something the seemed to be a bit strange, if he loved her which of course Alex told her that he did. Later that night Alex gets a phone call from Monica that gets cut off in mid-sentence. Rushing to her apartment he finds that she jumped or fell from her bedroom window an was killed. Hurt and almost in shock Alex just couldn't believe that his Monica would have killed herself which led him to personally investigate her dead and what he found out he put into a play that he wrote with the murder suspects all playing major roles in it.

Using the theater as a backdrop to find out who killed Monica Wells and having the police Leut. MaElroy, William Russ who was in charge of the investigation of Monica's death helping him Alex gathered all the suspects together, who had no idea of what Alex had planned for them, to play their parts in the play which in the end revealed the one who killed Monica.

The movie "Rehearsal for Murder" is so well written with a script that builds to such a unexpected final that you'll immediately want to see the film over again. "Rehearsal for Murder" is so good that it makes movies with surprise endings like "The Usual Subjects" and "Se7en" look like high school plays in comparison. It's amazing watching the movie that every word every action and even every movement fit right into the story like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

Who killed Monica? was it her co-star in the play David Mathews, Patrick Macnee, who's advances she turned down? Was it the director of the play LLoyd Andrews, Lawrence Pressman, who was in love with her and thought that Monica was also in love with him and felt betrayed by her when she became engaged to Alex? Was it the producer of the play Walter Lamb, William Daniels, who was to lose $600,000.00 of his own money if the play flopped and could only get his money back if Monica who he heavily insured died during it's run on Broadway? Was it Monica's understudy Karen Daniels, Madolyn Smith-Osborne, who would do anything to get top-billing in the play? or her lover and fellow actor Leo Gibbs, Jeff Goldblum, who would do anything to help her get it?

Powerhouse whodunit that for some reason has been forgotten all these years but after seeing "Rehearsal for Murder" you'll wonder, just like I did, why?

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.

This mystery takes on a new twist when Broadway playwright Alex Dewnnison, (Robert Preston), invites the cast and crew of his new play to a cold reading of the script. However, the participants don't know that their get together is a part of a plan to find out the criminal who killed his lover, Monica Wells, (Lynn Redgrave) and made her death look like a suicide by jumping out of a window in a high rise apartment dwelling. You will never be able to figure out just who the murderer is and this film will keep you glued to your seats. Robert Preston and Lynn Redgrave gave outstanding performances along with the entire cast of actors. Enjoy.