Tricks of the Trade

The mystery part of this made-for-TV flick is better than the comedy routines, most of which fall flat, though there are a few skits that tickle the funny bone, such as the shootout in a sex toy shop. To enjoy the show, the viewer must accept John Ritter as a philandering stockbroker crafty enough to foil big time wise guys; Markie Post as a Hollywood hooker named Marla, without a pimp or madam; and Cindy Williams as Catherine Todsen, the most naive woman since Doris Day was a virgin. If you can dig this, then you should enjoy the shenanigans of the two opposites, Marla and Catherine, trying to solve the mystery of who killed the husband/lover Donald Todsen (John Ritter), gunned down in the line of duty (while being serviced by Marla). Add to this pot of mirth two of the dumbest cops since Rosewood and Taggart in "Beverly Hills Cops," and you have a dukes mixture that works part of the time.

Though this film predates the big hit "Pretty Woman" by two years, its depiction of prostitution is just as far-fetched, Marla being viewed as a victim of society's pliers and philosophizing about the virtues of being a streetwise harlot. Only once does Catherine bring up the ugly subject of such negative aspects of the trade as disease. Marla makes a short rationalization in reply then changes the subject. Making such a virile and demeaning profession glamorous is questionable, especially when it is compared to the dreary, boring, unexciting lifestyle lived by Catherine.

"Tricks of the Trade" as a double entendre is an apropos title since Marla uses her tricks of the trade to track down the killer and uncover the hidden loot. The viewer may also be surprised when the real murderer is revealed at the end.

I saw this being filmed when I was fourteen. I was down for summer vacation from Washington State. My brother took me to Hollywood to get drunk. I think we were on either Sunset or Hollywood Blvd when I saw a movie set. My brother was pretty wasted and didn't realize the two hookers he was chatting up were Cindy Williams and Markie Post! I was a huge fan of Night Court at the time and I was STOKED!! I never realized this movie was released because I assumed it was a feature film. I will try to get it from NetFlix now that I know it was actually finished, plus it's got John Ritter! I was surprised as hell to even find it on here! I was watching an episode of Scrubs featuring Markie Post, that's what jarred my memory and instigated this comment on a movie I'VE NEVER SEEN!!

Pretty darn good for a made-for-TV comedy/mystery. After her husband (John Ritter)is found murdered in the apartment of his prostitute mistress(Markie Post), a very naive young woman(Cindy Williams)joins forces with the hooker to solve the murder. The two run into trouble with some bad guys that have unfinished business with the dead man.

Also in the cast are: Jack Nance, James Whitmore Jr. and Chris Mulkey.

Cindy Williams is very cute playing a sheltered Southern California society wife whose shady stockbroker husband (John Ritter) is killed in the apartment of a Hollywood hooker (Markie Post); the two women eventually form an uneasy alliance and team up to catch the murderers. Not-bad TV-movie with some flash and sass. Williams and Post share an amusingly bristly, appealing rapport and the supporting players are well-chosen. The mystery angle is all over the place, with too many aimless stops at Williams' plush digs in Brentwood--but even though the details aren't smoothed out, the movie is still rather satisfying and has several funny sequences.

(There are Spoilers) About to close the deal of the century, for him at least, Brentwood stock broker Don Todson, John Ritter, tells his yuppie wife Kathy, Cindy Williams, that he'll be working at the office all night taking care of business. By tomorrow Don tell Kathy they'll be rich enough,with a whopping $5,000,000.00, to never have to work again.

It turns out that Don goes instead of to his office at Bryce/Donbar to the sleazy L.A red light district to have a night of wild and crazy fun with his favorite hooker Marla, Maukie Post. After Marla goes out to get a bottle of scotch the doorbell rings and as Don opens it, thinking that it's Marla, he gets blasted by a gun not a bottle of booze.

Getting the shocking news the next day about her husbands murder Kathy goes on her own to Marla's pad in order to find out for herself what Don was doing there like she was just too naive and clueless to figure it out by herself. Kathy ends up getting her car stolen her pocket book, with some $2,500.00 in cash and credit cards, ripped off and then kidnapped by these two creepy looking hoods demanding $700,000.00 that the late and departed Don supposedly stole from them.

With the police not getting anywhere in solving Don's murder Kathy is forced to first get friendly and then have Don's hooker girlfriend Marla team up with her in finding his killer. Which leads to a number of crazy encounters with individuals that Kathy would have never in a million years, with the company that she's used to mixing with. Kathy come in contact with hookers pimps porno shop owners and junkies but as it turned out the person who did in Don was a lot closer to her then any of them.

Amusing comedy/murder mystery with Cindy Williams and Maukie Post as the odd couple pair of amateur detectives Kathy & Marla tracking down Kathy's husband. Marla's john customer killer finding out at the end of the movie that Don was the master-mind behind a slick money laundering operation that was involved in the hold-up of a number of armored cars in and around L.A.

Really played more for laughs then anything else "Tricks of the Trade" has a number of very funny moments mostly at the expense of the nerdy and out-of-touch, with the world outside of Brentwood Calif, Kathy Todsen. Kathy together with her hooker friend Marla make not only the oddest of odd couples but one of the funniest pair of comedians, or comediennes, since Ralph Kramdon & Ed Norton of the 1950's award winning TV series The Honeymooners.