Death Cruise

An ocean cruise is set for murder involving several couples, who believe they've won a trip. Unbeknownst to them they've all been lured on the cruise to be murdered by an unknown person.... It is up to Dr. Burke to piece together the clues that connect all these couples together and before more murders occur.

The Love Boat meets And Then There Were None courtesy of Aaron Spelling. Like The Love Boat we have a variety of guests, all couples, who have their problems; jealous gravel-voiced Polly Bergen is married to womaniser Richard Long, a dissatisfied Tom Bosley is married to oblivious Celeste Holm, and the baby-crazy Kate Jackson is married to not-baby-crazy Edward Albert. Doctor-at-large Michael Constantine and captain Cesare Danova fill out the ship's crew.

I sort of guessed who the murderer is, but it's fun getting there. It's light-hearted, but still has some suspense with its air of a calm-before-the storm. Also there's some histrionics from the assortment of characters; It's nicely constructed and ends well with a nice twist.

Every time this movie used to re-air on late night TV in the late 70s and early 80s I would always make time to sit in front of the TV and watch it. To see the lovely Kate Jackson, handsome Richard Long, the "great" Polly Bergen whom I've never seen anywhere else except for this TV movie, the endearing Tom Bosley, and another "great" whom I've never seen outside this movie, Celeste Holme. This is truly the love boat on a cruise to murder and mayhem and boy was it ever good!! And every time I would watch it I would always forget who the real murderer was.

As expected, someone here is already criticizing the movie as if that really is a big help to anyone. This is a great TV movie and worth watching each and every time. I can't say that about half the movies I've seen this month.

If you ever get a chance to watch it on TV someday, which isn't likely, watch it. In light of "The Girl Most Likely To" finally coming out this year on DVD, maybe there's hope for a DVD release of "Death Cruise."

Three married couples set off on a contest winning cruise. They are: Richard Long and Polly Bergen (as Jerry and Sylvia Carter), Edward Albert and Kate Jackson (as Jimmy and Mary Frances Radney), and Tom Bosley and Celeste Holm (as David and Elizabeth Mason). On ship, they discover why nobody can really remember entering the contest; it's a scam. A mysterious group known as "E&M Productions" has lured the six "winners" on board to kill them. As the travelers meet unfortunate ends, Michael Constantine (as Dr. Burke) assumes the role of investigator. Cesare Danova is the ship's captain. All are delightful.

This is an unexpectedly suspenseful Spelling-Goldberg television production, with good performances and direction (Ralph Senensky). And, it's very well paced. As they are being killed off, the three "happy" couples are revealed to be in significantly troubled marriages; this, and a resemblance to ABC-TV's later "The Love Boat" series, gives the movie a heightened eeriness. Jack B. Sowards' script has a few surprises; and, most of the time, it is challenging to guess which passenger to will die next. Unfortunately, part of an ending explanation does not match a prior character motivation; it's not enough to spoil the movie, however.

This was Richard Long's last role, sadly; the former "Big Valley" star died of a heart attack late in 1974. Also, around this time, beautiful young co-stars Kate Jackson and Edward Albert were a real life couple; although, they were "living in sin" (unmarried). The relatively under-appreciated "TV performer" cast makes "Death Cruise" an enjoyable trip.

****** Death Cruise (10/30/74) Ralph Senensky ~ Richard Long, Kate Jackson, Michael Constantine, Edward Albert

I saw this when I was twelve. It was the movie that made me understand what a good mystery really was. I had read the entire Happy Hollisters children's mystery series and they were about a family of child sleuths who always got their man. But we the readers were not in a position to solve the mystery along with them. This movie showed me that a good mystery is that which makes the viewer/reader, at the end, say, "OH!!!!! OF COURSE!!!!!!!"

This is a pretty decent movie of the week from the Spelling-Goldberg production house. This movie is pretty much like Murder, She Wrote, which came out ten years later. Michael Constantine does a pretty decent job as the ship's doctor, who also happens to be an amateur detective and the cast, which is made up of many of the top stars of the small screen at the time did a pretty credible job playing the victims. Also, this happens to be one of the final appearances of Richard Long, who would die a few months later.