Histoire d'un meurtre

Daft remake of STRANGERS ON A TRAIN with glacial Carol Lynley doing a distaff femme fatale take on Robert Walker's classic role. She's disturbed doll-faced Diana, who desires the death of her shrink, who alone realises her malign potential and seeks to have her committed. Fixating on perpetual golf pro runner-up Jerry (stone-faced Paul Burke), she beds the hapless sap and manages to get the admittedly soused sportsman to spout some incriminating pillow talk whilst being unknowingly filmed and recorded by a hidden camera which thereby appears to frame him for his superior golfing rival's subsequent murder as he unwittingly plays into her hands during her switcheroo murder plan pitch. Having held up her end of the bargain (and having purloined both the murder weapon and, as per the original film, a potentially incriminating cigarette lighter which is never flagged up as the classic 'McGuffin' it was in the Hitchcock original, and which both threaten to lead the forces of law and order to his door), the murderous minx now expects him to follow through with his end of the deal but, as Farley Granger found out some twenty years previously, if it isn't bred in the bone the hands will only be used to bash a ball rather than a skull. However, Jerry's reckoning without Diana's in-house editing facility which enables her to overdub the potentially damaging videotape footage (yep, she actually has a video recorder in 1969!) and, with the police circling and madness abroad, the poor dupe has to hack his way out of something more dangerous than the usual sandtrap. Kitsch in the extreme, and lacking all The Master of Suspense's bravura technique and convincing deployment of the transference of guilt theme, this is ultimately an unintentional hoot (especially a climactic dune buggy chase along a beach). Boasting Dayglo cinematography so harsh you almost need sunglasses to watch it, truly atrocious wardrobes (especially for Martha Hyer's estranged wife character) and pointlessly padded out with tedious extended golfing footage, this is really only recommended for true trash mavens as, unlike Ms Lynley's shapely lower limbs, this really hasn't got the legs to follow through on the original classically simple yet intriguing premise ('STRANGERS...' author Patricia Highsmith receives a credit for 'suggesting' the whole concept). Personally, though, I found it a lot of fun.

Bikini beauty Diana is all about the murdering and the gallows humor. Her psychiatrist Dr. Haggis thinks that she's turning into a psychopath. She overhears him planning to lock her up in an institution and wants him dead. She decides to recruit professional golf player Jerry Marshall. She knows that he hates his superior rival Mike Wilson and tells him to kill each other's target. He doesn't take her seriously until she kills Wilson with Jerry's golf club. Now, she expects him to kill her doctor.

The plot is essentially Strangers on a Train. It starts off well enough with crazy Diana. I like that she's a hot and crazy chick. The beach is a perfect place to start the movie. It all goes really well until she gets her kill and the movie passes to Jerry. I don't know anything about Paul Burke. He seems to be a solid veteran character actor who lasted 40 years in Hollywood. He's no pushover but he's not a great leading man either. He needs to be the equal to Carol Lynley. She is so beautiful and has such a crazy role that he can't match her. Every crazy thing she does only serves to separate from him. The movie basically stalls as Diana passes the baton to Jerry. He is not compelling enough to keep the narrative drive.

This film is for camp only. It is a lot of fun. You will keep asking yourself, "Why would luscious Carol Lynley stalk Paul Burke?"

This movie can be a lot of fun, just don't take it too seriously. Several scenes border on camp, but I loved it anyway. Several late 1960's location shots of Los Angeles & Malibu (When it was still pretty, not like today, UGH!) also add to the ambiance. Carol Lynley sleeps with a golf pro to blackmail him into murdering her shrink. This movie is worth watching just to see Carol chase an elegantly dressed Martha Hyer on the beach while Carol tries to run her over with a dune buggy. (Those were the days! Try driving a dune buggy on a beach in California today!) This movie also boasts being way ahead of it's time with Carol owning her own VCR! (IN 1969!) Wow! She even caught her sexcapade on tape and this was years ahead of Rob Lowe. If this wasn't enough she visits her aunt and shows her the meaning of elderly abuse. They don't make 'em like this anymore, movie was panned at the time, but I think it's a lot of fun. Lush 60's sets and clothes, Los Angeles looking a hell of lot better than it does now, women slapping and trying to kill each other, cool 60's convertibles, what more could you ask for.

This uneven variation on Alfred Hithcock's "Strangers On A Train" stays on the right track when its focus is on Carol Lynley: right from her striking Ursula Andress-like entrance from the sea in a tiny bikini, shooting a speargun at a little girl's beach ball (!), she creates a fantastic, psychotic character who taps into the secret male fantasy of being killed by a sexy, strong and crazy woman: it's probably a career-high role for her. Unfortunately, the film gets derailed by much less exciting scenes featuring the other characters, who are bland, as well as a tad too much golf. **1/2 out of 4.