Histoire d'un meurtre

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.

Overbaked nonsense from Warner Bros. is one steaming pile of clichés. Pro-golfer Paul Burke, separated from his wife and troubled by his perennial second-place status on the golf course, meets up with seductive woman-child Carol Lynley; she murders his main opponent and then blackmails Burke with the proviso he kill her psychiatrist in return (seems Carol has just been released from a mental institution and is due back for another stay at any moment). The tacky screenplay was "suggested by" Patricia Highsmith's book "Strangers on a Train", first filmed by Warners in 1951. This quasi-remake actually has an interesting set-up, but Burke looks dumbfounded throughout and overripe vixen Lynley is just ludicrous (the actress probably thought this kitten-with-claws number would showcase her haughty appeal, but instead she's cruelly exposed and completely without substance). This has to be one of the worst-edited films from a major studio I have ever seen, with redundant, laughable shots of streetlights changing and Carol Lynley going crazy with a reel-to-reel machine. The filmmakers know nothing about the world of pro-tournament golf, and even less about murder investigations and police business, giving this dunderhead opus a campy undermining which may play with fans of second-string cinema. *1/2 from ****

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.

Paul Burke is a professional golfer who always comes in second to Phillip Carey. He's also got a shaky marriage to Martha Hyer. Carol Lynley is a sociopath who is worried that her aunt and psychiatrist Whit Bissell are going to send her to another insane asylum. So she seduces burke, kills Carey and now expect him to kill Bissell.

In other words, it's a variation of Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. It's well performed by the cast -- Miss Lynley seems particularly creepy to me since she speaks exactly like a woman I knew; when I mentioned this to a common friend, the friend thought it made a lot of sense. However, despite the addition of sex to the plot, there isn't much added to the story except for color photography.

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.