Kiss Me, Kill Me

Very risqué TV content for the 1970's. Stella Stevens plays a detective investigating the murder of a crippled woman. Seems that the victim was sleeping around-- making for several suspects including a black guy, a bisexual man and a married cop. Robert Vaughn playing a gay man and a very young Bruce Boxleitner as a bisexual hustler is quite something for it's day. The performances are all good and the storyline is typical 70's mystery/police drama (except for the gay content). Interesting mainly because the film depicts the time period with all the various prejudices and stereotypes. Stella Stevens once again proves that she can take on serious drama as well as light comedy. Her sexy look is downplayed for the role, but she's still a beauty. Love those 70's TV movies of the week!

A young woman and school teacher with a slight limp enjoys the night life in her bad neighborhood of Los Angeles, MacArthur Park. More specifically, she lives at the Park Wilshire.

This could have been an episode of any crime show at the time. The suspects are a bit closer to reality in a neighborhood like that. In fact, the stereotypes are pretty bad.

Stella Stevens gets top billing in what was little more than a paycheck for her. Her film career was over by this time. The rest of the cast were in the same situation, just going through the motions to payoff their old mortgages.

Mostly worth watching as a time capsule. Poor Stella wears drab clothes, has a bad, cheap dye job and drives a gargantuan 1976 Mercury Grand Marquis.

There are a several things that elevate this one above the standard movie of the week. First, the casting. Claude Akins is always a good bet for making the best of a role and plays old school cops very well. The surprisingly good chemistry with Stella Stevens works and they do a good job of portraying former colleagues whose level of comfort with each other indicates that they were more than just co-workers. Robert Vaughn plays against type as a gay older man pitifully obsessed with a young hustler, played by Bruce Boxleitner in an early role. Stevens turns in a good performance that does not depend entirely on her gorgeous looks. It's not going to win an Emmy, but well worth watching to see some great character actors show us how to make the most of a role, even so.

Stella Stevens proves her mettle as a district attorney in this "shoulda been picked up for series" pilot telefilm. Costar Claude Akins is tip-top in his earthy portrayal of an Old School tough cop.

It's a textbook example of how broadcast TV, within its strict censorship confines, could handle lurid subject matter tastefully, and entertainingly, without reporting to the exploitation content of theatrical movies. The murder case includes kinky and Gay-themed subplots, and benefits from solid scripting by Robert Thompson, including clever plot twists. Especially effective is the emphasis on office politics within the justice system, taking precedence over the details of crime-solving.

In what was to become the standard James Woods baddie role, Robert Vaughn is more subtle but just as instantly detestable. A very big surprise is trick casting of Bruce Boxleitner as the Gay sleazy psychotic killer -who woulda thunk it?