Répétition pour un meurtre

Back in the early 2000s, you could find the weirdest combinations of movies together on one DVD. Many titles ghosted around in the "public domain" and were put on discs together with other & totally unrelated films. I found in my closet a DVD called "3 classic thrillers collection". Sounds intriguing enough, but it's a crummy disc with "Mr. Scarface", "Dementia 13", and this "Rehearsal for Murder" on it. None of them are thrillers, none of them are classics, and I really can't see any link or connection between them. I probably bought it for Fernando di Leo's "Mr. Scarface" (a.k.a. "I Padroni della Cittá") or for Francis Ford Coppola's witty horror debut "Dementia 13" and ignored "Rehearsal for Murder" during all these years.

Unjust, I now discovered, as "Rehearsal for Murder" is a compelling, smart, and more than competent made-for-TV thriller/whodunit. The film eventually caught my attention because the screenplay was written by the duo Richard Levinson and William Link. These two were known and very skilled in the field of murder mysteries and convoluted thrillers and created the legendary character/franchises "Columbo" (with Peter Falk) and "Murder, She Wrote" (with Angela Lansburry). Levinson and Link - even their surnames sound like a solid alliance - also scripted a handful of terrific late 70s/early 80s TV-thrillers, of which "One of my Wives is Missing" is undoubtedly the best. "Rehearsal for Murder" is not too far behind, though.

Levinson & Link (yes, I love using their alliterating names) stayed on familiar turf for this, as the plot revolves around Alex Dennison, a theater play writer who's still grieving over the death of his fiancée one year earlier. He doesn't believe Monica committed suicide and is certain that she was murdered. Alex narrowed down the number of potential suspects to the five people who were the closest to them as a couple, and as collaborators in the play that premiered on the night of her death. He lures all of them (3 actors, 1 director, and a producer) to the theater, supposedly to proofread the script of a new play, but he cleverly incorporated their motives into the fake play and wants to confront them.

The concept and set-up are already great, but the unforeseeable plot twists make it even better. I can't reveal too much, but you'll see. The revelation at the end, and some of the circumstances of Monica's death are quite far-fetched and implausible, but still I found it acceptable. Good cast, too, with familiar faces like Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Macnee, and William Daniels.

The writers, Richard Levinson and William Link, openly declare their intentions within their own dialogue: "In a murder mystery, you take the audience by the hand....and you lead them in the wrong direction. They trust you, and you betray them". And that's what they set out to do as well. Clever script, fine ensemble acting (with a pre-stardom Jeff Goldblum making a strong impression). The direction is a little flat and cramped (except for the transitions in & out of the enacted play), but in this case it seems to fit the theme. Do NOT get spoiled on this. *** out of 4.

Dostoevsky is claimed to once have said that if a gun is seen in the first act of a play then it must be shot with by the third...

This was very true of "Rehearsal For Murder" a made for TV film back in the early 80's with a veteran and sterling cast - including a very angular and fresh-faced Jeff Goldblum, pre-Fly.

The man who carried the show was the late, great, inimitable Robert Preston - while known known to have been in some westerns in the 50s, he shone in the original film of "The Music Man," as he did in "The Last Starfighter" and still to my view Robert Preston earned the Oscar in Blake Edwards' version of "Victor, Victoria" with Alex Karras, Dame Julie Andrews and James Garner (perhaps Karras getting Best Actor In Supporting Role).

I digress, yet Robert carried the show as the aggrieved and lovelorn playwright Alex Dennison, who was convinced his fiancée - played by Lynn Redgrave - was in fact murdered and not a suicide as most folk thought in the movie.

In what appears to be a roleplaying manhunt of a whodunit by Preston/Dennison, you are given the impression he already knows who did the deed - or does he? William "St Elsewhere" Daniels, Patrick "The Avengers" MacNee and ex-Wiseguy alumni William Russ all executed their parts with intricate precision in this mystery that will have you turning every which way until the very last minute and even then you may not see where the plot is heading...

A very well-written script from Richard Levinson & William Link - with a long combined history of writing for hit series like "Murder She Wrote," "Columbo," and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" then it's no mystery why this show if done as a book would be a sure-fire page-turner! http://tinyurl.com/3464k/

Robert Preston plays a Broadway playwright who is just about getting over the death of Lynn Redgrave almost a year earlier. She was an actress involved with Preston who wrote a play for her in which she opened to mixed reviews. That night she went off her building roof and her death was ruled a suicide. Preston's never believed it though.

So he's gathered several friends and acquaintances though which include Lawrence Pressman, David Greene, Jeff Goldblum, Madolyn Smith, and William Daniels to read scenes from a new play he's written. Seems as though Preston has the flotsam and jetsam of a plot of a murder mystery that everyone discovers rather quickly is the plot of the murder of Redgrave the year before. Her death was ruled a suicide, but Preston never believed it.

He's borrowed from no less than the greatest playwright of all Master William Shakespeare who had Hamlet use that device to confirm his suspicions about Uncle Claudius. Preston's suspicions are confirmed, but the murderer is the last one you'd suspect.

This is a pretty good cast of players and they're quite up to the dialog that a clever script provides. Nothing special here, but nicely served up.

This mystery takes on a new twist when Broadway playwright Alex Dewnnison, (Robert Preston), invites the cast and crew of his new play to a cold reading of the script. However, the participants don't know that their get together is a part of a plan to find out the criminal who killed his lover, Monica Wells, (Lynn Redgrave) and made her death look like a suicide by jumping out of a window in a high rise apartment dwelling. You will never be able to figure out just who the murderer is and this film will keep you glued to your seats. Robert Preston and Lynn Redgrave gave outstanding performances along with the entire cast of actors. Enjoy.