Richard A. Levinson Movies

Someone in the upper echelons of network television must have been enamored of or obsessed with French playwright Robert Thomas' Trap for a Lonely Man, since the property was adapted to television no fewer than three times. The 1986 version, Vanishing Act, stars Mike Farrell as a honeymooning husband. When his new bride turns up missing, Farrell angrily demands that the authorities drop everything to find her. Imagine his surprise when Margot Kidder, a total stranger, arrives on the scene, insisting that she is Farrell's wife. Earlier versions of Trap for a Lonely Man included Honeymoon with a Stranger (1969) and One of My Wives is Missing (1976). Originally telecast May 4, 1986, Vanishing Act was cleverly adapted by Richard Levinson and William Link, who slavishly retained Robert Thomas' by-now-familiar final plot twist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Richard A. Levinson and William Link took the "fantasy murder" concept popularized in the classic Preston Sturges film Unfaithfully Yours (1948) one fatal step further in Guilty Conscience. Criminal attorney Arthur Jamison (Anthony Hopkins) wants to divorce his wife Louise (Blythe Danner) but will have to clean out all his assets to meet her alimony demands. With the help of mistress Jackie (Swoosie Kurtz), Arthur plans to murder his spouse and thus stave off financial ruin. But how best to pull off the dirty deed? Conjuring up an imaginary alter ego (also played by Anthony Hopkins), the attorney cerebrally stages several murder scenarios before hitting upon the perfect scheme. The fact that linear time is ignored throughout Guilty Conscience keeps the audiences on its toes. Are we watching another imaginary killing, or is this one the genuine article? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Debuting September 30, 1984, Murder, She Wrote, TV's longest-running mystery series, might never have come about had producers Richard Levinson and William Link enjoyed a success with their 1975 TV weekly Ellery Queen. That particular series folded after a single episode, but Levinson and Link were still committed to the concept of a best-selling murder-mystery novelist who solved real murders when not at the typewriter. By changing the gender of their protagonist from male to female, and transforming the character from a good-looking, absentminded young pedant to a middle-aged, down-to-earth widow, the producers were able to parlay their "mystery writer/amateur detective" premise into a 13-year hit for CBS. Angela Lansbury starred as Jessica Fletcher, who after being widowed in her early fifties achieved success as a mystery writer. Despite fame and fortune, Jessica remained a resident of Cabot Cove, a cozy coastal town in Maine, and maintained her links with all of her old friends, never letting the popularity of her novels go to her head. Jessica's one eccentricity was an insatiable curiosity, especially whenever murder reared its ugly head. Funny thing, but no matter where Jessica went (and she traveled all over the world, often as a lecturer on criminology and creative writing), a murder seemed to occur. The "official" police were almost always willing to slap the cuffs on the most likely suspect, but Jessica invariably felt that the so-called guilty party wasn't. Carefully and methodically piecing the clues together, gently but firmly asking questions that no else had asked, and refusing to give up her investigation despite warnings to do so, Jessica always managed to trap the guilty party -- who, given the series' "special guest star" policy, was often played by a famous film or TV personality.

While Angela Lansbury was the series' only true regular, several other characters made recurring appearances, notably her Cabot Cove friends Sheriff Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley, later replaced by Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger) and crusty general practitioner Dr. Seth Hazlitt (William Windom). During the series' eighth season, Jessica accepted a full-time teaching job in New York, returning to Cabot Cove on weekends, where she often compared notes with Deputy Andy Broom (Louis Herthum). Also showing up from time to time was Jessica's nephew Grady Fletcher (Michael Horton), who through no fault of his own always seemed to be in trouble with the law, obliging Aunt Jessica to help him out -- and to solve another murder or two along the way. Though Angela Lansbury seemed to enjoy carrying the load of the series by herself (she was also one of the executive producers), beginning in season six the actress cut back her appearances, allowing such other sleuths as reformed jewel thief Dennis Stanton (Keith Michell), retired spy Michael Hagarty, (Len Cariou) and down-at-the-heel private eye Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach) to take center stage. Viewers, however, didn't like Jessica's frequent absences during this period, so the "replacement detective" policy was eventually dropped.

A Sunday-evening tradition for over a decade, Murder, She Wrote was moved to Thursdays during its twelfth and final season, much to the dismay of its star, especially as she was forced to go head-to-head with NBC's extremely popular Friends. Not surprisingly, ratings plummeted on Murder throughout the season, and the show was canceled in August of 1996. However, Angela Lansbury fans could take heart in the fact that she would sporadically revive the character of Jessica Fletcher in a handful of feature-length Murder, She Wrote specials during the early years of the 21st century. ~ All Movie Guide

The two-hour debut episode of Murder, She Wrote finds former substitute teacher Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) reluctantly thrust into the limelight when her first mystery novel, "The Corpse Danced at Midnight," becomes a best-seller. Invited to a costume ball held by her publisher, Jessica comes face to face with a genuine murder when guest Dexter Baxendale (Dennis Patrick), wearing a Sherlock Holmes costume, turns up dead. Suspicion immediately falls upon Jessica's nephew Grady (Michael Horton), forcing our heroine to turn sleuth herself. Throughout the story, the widowed Jessica must also wrestle with her growing attraction to handsome Preston Giles (Arthur Hill). Watch for future Murder, She Wrote semi-regular Herb Edelman in a role other than Lt. Artie Gelber, and also for a young Andy Garcia in a bit part as a tough guy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Richard Levinson and William Link serve up another Thinking Man's murder mystery with the made-for-television Rehearsal for Murder. Playwright Robert Preston is on the verge of marrying glamorous film star Lynn Redgrave. But a scant few hours after her Broadway debut, Redgrave is found dead, an apparent suicide. Convinced that Redgrave was murdered, Preston contacts the most likely suspects and assembles them in an empty theatre, ostensibly to read through his latest play. But Preston locks the doors and uses his play as a means to, in the words of Hamlet, "catch the conscience" of the killer. Filmed under the working title Cold Reading, Rehearsal for Murder was the winner of the Edgar Award, a prize bestowed annually by the Mystery Writers of America. It was first broadcast on May 26, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Crisis at Central High is the sort of film that fully justifies the existence of made-for-TV movies. This superior effort is a dramatization of the court-ordered integration of Little Rock, Arkansas' Central High School in 1957. With threats of violence mounting (and some carried out), it becomes necessary for the government to send in Federal troops to escort the nine black teenagers who have been chosen to break the color barriers. Covering events from the beginning of the scholastic year to the graduation exercises, the film is based on the journals of Central High teacher/administrator Elizabeth Hucksby, who is here played by Joanne Woodward. Adapted (with precisely no political axes to grind) by Richard Levinson and William Link, Crisis at Central High made its triumphant debut on February 4, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

TV-mystery mavens Richard Levinson and William Link score another homicidal hit with Murder by Natural Causes. The premise: Hal Holbrook has a weak heart. Holbrook's wife Katharine Ross is carrying on an affair with Barry Bostwick. Ross wants to lose her husband, but she doesn't want to leave herself open for a murder rap. So Ross arranges for her husband to have a fatal heart attack. The complication: Holbrook is a professional mentalist. In layman's terms, he can read minds. Don't turn off Murder by Natural Causes until all three of its possible endings are offered to you. Few people switched the channel when Murder was first telecast February 17, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nice Night for a Hanging was the feature-length pilot film for the never-sold TV series Charlie Cobb. Clu Gulager stars as Cobb, a private detective operating in the Old West. Our hero comes to California at the behest of a powerful rancher (Ralph Bellamy), and is hired to locate the rancher's long-lost daughter, who was kidnapped in infancy. Cobb runs into resistance from several unsavory characters who have their eyes on his client's fortune. Produced by Columbo creators Richard Levinson and William Link, Charlie Cobb: Nice Night for a Hanging premiered June 19, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ellery Queen (also known as Too Many Suspects) was the 78-minute pilot film for a TV series based on the fictional intellectual author/sleuth created by cousins Frederick Dannay and Manfred Lee. Jim Hutton plays Ellery (the tenth actor to do so on screen!), while David Wayne is his police inspector father. The plot, set in 1947 Manhattan, involves the murder of a fashion model. Fifteen minutes before the fade-out, Ellery turns to the audience, presents the clues, and asks us to solve the murder--a cute if unnecessary trick, since Ellery's got the case all worked out and the killer is no surprise to anyone who's watched TV murder mysteries in the last 25 years (the actor in question has said "I did it!" so often that it's a wonder he can walk the streets without being apprehended). Ellery Queen was a pet project of the TV writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link (of Columbo) fame. After the subsequent Queen TV series expired after a single season, Levinson and Link revived the notion of a murder-solving novelist and changed the gender of the protagonist--and the result was Murder She Wrote. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"The German Air Force is not at all what it used to be," says Anne Bancroft's Countess, about 16 minutes into The Hindenburg, pausing and then adding, "But then, nothing is these days." That seems to sum up the ponderous, irony-laden script and plot of Robert Wise's movie, which is posited -- in true post-Watergate fashion -- upon notions of conspiracy and cover-up behind the destruction of the German airship. The movie opens with a handy Universal newsreel that gives a vestpocket history of lighter-than-air flight, and that carries us to 1937 Germany. Colonel Franz Ritter (George C. Scott), a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, finds himself assigned to the flight of the Hindenburg as chief of security; reports and rumors about the destruction of the zeppelin have circulated both in Germany and America, and the Nazi government takes these very seriously. What Ritter walks in on is a "Grand Hotel" of the air, several dozen passengers and crew whose ranks contain enough red herrings to keep Ritter (and us) jumping through hoops for most of the first half of the film, when we're not watching glorious shots of the zeppelin in flight. The answer to the script's presentation of the plot against the airship,and theidentityof the bomber and his motivations, are actually presented in the first 15 minutes, but there are so many false leads, subplots, and blind alleys put before us that the solution will probably pass by unnoticed. In the meantime, Ritter dances around with his ex-paramour (Bancroft), scheming businessmen (Gig Young), and passengers with skeletons in their closets (Alan Oppenheimer), an entertainer (Robert Clary) with a knack for offending loyal Nazis, several officers and crew with known "political" differences with the Nazi Party, a Gestapo man (Roy Thinnes) who's got an agenda of his own, and two genuine mystery men (Burgess Meredith, Rene Auberjonois) who don't seem to have any reason for traveling on this particular voyage. It's all a little tiring, or would be, if the setting and special effects weren't that interesting, and the cast wasn't so entertaining to watch in these relatively thankless roles. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In 1945, private Eddie Slovik, a "born loser" who made no secret of his desire to escape the army in any way possible, became the first American to be executed for desertion since the Civil War. William Bradford Huie's chronicle of this unfortunate wartime episode, The Execution of Private Slovik, was published in 1954. Frank Sinatra optioned the movie rights for the book, intending to cast Steve McQueen as Slovik and to have blacklisted writer Albert Maltz write the screenplay. The US military reluctantly agreed to okay the film on the proviso that Slovik would not be portrayed sympathetically. Out of deference to his friend John F. Kennedy, Sinatra abandoned the project, and that was that -- until the award-winning TV-writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link became intrigued in the Huie book. After a series of convoluted negotiations, Levinson and Link were finally able to put The Execution of Private Slovik on the small screen on March 13, 1974 (Albert Maltz, upset that the pair had decided upon a strict "no villains" policy in their adaptation, washed his hands of the whole affair). Martin Sheen was selected to play Slovik, though for a while Dustin Hoffman was seriously considering taking a cut in salary to essay the role. Abandoning the linear style of Huie's book, the writers adopted a Citizen Kane approach, using flashbacks to illustrate the events leading up to the execution. It is made clear throughout the film that no one, neither the military brass nor Slovik himself, truly believed that the private would ever face a firing squad; the usual custom was to postpone the execution until after the war, then reduce the sentence to a long prison term. Thanks to an unfortunate chain of misunderstandings and snafus, Slovik ended up dying by gunfire in a lonely French courtyard -- a fact long withheld from the public (Slovik's wife Antoinette learned of her husband's true fate for the first time from author Huie). The film's most famous scene, in which Slovik nervously repeats his "Hail Marys" as the hood is being fitted over his head, was Martin Sheen's own idea. Filmed on location in California and Canada, The Execution of Private Slovik won a Peabody award for the NBC television network. Originally running a full 120 minutes, it was re-edited into a 97 minute version for theatrical release overseas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Partners in Crime was the second attempt by Richard Levinson and William Link to create a TV series featuring a female ex-judge and male ex-con: the first was 1971's The Judge and Jake Wyler. This time, Lee Grant is the former jurist turned sleuth, while Lou Antonio is the onetime prisoner turned legman. In this 90-minute pilot film, Judge Grant searches for a stolen $750,000. Partners in Crime was telecast on March 24, 1973, back-to-back with the pilot for the Jack Webb TV series Chase. Chase flew, while Partners never got off the ground. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even Bette Davis showed up in a TV-movie pilot from time to time. The Judge and Jake Wyler stars the indestructible Davis as a hypochondriac former judge who becomes a private detective. Davis puts paroled ex-con Doug McClure to work as her "leg man," searching for clues in the supposed suicide of the heroine's (Joan Van Ark) businessman father. Had Judge and Jake Wyler sold as a series, Davis would have had to choose between this project and another projected weekly, Madame Sin; the decision was made for her when neither series sold. Two years later, Judge and Jake Wyler was rewritten, recast with Lee Grant and Lou Antonio, and repitched as a pilot under the title Partners in Crime (which also didn't fly). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide