Review of Curacao

OK modest budget (made-for-TV) mystery/suspense movie (with alternate title: "CIA: Exiled" -- NYT review under that name) maintains interest mostly due to another good performance by William Peterson as complex (flawed) 'good guy'. George C. Scott merely strolls through role as sort-of buddy and linchpin of mystery to be solved; other cast members entirely forgettable. well-written with OK direction but seems to have had ending altered from original to make movie more satisfying to mass TV audience looking for 'happy ending'. How surmise this-SPOILER!: a. Movie opens with George C. Scott cold-bloodily shooting young bank robber in back (after sweet-talking gun away from him) as boy walking away; b. Peterson back-story is as experienced CIA field-man who killed double-crossing CIA colleague and then 'exiled' by CIA to 'non-job' in Curacao; c. at end, Scott fakes death, escapes to small nearby island and asks Peterson (who leaving area) to drop by -- Scott tells Peterson that Peterson is only one who knows Scott still alive. OBVIOUSLY (only reason for a-b-c above) the original concept was to have sweet-talking Scott try to shoot Peterson in back as Peterson walking away -- but Peterson cunningly turns and shoots Scott (his 'colleague') instead and then tells him (in effect), "...don't confuse me with a scared kid in a bank." apart from (obviously) altered ending, movie is an OK hour-and-half (if popcorn at hand). Stock footage of Curacao pleasant enough; probably shot whole movie at Paramount lot and Santa Monica pier. BTW, perhaps Trish Van Devere's real role (as Rose?) was to play George C. Scott's main squeeze when they weren't actually on the set.