Potential cult film has a pregnant lady found dead near her beachfront property in coastal Eden's Landing, a little California town, her body covered in dog bites perhaps associated with a pet Doberman. A number of possible suspects include a visiting beauty (Katherine Ross), a veterinarian (Hal Holbrook), and a swinging aristocrat (Peter Lawford). The police chief, Able Mars (James Garner, already rocking the effortlessly cool Rockford detective look) doesn't realize how complicated this case will become. With a town of oddballs, some non-PC homophobic and sexist dialogue, a police force of two that Able has available to him, a casual, none-too-hurriedly pace to the ongoing investigation and apprehension of the soon-to-be-discovered suspect on the lam, and a California county police that love to stop by to flex their supposed muscle but are none too bright; this film caps it all off with a twist involving a ménage à trois that provided an incentive for the murder.
Ross looks mighty foxy, Garner occupies the time on screen with a performance that is as laid back as the pace (he really doesn't even have to try because he's a natural actor allowing his character to function within the environment of his small town that rarely sees much excitement or intrigue besides the eccentrics that live there), and a cast of veterans filling out the characters of locals living in Eden's Landing (like Arthur O'Connell as the owner and cook of the only diner in town, Edmund O'Brien as a liquor store proprietor always poking Able for details in the investigation, June Allyson as the suspicious wife of Holbrook's veterinarian, Tom Ewell as the portly cop attending to the mundane activities and misdemeanors of the locals (like a man biting off a woman's nipple during a heated make out in the back seat of a car!!!) and Christopher Connelly as the inquisitive cop with suggestions that might be accurate about the case, Harry Guardini as an intrusive county law enforcer who thinks he knows better how to conduct the investigation than Able, and Ann Rutherford as Garner's secretary dealing with a station house containing equipment hand-me-downs "from the city"). Lawford likes them young, drives a convertible sports car, and is ambiguous when it comes to sharing personal/intimate details of his ex-wife, a real sexually promiscuous gal. Garner and Ross' romance gets some time on and off throughout the film, but when she becomes a possible member of the murder victim's social circle it throws a monkey wrench in their blossoming relationship. Allyson is wasted in a rather small role while Holbrook does a great deal with a rather limited part that gives him few opportunities to leave a definite mark in the film, although his use of a drug on Garner, during one key sequence which could (or could not) reveal his guilt, taking advantage of the fallen, subdued police chief, after a car chase comes to its conclusion, is quite a memorable moment. Garner's exhaustive tolerance of the locals in his town while investigating the murder case is part of the film's charm. A specific sequence, besides Holbrook's "sticking Garner with the needle" in the vet's office and ensuing car chase, concerning the property of the crime, set afire by the killer (and his/her accomplice), with Garner interrupting (too late, unfortunate for Lawford) as they are about to (or already have) flee, is another memorable moment in the film, especially in why the Doberman didn't bark while in the chief's car Garner waiting and waiting on the beach, as a body is lying right next to him (retrieved from the burning house), the Doberman his only live company, as the police/fire dept seem predisposed, describes the plight of a small town with limited resources and manpower. A one-way tunnel to the crime scene is the perfect means to plug a hole, stop the flow of traffic when needing to avoid capture, and allow time for the home to burn, baby, burn. Ross is the kind of actress who looks great while holding a lot of how she feels internally. The investigation into a murder seems almost too gradual, but that's just Able's style, I guess.
Ross looks mighty foxy, Garner occupies the time on screen with a performance that is as laid back as the pace (he really doesn't even have to try because he's a natural actor allowing his character to function within the environment of his small town that rarely sees much excitement or intrigue besides the eccentrics that live there), and a cast of veterans filling out the characters of locals living in Eden's Landing (like Arthur O'Connell as the owner and cook of the only diner in town, Edmund O'Brien as a liquor store proprietor always poking Able for details in the investigation, June Allyson as the suspicious wife of Holbrook's veterinarian, Tom Ewell as the portly cop attending to the mundane activities and misdemeanors of the locals (like a man biting off a woman's nipple during a heated make out in the back seat of a car!!!) and Christopher Connelly as the inquisitive cop with suggestions that might be accurate about the case, Harry Guardini as an intrusive county law enforcer who thinks he knows better how to conduct the investigation than Able, and Ann Rutherford as Garner's secretary dealing with a station house containing equipment hand-me-downs "from the city"). Lawford likes them young, drives a convertible sports car, and is ambiguous when it comes to sharing personal/intimate details of his ex-wife, a real sexually promiscuous gal. Garner and Ross' romance gets some time on and off throughout the film, but when she becomes a possible member of the murder victim's social circle it throws a monkey wrench in their blossoming relationship. Allyson is wasted in a rather small role while Holbrook does a great deal with a rather limited part that gives him few opportunities to leave a definite mark in the film, although his use of a drug on Garner, during one key sequence which could (or could not) reveal his guilt, taking advantage of the fallen, subdued police chief, after a car chase comes to its conclusion, is quite a memorable moment. Garner's exhaustive tolerance of the locals in his town while investigating the murder case is part of the film's charm. A specific sequence, besides Holbrook's "sticking Garner with the needle" in the vet's office and ensuing car chase, concerning the property of the crime, set afire by the killer (and his/her accomplice), with Garner interrupting (too late, unfortunate for Lawford) as they are about to (or already have) flee, is another memorable moment in the film, especially in why the Doberman didn't bark while in the chief's car Garner waiting and waiting on the beach, as a body is lying right next to him (retrieved from the burning house), the Doberman his only live company, as the police/fire dept seem predisposed, describes the plight of a small town with limited resources and manpower. A one-way tunnel to the crime scene is the perfect means to plug a hole, stop the flow of traffic when needing to avoid capture, and allow time for the home to burn, baby, burn. Ross is the kind of actress who looks great while holding a lot of how she feels internally. The investigation into a murder seems almost too gradual, but that's just Able's style, I guess.