'They Only Kill Their Masters' (James Goldstone, 1972) is a film that would fit nicely as a clip or segment in Vito Russo's excellent documentary 'The Celluloid Closet' (Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, 1995), the latter of which explores an expansive collection of films from the Classic Hollywood era up to the 1990s that either directly or indirectly include harmful gay stereotypes and/or homophobic language and plot clichés. The problem with 'They Only Kill Their Masters' isn't just the homophobic terms as well as phrases such as "normal heterosexual" uttered by heterosexual characters that are littered throughout a particular scene where Abel Marsh (James Garner) and Kate Bingham (Katharine Ross) are having a meal at Abel's house. It's also the screenplay that not only doesn't do Garner or Ross any favours as actors but also provides only a razon-thin amount of screen time to Mrs. Watkins (June Allyson).
The screenplay allots Mrs. Watkins a two-minute monologue, which is interrupted more than once, of a one hour and thirty-seven minute film. It allows her enough time to confess her crime but with no real opportunity to express how she may have been treated as a person, whether this would include her lived experience as a woman or a non-heterosexual. As she kneels over her husband Dr. Warren G. Watkins' (Hal Holbrook) body after he's been accidentally shot and killed by Captain Daniel Streeter (Harry Guardino), she states of him, "We loved each other" to which Abel replies, "Who? Who loved who? He came home to protect her. He must've loved you very much, Mrs. Watkins. Always cleaning up after her." Here, Abel berates her for not being grateful that she had a man in her life and the dialogue in this scene appears to make Mrs. Watkins feel guilty not strictly for her crime but also for her existence.
The moment should obviously not trivialize the fact that she killed Jenny Campbell, but Mrs. Watkins' extremely brief screen time can be construed as a missed opportunity to explore a more multi-dimensional character. This opportunity could've been similar to the emphasis of anti-heroes which were common in a lot of 1970s films happening at the time, primarily dramas, crime films, and neo-noirs during and after the Vietnam War. These character types shared a similar sentiment with those of films noir of the 1940s and 1950s that were especially popular after the end of World War II. The absence of shades of character and focus on "bad city folk" versus "normal heterosexuals" and the innocent and likable small townsfolk, places this film more strongly with crime films of the 1930s where characters were more clearly defined as good versus evil.
In Mrs. Watkins' two-minute monologue, she goes on to say about Jenny: "She was a b****. She wouldn't let anything be. She wouldn't let it be us, just us. It WAS just us. The two of us." The monologue goes on to emphasize how Jenny's pregnancy "destroyed" their relationship. Her monologue, which is written with words that the writer appears to consciously or subconsciously illustrate as jealousy-toned, emphasizes a disdain for the heterosexual family unit and further emphasizes Mrs. Watkins abnormality for not wanting it. Before we are about to hear anything more as Mrs. Watkins says, "I had no choice..." she is handcuffed and pulled away by Captain Streeter. Because of the unfortunate lack of Mrs. Watkins' screen time, her emphasis as pure villain is further expressed by Abel's question, "Where's your Chevrolet?" to which she defiantly snarls, "You're so smart. You find it" before she is placed in the police car. Abel calmly responds, "Yes, ma'am", affording his character the opportunity to be the reasonable, rational one.
In the final scene, where Kate arrives at the police station to say goodbye to Abel, she continues the sexism of the dialogue where Dr. Watkins is now seen as a hero. She says, "I never thought he'd done any of it. He saved lives" to which Abel responds, "That's what he was trying to do. Save his wife's life. Followed her around, tidying up." One positive about the screenplay is that it does not leave Abel's character entirely unscathed. There is a previous scene where Abel accuses Kate of killing Jenny because Kate knew the dog's name was Murphy; in her apartment, he grabs her by the throat and slams her down onto her bed to demand her confession. She explains she knew the dog's name because Dr. Watkins told her, and then Abel storms out of her apartment to try to find Dr. Watkins without apologizing to Kate for what he just did to her. Getting back to the final scene at the police station, he confesses to Kate that it wasn't the police that initially believed that she was guilty, but it was himself that originally thought it, albeit "not for very long" he says. Kate then says in her exit, and in what's probably the best line of the film, "Well, you got yourself a dog, anyway. A man and his dog", which can suggest Abel's blatant disrespect in treating Kate like a dog in that moment in her apartment and he still got to keep Murphy. Kate leaves the police station, as well as the town of Eden Landing, in a taxi as Abel calls a sheriff vehicle to follow Kate's taxi to see where it goes.
On the plus side about 'They Only Kill Their Masters', the combination of seeing a prominently-featured MGM backlot in a decade different than when we're used to seeing one, along with seeing Hollywood actors primarily from the Production Code era interact with actors primarily from the MPAA film ratings system era, makes this a fairly unique film to experience. It's a treat to see the famed MGM backlot 2 in a 1970s colour film, albeit a little washed-out, which had been so frequently seen in previous decades in black and white. The film is also peppered with some great outdoor locales including a one-way tunnel that leads to Jenny's Malibu beach house. Another treat is to see so many scenes featuring stars primarily of the 1930s to early 1960s including the aforementioned June Allyson, as well as Tom Ewell, Peter Lawford, Edmond O'Brien, Arthur O'Connell, and Ann Rutherford. Overall, it's not a surprise that James Garner had wrote in his memoirs that he'd "rather not talk about" this film. However, 'They Only Kill Their Masters' offers enough enjoyment despite a screenplay that would've benefitted from either more time to write it, or a different screenwriter altogether, to flesh out its characters a bit more to make them more interesting and/or relatable.
The screenplay allots Mrs. Watkins a two-minute monologue, which is interrupted more than once, of a one hour and thirty-seven minute film. It allows her enough time to confess her crime but with no real opportunity to express how she may have been treated as a person, whether this would include her lived experience as a woman or a non-heterosexual. As she kneels over her husband Dr. Warren G. Watkins' (Hal Holbrook) body after he's been accidentally shot and killed by Captain Daniel Streeter (Harry Guardino), she states of him, "We loved each other" to which Abel replies, "Who? Who loved who? He came home to protect her. He must've loved you very much, Mrs. Watkins. Always cleaning up after her." Here, Abel berates her for not being grateful that she had a man in her life and the dialogue in this scene appears to make Mrs. Watkins feel guilty not strictly for her crime but also for her existence.
The moment should obviously not trivialize the fact that she killed Jenny Campbell, but Mrs. Watkins' extremely brief screen time can be construed as a missed opportunity to explore a more multi-dimensional character. This opportunity could've been similar to the emphasis of anti-heroes which were common in a lot of 1970s films happening at the time, primarily dramas, crime films, and neo-noirs during and after the Vietnam War. These character types shared a similar sentiment with those of films noir of the 1940s and 1950s that were especially popular after the end of World War II. The absence of shades of character and focus on "bad city folk" versus "normal heterosexuals" and the innocent and likable small townsfolk, places this film more strongly with crime films of the 1930s where characters were more clearly defined as good versus evil.
In Mrs. Watkins' two-minute monologue, she goes on to say about Jenny: "She was a b****. She wouldn't let anything be. She wouldn't let it be us, just us. It WAS just us. The two of us." The monologue goes on to emphasize how Jenny's pregnancy "destroyed" their relationship. Her monologue, which is written with words that the writer appears to consciously or subconsciously illustrate as jealousy-toned, emphasizes a disdain for the heterosexual family unit and further emphasizes Mrs. Watkins abnormality for not wanting it. Before we are about to hear anything more as Mrs. Watkins says, "I had no choice..." she is handcuffed and pulled away by Captain Streeter. Because of the unfortunate lack of Mrs. Watkins' screen time, her emphasis as pure villain is further expressed by Abel's question, "Where's your Chevrolet?" to which she defiantly snarls, "You're so smart. You find it" before she is placed in the police car. Abel calmly responds, "Yes, ma'am", affording his character the opportunity to be the reasonable, rational one.
In the final scene, where Kate arrives at the police station to say goodbye to Abel, she continues the sexism of the dialogue where Dr. Watkins is now seen as a hero. She says, "I never thought he'd done any of it. He saved lives" to which Abel responds, "That's what he was trying to do. Save his wife's life. Followed her around, tidying up." One positive about the screenplay is that it does not leave Abel's character entirely unscathed. There is a previous scene where Abel accuses Kate of killing Jenny because Kate knew the dog's name was Murphy; in her apartment, he grabs her by the throat and slams her down onto her bed to demand her confession. She explains she knew the dog's name because Dr. Watkins told her, and then Abel storms out of her apartment to try to find Dr. Watkins without apologizing to Kate for what he just did to her. Getting back to the final scene at the police station, he confesses to Kate that it wasn't the police that initially believed that she was guilty, but it was himself that originally thought it, albeit "not for very long" he says. Kate then says in her exit, and in what's probably the best line of the film, "Well, you got yourself a dog, anyway. A man and his dog", which can suggest Abel's blatant disrespect in treating Kate like a dog in that moment in her apartment and he still got to keep Murphy. Kate leaves the police station, as well as the town of Eden Landing, in a taxi as Abel calls a sheriff vehicle to follow Kate's taxi to see where it goes.
On the plus side about 'They Only Kill Their Masters', the combination of seeing a prominently-featured MGM backlot in a decade different than when we're used to seeing one, along with seeing Hollywood actors primarily from the Production Code era interact with actors primarily from the MPAA film ratings system era, makes this a fairly unique film to experience. It's a treat to see the famed MGM backlot 2 in a 1970s colour film, albeit a little washed-out, which had been so frequently seen in previous decades in black and white. The film is also peppered with some great outdoor locales including a one-way tunnel that leads to Jenny's Malibu beach house. Another treat is to see so many scenes featuring stars primarily of the 1930s to early 1960s including the aforementioned June Allyson, as well as Tom Ewell, Peter Lawford, Edmond O'Brien, Arthur O'Connell, and Ann Rutherford. Overall, it's not a surprise that James Garner had wrote in his memoirs that he'd "rather not talk about" this film. However, 'They Only Kill Their Masters' offers enough enjoyment despite a screenplay that would've benefitted from either more time to write it, or a different screenwriter altogether, to flesh out its characters a bit more to make them more interesting and/or relatable.