AAn old friend, Norma Treet (Paulette Goddard), of the Snoop's is murdered and her potentially salacious tell all manuscript is missing. There are a considerable number of suspects. It might be the estranged daughter Mary Nero (Jill Clayburgh). Perhaps her father Julius (Ed Platt—the Chief from Get Smart) who is now a college president has reasons. Or ex husband Anton de Tourolet (Fritz Weaver) as he is fearful of what might be said of him. Other candidates include restaurateur Alex Scalamdri (Kurt Kasznar), publisher Charles Corman (Craig Stevens noteworthy for Peter Gunn), or ghost writer Melvin Kaplan (Bill Dana) until he showed up dead. But the real key to the case is a scene from an old movie that Norma Treet had starred in: The Adventures of Mr. Largo (Actually the scene shown is from The Ghost Breakers. a film Paulette Goddard stared in with Bob Hope). A clever ruse by Lieutenant Ostrowski (Laurence Pressman) exposes the killer; but he isn't apprehended until a shoot out and a car chase featuring the Snoop Sisters driving their vintage car and their police nephew following in a "borrowed" Good Humor truck as everyone races to a thrilling conclusion and a sad book burning.
Review of The Female Instinct
