2 reviews
The mysterious non-existent intruder
- bkoganbing
- Dec 2, 2014
- Permalink
Sad to say, it needed something more than the presence of greatness
The great James Stewart plays the lawyer "Hawkins," a name possibly drawn from a hat.
In a time of gimmicks (the sloppy detective, the bald detective, the fat detective, the wheelchair detective) Stewart didn't have a hook to hang his hat on. Buddy Ebsen had the "old" detective sewn up.
His associate is the normally reliable Strother Martin. Martin's character refers to Hawkins as a "hick" but "the hick lawyer" doesn't fly.
They have their peculiarities. Hawkins and his associate sit on the beach in coats and ties eating ice cream. But right out of the starting gate Hawkins has nothing special about him except having James Stewart play him. And this first case isn't terribly interesting.
Stewart's character was better in the late, lamented (by me) "Jimmy Stewart Show." Rehashing his movie "Anatomy of a Murder" wasn't enough.
I love Stewart and he's really too big for the small screen, but neither his character nor this case are particularly interesting. It's no wonder it didn't catch fire with 1970s audiences.
In a time of gimmicks (the sloppy detective, the bald detective, the fat detective, the wheelchair detective) Stewart didn't have a hook to hang his hat on. Buddy Ebsen had the "old" detective sewn up.
His associate is the normally reliable Strother Martin. Martin's character refers to Hawkins as a "hick" but "the hick lawyer" doesn't fly.
They have their peculiarities. Hawkins and his associate sit on the beach in coats and ties eating ice cream. But right out of the starting gate Hawkins has nothing special about him except having James Stewart play him. And this first case isn't terribly interesting.
Stewart's character was better in the late, lamented (by me) "Jimmy Stewart Show." Rehashing his movie "Anatomy of a Murder" wasn't enough.
I love Stewart and he's really too big for the small screen, but neither his character nor this case are particularly interesting. It's no wonder it didn't catch fire with 1970s audiences.
- aramis-112-804880
- Jun 23, 2024
- Permalink