Air Date: Sept. 25, 1973 (CBS)
Production Companies: Universal Television
Running Time: 74 min.
Available on: YouTube
Written by: Merwin Gerard
Directed by: Herschel Daughterty
Cast: Telly Savalas, Lynda Day George, Mike Farrell, Kate Reid, Len Birman
She Cried Murder (1973) has a simple plot, but its surprises all happen up front, leaving nothing for the rest of the film except an extended game of cat and mouse. This gives the illusion that it’s either action-packed or suspenseful, but it’s neither. It is fast-moving, though, which means it isn’t boring. Depending on your mood, it might even be entertaining.
.
Model Sarah Cornell (Lynda Day George) is riding on the front end of the subway car when she witnesses someone push a woman off the platform onto the track. When she steps off, she sees a man leaving the scene. This man looks back at her glaring, making it clear that she will later be able to identify him and that he will know she knows who he is.
.
If it didn’t happen in the very next scene, I might not tell you; however, it does, so I will. When Sarah’s boss, Maggie (Kate Reid) suggests she call the police, one of the detectives that arrives to interview her is the man she saw in the subway: Inspector Joe Brody (Telly Savalas.) Is it a coincidence that he was in the station? Is he really a bad cop?
.
Again, if we didn’t get the answer right away, I wouldn’t tell you; however, we do, so I will. Yeah, he’s a bad cop. Because he knows that she knows, he kidnaps her son to force her into silence. She doesn’t give up easily, though. Through a series of accidents, she rescues her son and believes that she’s killed Brody.
.
Of course, she didn’t, and he begins hunting her down. Normally, all these twists and turns would unfold over the course of the 74-minute running time. In She Cried Murder, they happen immediately one after the other so that most of the movie is Detective Walter Stepanic (Mike Farrell) following Brody, who’s following Sarah.
.
There are close encounters and near misses until everyone converges at the end of the line of the subway. There’s never any doubt about how it will turn out; however, when the bad guy gets what’s coming to him, it’s a little shocking (pun intended.) I liked it better than director Herschel Daughtery’s other 70s TV movie, The Victim, but that isn’t exactly a glowing review.
Visit the TV Terror Guide: 70's TV Movies playlist at ClassicHorrors.Club TV on YouTube to watch She Cried Murder as well as all the great movies from this series...
Comments