There are three former Academy Award winning actors in this film, one former nominee and one future winner. This television film's stars (Stephen Brooks and Robert Hooks) aren't award winners, but they are very good as former cops who becomes private detectives after Brooks is shot in the line of duty.
Their first case involves the missing Richard Dreyfus (the future Oscar Winner) whose mother (Anne Revere, Supporting Actress winner for "National Velvet") and sister Catherine Burns (Supporting Actress nominee for "Last Summer"), discovering racism through small town sheriff Neville Brand and a gun toting Walter Brennan (three time Supporting Actor Winner). Brennan is furious over the murder of one of his family members, leading to another case involving a serial killer.
A dark, stormy night inside a dilapetaded house and a locked room full of rats leads Hooks into further danger while Brooks is out on the town with pretty librarian Shelley Fabares, harassed by Brand, obviously a hater of anything big city. Brooks and Hooks, friends as well as parents, are perhaps the Starsky and Hutch (or Ponch and Baker) in this obvious TV pilot that had great potential and sadly didn't sell.
Former child actor Skip Homeier is seen briefly as Brooks' doctor, and there's also a creepy cameo by the other Oscar winning Supporting Actress Mercedes McCambridge, seen with the young Dreyfus. The elderly Brennan is pretty agile for some of the scrappy things he has to do. The cameos by these veteran actors offers a bit of nostalgia to this TV film, aiding in making it quite above average.
Their first case involves the missing Richard Dreyfus (the future Oscar Winner) whose mother (Anne Revere, Supporting Actress winner for "National Velvet") and sister Catherine Burns (Supporting Actress nominee for "Last Summer"), discovering racism through small town sheriff Neville Brand and a gun toting Walter Brennan (three time Supporting Actor Winner). Brennan is furious over the murder of one of his family members, leading to another case involving a serial killer.
A dark, stormy night inside a dilapetaded house and a locked room full of rats leads Hooks into further danger while Brooks is out on the town with pretty librarian Shelley Fabares, harassed by Brand, obviously a hater of anything big city. Brooks and Hooks, friends as well as parents, are perhaps the Starsky and Hutch (or Ponch and Baker) in this obvious TV pilot that had great potential and sadly didn't sell.
Former child actor Skip Homeier is seen briefly as Brooks' doctor, and there's also a creepy cameo by the other Oscar winning Supporting Actress Mercedes McCambridge, seen with the young Dreyfus. The elderly Brennan is pretty agile for some of the scrappy things he has to do. The cameos by these veteran actors offers a bit of nostalgia to this TV film, aiding in making it quite above average.