Murder Can Hurt You (stylized onscreen as Murder Can Hurt You!) is a 1980 American made-for-television comedy film that parodies detective and police TV shows of the 1960s and 1970s, much as Murder by Death spoofed literary detectives.[1] The film was directed by Roger Duchowny.[2]
| Murder Can Hurt You | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Written by | Ron Friedman |
| Directed by | Roger Duchowny |
| Starring | Tony Danza Burt Young Jamie Farr John Byner Gavin MacLeod Victor Buono Jimmie Walker Buck Owens Connie Stevens |
| Music by | Artie Kane |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Douglas S. Cramer Aaron Spelling |
| Producers | Shelley Hull Robert L. Jacks E. Duke Vincent |
| Cinematography | Archie R. Dalzell |
| Editor | John F. Schreyer |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Production company | Aaron Spelling Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | May 21, 1980 |
Plot
editA mysterious "Man in White" is out to kill famous detectives in bizarre ways, and the heroes are obvious parodies of Kojak, Baretta, Starsky and Hutch, Ironside, Police Woman, Columbo, Mrs. Columbo, and McCloud.[1]
The movie starts with the Man In White killing Lambretta, after which Lt. Nojack calls a meeting of all the best detectives in the city. During this meeting the man in white threatens to kill them all, locks them in their meeting room, and sets a bomb to kill them all while he makes his escape.
The Aaron Spelling Productions logo at the end pays homage to Mark VII Limited, using a hammer and stamp.
Cast
edit| Actor | Character | Sends up: |
|---|---|---|
| Don Adams (voice only) |
Narrator | -- |
| Marty Allen | Detective Starkos | Detective Stavros |
| Mel Blanc (voice only)[3] |
Chickie Baby | -- |
| Victor Buono | Ironbottom | former Chief of Detectives Robert Ironside |
| John Byner | Hatch | Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson |
| Tony Danza | Pony Lambretta | Tony Baretta |
| Jamie Farr | Studsky | David Starsky |
| Mitchell Kreindel | The Man in White | -- |
| Gavin MacLeod | Nojack | Lieutenant Theo Kojak |
| Buck Owens | MacSkye | Marshal Samuel McCloud |
| Connie Stevens | Salty Sanderson | Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson |
| Liz Torres | Mrs. Palumbo | Mrs. Columbo |
| Jimmie Walker | Parks the Pusher | Mark Sanger |
| Burt Young | Lieutenant Palumbo | Lieutenant Columbo |
References
edit- ^ a b Hal Erickson (2014). "Murder Can Hurt You". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2014-03-01.
- ^ "Murder Can Hurt You". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
- ^ "Chickie Baby". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
External links
edit- Murder Can Hurt You at AllMovie
- Murder Can Hurt You at IMDb
- Murder Can Hurt You at MSN Movies
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