646f9e108c Private eye P.J. is reluctant when he gets a new job: he shall protect Maureen Preble, mistress of millionaire Orbeson, mainly from attacks by his wife and her greedy family. In truth Orbeson plans a deadly intrigue in which P.J. is to play a central part. Meanwhile P.J. falls in love with Maureen and Orbeson&#39;s money. This is a film about a smart, irreverent PI who gets pulled into a conspiracy and sorts it out. Excellent script, dialog, and plot.<br/><br/>This film, in its theatrical release version, may have been suppressed. There&#39;s a fair amount of non-PC gay bashing which could have ruffled some feathers.<br/><br/>The film was cleaned up for TV in the mid-70&#39;s. It was heavily re-edited, objectionable portions were removed, and possibly there were new scenes shot that were not in the theatrical release – some of the plot twists are different. The TV version lost much of the punch of the original and is deservedly forgotten.<br/><br/>I&#39;ve been looking for a print/tape/DVD of the theatrical version for years, but I doubt one will ever surface. This is an excellent PI film of the late 60&#39;s. George Peppard is perfect in the leadthe classic Private Eye, world weary but basically honest. A Korean War vet who describes that conflictWorld War II&amp;1/2. He takes on a job for a ruthless tycoon played by Raymond Burr to protect his truly gorgeous mistress, the ravishing Gayle Hunnicutt, and of course the plot thickens. Great scenes of the old somewhat seedy New York that I grew up in. I loved the description of Red Hook, &quot;by the river, in the river if you&#39;re not careful&quot; Nice contrast with the Caribbean locales later on. Well cast with a tight yet witty script and no nonsense direction. I&#39;m surprised that there were no sequels or TV spinoffs. Maybe not so goodthe classic &quot; Maddigan&quot; , which deals with New York around the same time, but well worth a look.
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