''Rehearsal for Murder'' is an American murder mystery

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

starring Robert Preston and

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was a British and American actress. During a career that spanned five decades, she won two Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, two Em ...

, and directed by David Greene. The script, written by Richard Levinson and William Link, won a 1983

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

. It originally aired on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Television Network on May 26, 1982.

Plot

Television Film

When his leading lady (and fiancée) Monica Welles (Redgrave) is found dead from an apparent suicide after the opening night of her Broadway stage debut, playwright Alex Dennison (Preston) is left heartbroken. On the first anniversary of her death, he gathers the cast and crew from that ill-fated night in the same

Broadway theater Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatr ...

, ostensibly to read a new play he is working on, a mystery in which a famous actress is killed. As the reading progresses, the scenes seem to the cast to be uncomfortably close to actual encounters they might have had with Monica. When pressed, Alex finally reveals that he believes that Monica was murdered and that someone at the theater is her killer.

Theatrical Production

One year after the supposed suicide of his fiancée (Monica Welles) Alex Dennison invites his friends, some cast and crew from the play one year ago, to read through a new play, Killing Jessica. Along with the cast he invites another actor (Frank Heller) to pose as a police officer (Henry McElroy). During the reading of the scenes, some of the cast become unnerved by Jessica's similarity to the late Monica Welles and the scenes' similarity to reality. After reading a few scenes, the producer (Bella Lamb), director (Lloyd Andrews) and lead (David Matthews) demand to know what Alex's true intentions are, leading him to reveal that the killer of Monica is in the theater. Most of the cast and crew decides on leaving, but with aid of the false police officer and the unintentional aid of the producer (Bella Lamb), they are persuaded to continue. After reading a few more scenes, they start to question Alex's mental state, leading them to leave for the sake of Alex's mental health. However, Alex draws a revolver on his friends, forcing them to stay and keep reading through his scenes. After Alex is convinced that the comic (Leo Gibbs) killed Monica, he draws his revolver once more and fires at Leo with blank cartridges. The lights go out after someone conspiring with Alex pulls the switch. In the ensuing chaos Frank Heller reveals what he knows about Monica's apartment the day she died. Alex's friends reveal that they knew that he was the killer all along, and all they wanted out of him was a confession. Frank reveals that Monica nearly slept with him after a fight with Alex, and so he used that as blackmail to get a large sum of money from Monica. After the meeting went wrong, he unintentionally killed Monica. The real Henry McElroy reveals that he was watching the whole time and comes to arrest Frank. Alex and his friends rejoice that the killer has been brought to justice after all this time. The play ends after his friends leave and Alex toasts with Monica's untouched glass; showing him making peace with this new reality.

Cast

* Robert Preston as Alex Dennison *

as Monica Welles *

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British-American actor best known for his breakthrough role as secret agent John Steed in the television series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1961–1969). Starting out ...

as David Matthews *

Lawrence Pressman Lawrence Pressman (born David Milton Pressman; July 10, 1939) is an American actor. He is best known for roles on '' Doogie Howser, M.D.'', '' Ladies' Man'', a recurring role on '' Profiler'', the title character on '' Mulligan's Stew'' and as a ...

as Lloyd Andrews *

William Russ William Russ (born October 20, 1950) is an American actor and television director. He played Alan Matthews on the sitcom ''Boy Meets World'' (1993–2000) and appeared in the television series ''Wiseguy (TV series), Wiseguy'', the soap operas ''A ...

as Frank Heller * Madolyn Smith as Karen Daniels *

Jeff Goldblum Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum ( ; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and ''Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels. Goldblum ...

as Leo Gibbs * William Daniels as Walter Lamb * John Finnegan as Damon * Vahan Moosekian as The Moving Man * Nicholas Mele as First Officer * Charlie Robinson as Second Officer * Sergio Kato as Third Officer * Wallace Rooney as Ernie * Buck Young as Lieutenant McElroy

Home media

A DVD transfer of the film was marketed in Australia by Flashback Entertainment (cat no. 8695).

External links

* {{David Greene Edgar Award–winning works Films directed by David Greene Films scored by Billy Goldenberg 1982 television films 1982 films 1980s mystery thriller films American mystery thriller films American thriller television films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films American mystery television films American murder mystery films English-language mystery thriller films