Murder Once Removed (1971 TV Movie) User Reviews

Just a Bit Far Fetched

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 5 December 2006]

As basic entertainment, this is kind of fun. It's a nicely plotted film if you don't think too much. The plot involves a doctor who has psychotic tendencies and acts on them fairly frequently. Because he doesn't get caught, he feels vindicated. He applies this logic to other murderers as well. He is played pretty well by John Forsyth. He has a relationship with Barbara Bain from the Impossible Missions Force, and hopes to marry her. I'm surprised his last name isn't Bluebeard, because he seems to have a thing for trophies. The acting is credible in the made for TV venue. It's nicely done. As a previous writer said, it's a little like those Link/Levinson productions, ala Columbo. It moves along nicely and there are lots of surprises.

Now for the other part. There are so many coincidences and potential pitfalls that it would be really hard to make the plot work. Anything could mess it up. There's also the fact that the person murdered first knows about Forsyth's history and still allows him to perform surgery. He also baits him about his past. There had to be other avenues he could have taken, knowing what he knows. There's also a frame up that really would have to be so obvious to anyone with a shred of investigative insight.

The characterization is good. I really liked the nurse, Rita Shaw, who has a handle on everything. She is Forsyth's main adversary, and he doesn't even know it. She has always played those kinds of characters and, like people in her profession, she's the guts of the operation.

I would recommend this film if you aren't too picky. It will keep you involved.

Good Low Budget TV Thriller

[Steve_Nyland · 7/10 · 11 June 2008]

VERY worth while 74 minute diversion here, a strikingly offbeat, Neo Noir ultra low budget made for TV movie (CBS) with John Forsythe cast brilliantly against type as a philandering doctor who finds himself engaged in a cat & mouse battle of wits against the husband of his mistress. Barbara Bain from "Space: 1999" plays the woman, Richard Kiley is the husband, Wendell Burton is the junkie set up as the fall guy, Joseph Campanella is the hard-nosed police detective who seems troubled by certain loose ends, and Reta Shaw steals the show as the doctor's nurse, who is perhaps a bit too observant and inquisitive to have stayed on with this particular doctor as long as is implied.

Why? Well you see several of Forsythe's patients have died. Rather suddenly. It can all be explained very simply, but this is one of those clever scripts where nothing is quite as simple as it seems. And at a mere 74 minutes it's not much of an imposition on anyone's schedule. Sure, it was made for commercial TV in 1971 so there isn't anything *too* distasteful on camera. Viewers who predicate their enjoyment movies based on people's heads exploding might be a tad disappointed, but if you PAY ATTENTION you will be rewarded. And a repeat viewing might answer some questions about passages of dialog that slipped by on the first time through.

Definitely worth having, and a respectable enough little movie to maybe watch with mom on a rainy evening when she needs some company. Can't say that about too many murder movies.

7/10

Death is the winning side

[Chase_Witherspoon · 7/10 · 25 February 2012]

Ensemble cast deliver a taut, reasonably tense suspense TV movie concerning a physician (Forsythe) with a dark past whose current dalliance with a married woman (Bain) leads to murder, the framing of an innocent man (Burton) and a sequence of double-crosses that should keep most audiences both entertained and surprised.

Forsythe is economical as the suspicious Doctor whose patients seem to experience a higher fatality rate than usual, while Kiley is the well-informed cuckold, seeking to end the romance between Forsythe and his wife (Bain) through blackmail. Joseph Campanella is perhaps the film's highlight as the local detective who's one step ahead.

Compact thriller is short on time but punches above its weight for overall impact with a tidy conclusion that features more twists than a Chubby Checker tune, so check it out when you have 70 minutes spare.

Nice little murder story from the makers of "Hawaii 5-O" and "Cannon".

[Poseidon-3 · 15 August 2005]

Fans of "Columbo" and other programs which detail the intricacies of a murder and the eventual unmasking of the killers will likely enjoy this trim, twisty TV movie with an adept cast. Forsythe plays a fairly successful doctor in a small but affluent town. He is in love with the wife (Bain) of one of his wealthy patients (Kiley.) Meanwhile, police detective Campanella dogs returning vet Burton, who is seeing Forsythe to remedy his drug problems. Husky, attentive nurse Shaw keeps a hand in most of the goings on. An offhand remark by Bain about wanting to rid herself of Kiley stirs Forsythe to think it over, especially when Kiley confides to Forsythe that he is aware of the secret lovers' plans to get together. This is merely the starting point for a tight, at times surprising, little story. All of the actors involved are veterans of the television medium and excel in their roles. Forsythe manages to be both appealing and menacing. Bain, who proved during her triple Emmy award-winning stint on "Mission: Impossible" that she can play practically anything, is scrumptious and glamorous in addition to providing a compelling performance. Kiley provides a strong presence and an intriguing adversary for Forsythe. Burton is properly dazed and Campanella is solid in his role. Shaw offers up her endearingly nosy and officious character nicely. Best of all is the fact that what seems like a pretty bland and routine idea is enhanced by some unexpected (if a tad unrealistic and credibility-stretching) story turns which make this a diverting 74 minutes. Made when TV movies still had a little bit of the leftover luster of the studio-system, it has some creative direction and editing. There's even that staple of most late-60's, early-70's films, a glamorous poolside cocktail party! Like most elaborate mysteries, it requires some suspension of disbelief and it relies on some coincidence, but there are far worse ways to spend time than taking this in.

Dog howls over lost patients

[greenbudgie · 6/10 · 17 July 2022]

John Forsythe plays a doctor who has a history of losing patients wherever he's practised. While he is supposed to be on his outcall rounds we see him making out with Lisa Manning (Barbara Bain) in the woods. He plays golf with her husband who is not prepared to give Lisa a divorce. The two men spar with each other on this matter and on the doctor's dubious backstory. There are hints that the doctor fiddles his patients' medical records with regards to electrocardiograms and blood samples. So we are teased as to how far the doctor will go to achieve his needs and desires. There's a small cast in this TV Movie so the story is sped through quickly. There's a policeman who is trailing a drug-addicted Vietnam veteran who both play their part economically in the story. My choice of the characters is Nurse Regis played by the matronly Reta Shaw with her throwaway lines. Her warnings that she doesn't trust doctors and that her dog Happy "howls every time we lose a patient" are delivered in a dry and dark and humorous way. I didn't see the end of the plot coming too far in advance so be prepared for some late twists and turns.

NOT FANCY OR GLAMOROUS BUT SIMPLY REALLY GOOD

[kissingbarracuda · 7/10 · 11 November 2020]

It is a low budget flick that you kinda start watching because it's snowing out there nothing else better to do, then you feel getting pulled into the story, chained by continuing dialogs that amp from one scene to the next seamlessly. It is remarkably well cust, directed and shot. Enjoy!..

Pretty solid murder yarn

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 25 May 2011]

WARNING - SPOILERS A killer is sometimes forced by circumstances to change his modus operandi even when it has proved successful in the past, and that's exactly what John Forsythe's character decides to do. He plans and executes what appears to be the perfect murder: nobody sees it, nobody hears it, all the evidence points to someone else, and he even has the detective investigating the case as his alibi! He may be a psychopath who is ready to kill anyone who gets in his way, but he is also extremely methodical. Nothing can go wrong in this plan....right? "Murder Once Removed" is a solid little murder yarn with some nice stings in its tail, and excellent performances by the entire (short-numbered) cast, but especially from Forsythe, who has the not-so-common task of carrying a TV movie as the lead AND as a clear-cut bad guy! Certainly worth 74 minutes of your time. **1/2 out of 4.

"Dr. Wellesley will fix you up if anybody can."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 21 May 2012]

I don't think I've ever seen John Forsythe in any other vehicle besides his 'Bachelor Father' TV series from the late Fifties/early Sixties. So it was a little surprising to see him here as the methodical killer with a hidden past involving the deaths of former patients. The whole time I'm watching this though, I couldn't wrap my head around the idea that Frank Manning (Richard Kiley) would be presumptuous enough to confront Dr. Wellesley (Forsythe) with what he knows, and then submit to a procedure by the good doctor that requires anesthesia. Am I missing something here?

There are lots of familiar faces for TV fans of the Seventies here, an ensemble cast that's pretty adept for the task at hand. As things get under way, it looks like Barbara Bain might be part of Wellesley's mission impossible to off her husband, but by the time we get to the finale we realize she's been part of a sting operation all along. And don't try to put anything past old nurse Regis (Reta Shaw). The whole business with the blood and the vials seemed a little muddled, made incoherent with some garbled dialog, but you come away with the gist of it to know that Wellesley's a goner by the time it's all over.

Rounding out the familiar cast is Joseph Campanella, a ubiquitous presence throughout the Seventies guesting on just about every major series of the era. The picture definitely has the feel of a made for TV movie, and though there's enough here to hold one's interest, it would have been more compelling if you saw it forty years ago.

Very predictable but still good!

[RodrigAndrisan · 5/10 · 15 June 2022]

It does not have the quality level of Alfred Hitchcock's films, but it's somewhat in the spirit of the master of suspense. The big difference is that we know from the beginning what will happen. But the story is not quite bad, and the actors are good, convincing. Especially Joseph Campanella, an actor I've seen in a lot of movies but I've never written about. Wendell Burton as Frank Kramer and Reta Shaw as Nurse Regis are also very good. The others, John Forsythe, Richard Kiley and Barbara Bain, are not bad either, they try, but it's obvious that they are just acting, respecting the script.

It's now you and me the rest of the way

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 28 January 2012]

***SPOILERS*** It's when Frank Manning, Richard Kiley, learned that his wife Lisa, Barbara Bain, was planning to leave him for the family doctor Ron Wellesley, John Forsythe,that he had his past checked out. Manning soon found out that the good doctor was involved in a number of suspicious deaths of patients under his care back in his home town of Yagersville: His lover wife and mother-in-law. Now Manning is certain that's he's, in being a patient of his, soon to be Wellesley's next victim since he's in the way of him marrying Lisa.

Wellesley in knowing that Mannings is on to him and, through his lawyer and the local police, will have the goods on him if he ever goes through with his plan to murder him and make it look like and accident! It's then that Wellesley comes up with a fool proof plan to do him in. Get one of his patients the drug addicted and memory challenged Vetnam veteran Fred Kramer, William Burton, framed for Mannings murder. With Kramer known to the police as a junkie who always needs a fix he's the prefect pasty for Wellesly plan to murder Manning without throwing any suspicion on himself.

Wellesley gets his patient Kramer high of morphine and has him leave his fingerprints on the soon to be murder weapon a fireplace poker. Wellesly pulls off what he thinks is prefect murder by smashing in a drugged out cold Manning's, who at the time was being treated by him, skull with the, in having plastic gloves on, poker. The shrewed and clever Wellesley also plants some of Manning's blood on Kramer's jacket to make sure that it would end up implicating him in Manning's murder.

***MAJOR SPOILERS*** What Wellesley didn't know was that he himself was being set up in murdering Manning by another person in the community who wanted to get Lisa all to himself! This all shows what The hot as a pistol Lisa can do to make men go crazy over here! But as it turned out it was Wellesley's alert nurse Regis, Rita Shaw, who saw all through this sham and that's only because her faithful dog "Happy" tipped her off to it.

a TV cheapy

[stevef-melb · 3/10 · 29 January 2014]

This TV movie looked like an audition movie for want-to-be aspiring actors. Any recognised actor would have read the script and immediately binned it. They did make a movie(Malice) with Nicole kidman/Alex Baldwin with almost identical plot but far better written,acted and had some semblance of reality. This one was full of credibility holes and ridiculous coincidences. All the characters just happened to know each other, be related, or friends/acquaintances from way back. The timing of the silly murder, needed split second timing of numerous events for it to succeed. The victim 'knew' he was going to be murdered by doc., yet stuck to the 'one?' GP in the large town... and even lay down for the doc. to be duly battered to death. The wife gravitated twixt delight and horror at her husband's demise(terrible acting).

neat mystery

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 5 December 2011]

Years ago, mysteries like "Murder Once Removed" were common TV fare, and frankly, I liked it that way.

This is a particularly neat one starring John Forsythe, Richard Kiley, Joe Campanella, Barbara Bain, and Reta Shaw. Forsythe plays Dr. Wellesley, who has a less than stellar past, which he's been reminded of by the husband of the woman (Bain) he's in love with (Kiley).

Wellesley plans to get rid of his competition and plans the perfect murder, framing a young Vietnam vet (Wendell Burton) whom he's weaning off of a heroin addiction. The camera has Forsythe in tight closeup most of the time, and with its hard lens, it's unforgiving.

Very entertaining, and it's nice to see all those old TV stars once again, including Forsythe, who didn't usually play someone evil, the terrific Kiley, the always reliable Reta Shaw as Dr. Wellesley's nurse and Barbara Bain as the very attractive object of the doc's affections. Now 84, Joseph Campanella was once a mainstay of prime time TV, and he still pops up occasionally.

Someone said the script was far-fetched -- maybe, but it's very intriguing. Enjoy.

One Good Thing

[mandagrammy · 6/10 · 21 June 2022]

As this film was winding down, I was planning on giving it 5 stars. This was mostly due to the actors, because I found the dialog silly and totally unbelievable and the plot too obvious. Then we came to the final scenes and my score jumped another notch. This was all thanks to the finale. I didn't expect or suspect the ending at all, and the film makers deserve a bonus for something original. You might yawn through most of the film but wait for that ending. You'll be glad you did.

Forgettable, not good, tv movie!

[phlbrq58 · 5/10 · 24 June 2023]

I can't write 600 characters about this particular '71 tv movie. It's exemplary of much of commercial shows of the era. Its no beter or worse. Paper thin characters, unimaginative costuming, locations you've seen for years, and pacing that merely carries through the commercal break. I feel badly about the time wasted watching products like this. The plot conformity, the lack of recognizable humans, one can feel the loss of intellect like doing bad drugs.

This product serves as an indictment of the vast hours of seventies tv. Early in the seventies I remember Andy Warhol said He didn't watch tv cause its all the same show. At first I took offense but it stuck with me. From this distance, with some exceptions, tell me he was wrong.

Not a bad little movie

[Wizard-8 · 24 August 2010]

There are a surprising number of made-for-TV movies out there that, for some reason or another, have entered the public domain and have been issued on many cheapo DVD labels. "Murder Once Removed" is one of those. I watched it on a 10-pack DVD box set, and fortunately (unlike many other movies in the public domain) the picture and sound quality wasn't bad. Watching it, I wondered how this movie could get neglected enough so that the copyright wasn't removed. It's not a classic, but it gets the job done all right. It's only 75 minutes long, so it tells its story in a lean manner with very little unwanted fat. The story is pretty enticing, making you wonder what the doctor character will do next in every situation he's in. And the last part of the movie gives us not one, but several surprising twists. As I said, this isn't a classic, but it's well done enough that it's definitely worth the one or two dollars you'll have to pay to buy the DVD.

Leisurely TV Murder Drama.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 28 December 2012]

It evokes memories of, not so much an Alfred Hitchcock feature, but "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" on television. It's deliberate, rather well thought out, professionally acted and directed, and suspenseful. It's interesting and diverting, no more than that.

John Forsythe is convincing as the calm and patient family doctor who has murdered previous wives for their insurance money and now has set his eyes on Barbara Bain. (It would be hard to imagine him a raving lunatic.) The chief obstacle to his conquest is her husband, Richard Kiley.

Kiley has had a private detective uncover Forsythe's murderous past and knows about his current affair with Kiley's own wife. He reveals all this to the phlegmatic Forsythe during a game of golf and tells him to get out of town pronto and all secrets will be kept.

Forsythe, being what he is, bashes Kiley's head in with a poker during an unlikely office visit, and then frames a young junkie. The detective who is investigating is the affable Joseph Campanella. Campanella turns out to be no so trustworthy either. But don't ask for more of the plot. No power on earth -- not burning bamboo splints under my fingernails -- could get me to reveal that the junkie is freed, Forsythe captured, and Campanella's plans unraveled.

The direction, which is not misguided in any way, is uninventive but the dialog has a bit of edge to it here and there, suggesting that if more time, effort, and talent had been put into it, we might have something of more substance to deal with. I'll just give one example. Kiley to Forsythe: "It must be easy for a doctor to think he's God, but you don't save lives. You just postpone death." Forsythe: "That's what God does." (Something like that; I wasn't taking notes.) All this -- in fact, all the dialog -- is delivered deadpan. Nobody laughs or gets emotional in any way.

It's entertaining and it has a lot of tension. It gets the job done while hardly trying.

And reality too.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 20 April 2022]

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry 4 roll my eyes at this movie as it's very trite and cliched script unfolded a ridiculous story that seems like one of those old fashioned radio plays where the script was written so fast that you had to take everything with a grain of salt to believe in. Old movies did the same thing, and now I find the same ridiculous situation in a movie of the week that starts John Forsyth as a murderess doctor who has had a record of dying under mysterious circumstances as they leave their money to him in their will. Patient Richard Kiley is aware that Forsyth is having an affair with his wife, Barbara Bain, and wonders to Forsyth allowed if he's going to try to kill him as well. Seriously, every ounce of dialogue in this film had me both rolling my eyes and laughing. It seems like it's made up and that because actors are speaking is, the audience will simply believe it.

Veteran character actress Reta Shaw is an automatic scene-stealer and everything that she does, but her character of the nurse who keeps her dog in the office is one of the silliest I've ever seen. The dog howls every time that one of Forsyth's patients dies, just another detail that further puts the nail in the coffin of this silly melodrama. Joseph Campanella is a cop friend of Forsyth's home he goes to visit after bashing Kiley's head in, and it's more absurd that Kiley remains alive, yet unconscious, after Shaw discovers the body and Forsyth returns to the office.

Of course, Forsyth has to have someone to pin the murder on, and that pleasure goes to Wendell Burton as a drug addict bring treated for withdrawals. The way Forsyth sets it all up is just totally unbelievable. This is a soap opera like murder mystery with so many ridiculous twists and turns and details that a plot like this wouldn't even make it onto "Murder She Wrote", and is Agatha Christie taught murder mystery right in, would show this film as evidence of don't let this happen to you. Everybody does all right with their performances, but of course, with the script, I have expected them to be smirking and rolling their eyes at the ridiculousness of it all, but they managed to be professional and get through it. That's 70 minutes of my life that I'll never get back, but I enjoyed it because I was having fun laughing at how absurd it all was.

A Bit Too Ornate

[boblipton · 5/10 · 1 February 2024]

In this TV movie, John Forsythe is a doctor with a sketchy past, including a dead mother-in-law, a dead wife, and a sizable inheritance as a result. Now he's in love with Barbara Bain, but she's married to Richard Kiley, who suspects all of this. Forsythe wants him dead so he can have Miss Bain, and comes up with a great scheme: patient Wendell Burton as the fall guy, enough sedative to keep the recovering drug addict out of it, then a murder with a fire poker with Burton's fingerprints on it. Is it nough to fool cop Joseph Campanella?

Several well-known TV actors appear, including Reta Shaw, and it plays well while it's working, despite having too many moving parts when you think of it afterwards. Then there's that title and what, exactly, does it mean?

Perfect suspenser plays like Columbo without Columbo.

[RikerDonegal · 9/10 · 2 November 2020]

This perfect suspenser - with a lot of twists - plays like a Columbo movie without Columbo.

Dr. Wellesley (John Forsythe) is on the verge of having an affair with Lisa Manning (Barbara Bain) as her husband won't give her the divorce she's been asking for. To put a stop to this, Mr. Manning (Richard Kiley) decides to blackmail the doctor about some mysterious deaths in his past. The doctor protests his innocence, of course, but Manning wants him away from his wife and out of town.

Right from the start, with the two men politely playing golf while calmly discussing murders and blackmail, this quality movie grips the viewer. The cast are top notch and it's always fun watching a TV murderer do their thing and then waiting to see if they'll actually get away with it.

The final third brings several surprises. Nothing here is quite what it seems. Very clever. And a lot of fun.

Originally aired on Friday, 29 October, 1971. It was scheduled after the 7th regular episode of O'Hara, U.S. Treasury, and against the 6th second season episode of The Odd Couple on ABC.

Oh the charm, suspense, twists, and turns.

[sarahps-57724 · 9/10 · 18 August 2022]

I thought it was great. If you like these old suspense classics, this one is worth watching. While it no Hitchcock, it was surprisingly good at keeping my short attention glued to the screen.

Excellent medical thriller with many odd twists to the crooked intrigue

[clanciai · 9/10 · 20 July 2022]

Medical thrillers are usually offer great possibilities of suspense, and here you have everyone intriguing except the poor culprit, a young Vietnam veteran suffering from cold turkeys and used for his dilemma for very wicked scheming. It's actually a chamber play, there are very few actors, and they are all interlaced with each other in their personal conspiracies to help themselves at the cost of others. John Forsythe is the doctor who is seen through by one of his patients, whose wife is the mistress of the doctor, but that patient has no objection against being treated by the doctor, although he is well aware of that the doctor might murder him. The best and most interesting part is their conversations, which they exchange quite coolly and objectively, both knowing the other one better for his own good. The wife is cleverer though than they think, but there is another woman also involved, the doctor's veteran nurse, who is the one who really knows her business. She has a dog who starts howling every time the doctor loses a patient, and it seems to happen all the time. Barbara Bain is beautiful, you can't blame the men for willing to wage anything for her, and there are some pregnant arguments about death also, who always seems to be the winner, while the doctor's intention to be on the winning side against death smells of some hubris. Realism will of course get the better of him. The thriller is great entertainment, the direction is excellent and remindful of Hitchcock, the music is also good, but best of all is the script. It's a thriller well worth watching once and for all.

Too Far-Fetched for its Own Good

[Michael_Elliott · 26 December 2012]

Murder Once Removed (1971)

** (out of 4)

Boring and far-fetched made-for-TV thriller about a doctor (John Forsythe) who plans on murdering a rich patient (Richard Kiley) and blaming another one so that he can be with the man's wife (Barbara Bain). At just 73-minutes, a routine running time for TV films from this era, MURDER ONCE REMOVED just never clicked for me and a lot of the problem can be pointed at the screenplay, which is just too far-fetched for its own good. Not for a single second did I believe the set-up of the murder, which was just downright silly and there were far too many holes or things that could have gone wrong. I'm not going to spoil what happens but earlier in the movie it's hinted at that the doctor could have murdered at least three other people. If he was smart enough to get away with murder it's hard to believe that he'd be dumb enough to go for this type of plot. I also had major issues with the wife character and especially her reactions to not only the murder but her entire affair with the doctor. I think the one thing that does go right here are the performances with Forsythe at least turning in strong work. I also thought Kiley was extremely good in the role of the husband and Wendell Burton is fine as a drug addict vet.

Doctor Death...

[azathothpwiggins · 1 September 2021]

Frank Manning (Richard Kiley) goes to his doctor, Ron Wellesley (John Forsythe) for a simple procedure. Frank has also come to Dr. Wellseley's office to inform him that he suspects him in a pair of murders. He also lets him know that he's aware that he's been sleeping with his wife (Barbara Bain).

Frank then tells Wellesley that if he doesn't leave town, he'll blab.

What could possibly go wrong?

MURDER ONCE REMOVED is an exceptional made-for-TV movie with a perfect twist ending! John Forsythe is particularly good in his eeevil, conniving role. Wellesley will stop at nothing to carry out his plan of vengeance and death!

Joseph Campanella is great as Sgt. Proctor, a mutual friend of Manning and Wellesley who must snoop around for clues.

Highly recommended for the lover of suspenseful thrillers...

"Book 'Em, Charlie!"

[cutterccbaxter · 3 March 2024]

John Forsythe is a doctor who practices both medicine and murder in Murder Once Removed. I like movies where no one can be trusted. I didn't even trust Happy the dog. I was just waiting for him to bite Reta Shaw.

I don't know about you, but if I were Richard Kiley I would have switched doctors. Of course, maybe John Forsythe was the only doctor in town who was in-network under his health insurance plan.

I'm a law and order kind of guy, so I was pleased that all the bad apples in this movie ended up behind bars, or at least the ending implied a judicially satisfying ending. I wouldn't be surprised if a good lawyer would have gotten Barbra Bain off. And then she would have had an affair with him as well as the judge.