Smile Jenny, You're Dead
                              
Director: Jerry Thorpe
Year: 1974
Rating: 5.5
This was the second pilot produced for the Harry-O TV show that lasted for two years and 45 episodes. It is a favorite and has gained in stature over the years since it was released on DVD. Harry was a peculiar type of private eye and I would guess the show influenced Rockford that came out the following year. Harry is an ex-cop on disability, living on the beach, working on his boat, relaxed and reflective, taking the occasional case that came his way, rarely it seems getting paid, a car that is always broken down so he takes the bus everywhere and his body is nearly as broken down with bad legs. So not a lot of chases on foot or in a car in the series. In this one he gives up chasing a guy after about a minute. It was very mellow for a detective show. The occasional woman came into his life but never stuck around. He enjoyed his loneliness too much. His neighbor in 8 episodes was Farrah Fawcett who replaced him when the show ended with something called Charlie's Angels.

 

Portrayed by David Janssen with his usual underplayed charisma or lack of it. He basically has three expressions - a reluctant smile, a grimace and thoughtfully sympathetic. But those three expressions served him well through the Fugitive, O'Hara US Treasury and Harry-O. He never found a lot of success on the big screen but on TV he was fine - comfortable, unaggressive, quiet and caring. He is easy to watch every week.

 

This has a decent cast for a TV movie, but the plot feels more than a little hackneyed. A psycho (Zalman King) who looks exactly what you expect a psycho to look like with his recessive chin and out of focus face has been following a model (Andrea Marcovicci) and taking photos of her. The usual creepy behavior. He wants to be her protector   and to free her by killing the men in her life. When he kills one of them, her father (Howard Da Silva) asks his friend Harry to look into it. Poor Harry has to give up his morning chess games with the bikini clad Barbara Leigh. Heading the case is Clu Gulager who wants to clear up the case in time for dinner. In a smaller thread a young girl is hanging around his beach house with a smart mouth and a fuck you attitude. She is played by Jodie Foster two years before Taxi Driver. Nothing to get excited about here but I like Harry-O and am glad to see this. None of the actors from this went on to the TV show.